Hokey Tonk Man Says Hogan is Done With TNA

[Cracka Jack]

I definitely think TNA will be better without Hogan and Bischoff, whenever their departure comes. Better, of course, in my opinion, but I feel the product will entertain me much more after they're gone. People bash Russo, myself included at times, but Impact's been a very well booked show before this new regime's arrival. Since they've come in, though, my enjoyment has dropped significantly. The Immoral angle has long run its course, the X-Division has only been given attention recently, the tag division's a wreck, and a lot of homegrown talent's been set on the backburner. Roode being an exception to this, which I desperately hope they follow through with, but seeing things like AJ feud with Daniels for 30th time isn't interesting. If Hogan and Bischoff leave TNA, I hope they return to being a company I look forward to seeing.

 

[UFOcalling]

Is it even 100% that Hogan is leaving TNA? I thought his contract was up soon, and there has only been speculation that he will leave. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that it's just speculation. Has Hogan said somewhere that he's definitely leaving TNA?

It's hard to say if Bischoff will stay with TNA, if Hogan ends up leaving. I'm still not 100% on what Bischoff's role in TNA is -- is he just an on-screen character, or does he actually have some stroke backstage as well? If Bischoff does have backstage-stroke, then I think maybe he'll stay. It's a good-paying job, for a minimal amount of work. I'd stay with TNA, if I were him. Then again, who knows?

As far as whether or not TNA will be "better off" without Hogan, I can't say for sure. Hogan does eat up a lot of TV time, and has since his arrival at TNA. My hope is that if Hogan leaves, it will open the door for some of the younger guys to get more promo time. I don't think the company will suffer, or gain from a potential Hogan departure...rather, pretty much stay the same. The thing that's going to help TNA more than any one person (IE: Hogan, etc) is getting on the road more, like the WWE does. If they can do more touring and possibly start doing Impact live (at least every other week), I think that will increase TNA's viewership a LOT more than bringing in "big" names (such as Hogan).

 

[EastCoastFan]

I think once Hogan and Bischoff are out of the picture, TNA won't lose too many fans. They didn't gain that many (if any) when they came in. But for there to be real change in TNA, they need to do two things: 1) get rid of Vince Russo and put together a solid creative team and 2) hire a great marketing manager. TNA's biggest problem is that the mainstream world barely knows that they exist.

I'm not a TNA mark, but for those who have been saying TNA will go belly-up in 1-2 years, just remember that people have been saying that since 2002 - and they're still here. What their real financial situation is depends on who you talk to.

 

[donnelllangs]

Just to let you know, Tna was doing a 1.3 consistently with Booker T there and before Hogan was there. When Booker T left, Tna was still doing a solid 1.2. With Hogan there, the numbers are not consistent. So I say it only can get better if and when he leaves.

 

[Foshinzo]

Is this good for TNA? It's probably neither here nor there, honestly. Hogan isn't as bad for business as everyone is saying that he is. He brings you attention that you never would have had, and that's always, or at least almost always, a great thing for a wrestling company. Now, do people misuse his abilities? Of course they do. Hogan is not a wrestling genius or even a wrestling intellectual, and I feel as though that's been proven countless time after countless time. Was the man a master in drawing crowds and over-hyping matches? Of course; that's how he helped to put 93,000(ish) people in the Pontiac Silverdome. But, should Hogan be allowed to have a say in anything? From what we've all read and heard from endless sources, it seems as though he shouldn't at all.

This isn't going to be good for TNA. Of the problems that people seem to have with the company, all but one of them are still going to exist. So, is this going to be disastrously bad for TNA? I don't think so, either. The only thing that will kill TNA is if Spike TV drops the show, and I haven't heard anything about that in awhile. TNA existed before Hogan, and it will exist after him. Maybe if ROH manages to take off under this new TV deal, which (though I absolutely hope it does,) seems unlikely, then we could see TNA take it on the chin. Other than that, TNA will continue just as it did before. Believe it or not, wrestling does not begin and end with Hogan or just any one star.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Personally speaking I say everyone here should wait till it's 100 percent confirmed he's leaving, there's nothing worse than a bunch of unfounded speculation on a topic that is mere rumor at this point. Could I see Hogan leaving? Yes. Do I think he will? Possibly? Do I know for sure? Absolutely not.

Let time tell the tale...period.

 

[Dizzy]

Are you serious? They are going to fail by getting rid of a guy who did nothing but appear on TV? Are you serious?

