Topline
UFC President Dana White and longtime WWE wrestler Hulk Hogan delivered high-octane endorsement speeches for former President Donald Trump on the Republican Nationwide Conference, underscoring the previous president’s decades-old ties with each WWE and UFC.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 18: Skilled entertainer and wrestler Hulk Hogan poses as he speaks … [+]
Getty PicturesKey Information
Trump’s relationship with WWE—previously often called WWF—dates again to 1988, when he acquired concerned within the rise of now-billionaire Vince McMahon’s sports activities leisure empire, leading to Trump Plaza in Atlantic Metropolis sponsoring WrestleMania 1988 and 1989 (Trump mentioned in a 2011 documentary he “needed a bit of” the occasion).
Since then, Trump has additionally made appearances at WrestleMania 1991 in Los Angeles and WrestleMania 2004 in New York, and in 2007, he participated within the “Battle of the Billionaires” at WrestleMania 2007, the place Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga, resulting in billionaire McMahon’s head being shaved in the course of the ring.
Trump, who was inducted into the WWE Corridor of Fame in 2013, appointed WWE co-founder and McMahon’s spouse, Linda McMahon, as administrator of the Small Enterprise Administration.
Vince McMahon paid $5 million to Trump’s former charity in 2007 and 2009, lining up with Trump’s WWE appearances, although the precise goal of the funds isn’t clear, The Wall Avenue Journal reported (the funds got here to gentle when WWE revealed hundreds of thousands in unrelated, beforehand unrecorded bills paid by McMahon to sexual misconduct accusers).
Trump’s relationship with UFC and White started greater than 20 years in the past, when Trump personally invited White to carry occasions at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic Metropolis, attending each the Could and June 2001 occasions from begin to end, White mentioned in a 2022 interview cited by the BBC.
Again throughout the 2016 Republican Nationwide Conference, White delivered a speech endorsing Trump, and simply final month, shortly after Trump’s conviction in his hush-money trial, his first public look post-felony was at a UFC occasion.
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Key Background
The world of sports activities leisure and fight sports activities descended on the Republican Nationwide Conference on Thursday, with the likes of Hogan, White and Linda McMahon all giving endorsement speeches in help of Donald Trump. Throughout Hogan’s speech, he introduced the group to its ft utilizing a lot of his well-known wrestling catchphrases and logos, together with ripping off his shirt to point out a Trump t-shirt. Previous to his speech, Hogan mentioned in a Fox Information interview and through his speech the assassination try on Trump impressed him to talk on the conference, calling Trump his “hero” and “what America wants.” Linda McMahon additionally delivered a speech on Trump’s behalf earlier Thursday.
Tangent
White’s introduction speech for Trump marks a change of tempo in comparison with Trump’s earlier GOP conventions, the place his spouse Melania and daughter Ivanka gave the introductory speeches in 2016 and 2020, respectively.
Stunning Reality
Regardless of his emphatic Trump help, Hulk Hogan endorsed Barack Obama again in 2008 however determined to not endorse him once more for his second time period in 2012, in accordance with The Washington Put up.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Vince McMahon’s web value at $2.9 billion. McMahon left WWE—now owned by TKO Group—earlier this 12 months amid a number of sexual misconduct allegations. The Wall Avenue Journal stories federal authorities are investigating sexual assault and trafficking allegations in opposition to McMahon, who has denied all accusations in opposition to him. Trump, for his half, is value an estimated $5.9 billion.
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