5 Times stars took real-life shots at Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan divides opinion among past and present WWE Superstars. While some remain fans of The Hulkster due to his in-ring accomplishments, others have openly criticized the two-time Hall of Famer.

In 2015, WWE released Hogan after an audio clip from 2007 emerged of him using racist language. He was immediately removed from the Hall of Fame before being reinstated in 2018.

Before the leaked audio came to light, Hogan already had a polarizing reputation in the wrestling business. Granted, the WWE icon will forever be known as one of wrestling’s biggest attractions, but his on-screen popularity did not necessarily make him popular backstage.

In this listicle, let’s count down five times that people took shots at Hogan in real life.

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#5 Bret Hart took several shots at Hulk Hogan

The inspiration for this article comes from Bret Hart’s repeated digs at Hulk Hogan over the last few years.

In 1993, Vince McMahon originally wanted Hart to recapture the WWE Championship shortly after Hogan’s impromptu title win over Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. But, according to The Hitman, the match never happened due to Hogan’s flat-out refusal to lose against him.

Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time. Speaking to the Calgary Sun in December 2021, he gave a scathing assessment of Hogan’s in-ring ability:

“I think if you look back at wrestling when it was the Hulk Hogan show, he was six-foot-eight and a one-out-of-three wrestler. He didn't know a headlock from a headlamp. He didn't know very much. He knew how to do a clothesline and maybe a body slam. He was very limited,” said Bret Hart.

The five-time WWE Champion also criticized Hogan during an interview with Barstool Rasslin’s Brandon Walker in June 2021. He claimed his fellow two-time WWE Hall of Famer “never did anything for anybody” in wrestling except for himself.

#4 The Godfather took a shot at Hulk Hogan

Charles Wright (a.k.a. The Godfather) has made it clear that he did not enjoy working with Hulk Hogan during their WWE days.

Wright’s Papa Shango character was briefly involved in a WWE storyline with Hogan at WrestleMania VIII in 1992. The event ended with Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior standing tall after Papa Shango and Sid Justice tried to double-team The Hulkster.

Nearly three decades later, Wright said on the Midnight Hustle Podcast that he did not care about his WrestleMania VIII main-event moment. He also found it difficult to say anything nice about Hogan:

“I was going through a bad divorce at that time, so Hogan, Warrior, Sid… that s*** didn’t mean anything to me. I mean, nothing. I didn’t care about Hogan, bro. He wasn’t no friend of mine. Still isn’t, you know. It doesn’t even matter, doesn’t even matter. He’s not the good guy people think he is, and I’ll let it go at that,” stated Charles Wright.

In May 2021, Wright also spoke about Hogan during an interview with WSI’s James Romero. He said the likes of The Rock and Steve Austin were “a lot nicer people” than the two-time Royal Rumble winner.

#3 Sycho Sid took a shot at Hulk Hogan

Sycho Sid, also known as Sid Justice and Sid Vicious, does not have fond memories of his aforementioned WrestleMania VIII main event against Hulk Hogan.

The finish to the match saw Sid’s manager, Harvey Wippleman, attack Hogan to cause a disqualification. The match was originally supposed to end immediately after Papa Shango’s interference, but a backstage timing error forced Hogan and Sid to slightly alter the finish.

Speaking on the Highspots Wrestling Network in May 2021, Sid claimed Hogan was “horrible” to work with:

“It was a horrible match with Hogan that night too. Hogan was a horrible worker so that’s what made that.” [H/T POST Wrestling]

Sid added that he got involved in wrestling for the money and not because he loved the business. For that reason, facing a megastar like Hulk Hogan in the main event of WWE’s biggest show of the year meant little to him.

The two-time WrestleMania main-eventer also admitted that he never watched wrestling or read wrestling magazines. He treated every match the same way, whether he was performing at a live event or on the grand WrestleMania stage.

#2 CM Punk took a shot at Hulk Hogan

CM Punk is another former WWE Superstar who has never held back in his criticisms of Hulk Hogan.

Along with The Rock and Steve Austin, Hogan is viewed as one of the three highest-drawing attractions in wrestling over the last four decades. He is also one of just eight people to have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice.

Speaking to Barstool Rasslin’s Brandon Walker, CM Punk described Hogan as “a piece of s***” while comparing him to Austin:

“You can make the argument that, oh no, Hulk Hogan is a bigger star than Steve Austin, but then you look at business periods and eras and box office receipts and like all that other stuff. I think Hogan is a piece of s***. So, obviously, I'm going to be like Steve Austin, yay, but that's another podcast.”

CM Punk previously aimed a dig at Hulk Hogan during an appearance on Windy City LIVE’s 2 Minute Warning in 2019. The Chicago native said Roddy Piper was his favorite wrestler growing up, prompting the interviewer to ask for his opinion on Hogan.

Punk admitted he “wasn’t a Hogan guy” as a child. He added that he is even less of a fan now after meeting the WWE legend in person.

#1 Jesse Ventura took several shots at Hulk Hogan

Jesse Ventura’s animosity with Hulk Hogan dates back to their time together in WWE in the 1980s and WCW in the 1990s.

Ventura, a former WWE in-ring competitor and commentator, once tried to create a union for wrestlers without Vince McMahon knowing. He later found out that Hulk Hogan disclosed details of the secret meeting to the WWE Chairman.

Former WCW President Eric Bischoff spoke about Ventura’s dislike of Hogan on his 83 Weeks podcast in October 2021. Reflecting on The Hulkster’s arrival in WCW in 1994, Bischoff said Ventura often took digs at the WWE legend:

“We’re starting to get decent morale, and Hogan comes in and now there’s some hope. And then you’ve got this guy just bad-mouthing everybody and everything, mostly because he hates Hogan. He was just a bad fit at the time.”

The WWE Hall of Famer did not believe Ventura was worth the $500,000 per year salary he received in WCW at the time. Bischoff also had an issue with the former WWE commentator after he fell asleep backstage during a WCW taping.