What's the story?
Hours before this week's Extreme Rules PPV, WWE released a statement on their social media channels where they announced that Hulk Hogan was reinstated to the WWE Hall of Fame.
WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry, who was critical of Hogan's racist comments, spoke to TMZ Sports, where he commented on how the WWE locker room reacted to Hulk Hogan's return.
In case you didn't know...
Hogan's contract with the WWE was terminated in 2015 after he made racist comments and removed from the WWE Hall of Fame. This past week, before Extreme Rules, WWE announced that they will be reinstating Hogan into the Hall of Fame.
He was then backstage with the WWE Superstars, and spoke about the joy at being back with his "family". He was reportedly backstage to film a WWE Network special.
The heart of the matter
In the interview with TMZ Sports, Mark Henry said that the WWE locker room's reaction was 50-50 and that some Superstars felt that Hogan had changed and that many Superstars felt the same.
He also said that he believes Hogan wants to genuinely "clear his name" as the people who respected him, see him in a different light. (H/T Bleacher Report for the transcript)
"I do feel like he genuinely wants to clear his name. He sees people that used to respect him, they look at him different. And it hurts. And he brought that on himself. But, he’s trying his best to clear that up."
"It’s 50-50. I’ve talked to guys that were like, ‘Man, the hell with him. And I had guys that were like, ‘You know what, man, if you’re willing to make a change and try to help out and go and speak up and be a part of the answer rather than a part of the problem, then it’s all good.'"
What's next?
Recent reports have suggested that Hogan has, in fact, not signed a WWE deal and was only in the building for filming the Network special.
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