Eric Bischoff Downplays Hulk Hogan Racism Controversy as One-Time Mistake

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan will always remain a controversial figure due to his racist comments that were made public in 2015. He even got blasted by MVP for the same and now it appears Eric Bischoff has come to the Hulkster’s defense.

While speaking on the Keepin’ It 100 podcast, Eric Bischoff was asked to share his thoughts about the drama concerning Hulk Hogan, MVP and Shelton Benjamin. Bischoff said he’s proud to be friends with Hulk Hogan and has known him for almost 30 years. He’s been with Hogan in all kinds of situations, public, private, at work, outside of wrestling, and in business. He said he’s always paid attention to how Hogan treats people.

Bischoff said that Hogan often goes out of his way to be kind, especially to minorities and underprivileged kids. Even when he’s busy at dinner meetings, Hogan still stops to sign autographs if fans come up to him. There are usually no cameras or media, he just does it because he wants to.

“I’m proud to be Hulk Hogan’s friend. I’ve known him for almost 30 years. I’ve been with him in every situation you can imagine—public, private, social, wrestling-related, non-wrestling, business—you name it. I’ve been there, and I’ve paid attention to how he treats people.

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I’ve seen him go out of his way to make others feel valued, especially minorities or underprivileged kids, particularly in environments where you can tell they may feel overlooked or excluded. I’ve watched him make time for everyone. Even during important business dinners, when someone interrupts every ten minutes asking for an autograph, he never brushes them off. There are no cameras around, no press—nothing in it for him. That’s just who he is.”

Bischoff said one of Hogan’s biggest problems is that he’s too loyal, and people close to him have taken advantage of that. Bischoff hopes people judge Hogan based on how he’s acted over the years, not on one night when he was drunk and in a lot of pain.

Bischoff said Hogan was drinking vodka and taking a lot of prescription drugs because he was hurting badly. He could barely walk, was getting divorced, and his son was in jail. Everything in his life was falling apart, and he was suffering all the time.

Bischoff said he’s seen others in wrestling go through similar things and act out, and he’s been there himself. He believes Hogan said something dumb in a really dark moment, and people should understand that context.

“One of his biggest flaws is that he’s loyal to a fault. He’s been burned by some of the people closest to him.

I just hope people judge him by his actions over time, not by one night when he was hammered, chasing vodka because he was in so much pain. And for the record, a lot of that was prescribed. If you saw the list of what he was prescribed back then and the amounts, you’d understand.

Let me finish my thought, Konnan. You’ve seen it. You’ve been around guys who were self-medicating—some with legitimate reasons, like Hulk. He could barely walk. He was going through a divorce. His son was in jail. His life was falling apart. He couldn’t sit, stand, sleep, or stay awake without pain. So what do you do? You’ve seen it. I’ve done it. How many times have we seen our friends—or even ourselves—go through dark times, and say or do stupid stuff? That was one of those moments for him.”

In the end, Eric Bischoff believes fans should look at Hulk Hogan’s full history and all the good he’s done over the years to understand who he really is as a person and not just focus on the racist remarks Hogan said that night.

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