[KTL]

initial,

When you destroy the bearing by pulling out the hub, look inside the bearing and you'll see that there's no way the pulling action will pull the inner race of the bearing through the bearing. When you pull on the inner race, the ball bearings bear on both the inner and outer race. So you've got steel on steel contact with very little play. So, yes, you definitely need to, and can reliably pull on, the inner race.