Hulk Hogan Not Happy With Not Having Champion for UK Tour

[Thriller]

Originally Posted by It's Damn Real!

They had two routes with it, too:

1. Hot-shot the Aces and Eights storyline and reveal someone like Bully Ray as part of the group after he's been given a title shot against Hardy on IMPACT, having Ray (or insert character here) cheat to win the title, injuring Hardy in the process. Aces & Eights goes to the forefront of TNA/IW, look 100x more credible, and you now have Hardy involved in the story line completely, over the company's most valuable strap.

2. Go with the tried and true approach and have either Aries or Roode take it off him in similar fashion. Dupe him, the way Roode duped Storm into putting the #1 Contender's Spot on the line, only to cheat your way to winning it. You now have a money match-up with Hardy wanting revenge against either at Lockdown.

It's too easy not to, and I'd argue that Hardy chasing a guy who "stole" his title at Lockdown would sell ten times the number of tickets as the guy coming "after" Hardy for the title he's held for months now.

You do risk it because scoffed at for being hot-shotting, but that first option would've been great to give Aces & 8s some credibility they desperately need. Hell, Mr. Anderson is probably the biggest name in A&8s and is a former World Champ, have him win it. This was a big opportunity for TNA to do something big, and it's unfortunate that they chose to stand pat.

[blockanWo]

Im going to go against the grain here. While yes not having the World Champion on your major tour is a bit *meh*. I firmly believe that TNA should have highlighted the other titles.

Why not have a few huge X Division title matches? Hell X Division tournament, have Douglas Williams go over and win the number one contender ship first week on tour. Second week RVD vs Zema or something, Williams comes in and gives him the Chaos Theory, Final night he wins the belt off RVD - job done. Why the fuck isnt Devon defending that Television Title? The Heavyweight Championship not being there is a chance to accentuate the other titles. Noone wouldve even noticed if the other major belts were shoved in our faces. It was fantastic that the Tag Team belts were defended and changed hands, but that division is a bit all over the shop at the moment.

Dropping the title only for Hardy to regain it in 3 weeks is just rubbish. We all scoff at short title reigns, it cheapens the belt. I am sure we have all said that at some point.

[Rayne]

Originally Posted by blockanWo

Dropping the title only for Hardy to regain it in 3 weeks is just rubbish. We all scoff at short title reigns, it cheapens the belt. I am sure we have all said that at some point.

It cheapens the belt when all of the championship reigns are short. Right now we're seeing an overreaction to that idea in professional wrestling; right now, the people booking are either so fearful of short champions or enamored of long ones that the current thinking is "every champion needs to hold the belt for several months."

We are, of course, on the cusp of Austin Aries' brief reign. But as for the other championships? People don't go to a concert to see the opening act; they go to see the headliner. The headliner is sitting somewhere in North Carolina right now, wondering how he had the good fortune to be employed by people who love him so desperately despite the total lack of respect he's shown them in the past.

[King Patrick]

This is one of the reasons why I think the Brand Extension worked so well. A long time ago, on the Justin Timberlake remix of Cry Me A River, the featured rap artist, 50 Cent said, “How do you make one number one hit record into two?? You make a remix.” Basically, by having two World Titles, you double up.

What TNA should have done was treat the Legends / Global Championship as a second World Championship, instead of turning it into the Television Title, therefore making it a Mid-Card, no-weight limit, X-Division Title. “Legends” sounds prestigious like a Hall Of Fame Championship. “Global” sounds prestigious like a World Championship. “Television”, yeah that sounds prestigious, don’t get me wrong, but prestigious like the Intercontinental, United States, WCW and ECW Television, European, Hardcore, you get my point.

I understand where Hulk Hogan is coming from. He makes absolute sense. A TNA show without the TNA World Champion is as pointless as having house shows for SuperStars and Saturday Morning Slam. Even NXT has a World Champion.

I also want to add the fact that Jeff Hardy right now has 2 World Title Belts. He could have easily “lost” one to someone else in controversial fashion, where there's a pin and submission finish where one was pinned while the other submitted at the same time. Then they could have done a storyline similar to JBL and Cena after WM 21, where Cena had his Spinning Toy and JBL had my beautiful had crafted, Undisputed WWE / WCW World Heavyweight Championship Title Belt. In this case, Jeff would have his Immortal Omega Enigma Belt and someone else could have the TNA World Title V3, for the tour. I’d even have the self-proclaimed Champ defend his Title overseas.

[jerry20xx]

Hogan's opinion is not needed. Dude is a shitty business man. Couldn't sell a blender, couldn't sell a grill, had multiple failed tv shows. Every time Hogan thinks of an idea, he should just write it on a piece of paper, ball it up, throw it away.

[Triple Naitch]

I think Jeff Hardy is a good choice for TNA champion for the fact that he is easily the most popular guy in the company, he sells merchandise and has alot of name value.

But for this UK tour, I definitely think that he should have dropped the belt. When a company is filming A MONTH'S worth of television in another country, they need the Champion on the show! A whole month without seeing Jeff Hardy in the ring is an awful way to build up the next PPV main event, absolutely appalling.

It's an insult to the UK fans, who compris a big % of TNA's audience worldwide and it definitely took something away from the Maximum Impact tour. I was at the Manchester show, and it was a very entertaining show, but would I have liked to have seen the TNA World Title on the line? Of course I would.