TNA WILL improve because that alters everything within the storyline. You people act like if they were in dyer straits without him. How would they fold in 1 or 2 years if 2011 is been the most successful year they've had?

You all were complaining about how the product is WCW 2.0 and they will drag the product down, I remember everyone talking about how he will win the World title and keep the young guys down. Now, he's leaving while Roode, Aries and other homegrown talents are holding the belt or getting pushed and It's STILL an issue? Come on now.

What it does is lesson the criticism and make people who create threads on this forum think twice since there is hardly anything to complain about going forward.

The list of "Problems" TNA has had:
-Ex-WWE, WCW, ECW talent
-Not pushing young guys
-Bad Booking
-Using old guys
-No direction.

Now, we are obviously seeing that disappear, so obviously they are improving even with him there.

In terms of draw power, Beer Money, Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle are perfectly good enough to carry the company with their popularity.

 

[earz316boyy]

is it even official he's leaving? think people are getting a bit ahead of themselves lol.. im not a fan of tna but i would happily have hogan back on wwe programming in some form.

 

[Dizzy]

FYI, "Hokey Tonk Man" was done on purpose. That's exactly what he is.

I'll say it again, everyone talks about replacing Russo but with who? Not Heyman. People need to get over their fantasy about the man, he's a joke. He has shown to be a joke. Why would they hire someone who got fired from WWE in less than 2 years and ran his own promotion into the ground? Then sold it to WWE and they hired him? Atleast Hogan and Bischoff can sleep knowing they didn't "Ruin" anything.

In that case, Dixie might as well hire Hollywood writers. Now, TNA is going to greatly improve with their contracts coming off and the removal of Hogan, Flair, RVD, Bischoff(possibly), Steiner should do alot financially.

Secondly, people LOVE to bash Russo but can't admit when he has done good things. The Summer of 2011 for Impact Wrestling was fantastic and he was responsible for it. He's responsible for every concept TNA has created that was original.

Russo's storytelling is perfectly fine BUT his booking is predictable. TNA simply needs to add the right creative cast around him and not hire some idiot that thinks he knows it all. Cornette thinks he's the shit, Heyman thinks he's the shit and none of them did anything memorable in wrestling at all.

TNA needs to hire team players and not a bunch of wanna be head bitch in charge characters which is what causes problems backstage. I believe Tommy Dreamer is a candidate for booking since he booked Hardcore Justice 2010 as a tryout.

 

[Da Truth]

HTM has a couple small points, but Hogan is still a legend. If Vince could make money off of Hogan, he wouldn't care if he was literally crawling to the ring. Hogan can be used as a behind the scenes guy in the E or an on screen charater, such as a general manager (Smackdown) or something.
I don't see why people blame Hogan for TNA's problems; it hasn't been great since it's first few years of existence. They just need to just clean house when it comes to the guys behind the scenes and please get a new writng team.

 

[Foshinzo]

Honky Tonk Man has made an Internet career doing shoot promos about Hogan, when it's become clear that you can't really even take his opinion seriously. Everyone knows that Hogan is the X and Y that these people claim him to be, but the fact that guys like the Honky Tonk Man make a career out of bitching about him on the Internet is just sad, to me (I'm looking at you, Mark Madden,). I don't know what else to say. This is just pathetic. "Hey, this celebrity was a dick to work with twenty years ago and I'm still bitter about it," is what the bulk of that article reads to me. Instead of crying about Hogan being a douche to you, Honky Tonk should just ask himself why these people keep being dicks to him. Maybe they don't like him because he's not the victim he claims to be? Or, maybe they don't like him because he's an overrated, overused douche from the mid-80's who had one memorable run with the midcard title, the only memorable part about it being that he lost it in 8 seconds to the blossoming Ultimate Warrior, and yet he goes around about 25 years later acting as though he built wrestling and that he's earned our respect.

Seriously, this guy drew heat because he had an obnoxious gimmick and he almost accidentally killed Jake Roberts, and he never did anything to help the business other than be so obnoxious people threw money at their TVs to see him get his ass kicked. I can tell you what Vince was thinking when he came up with the Honky Tonk Man character: "This guy thinks he's as good as Elvis...people in the south will HATE this man." Sorry, but Honky Tonk Man is over-appreciated and overrated, and he should just shut up in order to prevent us from remembering this. I'm not a Hogan mark at all, but this is just stupid.

