On Monday night, Hulk Hogan showed up during the first RAW on Netflix to promote his new beer brand. Fans in Los Angeles mercilessly booed the WWE Hall of Famer, a moment that's since gone viral and generated countless mainstream media headlines.
The clear disdain fans have for Hogan has somewhat overshadowed an otherwise very successful debut for RAW on the streaming platform. WWE and Netflix executives can't be happy about that.
Today, Mail Online is reporting that WWE's response is to potentially make Hogan a heel the next time he appears on television. "Those in the back have listened to the fans as they do with most of their storylines," an inside source told the site.
"They listen to the audience and if they have a direction they want to go with something, they will attempt that first but if the crowd reaction is so different, they will make sure to steer it the way the tide is going."
"There has already been discussion that the next time they put Hogan on TV is to make him a heel or a bad guy, because the last time he was a bad guy, it worked wonders for his career," they continued. "They might base it toward what they had to do with The Rock last year...So by giving the fans what they want, you get what you want, and for them, that is the adulation."
"Hogan and some of the writers have since talked and whenever Hogan comes back, if he were to be booed, they are going to expect it and lean into it 100%. Plans are for Hogan to be a bad guy again and to help out a future storyline with another wrestler," the source concluded.
While Hogan is no longer able to wrestle, it's thought he'll instead serve as a manager for another WWE Superstar. He'd definitely be a heat magnet, though whether that would be the right kind of heat for whoever he's paired with is hard to say.
The site's source also shared a few new insights into how Hogan reacted to the negative response from fans:
"When he came out, got booed, and then went to the back after his promo, he was instantly disappointed that the fans turned on him. But he wasn't p*ssed! Had it not been for him being there to promote his beer, he would have leaned into it a little more, but he just had to get through the promotion of it all. But after thinking about it, a few good things came out of it."
"The fact that he was booed, everyone talked about it, and he's been in the wrestling business long enough to know, that even a bad reaction goes a long way, because if they aren't cheering for you or aren't booing you then they don't care at all. This has actually been a great promotion for his beer and as quickly as he was disappointed, he thought about it a little more and is actually excited by how it turned out. Hulk is a businessman, and he is going to take advantage of the fans' reaction all the way to the bank."
As always, keep checking back here for updates as we have them.