Shelton Benjamin Slams Hulk Hogan For 'Don't Get Caught' Apology Following Name Botch
Though he was once inarguably the most popular wrestler in the United States, former WWE star Hulk Hogan has come to be known more for his scandals than anything else. In the latest controversy to emerge, clips of Hogan mistakenly referring to AEW wrestler Shelton Benjamin as "Benjamin Shelton" resurfaced online, and Benjamin offered a heated response on X.
Message to @HulkHogan. You lost me forever with your "don't get caught" ...or as you would call it "apology" speech. So rather than screw up my name and pretend we ever had any sort of camaraderie which we never had. Please do me a favor & pic.twitter.com/4ccA4I9Qef
— Shelton J. Benjamin (@Sheltyb803) May 6, 2025
For the last part of his message, Benjamin opted to use a slightly altered version of the now-infamous GIF depicting Will Smith at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, moments before he walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock after the host made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The apology that Benjamin was referring to was given by Hogan to the WWE locker room in 2018, when he was reinstated to the WWE Hall of Fame after the company removed him due to one of his biggest scandals to date. In 2015, an audio recording went public that included Hogan using racial slurs, and the wrestler was quickly dropped by many sponsors and business partners, including WWE. However, the company decided to bring him back into the fold three years later, with Hogan addressing the roster shortly before the announcement was made.
Many (including Benjamin) felt that the backstage apology was not genuine. Wrestlers such as Seth Rollins have continued to speak negatively about Hogan in recent years, and the former fan favorite was heavily booed during his "WWE Raw" appearance earlier this year in Los Angeles, California.
In the midst of all this, Hogan has announced that he's starting a new freestyle wrestling promotion with friend and former WCW executive Eric Bischoff. Additional details will likely be announced soon, with the promotion rumored to make its debut this August.