 

[Clare]

TNA is none i give it a year at most poor scripts from hoan and bisoof russo has killed TNA bring back 6 sides and leave tna 2 roll like it did pre hogan and maybe it will rise from the ashes i love TNA BUT NOT SINCE THE JANUARY 4TH WHEN HOGAN JOINED leave TNA hogan and TNA will reisie from the ashes 21 prove it aint WCW 2.0

WHICH HOGAN KILLED

 

[DylanSnapp]

Once Hogan leaves and is gone for about a month things will be different and I'll probably start watching TNA again(as I watched before Hogan came in). It seemed like Hogan being there everything was just old timers and a let's get our one last stand. I hope Impact Wrestling really does get better.

 

[Syborgg]

I personally don't think it's Hogan that is/was that problem in TNA. Sure he's been known to steal the spotlight from the younger talent from time to time, but TNA won't improve all that much until they rid themselves of Vince Russo. Russo's style of booking is so "all over the place" that it's sometimes hard for a regular fan to follow let alone a casual fan. The way he changes direction so quickly or they come up with an original idea, play it out for a month and if it doesn't mean a change in the ratings they just kill it right away.

If Hogan leaves TNA it will make room for someone else to shine, but at the same time it will take away that "Hogan-brand" recognition. However, what TNA needs is to pick a direction to go and just go with it for atleast a year. Allow the audience to watch and understand and familiarize themselves with some of the characters, instead of altering the characters on an almost monthly basis.

 

[GameOver]

Well the difference is that Nash hasn't been bullshitting as much... And there's the fact that he's Trips' and HBK's best friend, so he'll always have a job in WWE. Nash, of the entire group, has seemingly grown up and he's made it clear that right now he's doing it all for the money. Sure, he may be a big time player in TNA, but TNA's money can't compete with WWE's and Nash knows that.

Not to mention, Vince has kept Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage both out of the WWE for years. It had to take Savage dying for McMahon to give him any recognition, and I'm still not convinced that Vince will induct him into the HoF. Furthermore, Vince also refired JJ after he bought out WCW from when JJ held the IC title captive.

All in all, Honky Tonk man has given a lot of strong back support to his claim. Does that mean he's right? No, it's an educated guess and it's a highly likely one. In fact, I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for the fact that TNA is paying for Hogan's surgeries then he would've split a long time ago.

Nash has always just done it for the money, that's been his gimmick since he went back to WCW in the first place

and Savage got recognition all the time on the Vintage Collections and recaps of WrestleMania's and mentioning champs and was forever listed as the top 5 greatest matches of all time and they released a DVD several years ago well b4 he died. just an FYI So get off his case about that

IF Vince truly despised him, he would not have gotten any recognition period and would have been wiped off the record books. ergo Christ Benoit who effectively never existed.

Savage said he was not interested in returning to wrestling when WCW was done, he only made a brief appearance in TNA that's it. He didn't need the money,k anything else is purely speculation since noone is talking.

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

Right now Hogan sounds like he is on the way out. His back is said to be better than it has been in years but it is also more fragile and he cant do anything but talk, when you have given the same interview for 30 years which is bland as hell and you can't offset that blandness on television that hurts. There is also tension between him and Russo, for some reason Hogan wont put his foot down as an exec and say "This is what will happen so make it happen" like he has the power to do. I just think like he did to Jim Cornette, Russo has made someone else want to kill him but would leave before that happened.

Bischoff on the other hand sounds like he is in for the long haul. Bischoff said that before he leaves he wants IMPACT at NITRO levels, meaning if accurate between a 3.5 and 5.2 rating. Bischoff truly wants one final shot at building a company and once again creating competition in the business. I believe Bischoff wants to not only bring back an eventual Monday Night Wars but to this time win it.

In my opinion TNA doesn't need more talent, it doesn't need new writers (though getting rid of Russo would help), what TNA needs, what they have not had, is a LEADER, someone to say this is what we are doing and you all work within those guidelines. That leader was suppose to be Hulk Hogan, but it is clear Hogan lacks the iron fist you sometimes need. Bischoff has proven for 20 years he has that fist and can be that leader.

In the end I can see a new Bischoff era centered around the X-Division and the young heavyweights like Bobby Roode and Gunner. Like him or not Bischoff is a strong leader who has made billions of dollars in the industry in his career for companies. The only executive to ever do more is Vince McMahon.

