Jim Ross On Hulk Hogan’s Reinstatement Into The WWE Hall Of Fame, Papa John & More

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently shared his thoughts on Hulk Hogan’s reinstatement into WWE’s Hall Of Fame on the most recent edition of The Ross Report. Below are the highlights courtesy of WrestlingInc.

On Hogan’s Reinstatement Into The WWE Hall Of Fame:

“It’s not a surprise! Hey look, what Hogan did is just so sad, and unnecessary, and what a major mistake,” Ross said. “I think he knows that. Now, somewhere down this journey of healing, if we find out that Hogan [has] got a different agenda, well, shame on him. I don’t believe that to be true. But I believe I’m willing to stand back and let this whole process play out and see how it works at the end of the day. I don’t know how long we’re supposed to punish somebody for doing something so stupid. It was stupidity and ignorance. How long do you get penalized for stupidity and ignorance? It’s different now than doing bodily harm to somebody. Hey, I watch enough [Law & Order: SVU] with Mariska Hargitay to understand that. So we hope that Hogan has a nice reentry.” Ross added, “but congratulations. I’m glad he’s back. Now make me proud that you’re back and do great things. He has an amazing opportunity with his influence and name identity, does Hogan, to leave lasting positive impressions on everybody, no matter their ethnicity.”

On Hogan’s Possible Role in WWE:

“Without sounding like an asshole, [Hogan]’ll probably have a [WWE] Hall Of Fame role.” Ross explained, “PR, he [has] got a lot of ground to cover. He [has] got some fences to mend, some bridges to repair, but that could be done. I don’t see him wrestling again. He’s 65 years old. Now, I’m not knocking the guy. It’s not. ‘J.R., look at you!’ I’m not Hulk Hogan. I never even played him on television. Could Hogan have a one-off somewhere? Of course he could! ‘Well, where do you do that?’ Hell, you do that in New York City at WrestleMania. That’s what you do! But is that what you really need to do? He’s 100 [%]. He [has] got a bad back. He’s a warhorse, man. He [has] been battered and beat up. So I think it’ll be more of a PR role. I’m glad that he’s back and it give him more motivation to make himself better, without a doubt.”

On Papa John:

“Papa John, what an idiot this guy is.” Ross continued, “he [has] got a bad eye job. He looks like a phone guy. He has created a great brand. He loves what he has done. I love what he has done as an entrepreneur, but not what he has done as a humanitarian. You don’t bounce around the n-word if you’ve got some character and you’ve got a little class. Apparently, this dude is lacking both. He’s getting hammered now, so a lot of big teams, a lot of big sponsors are saying, ‘adiós, Papa John’s’. I will not buy their pizza either. Sorry, that’s how I work. If you don’t like the way somebody’s doing something, instead of just getting on a platform like this or social media and b—hing and moaning, I’ve got a solution for me. I ain’t buying no damn Papa John’s pizza. How’s that? Now I can hear someone from the mighty Westwood One, ‘oh, J.R., we were this close to a deal with Papa John’s! You killed it!’ I’m sorry, I’m going to be honest here or not do it.”