As the founder of the WWE thread I am acutely aware of what just happened to Hulk Hogan. As I was discussing it with my fellow wrestling fan girlfriend we brought up other wrestlers who have done bad things, and how the WWE tends to not just fire them, but basically erase them from existence. This is relatively easy with, say, Chris Benoit (who had a triple murder/suicide) but way way harder with someone like Hogan.
This lead us to discussing other athletes in other sports who have done bad things, and if they are, for all intents and purposes, just erased from existence. We thought of a couple off the top of our heads:
NFL: I did product searches for Ray Rice (nothing), Steve McNair (just trading cards) and OJ Simpson (one autographed photo, also he’s still in NFLs HOF)
MLB: Searching for John Rocker got me to a “customize your own Indians tshirt” page
NBA: Couldn’t think of anyone who did bad enough stuff
Can anyone think of an athlete in a major sports organization that, after doing something bad, was not just fired or disowned…but basically erased from existence?
Pretty stupid when it’s not hard to find Vince McMahon using the same word at some point in the past, and well, WWE’s entire “creative” history of using of black athletes such as R Truth, Mark Henry, Prime Time Players, New Day, etc. (and that’s only mentioning the guys who are there NOW)
As I said, I suspect he’ll disappear for a while then be quietly returned to their websites when this blows over a little. He’s got far too big of a legacy to erase long term.
OTOH, I wouldn’t be surprised if this only opens the pit of hell on this kind of behavior within WWE.
Nope. [&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Player+hitting§ionType=sp&statType=hitting&page=1&ts=1437759291372&split=&season=2015&game_type=%27R%27&playerType=ALL&timeframe=&season_type=ALL&active_sw=&sortColumn=h&sortOrder=%27desc%27&extended=0&league_code=%27MLB%27"]MLB Career hits record](http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp#elem=[object+Object)
Curious - why would McNair be erased? I pretty much only know what’s on wiki, but his crime seems to be having an affair with a crazy girl. Is there another controversy?
It’s the PG thing. This does not bode well for the future of wrestling. Wrestling hit the big time on TV in the 70s because it was alternate media disposing of the traditional Father Knows Best attitude. Now he’s after the mainstream. He used to push the envelope, now he’s climbing into it.
The girl killed him. If it were the other way, I could see the NFL wanting to distance themselves, but as far as I could tell, McNair was the victim. Their not going to make too big a deal about the infidelity.
This happens sometimes in college sports. Northwestern had basketball players named Deon Lee and Dewey Williams who were convicted in a point-shaving scandal and removed them from their media guide altogether, even from the lists of year-by-year stats and letter winners.
In college, the schools usually don’t have a choice. When an athlete does something like point shaving, betting, or accepting money, while they’re there, the NCAA demands that the school removes all of the athlete’s statistics from the point of the first violation. USC had to remove all of Reggie Bush’s records from his senior year and the latter part of his junior year.
As for Hogan, I went to WWE Network, and noticed (a) “Hulk Hogan’s Rock & Wrestling” is no longer available, and (b) it looks like most, if not all, of the old shows with Hogan on them now have the “Benoit disclaimer” on them (WrestleMania III certainly does).
Your mistake is thinking of the WWE as sports, when in reality, it’s a giant fictional program run by Vince McMahon.
If I’m the producer of a program and one of the actors who plays one of my characters does something to embarrass the franchise, I can write him out of the ongoing storyline, replace him with another actor, or even go back and rewrite the old stories (Han shot first, remember?)
So McMahon’s got this actor, Terry Bollea, who plays a character named Hulk Hogan. He used to be a star, but he’s too old to be the lead anymore. Now he’s kind of an elder statesman type. It’s the same evolution you saw in Happy Days when Fonzie gave way to Chachi.
Then Terry does something to embarass the WWE franchise. And poof, McMahon simply erases the character, just like Beverly Hills 90210 erased Shannen Doherty and* A Different World* erased Lisa Bonet.
Its right there in the name WWE. E = entertainment. To compare a wrestling character to someone who plays sports is an apples/oranges conversation from the get-go.
Like I said, his stuff will be back. Right now he has to get through this and a very publicly embarrassing lawsuit. Of course WWE wants not part of him at the moment.
But Hogan is not Chris Benoit. His stuff will be back on the network eventually, same as Dog the Bounty Hunter came back later, but damaged, from his, um “language” difficulties. He’s just too big of a player in industry history and his stuff is too valuable to be parked in the WWE library. I would be very surprised if he ever appeared on a wrestling show for a very long time, but his matches will be shown and his merchandise sold.
Eeeeh, most people know Terry Bollea=Hulk Hogan. The WWE hasn’t erased him just yet, they as a publicly traded company have just “cut ties” with him, surely they will do business again when this blows over.
The NHL hypocritically turned its back on Marty McSorley after he tried to carve out the eye of fellow thug, Donald Brashear. Oh, yes, I can use “hypocritically” and can name several reasons why.
Still haven’t heard what Ray Rice, a viable running back, is up to in the NFL while other wife beaters and child beaters like Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson seem ready to play this season.
The Baseball Hall of Fame voters, mostly fat slob baseball writers, seem intent on barring Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa and Roger Clemens from their doors even though baseball turned a blind eye towards steroids after the mid 90s strike.
