WWE star Seth Rollins has given his honest perspective on Hulk Hogan.
One of the biggest stars in professional wrestling history, Hulk Hogan became an icon of the sport and a major influence on stars of the future generation, including Rollins. However, due to Hogan’s past controversies, including his use of racist language in 2015, the WWE Hall of Famer is not viewed in the same light as he once was.
While speaking with RGIII and Grete Griffin on the Outta Pocket podcast, Seth Rollins first stated that although he was previously a fan of Hogan and that the Hall of Famer has always been good to him, that does not excuse Hogan for what he has done:
“Looked, I’ve glossed over it a little bit. Hogan has always been great to me. He was a guy who I was a fan of when I was growing up and he’s always been personally good to me, but I’m not stupid. I see everything that is out there. He is someone who is, I think, is a victim of his own ego a little bit. He just doesn’t understand how what he does affects people around him. He just lives in this space that he’s created for himself. He’s shaped his world view and this is how he’s going to see things.
I think if you going to be like that, people are going to treat you accordingly, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just like any other relationship. If you are not a good person and it’s in your moral ethic to not treat everyone with the same respect, regardless of what they do or where they come from or the colour of their skin, I got not time for you.
I got respect for everything you’ve done for my business, I really appreciate that, but as a person, we’re probably not going to hang out. It is what it is. Whether he hasn’t changed his personal beliefs or he hasn’t taken the time to honestly make amends for some of the things he’s said and done, I don’t know which one it is, maybe it’s both, maybe it’s one more than the other, I don’t know.
But you put those two things together, you kind of have dug your own grave. If you don’t feel you want to make that progress in your life with the people around you, that’s just not the kind of person I want to associate with. That’s how it is.”
Seth Rollins Details What It Would Take For Hulk Hogan To Make Amends
When asked what it would take for Hulk Hogan to make amends for what he has done, Seth Rollins continued and stated that Hogan needed to realise that what he said was not acceptable and take accountability:
“Again, first of all, you have to change the way you think. You use the kind of language that he used, and the way he used it, it’s just not acceptable. That, to me, is your mind and the way you think. First of all, you need to look at yourself in the mirror, and you need to realise that’s not okay and you need to realise you need to think differently and how you get yourself there.
What process do you need to take to get yourself there? ‘What am I doing? Why am I acting this way? Why am I thinking this way? Is this learned behaviour? Likely, it is. ‘Why did I learn this? I need to unlearn this. Why do people think that I feel this way? If I’m saying that I don’t, why do people think I am this person?
You need to understand those are valid criticisms, give validity to that. Then, apologise, profoundly apologise. If that’s something you feel you should do. If you don’t, I don’t have time for you. The people that boo you when you come out to the arena, they don’t have time for you either. If this is the person you want to be, okay, that’s who you want to be. A lot of us just aren’t going to have time for you.
“I think it’s a shame, I really do. I think it’s a shame because, just in my industry personally, he’s done a lot for it and I think he has a lot to offer. He’s not been one of those old timers who has dunked on the business. He’s never been that type of guy and I think he has a lot to offer.
I just wish he would look in the mirror a little bit and be like, ‘Dude, I screwed up. That’s not who I am and not who I want to be. I apologise for that, and I hope you guys can accept my apology, and I’m trying to do better every day.’ I think if he just approached it that way, it might go a long way in helping him build relationships with people like me who are like I ain’t got time for you right now.'”
When it was brought up that it may have been tough on Rollins to dissociate himself from Hulk Hogan given that he was a Hogan fan growing up, Rollins responded that there was a point where his opinion changed:
“It’s not that tough, it’s just not. Because once I got to a certain point, you know, because you put your heroes on a pedestal. And then once you get to a certain point that you realise they’re just people too, it stops. It starts being a little easier [that] you don’t forgive them for their mistakes. You’re a person just like me.
So atone or yeah, we don’t have to be like this. I don’t have to feel that way about you. I don’t hold on, I don’t keep nothing. In life, I don’t like keeping anything in my house, and I don’t hold on to anything. So how I feel about you today doesn’t have to be how I feel about you tomorrow.”
In another interview, Roman Reigns has shown his support for Donald Trump.
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