When Hulk Hogan was booed out of the greater Los Angeles area on WWE Raw’s Netflix premiere back in January, the Donald Trump spokesman attributed it to California being a blue state that he’d last worked as a heel.
Rich Rosen, who Page Six describes as a “New York nightlife vet”, is apparently counting on Democrats in New York City to forget about Hogan’s support of Trump (and his documented, self-admitted racism) and remember his red & yellow glory days as the most popular babyface to headline Madison Square Garden since Bruno Sammartino. Because according to Page Six, Rosen is partnering with the Hulkster to open a 9000 square foot, $7 million Hogan-themed sports bar called “Slam” across the street from MSG.
The three-story building at 461 8th Avenue on the corner of 31st Street will have a rooftop bar, and interiors will be designed to look like the inside of the Garden, “complete with a Jumbotron”. The bar “will be filled with Hogan memorabilia and will have screens playing the 12-time World Champion’s greatest moments”. It will, of course, have Hogan’s Real American Beer on tap, and the WWE Hall of Famer “will be a regular fixture at the Midtown spot”.
He won’t own Slam, however. Hogan is licensing his name and likeness as Rosen’s partner. The owner explained that it came together after he acquired the property and approached Hogan at an autograph signing:
“I basically waited 5 hours in line to get two seconds with Hulk Hogan. I came with an 8-by-11 glossy picture of Madison Square Garden, and in the picture is our venue… I walked up to Hulk, I dropped the picture in front of him.
“That’s my venue, that’s the Garden, and you’re my new partner.”
They’re targeting a fall opening.