What if Hulk Hogan Did Marry Into the Gagne Family?

[Tenta]

You know, no one speaks more bull shit about his past than the one and only Hulk Hogan. In fairness, he does speak plenty of truth, but there are just some things that you can't take seriously. Like, for example, that he and Vince rewrote the entire script of No Hold Barred, but didn't get any credit. Or, that he was given the script of "The Wrestler", and asked to be casted as The Ram himself.

However, there are some times, where he'll say something, and I kinda believe it. I really do believe that Hogan does speak some sense of truth in things that may seem speculative. And one of these times occurs in Hogan's book "Hogan Knows Best". In it, Hogan describes his stint in the AWA, and how Verne jerked him around throughout his time in the AWA. He also describes going to Verne's house, and alleged cases in which Verne tried to marry off his daughter to Hulk. Now, this may seem like Hulk's typical bullshit, but then again, maybe it isn't. After all, Verne did like to keep the title close to his family and friends. And with Greg not exactly being a hit in the ring, and Hulk getting massive pops every night, I can find it feasible to say that Verne would want him in his family, and to keep him tied to the AWA forever. So, let's just play a good old "What if" here. I don't need people saying how speculative this is, I get that. But let's just have a little fun here, shall we? What if Hulk did marry into the Gagne family?

Now, some will say that the course of history would have taken place. However, I'm not so sure. Remember, Verne Gagne had a brokered deal with ESPN that, at the least, had the potential to make his promotion as much a national name as the WWE. ESPN may not have been what it is now, but at the least, it was a national brand, that everyone could watch. Plus, on top of that, for big specials, the AWA could have run shows on ABC, the home channel of ESPN, in theory. So I wouldn't be so dismissive of the AWA's chances. With Hulk Hogan in the AWA as a permanent fixture, I could see the AWA becoming the #2 promotion, and perhaps #1, even today. That isn't to say the WWE would go out of business, there'd just be two national brands available to wrestling fans. Sure, there are now, but I feel as though it'd be competitive than WWE and TNA now. That, plus consider the worldwide empire that has become ESPN. For all intents and purposes, that could very well happen, as sports is such a national fixture.

With that in mind, I could see professional wrestling being seen in a more positive light by the sports media, at least.Think, ESPN and Disney aren't going to allow for their own product to be so harshly ridiculed on their own programming, and while Fox Sports may condemn wrestling, perhaps the AWA would allow for ESPN to be more indifferent, perhaps even accepting of wrestling.

Hulk Hogan may still be as big a star. All of his momentum came from Rocky III, which he filmed in between working for the WWWF and AWA. So what's not to believe he wouldn't be such a big star still?

So, again, let's just say the wedding is on, and Hogan becomes a member of the Gagne family. What happens to the lineage of professional wrestling? The Rock N' Roll Era? Hulk Hogan? Vince and the WWE?

 

[closet_fan]

i don't think hogan would have been as big as he was. vince had a great vision for hogan and profited greatly from it.

i think verne would have tried to make the same push, but somehow would have screwed it up. vince looked towards new and innovative ways of doing things. verne was more stuck in the past. i think that would have hurt hogan greatly.

on the wwf side, i think vince would have been able to push someone else and it would have been just as big. i know there a rumor that it would have been tony atlas if hogan hadn't came over. so i don't know how that would have gone.

 

[The Brain]

I think Vince would have still ended up with Hogan. Gagne may have had the talent, but Vince had the vision. Gagne could have profited from this. Instead of Vince simply signing Gagne's talent away maybe Vince would have offered to buy Gagne out entirely. In doing so Gagne could have become some kind of minority partner in the WWF. I don't know if Gagne would have had any interest in selling to Vince, but it may have been too tempting to pass up if Vince could get Gagne to see his vision. I know Gagne really didn't care for Vince, but the right amount of money can change a man's opinion.

 

[Travaje]

If you think Hogan made Vince, you're wrong. Vince made Hogan and deserves more of the credit. Vince is too smart of a guy. This feels like a carefully designed "I hate how Vince turned the WWE into what it is today" in disguise thread.