Bischoff is the best option for TNA as a leader. Can Hogan be a part of that? Yes. However I don't think Hogan can be a strong on-screen character due to his back.

 

[[cL]]

Atleast Hogan and Bischoff can sleep knowing they didn't "Ruin" anything.

ROFL This is the biggest joke i've read all day. Can't stop laughing....LMBO!!! This comment is better than the old spice commercials...LOLOL!!!
They didn't RUIN anything? Are you serious??? LOLOL wow.....

Russo's storytelling is perfectly fine BUT his booking is predictable. TNA simply needs to add the right creative cast around him and not hire some idiot that thinks he knows it all. Cornette thinks he's the shit, Heyman thinks he's the shit and none of them did anything memorable in wrestling at all.

Say you dont like Heyman...Say he's greedy...Say he's a loud mouth. Say he's a control freak. Say what you want, but to say he hasn't done anything memorable in wrestling is one of the dumbest statements I've heard on these boards...(barring the whole Matt Hardy/Kurt Angle dream match crap. Nothing beats that.)
Paul Heyman and ECW was the catalyst for so much of what you're seeing in wrestling right now its ridiculous. The entire hardcore movement is a result of ECW and Paul Heyman...He is solely responsible for most if not all of the ideas that WWE stole relating to ANYTHING hardcore, mainly TLC matches and Hell in a Cell. Not to mention the many careers he's gotten over and gotten started. People like, Edge, Kurt Angle (during his tenure as head writer on smackdown) Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero...

I'm not saying the Heyman is the messiah by any means. I'm not saying that he'd come in and have NO problems or that he'd turn it around immediately. What I am saying is that a learning experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted and the fact of the matter is, he didn't get what he wanted with ECW and that was a complete take over of the wrestling industry. MY feeling is that with time comes wisdom and I believe when you've done all that he has done and failed you learn and I believe that under Paul Heyman within 5 years, TNA would become SERIOUS competition to the WWE.

He hasn't done anything memorable? Are you serious???

 

[Brian in Austin]

I'm trying to figure out why people care so much about what HTM has said? So what? Hogan, sooner or later, is going to call it a career. Why does it matter if HTM is right about this or not?

 

[yoshi_doce2006]

I didn't even know Honkey said Hogan was leaving. I just listen to how he talks and read that his contract was coming up in October. He TALKS like a guy who is getting worn down under the stress of his position. We know he is in terrible shape physically and that the last 4 years have been stressful for him WITHOUT dealing with Russo, now add Russo and see his extensions fall out. I would be surprised if he didn't leave or join production.

 

[Dizzy]

ROFL This is the biggest joke i've read all day. Can't stop laughing....LMBO!!! This comment is better than the old spice commercials...LOLOL!!!
They didn't RUIN anything? Are you serious??? LOLOL wow.....

Uhh ? No? What did they ruin? The 6 sided ring?

Say you dont like Heyman...Say he's greedy...Say he's a loud mouth. Say he's a control freak. Say what you want, but to say he hasn't done anything memorable in wrestling is one of the dumbest statements I've heard on these boards...(barring the whole Matt Hardy/Kurt Angle dream match crap. Nothing beats that.)

I say it because it's true and you haven't denied it either.

Paul Heyma

n and ECW was the catalyst for so much of what you're seeing in wrestling right now its ridiculous. The entire hardcore movement is a result of ECW and Paul Heyman...He is solely responsible for most if not all of the ideas that WWE stole relating to ANYTHING hardcore, mainly TLC matches and Hell in a Cell. Not to mention the many careers he's gotten over and gotten started. People like, Edge, Kurt Angle (during his tenure as head writer on smackdown) Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero...

Lol WWE stole something they bought? I might as well say everything in my house is stolen. Kurt Angle? Lol He became a legend in WWF not ECW.

If Heyman did such great things then why did the company fold? It sure as hell was his fault.

I'm not saying the Heyman is the messiah by any means.

No. He's obviously your son.

I'm not saying that he'd come in and have NO problems or that he'd turn it around immediately. What I am saying is that a learning experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted and the fact of the matter is, he didn't get what he wanted with ECW and that was a complete take over of the wrestling industry. MY feeling is that with time comes wisdom and I believe when you've done all that he has done and failed you learn and I believe that under Paul Heyman within 5 years, TNA would become SERIOUS competition to the WWE.

Making it an MMA knockoff and pandering to 300,000 people is certainly going to make it competition.

He hasn't done anything memorable? Are you serious???

