Booker T and Hulk Hogan discuss the infamous WCW promo for the first time ever.
You all know the promo. You've seen it or heard about it if you've been on wrestling twitter for more than a day. It happened at WCW Spring Stampede 1997. Booker T is cutting a promo hyping his Four Corners match to determine the #1 contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship when he says, "We want the gold, sucka. Hulk Hogan, we comin' for you n****." Upon realizing what he said, Booker immediately cringes. You can view the promo by clicking here.
Appearing on Booker T's radio show, Booker and Hogan discussed the promo together, for the first time.
"That was the worst moment in my life at that time," said Booker. "I wanted to stick my head in the sand and never come out. Immediately, it was the worst day of my life. I cringed when I said it. The thing is, what's not ironic about it, it's a word I used to use on an everyday basis in my neighborhood. It was common. But, in the wrestling business, until that day, none of my peers had ever heard me use that word. No one had heard me say it. When I said it, I froze. I thought that was the end of my career."
Following his recollection of events, Booker asked Hogan why he didn't try to get him fired for using the slur.
"I wasn't aware of how intense it was. I haven't gone in to lobby to get anyone fired, much less over that word," stated Hogan. "I don't remember being as sensitive to the politically correct environment now. If it went down, I wasn't aware of it for years. If it did happen, and I was aware of it, it went in one ear and out the other because I was so used to hearing it, so I didn't know it was that intense. I'm not one of those guys who goes in there and says, 'fire one of the boys.' No matter what they did."
Booker then told the story of Randy Savage and Hogan discussing the promo the following week at catering.
"Randy goes, 'Hulk, what do you think of Booker calling you the N word?' You go, 'Well if I'm the N word. I'm a good N word,'" recalled Booker with a laugh.
Hogan was fired by WWE in 2015 after tapes leaked of him using racist language. He was brought back to the company in 2018 and issued an apology to the locker room for his words. He recently appeared at WrestleMania 35.
You can listen to the entire conversation between Booker and Hogan in the video above.
