Booker T Thanks Hulk Hogan for Not Getting Him Fired Over Infamous N-Bomb Promo

Booker T isn’t running from his most infamous on-air mistake—he’s owning it and giving Hulk Hogan some unexpected credit for how things played out.

On a July 2025 episode of the Hall of Fame Podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer revisited his controversial WCW promo where he accidentally dropped a racial slur while cutting a live promo on Hulk Hogan back in 1997. Decades later, it’s still a moment that follows him—but he made it clear that Hogan never used the situation against him.

Booker shared that despite the magnitude of the slip-up, Hogan didn’t go to WCW executives to bury him, which could’ve ended his career on the spot.

“I also thank him for not, you know, perhaps getting me fired with my most infamous moment in all of professional wrestling, you know what I mean, that people are still talking about still to this day. That I, you know, I can’t get away from it. I can’t run away from it. I can’t hide from it or anything like that because of social media. But that day for me… I always wonder what would’ve happened, you know, if that would’ve happened today. You know? And I always wonder what would’ve happened if he would’ve taken, um, you know, a certain feeling about that and went to the office and said something. You know, where would I be right now? You know what I mean?”

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He added that he’s still grateful for Hogan’s overall contributions to the wrestling business, especially for playing a part in launching Harlem Heat’s legendary tag team run.

“So like I said, I thank the dude for what he did for the business, as well as, you know, sparking the flame for Harlem Heat to go on a run that’ll never be duplicated in all of professional wrestling.”

Co-host Brad Gilmore added that Hogan could’ve easily gone to his longtime ally Eric Bischoff and pulled rank backstage—but chose not to.

“You can’t trust this guy with a live mic,” Gilmore imagined Hogan saying, “Instead, Hogan just laughed it off like, ‘We all have our moment.’”

No matter where you stand on Hulk Hogan today, Booker T’s story flips the script on how that moment could’ve spiraled. Instead of burying a young talent, Hogan took the high road—and in doing so, may have helped shape one of the most iconic tag teams in wrestling history. Sometimes, what doesn’t happen backstage says more than what does.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.