The AWA didn't fail because Hogan left or because Hogan became such a huge star. The AWA failed because it was ran poorly. Eventually, it would have closed. Ever watch those old AWA matches on ESPN Classic? Most of them are very tough to watch. Vince likely would have continued to buy talent away and build his company. Might have taken a little longer, but he would have figured it out. If Hogan would have went to Crockett instead of Vince, WCW would not be the #1 company today and no WWE, because WCW was also very poorly run. Vince is a great businessman and an excellent promoter, this is why WWE is successful.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

A posted above Verne was old school while Vince was taking things in a new and different direction. Pairing with MTV, Cindy Lauper, starting the Rock N Wrestling Connection, the Saturday morning cartoon, and having Mr T at Wrestlemania are the things that made Hulk Hogan and the WWF a household name at the time. I don't think that Verne would have had the money, the vision, or balls to pursue these avenues like Vince did.

If Hogan would have stayed with the AWA, we would have probably seen Hogan vs Flair a lot earlier in their careers as AWA and NWA often cross promoted. I don't think that Hogan would have ever been as big as he became because he didn't have the money and resources to build Hulkamania like Vince did.

Vince would have found someone else to put in Hogans place, my most likely guess would have to be Macho Man Randy Savage. Macho Madness could easily replace Hulkamania, as being a marketing giant.

The entire wrestling landscape would be changed forever though. If Hogan never made it huge there would be no nWo, Ultimate Warrior would have most likely been the biggest thing in wrestling ever, and WCW would probably still be around today.

 

[waylonmercy]

The thing about Hogan back then was that he was INCREDIBLY over in the AWA territory. The crowd LOVED Hogan so much that the only reason Verne screwed it up was by being greedy. Even the screwjob finishes brought the people out and HAD Verne kept Hogan he was planning on giving him the title. Verne Gagne was one of if not THE best EVER at training wrestlers. So many great talented performers were trained by him and had he focused on that and allowed Greg to take over the booking side it could have been a much different outcome.

Let's say Hogan was the lockerroom leader in a sense and talent stayed loyal to him, more specifically Heenan, Okerlund, Ventura. In a sense you still would have the best manager, interviewer and a great heel still there. They also had lots of great talent in training like Michaels, Jannetty, Leone White (Vader), Nasty Boys, Madusa, Hennig, Hall and Martel so you'd have a strong influx of very capable future main eventers. Rick Steiner also got his start in AWA so you'd have a young and VERY talented Steiner Boys there too.

We could only DREAM of the AWA keeping Hogan because he married into the family but in my opinion having 3 National Promotions on a level playing field would be THE best situation for true wrestling fans because of the sheer volume of TV being produced.

 

[waylonmercy]

Travaje, if you want to see what AWA was about, try watching Hogan vs Bockwinkel at the St Paul Auditorium. THe place was jam packed, the crowd was hotter than any WWF crowd in that day. Vince McMahon didn't make Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan made himself what he is. He left WWF to do the Rocky Film which really catapulted him to a new level. Hulk Hogan was so incredibly charismatic that Tony Atlas nor the Macho Man could have reached his level due to the fact that Atlas was having problems of his own and Randy Savage was a full blown young heel. Vince McMahon almost went bankrupt in the 90s due to WCW dominating and if you watch the production of early Raws you'd find it very minor league, almost comparible to TNA today. NWA of the 80's was somewhat traditional but had TONNES of young talent there and had they had someone with the vision of McMahon could have been huge. Vince had a great vision and went for the fences with WM.

Bionic Redneck, you're right about Vince's vision but without the catalyst for Rock'n Wrestling (Hogan) all that never would have happened. Who was the #2 face in WWF in 1983-86? I think wrestling would be INCREDIBLY different had Hogan not jumped ship. We'd have seen Hogan vs. Flair in a huge PPV. Hogan vs. Race could have been huge too. Like I said before Macho Man was not a face back then and wasn't a lovable face even when he turned.

This is another topic that has been brought up several times.

 

[JJ15776]

As far as today's wrestling scene goes, it'd be very similiar.

AWA would've gone out of business later than they did, but they still would have. About the time we saw WWF fans get bored with Hogan and he left, same thing would've happened in AWA, but they wouldn't have been able to replace him. And I don't think Hogan would've been a big enough draw to help WCW like he did, so WCW never truly challenges WCW. They would've gone out of business when Time Warner ditched them, just like they did. WWF might have bought them, but it wouldn't have been the huge invasion thing it was.