I'm very serious.

 

[Papa Pillman]

I hate to disagree with you Dizzy, because I typically agree with 95% of your posts I read, But [cL] is right on a couple of things here... saying that Heyman did nothing memorable in the business is a borderline ridiculous stance. And saying that the WWE wasn't stealing storylines, characters, ideas, etc. from Heyman/ECW at the early stages of attitude era is practically pure ignorance. And no one should be pressed to give examples to back-up what is a basic grasp of Heyman/WWE/ECW history.

 

[Brian in Austin]

If Paul Heyman was so great, why did ECW fail?

 

[Dizzy]

If Paul Heyman was so great, why did ECW fail?

Thank You.

Heyman made ECW the biggest alternatives to wrestling against WWE and WCW. Ironically, the had a TV deal with TNN (Now known as Spike) created industry stars in Dreamer, RVD, Balls, etc. Now, he had ALL control and he failed to manage the assets, finances, payment and TNN dropped them. ECW died out.

Everyone wants to think that's how WCW died when that's not what happened. So again, what has Heyman done so great? ECW had no legit storylines like mainstream companies like WCW and WWF.

Heyman having full control was recently displayed in ECW's return in 2006. How did that go? He booked the entire December to Dismember PPV (which I liked) but everyone rated as a terrible PPV. He was quickly fired right after that.

So, Instead what does Heyman do to stay relevant? He panders to Internet fans like most people in this forum that just worships him without knowing the man's credentials and refusing to look at his resume of failure. Let's face it, If Heyman was the shit, he would be employed by WWE and hired to book or write. According to many WWE fans, this is the "Reality Era" right? He should have been hired right?

Heyman wants to join TNA but not ROH? Why is that? Jeff Katz is running a new promotion called Wrestling Revolution Project but Heyman hasn't signed on to be a booker or creative control writer. Why is that?

EVERYONE is delusional to think Heyman wants to do positive things for TNA. The man has touched every promotion ever known to man that is mainstream, TNA hires everyone besides him. Not a coincidence.

He reportedly wanted a 5 million dollar contract which is far from what Hogan/Bischoff make. He wanted more control than Dixie Carter which is like asking for more power than Vince McMahon. Good luck getting that.

There hasn't been an established game plan but talking about making it similar to MMA and firing guys that are 40. If he did that, Bully Ray wouldn't even be around and we all know he is the greatest heel in wrestling today.

He wanted to bring in Gabe...Who has not made ROH successful and Dragon Gate USA and coincidentally is also charged with molestation. So, people want to make a big deal about what Kurt Angle or Jeff did while people here are advocating TNA hiring a sexual offender.

For all we know, he could have destroyed it. TNA has come along way in 9 years and far beyond anything WWE did within their first 9 years of birth. Why the hell do they need him?

The product is consistent. You take out Immortal and there is really nothing bad about it. Everyone has their own feuds and matches within divisions, certain talent is being pushed.

TNA is booked all around the world FAR beyond what ECW did. If Heyman found a way to destroy a product that made money and generated a unique fanbase, there is no way in hell I would trust him running ANY promotion. Atleast, Russo has had a job elsewhere for the last 7 years. Heyman hasn't done shit since losing ECW and then booking ECW's return only to get fired.

His current promotion job is a fail considering his biggest project was EA Sports MMA Video game which absolutely BOMBED in sales. 50,000 units sold for a video game is horrendous.

Heyman plants lies into fans with no real form of thinking outside of the Indy smark box and It shows considering when you look at his real past, he hasn't done any memorable shit. Nobody even remembers him being Lesnar's manger on SmackDown. Nobody remembers him being a heel commentator for SmackDown.

Heyman and Cornette are the most overrated people in wrestling and they somehow are worshiped by the IWC.

 

[Papa Pillman]

If Paul Heyman was so great, why did ECW fail?

ECW failed because Heyman kept himself fully in charge of the financial/business aspects of the company. Although he has one of greatest minds ever for the wrestling business itself, his regular "business sense" left much to be desired.

The company's failure had nothing to do with the wrestling product which remained stellar right to the end. In fact ECW probably produced its overall best work as a company over the course of its final couple years. And that occurred in spite of the aforementioned financial/business issues that caused them to lose talent on a regular basis, often with little-to-no notice(including losing their world champ). In light of that revolving door of talent, the product that Heyman was able to present is a further testament to his prowess as a booker/writer.