Before They Were Stars: Hulk Hogan Cuts a Racially Sensitive Promo

Between the death of Rowdy Roddy Piper and Hulk Hogan having his career ruined by leaked racist comments, this hasn’t been the best week for World Wrestling Federation superstars from the 1980s. Before Hogan became the biggest star in the industry, he originally made his debut in the WWF as a bad guy in 1979, managed by legendary manager Classy Freddy Blassie. His first major feud was with popular black babyface Tony Atlas and well… due to recent events, it wouldn’t surprise me if the preceding clip were to go viral. Hogan instigates his feud with Atlas by calling him “brown clown” and actually says “shine my shoes, boy”. To be fair, Hogan was playing a heel character, but the world of pro wrestling was a lot less politically correct then.