WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil was on Busted Open Radio this week. Among several topics, he talked about Hulk Hogan’s reinstatement into the WWE Hall Of Fame.
“I think I pretty much summed up everything in my statement on Twitter and Instagram,” O’Neil said.
He continued, “At the end of the day, the company made a decision. I support the decision. I actually support having one of the most iconic figures in WWE history in Hulk Hogan being in the WWE Hall Of Fame. What I don’t support is the apology that was given in regards to the words and the actions that he exhibited years ago. To me, when you have true remorse for being sorry about doing something, it’s pretty simple. You don’t have to be prepped to say certain things and you definitely don’t want to make excuses. I feel like the inconsistencies with the time that it came out to last week were so across the board. It was uncomfortable for me. I wanna give the character Hulk Hogan a chance. I wanna give the man Terry Bollea a chance to redeem himself [and] not just for minority fans but for people that don’t have that same mindset. From a personal standpoint, when there were not many heroes on television, I can honestly say that Hulk Hogan was a hero to me and many other minorities. The words that he spoke, he truly let a lot of folks down…both white, black and everything in between. I feel like when you make that type of mistake, it’s not just for the time being but it’s for generations of people both past and present that you’re trying to make amends to.”
O’Neil continued, “Mark [Henry] expressed how he felt in the meeting which was very spot on with how he felt. Then I saw reports that it was a 50/50 split with certain people. I respectfully disagree with that. That was from his perspective. I have always looked at Mark as a leader. If Mark had made those type of comments, I don’t feel like he would have come back to the table that same way.”
“I made a statement and I pretty much lined up everything that I had to say in accordance with what New Day said. We don’t not want him in the Hall Of Fame. That would be ignorant to say that I don’t want to give a chance. In the same token, I’m not trying to be part of a reclamation project when it’s not true remorse behind that reclamation project. If it’s done for show, I can’t be a part of that.”
Henry said that he was angry because people outside of the industry tried to claim that O’Neil got mad and he left when he saw Hogan. Henry said that the stories about O’Neil were not true and there were 20 others that were told that they could go home because they were not booked on Extreme Rules.
O’Neil added, “I have zero respect for the way that he came about his apology. It was not an apology and I feel very strongly about that. He doesn’t have to prove anything to me. He doesn’t have to prove anything to you. At the end of the day, he’s a grown man that made a mistake. However he goes about correcting his mistake, that is on him.”
O’Neil said he wants to see the evolution of Terry Bollea as a man. There was a lot more said in the interview. You can listen to everything in the video below:
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open Radio with a H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
