Hulk Hogan and ex-wife BANNED from AEW wrestling after calling for African-Americans to be 'civilized' in wake of US riots

Professional wrestling legend Hulk Hogan and his ex-wife Linda have been banned from attending All-Elite Wrestling (AEW) events after Linda issued a tweet on Tuesday blaming the US rioting on "afro Americans".

In a since-deleted social media post issued this week, Linda called for "afro Americans" to be "civilized" in the wake of a series of protests, demonstrations and looting in major American cities following the death of George Floyd while in police custody last week. 

"Watching the looting, it’s all afro Americans, not sure how robbing and stealing set the record straight but if they want to be heard they need to be civilized," the social media message read.

The tweet was roundly criticized online before it was removed, but not before Tony Khan, boss of upstart wrestling promotion All-Elite Wrestling, issued Hogan and her ex-husband with a lifetime ban from his show as a result of her comments.

"You’ve now joined your husband in being banned from all AEW shows. Congratulations," tweeted Khan, who is also the co-owner of English football team Fulham.

There was no further explanation as to why Hulk Hogan was also banned by AEW, but reports have linked it to the wrestling legend's exit from WWE several years ago after it emerged that he has used racial slurs in a recorded conversation.

He was fired by the WWE for the incident in 2015, but returned in 2018 and has since been reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Hogan also made headlines in April when he suggested that the global coronavirus pandemic was a punishment from God for society worshipping false idols.

"God said, 'you want to worship athletes, I will shut down the stadiums. You want to worship musicians, I will shut down Civic Centers. You want to worship actors, I will shut down theaters," Hogan wrote online.

"You want to worship money, I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You don’t want to go to church and worship Me, I will make it where you can’t go to church."