Now TNA is back in the US and will be for a while, I have no issue with Hardy being champ, but for a tour like this which was a big deal, they shouldn't have had Jeff as the champion, simple as. If he couldn't represent the company as Champion at that time, he shouldnt have been Champion.

[Ovaltine]

I hate Hardy as champion! He has zero mic skills and zero charisma. He is good at the few high spots that he does, but his matches aren't anywhere near as good as Roode, Aries, Daniels, Styles or anyone of the other top guys that Impact has. I am not a Hardy hater (although I have zero interest in him) I know he sells T-shirst to tween age girls, but does the guy draw any more than Roode, Styles or any of the other Impact Originals? No- he doesn't. Hardy is a product of the WWE machine. He needs that machine to be a huge superstar. That's no knock on him. There are very few guys in the business who are legit drwas without the machine behind them. These days I think that there is only on and that is (dare I say the name) John Cena and maybe CM Punk (who I am sorry to say I can't stand). I would take the belt off of Hardy ASAP and give it to either Roode, Aries or Daniels. For the life of me I cannot understand why they didn't give it to Daniels. The guy is overdue and have more than proved himself asd a guy who can talk, work, is loyal and is MORE than ready. If what Hulk say's is true than Dixie truly hasn't learned a thing in the ten+ years that she has been owner of the company. Former WWE legends do not draw in TNA. Hardy, RVD, Anderson etcetera... none of those guys made a dent. There have only been two guys who made a dent in TNA's ratings. The first is Sting. TNA never scored over a 1.0 until Sting joined the company. The second (this refers to PPV buys) was Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe for the TNA world title was the highest selling TNA PPV ever. I know Hulk Hogan's first apperance drew a 1.6, but the next week it colapsed back down (I believe) to below a 1.0. And it took TNA a year to reagin the fans that they lost due to the Bischoff/ Hogan led TNA. Am I a hulk hater- No. The guy has uses. He should be an ambassador for the brand. Make the press, travel to towns prior to Impacts arrival. Should he be a main attraction the show at this point?! ABSOLUTELY NOT! And neither should Hrady. He ( like Randy Orton) peaked years ago and for guys like them their time on top is (sans a miracle) over.

[Ayden C.]

Originally Posted by Spinebreaker

Hardy's an entertainer, he chooses to put himself, and his product in front of people. He is, in theory, among the top individuals in the business, so everyone paying to see his work, has the right to decide if they like it or not.

Hardy's big and ugly enough to deal with being called a spot-monkey (Which he is, he's almost the dictionary definition of one. He's not a good one either) and also, if he doesn't like people calling him a spot-monkey, he can learn some new moves and improve his mic skills to shut people up.

You are right in all respects and I will admit that my post came off as a little harsher than I first intended. My problem is not with your opinion but with your case against Hardy. How do you know whether a country song is good or bad if you don't like country? You call him big and ugly when that both isn't true and has nothing to do with what we were talking about. So I must ask you then; who is a good spot monkey? Who meets your qualifications?

Hardy practically revolutionized the role of the spot monkey in professional wrestling and yet you act like the guy can't even jump from the top rope. I have no problem with your bad opinion of Hardy but don't use false excuses to back yourself up. And the fact is that Hardy is improving every day both in the ring and on the mic. If there was truly no upside he wouldn't be holding the belt in the first place. He wrestles a style that a number of people don't like but he wrestles it well and he entertains as much as anyone in this business. People might like to say that Hardy is passed his peak but I strongly believe that Hardy is only now beginning to reach his true potential.

[Max220298]

@Honkey_Kong or whatever it is: I didn't mean that what he did wasn't his fault, I meant the probation was why he was unable to attend. I wasn't in any way defending his personal actions.

[Spinebreaker]

Originally Posted by Ayden C.

How do you know whether a country song is good or bad if you don't like country?

To be honest I think you can. There've been many times I've heard a song, and while I personally don't care for it, I can hear it has quality in the construction or melody or performance.

Originally Posted by Ayden C.

You call him big and ugly when that both isn't true and has nothing to do with what we were talking about. So I must ask you then; who is a good spot monkey? Who meets your qualifications?

First of all 'Big and ugly enough" is an english phrase, it's not meant to be taken literally... It's probably not the best thing to use online... It means that Hardy is an adult, and in control of his own life enough to know what he's capable of, and that people will criticise what he does.

RVD's a good spot-monkey. He makes up for a lack of mic skills with a lot of high impact, high visibility moves that get the crowd popping.

Originally Posted by Ayden C.

. And the fact is that Hardy is improving every day both in the ring and on the mic. If there was truly no upside he wouldn't be holding the belt in the first place.

I honestly don't see improvement. I see him perform the same moves. In the same order. In the same place in the ring. Every week. I see a wrestler so devoid of creativity that he once used the Twist of Hate (as it was at the time) 6 times in one match against Matt Morgan. Even now, he will try the move 3 or 4 times and hit it twice, ever match.

I have no doubt in my minnd that he's holding the belt, because of 2 reasons...

1 - merchandie/ticket sales
2 - contract

I have no problem with Hardy's style of wrestling, it's the fact that he's boring, repetitive, and is phoning in performances and promo's.