News Surrounding Hulk Hogan’s Banner that was Raised in Madison Square Garden

The latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided some news surrounding Hulk Hogan’s banner that was raised in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 27. Initially, WWE led fans to believe that the banner was to forever hang in MSG, forever immortalizing Hogan in that arena. However, that is not the case, as the banner was removed two days following the ceremony.

Dave Meltzer writes the following on the situation,

“The WWE at first pushed it like this was a permanent thing, with the WWE Twitter that night saying, “This banner forever hangs in the rafters of The Garden, brother.” But after it was taken down, WWE released a statement saying, “The banner was part of our show and was never intended to stay at Madison Square Garden.”

The crowd of 12,000 fans went crazy, thinking something honoring a pro wrestler would be a permanent part of MSG next to the banners with the retired numbers of the biggest stars of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers history. Fans were given the impression that the banner would be a permanent part of Madison Square Garden events, but it was actually just something done for the ceremony at the show. The banner had already been taken down the next afternoon when the Knicks played in the building.”

He would go on to describe a similar situation that occurred with a banner ceremony in the Garden in 1994, saying,

“There was actually a similar incident 21 years ago in relation to Martina Navratilova having a banner raised for her in Madison Square Garden at a tennis tournament, which got a huge amount of media publicity, because it was unique for a woman athlete to get what appeared to be an honor of having a permanent banner in MSG, and that it was someone other than a Knicks or Rangers player. But a few days later, when the banner was gone, there was a lot of negative publicity. While implied it would be permanent, it wasn’t, and fans felt betrayed and angry, and both MSG and the WTA took heat at the time, but the banner was never put up. It was noted that there was no chance a Hogan banner was staying up, because only Knicks and Rangers banners stay up.”

The entire “Hulk Hogan Appreciation Night” WWE Live Event held in Madison Square Garden on Feb. 27 was said to have been a fantastic outing for the company, as they practically sold out and fans were praising the matches held on the card. Hogan’s banner may not hang in MSG forever, but Hulkamania will always run forever.

Editor’s Note:
People actually thought the banner would always hang in MSG? Fandango is a real dancer too, right? Torito…a bull?