Booker T Addresses Hulk Hogan Getting Roundly Booed On WWE Raw's Netflix Debut

WWE's premiere episode of "WWE Raw" on Netflix was overall a positive experience for everyone involved, except for Hulk Hogan and his manager Jimmy Hart. Hogan was vociferously booed by the Intuit Dome crowd, with Hart left to stand alongside Hogan as collateral damage.

WWE Hall of Famer Booker T detailed what he believes has happened to Hogan.

"Getting old sucks, man, because you lose your focus," Booker T chuckled on the "Hall of Fame" podcast. "He's lost his focus and lost his way as far as being able to connect with young people."

The "WWE NXT" broadcaster believes that it's paramount that wrestlers be able to change with the times. Booker says he tries to stay "grounded" by listening to a group of young people who keep him focused on what connects with people today, as opposed to in Booker's day.

"I felt bad for Jimmy Hart. Jimmy's a good dude. Jimmy's just been doing his work for the last 30 years. It's just kinda sad to see," Booker said, believing young people in general are simply different than they were in the past. "They've perhaps never watched Hulk Hogan do his thing. They've never seen the Andre the Giant match."

He feels this is an inevitability as he's often known first as a broadcaster to young fans, and then second for his lengthy in-ring career.

"I can see being disconnected from the fans and going out there and not have that magic today in 2025 than it did in 1985," Booker explained. "It's a different world now."

Booker T thinks that a lot of Hulk Hogan's reception has to do with the lingering effects of Hogan's racist tirades from many years back, and also noted that there's clearly something missing from the Hulk Hogan of 2025.

"Maybe he's created a lot of that 'go-away' heat. It's hard watching Hulk Hogan compared to the Hulk Hogan that we watched in the 80s," Booker continued, saying it wouldn't be as simple as Hulk putting on his red and yellow attire and pretending everything is fine. "Today's opinion is voiced very, very loudly and we got a chance to see that in real time."

The Hall of Famer reflected on both of his surprise appearances in the 2012 and 2023 Royal Rumble matches, and how positive both receptions were. He understands how no longer getting that reaction could bruise someone like Hulk Hogan's ego.

"You want that affirmation," Booker said. "To see where that dude is ... it's a far fall from grace. It really truly is. I wouldn't want to be that guy. I really wouldn't."

While Booker hasn't wrestled for WWE since the 2023 Rumble match, he is active in his Reality of Wrestling promotion, where he is currently feuding with Zilla Fatu, the son of former WWE Intercontinental Champion, Umaga.