WWF/E might not have become as big as they were, but they would've always been a comfortable number one. AWA and WCW wouldn't have been any bigger than TNA is now, before they went likely under. The only difference to the scene today is TNA would be in much better shape than they actually are. Without WCW having the success they did, TNA wouldn't be trying to copy it. That means they wouldn't be trying to bring in all of the WWE has beens and never wases.

 

[Total Impact]

Gagne had Hogan at the top of the AWA and tease two title victories out of Hogan before Hogan realized that Gagne had no clue how to use him. Gagne was old school and felt the world champion should be a great wrestler instead of a great showman as Hogan. Vince knew that fans didn't want to see wrestling all of the time, they wanted entertainment. Thus the greatest partnership in wrestling. However I do feel if Hogan had stayed in the AWA, the AWA would of been bigger than the WWE if pushed right, because rather you like Hogan or not, the one thing about the guy is that he got over in ever promotion he ever wrestled. How many guys can claim to be one of the greatest babyfaces of all time and one of the greatest heels of all time. No one.

 

[motleyfan]

in reality the other poster is right, without hogan there would NOT have been rock n wrestling or an mtv deal, plus if you noticed all of vinces "great" ides like wrestlemania came after hulk joined so now lets go over it. hulk stays in awa no wwf wrestlemania so no need for awa to make superclash ppvs to compete, maybe they make an even bigger ppv event. after afew years of wwf floting round it gets dropped by usa network and they pick up awa along with top stars hulk hogn the rockers and many others. if anyone doubts that awa would hve been successfull just watch any old hogan awa match on youtube. where was i ok so usa picks up awa while ted tunner still buys wcw so in the end u still have tnt vs usa you still have the mondy night wars only its with awa vs wcw. on a side note for all of u that think vince made hulkamnia all u need to do is watch an early awa promo and hulk talks about hulkmania, did vince make it much bigger? yes did vince make it NO.forward for hulk less wwf (fictional) in the 80's the wwf tried to pick up future awa hall of famer hulk hogn, vince made an offer but hulk stayed true to his fther in law. from then on vince tried to push many stars some with minor success but none long term. vince morgaged his house to make no holds barred nd suburban cammando starring the macho man. in 1991 to comepete with the successful awa wrestlemania ppv vince started coming out with a series of wwf superclsh shows that were uneventful at best in 1995 vince sold the wwf to ted turner now making wcw the biggest wrestling compny ever (like the twist ending????)

 

[MrHashasheen]

As far as today's wrestling scene goes, it'd be very similiar.

AWA would've gone out of business later than they did, but they still would have. About the time we saw WWF fans get bored with Hogan and he left, same thing would've happened in AWA, but they wouldn't have been able to replace him. And I don't think Hogan would've been a big enough draw to help WCW like he did, so WCW never truly challenges WCW. They would've gone out of business when Time Warner ditched them, just like they did. WWF might have bought them, but it wouldn't have been the huge invasion thing it was.

WWF/E might not have become as big as they were, but they would've always been a comfortable number one. AWA and WCW wouldn't have been any bigger than TNA is now, before they went likely under. The only difference to the scene today is TNA would be in much better shape than they actually are. Without WCW having the success they did, TNA wouldn't be trying to copy it. That means they wouldn't be trying to bring in all of the WWE has beens and never wases.

Wow, so much wrong....

1. Hogan's light could have gone out later or earlier. We don't know.
2. AWA obviously had good, even great rookie wrestlers to take the torch after Hogan, like Shawn Michaels.
3. WCW challenging WWF was based on Bischoff becoming the head and a stammered out response to Ted Turner. They might not even go head to head. It might be WWF-AWA or AWA-WCW or AWA-WCW-WWF.
4. If Jim Ross became head (or was it Lawler?) of WCW, he could have possibly reformed it enough for long-term stability, and with the number of good wrestlers they had homegrown or taken from UWF.
5. The UWF might have actually survived and overtaken either WCW, WWF or AWA. Who knows, we might have had 4 major wrestling promotions.

There are simply so many variables going far this back no one can really say it wouldn't be changed much, or what the end result would be.