A recruit at the WWE Performance Center has publicly questioned the company’s widespread tributes to the late, great Hulk Hogan. Jamar Hampton, a talent who has appeared on WWE Evolve, posted and then deleted a critical message on his Instagram account.
The post came as WWE has been honoring the life and career of Hogan, who passed away last Thursday at the age of 71. Tributes have been featured on every major WWE television show this past week.
“Is This Really Who We Should Be Celebrating?”
In his now-deleted Instagram post, Jamar Hampton directly questioned the decision to celebrate the iconic but controversial wrestling legend. He urged his followers to look into Hogan’s past.
“Is this really who we should be celebrating? Do ya research,” he wrote.
Hampton then linked to a YouTube video that contained a transcript of Hulk Hogan’s infamous racist rant, which was leaked to the public in 2015. The comments led to Hogan being fired by WWE at the time.
Wow. Jamar Hampton who is currently under WWE contract, currently trains at the PC and has appeared on LFG and Evolve. pic.twitter.com/8FEWS21s1p
— Danny (@dajosc11) July 30, 2025
Grappling With A Complicated Legacy
The incident Hampton referenced is the most significant controversy of Hulk Hogan’s career. In 2015, a recording from 2007 was leaked in which Hogan repeatedly used racial slurs and admitted to being “a racist, to a point.” The backlash was immediate, and WWE terminated its contract with him, removing him from their Hall of Fame and erasing most mentions of him from their website for three years.
After making numerous public apologies, Hogan was reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. However, the incident remains a deeply painful and divisive part of his legacy.
A Company-Wide Tribute
Since Hogan’s passing, WWE has presented a unified front in celebrating his life. The company’s Raw, SmackDown, and NXT broadcasts this week have all opened with a ten-bell salute and video packages honoring his career. These tributes have focused solely on his positive contributions to the industry and his status as a pop culture icon. Jamar Hampton’s now-deleted post is a reflection of the difficult conversation happening among some fans and wrestlers.
