Jonathan Coachman: Hulk Hogan 'apologised for racism scandal to get a big payday'
Former WWE broadcaster Jonathan Coachman has opened up on the moment late wrestling legend Hulk Hogan apologised to the locker room.
Jonathan Coachman says Hulk Hogan apologised for his racism scandal "to get a big payday".
The former WWE star, who worked for the company as a commentator and backstage interviewer from 2000 until 2008 and again from 2018 to 2021, has admitted he is "conflicted" when it comes to discussing the late Hall of Famer's legacy after his death in July 2025 aged 71.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz via Hard Rock Bet, Coachman said: "I'm conflicted when I talk about Hulk Hogan. He was always great to me. We had great conversations; he was great to my family when he met them. He was really good at what we call ‘putting it on’.
"Then you see the things that he did, the things that he said. I was also in the room for the apology that he had to deliver to the locker room, specifically to the B Black wrestlers, after the video came out with him and his daughter's boyfriend at the time."
Hogan, real name Terry Bollea, was fired by WWE and blacklisted from the company after the 2015 scandal when he was heard using racist language in a leaked tape.
He made his on-screen in November 2018 at the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, having apologised to wrestlers backstage earlier that year, with stars like Titus O'Neil and Mark Henry later criticising his locker room speech.
Coachman continued: "That apology was so he could get a big payday to go to the first Saudi Arabia show when that deal was struck back in 2018.
"I don't know if he could have been any more sincere, and it would have mattered to anybody, because everybody knew he was going to get like two or three million dollars for one show."
Hogan died in July 2025, six months after he was loudly booed by fans in Los Angeles on what ended up being his final TV appearance for WWE.
Coachman insisted that despite being "the most important figure" in wrestling history, there isn't a "thirst or a hunger for Hulk Hogan stuff right now", even over a year after his passing.
Asked if WWE can honour his Hogan's contribution's after his death, he said: "I think we can all agree that he's the most important figure in the history of pro wrestling, because without Hulk Hogan, I don't think the company could have gotten to a point where you could do a WrestleMania back in the '80s.
"But as far as, do they need to do anything right now? I don't know that they do, because I don't hear the outcry from fans.
"And unfortunately, and I have to tell myself this as well, when we all pass away, hey, if we're lucky enough, somebody will talk about us for a day or two, and then they move on."
