Everyone's Making The Same Iron Sheik Joke After Hulk Hogan Mercilessly Booed

The Netflix debut of "WWE Raw" was highlighted by appearances from some of the biggest stars in professional wrestling, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, The Undertaker, Cody Rhodes, Rhea Ripley, and many more appearing live in Los Angeles, California. Nearly all of the performers in attendance received their desired reaction, save for one of the biggest stars of WWE's heyday — Hulk Hogan.

Hogan made his entrance alongside longtime friend and onscreen manager Jimmy Hart about two-thirds of the way through the episode, with the crowd initially reacting positively to Hogan's theme music, "Real American." However, once that music stopped and Hogan began talking, the crowd turned and began raining boos upon the retired wrestler. Though he looked slightly thrown off, Hogan pushed through and delivered a promo advertising his Real American Beer, which WWE recently became a sponsor and part-owner of. He and Hart then turned around and returned backstage.

There are various possible reasons for the crowd's overwhelmingly negative reaction to Hogan, from his presence at the Republican National Convention in 2024 to the infamous scandal that saw Hogan recorded using racial slurs. No matter the reasons, what's certain is that the LA crowd was firmly against Hogan, and it caught the attention of mainstream outlets and social media users. Many online wound up making similar jokes by invoking one of Hogan's old rivals, The Iron Sheik (real name Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri).

Most variations of the joke involve the late Iron Sheik looking down on Hogan's segment from the afterlife, laughing at his enemy's misfortune. Though he died in 2023, the official X account of The Iron Sheik is still going strong, with several inflammatory posts aimed at Hogan over the course of this week.

"Through thick and thin Hulk Hogan go f**k yourself," said one post.

The jokes didn't stop there, either, with many wrestling fans getting their own posts in. Some were attempting to recreate the Sheik account's distinct tone of voice, while others were simply amused that the account is still active.

"The Iron Sheik hated Hulk Hogan so much that he tweeted from beyond the grave," said Mike Beauvais. "A generational hatred that transcends death."

"The ghost of The Iron Sheik is already in the running for the biggest hater of 2025 award," said X user @MichaelSFNR1.

One user joked that Hogan would likely blame the crowd reaction on The Iron Sheik's ghost, while at the same time stating that Paul "Triple H" Levesque should book Hogan in a match against his rival's spirit at WWE WrestleMania 41 in April. Additionally, many fans are circulating old posts by The Iron Sheik account that feature vitriol towards Hogan.

Even prior to the death of The Iron Sheik, it was not confirmed that the WWE Hall of Famer was in charge of his own social media accounts, making it unlikely that he was behind the posts aimed at Hogan. However, it is fair to say that they were a solid representation of how the man felt, as The Iron Sheik was often outspoken as one of the many wrestlers who disliked Hogan.

Despite Sheik's distaste, he played a monumental part in Hogan's career. In 1984, it was The Iron Sheik who dropped the WWF Championship to Hogan, kicking off Hulk-A-Mania. The Iron Sheik maintained that AWA promoter Verne Gagne offered to pay him money to break Hogan's leg in the match as retaliation for Hogan walking out on the promotion. However, the match went according to plan, and the rest is history.