Titus O'Neil issues statement on Hulk Hogan's reinstatement

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Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/07/19/titus-oneil-issues-statement-on-hulk-hogans-reinstatement/

Photo courtesy: WWE

The following statement was posted by Titus O’Neil (Thaddeus Bullard) regarding the reinstatement of Hulk Hogan by the WWE and Hogan’s subsequent apology to the locker room at this past Sunday’s Extreme Rules event in Pittsburgh.

Earlier in the day, the New Day members put out a collective statement that was posted on Kofi Kingston’s Twitter account to address the same topic.

To my gracious fans and the WWE Universe.

The reports and rumors concerning my boycotting “Extreme Rules” in Pittsburgh is false and inaccurate. I was not scheduled to attend or be a participant in the “Extreme Rules” match/production and was otherwise not booked for the show.

The talent present in Pittsburgh, which I was a part of, was asked to attend a mandatory meeting in which Mr. Terry Bollea addressed everyone and informed the same that he would be reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame. At no point during, after or otherwise did I make any scene concerning Mr. Bollea’s communication to the talent. In addition, let it be known that I did not refuse to shake Mr. Bollea’s hand; we did not have any type of one-on-one interaction whatsoever that would or did necessitate any exchange between us individually.

As to the reinstatement of Mr. Bollea, I can only communicate that I am a proponent of second and even third chances for individuals that show true remorse, acknowledgement of wrongdoing, fulfill their punishment, if applicable, and otherwise put forth sincere efforts to correct the issues.

Unfortunately, I must echo the sentiment and dissatisfaction expressed by many of my fellow contemporaries concerning Mr. Bollea’s apology and its lack of true contrition, remorse and a desire to change. Mr. Bollea’s apology “that he didn’t know he was being recorded” is not remorse for the hateful and violent utterances he made which reprise language that has caused violence against blacks and minorities for centuries.

I stand firm in my position that Mr. Bollea is entitled to reinstatement; he was and is a role model, hero and icon to countless people. I hope that Mr. Bollea’s missteps in communicating to the WWE talent in Pittsburgh are not repeated to his fans and I expect that he shall pursue an agenda that clearly communicates to all third parties that his language was inappropriate, wrong and should not be tolerated in a civilized and inclusive society.

As the father of two young black men, I have spent their entire life and the majority of my adult life with a singular focus; being a role model for my children and young black boys and girls. I take tremendous pride in my charity work and the community outreach programs that I have fostered via the platform I have been given. I teach my sons love and tolerance for everybody, but I also teach them to operate in truth and respect.

I hope this clears up any confusion. I, like New Day, will continue to use my platform to positively affect, entertain, embrace, celebrate and love people from all backgrounds both inside and outside of the WWE Universe.

Sincerely,

Thaddeus Bullard aka WWE SuperStar “Titus Oneil”

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Very well written. Best babyface promo Titus has ever done.

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When Titus O’Neil doesn’t compel me to change the channel to see what else is on when he’s onscreen, or when he can draw money for the business, I’ll find concern for what he has to say about business decisions. He couldn’t draw flies at a picnic where the main course was shit sandwiches.

When The New Day stop with the shuck n’ jive minstrel show on TV every week, I’ll find concern about their opinions on Hulk Hogan’s private conversations.

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They expressed an opinion on social media, about a man being employed by the company that employs them, after he made comments about a group of people that they belong too.

Their opinion on this is is important and relevant to the situation. Whether you find them entertaining or not isn’t remotely relevant.

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Whatever. Titus o’Neil is a nobody “C” list curtain jerker who needs to concern himself more with trying to get anyone to know who he is without having to tell them first, or he isn’t going to have to worry about “working” with Hogan or anybody else. The New Day’s act is straight out of 1950’s Hollywood portrayals of black people. Yet, they continue to do it for a paycheck. Thier opinion on race relations isn’t remotely relevant.

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So let me understand, because Titus o’neil is a mid-card wrestler, he should shut up and get on with his job and not have an opinion on hulk hogans appointment.

And because you consider the new days gimmick to be racist, they shouldn’t have an opinion on someone who says he doesn’t like black people.

Not familiar with 50s Hollywood, so can’t comment on that. Assuming all black characters skipped pretending to be unicorns, poured pancakes out of cereal boxes, and dressed up as people from dragon ball z.

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Almost. Titus would have to work much harder to be considered “mid-card”

They can have an opinion, but it’s hypocritical and irrelevant.

Good, be quiet then until you can keep up.

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Is there a list somewhere of who gets to voice an opinion on the internet and who doesn’t?

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So, if a black employees opinion on his/her employers, employing racists is irrelevant, who’s opinion would you consider relevant?

You must really hate racism if you think a black person condemning racism is irrelevant simply because you find a character they portray to be racist.

I will be quiet about 50s Hollywood, didn’t particularly want to speak about it in the 1st place, to help me keep up though, perhaps you could suggest a few films where characters are similar to those of the new day?

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To be honest, I do feel as a part of the WWE you pretty much know the type of people you’re working for and so I can’t imagine Hogan’s return was any sort of surprise. During the period Hogan was banished from the WWE, the WWE were still honouring The Ultimate Warrior who has publicly said a lot worse.

As for the statement, it was very well written and he didn’t go overboard with outrage. He simply stated his stance on the matter.

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I feel it added clarity to wild rumors. As for what was written, I only find one thing wrong, and I am nitpicking, but it bothered me enough to write. “He was and is role model, hero and icon to countless people” I don’t believe Terry Bollea is a role model, hero & icon. I believe the character Hulk Hogan is the Icon etc. Terry Bollea is an ego driven, way past his sell by date, grabbing at any headlines he can- type person. This is the same person who claimed he did not know Bret Hart wrote a book, yet he has an official quote in the book.

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I get why the black wrestlers all decided to give a statement about this. That’s because everybody wanted to know how they feel about this but at the same time, it just give more publicity to the reinstatement.

When you look at all the statements that came out this week, you got the wwe employed superstars (new day, titus) which I felt where way to corporate for my taste as both sounded pretty much the same and you have guys that aren’t full time wwe employees or just not employed by WWE which felt more genuine.

I’m not saying that what was written in titus and new day statement weren’t how they really fell but it felt like if somebody from corporate wrote those statement since they look exactly the same.

In comparison, look at mark Henry, Booker t or eve the pope’s statement on this subject, they felt from the heart genuine and not just to written because they we’re forced too. Anyway, I’m kinda surprise that not more statements from black WWE wrestlers came out this week. I get why they felt like it was a good idea for the new day to release one since they are big stars, titus was mostly to save face after those rumors started in the dirt sheet but how about how Apollo crews think about this or velveteen dream or any other black wrestlers, announcers or referee. It’s like this was just a way for wwe to make this as controversial as they could.

Again, not saying that they didn’t meant what they wrote but it felt very convenient that the biggest black stars and the guy that had all thoses rumors going around him release a statement that sounded exactly the same during the same week.

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The situation was a bit of a Catch-22.

If they didn’t put out a statement, not only would they look like they were 100% on board with Terry being welcomed back to the family with open arms…But they’d leave space for more rumors like Titus’ “walk out” to fester.

So they had to say something, but they couldn’t go so hard at Terry that they created heat with the higher-ups who may have been sympathetic to Hogan.

I think they handled it best they could. They stated what issues they still have with the man, but they did it in a calm, rational, & professional manner that pretty much everybody could accept. :100:

:sunglasses: