Bigger Acquisition: Angle Or Hogan?

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I don't see why everyone is talking about Hogan being past his prime and his surgeries. He wasn't brought there to wrestle. To make TNA be recognized more on a national level and grow, you need a star to showcase and promote talent and that's where Hogan comes in. He can promote guys like Angle everywhere in the media because he's still a huge name. It's easier to replace Angle then it is Hulk.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Angle was the bigger acquisition for TNA. Hogan didn't do much for them. He claimed that their popularity would skyrocket along with their ratings. Well, that didn't go anywhere. Angle was their best acquisition ever because when he joined them he added one of the biggest names in the wrestling world to their roster AND he can still work great matches. No matter how big of a legend Hogan is, he cannot work a decent match. Anything he ever wins will mean nothing. I'm just glad they never put their world title on him. "Hogan held this belt!" Great. He couldn't work a half-way decent match to defend it though. That would have been a major issue. Angle added more prestige than anyone to TNA's world title and has been a consistent top guy for them ever since he joined. Hogan hasn't done much but hog the spotlight and bring in random people past their prime who didn't benefit the product either.

 

[Kenny Powers]

I'm sure TNA would now say Hogan was the bigger acquisition, but Kurt Angle came in at the right time when he was white hot. Angle was established as a huge name in WWE before he came to TNA. I'm sure if Hogan would have debuted back in 2002, 2004, or even 2006, he would have had a huge impact.

Hogan did receive a lot of press for TNA when he debuted in 2010. I don't think his presence has hurt TNA financially or has hurt their public image in any way. If anything, his name alone has helped TNA acquire more talent and has made them able to go live and even go on the road. Of course they are still testing the waters with taking Impact on the road, and we know the Monday night show was a failure.

I just don't think Spike TV would have given TNA the go to broadcast live on Monday nights without Hogan. Hogan is the bigger name, but Kurt Angle is the best acquisition for TNA. This is the guy that will handle the workload and will be the public figure for TNA for charities and other events. Angle is the go to guy for TNA, much like Cena is for WWE. He was a hot commodity when he debuted and has had some of the best matches in TNA history with the talent such as Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Desmond Wolfe, and even Mr. Anderson and Jay Lethal.

 

[The Crock]

HOGAN

Any argument over star power is won by Hulk Hogan. The only person from wrestling who is a bigger star is the Rock. However, the Rock is a bigger star from movies, not wrestling. Hulk Hogan is the only living wrestler in history that EVERYONE knows. He is the face of the business. Kurt Angle is a great wrestler and has the gold medal background, but the majority of people don't know who he is. Two examples of the importance of Hulk Hogan coming to TNA:

1. Shortly after announcing his joining TNA, Hogan went of Jimmy Fallon to promote his new book. He told Fallon, and his MILLIONS of viewers, that he had just joined a new promotion called TNA. He then plugged it's time and channel. That did more for TNA than every "5 star" X-Division match in history. When was the last time you saw A.J. Styles, the "face" of TNA on a major network talk show?

What did Hogan going on Fallon do for TNA? Where are the ratings that it gave TNA? Am I missing something here or did people not really care? I understand that it might have given them a minimal jump for that week, but it didn't do anything in the long run.

When Angle popped up in TNA, they had pretty abysmal ratings, below 1.0 most of the time, hovering at 0.7 to 0.8, but they started increasing in the long run FINALLY working their way up to 1.0 and more. They're pulling basically the same ratings they were pulling in '09 (pre-Hogan).

2. American Idol. Hogan made a surprise appearance on American Idol last year. For those who don't know, A I is one of, if not the, most watched show in America. Hulk Hogan got to make an appearance because he was Hulk Hogan. Again, no one else in the history of TNA has had a fraction of the mainstream recognition, for good or bad, that Hulk Hogan has.

Good for Hogan, but what did that do for TNA that Kurt Angle didn't? It didn't cause any fans to stick with them, they might have gotten a few fans that night, but one week later... and those fans were gone. It doesn't matter how much Hulk Hogan can hype up the show, what matters in the end is the product. If the product is good then people will watch.

Hulk Hogan can get TNA some PPV buys if he's hyped up as having a huge part on the card, yes, but when the fans flip over to the PPV, the person that will keep them coming back is Kurt Angle, not Hogan.

Some people, especially on these forums, simply refuse to believe that star power and marketability mean anything. These are the people that will tell you that Danial Bryon and Tyson Kidd are more valuable to the WWE than John Cena. They are also the same ones who will try and say that Christopher Daniels and AJ Styles are more important to TNA than Hulk Hogan.

Daniel Bryan. Not that hard to spell, I swear.

The people that say Daniel Bryan and Tyson Kidd are more valuable to the WWE than John Cena are morons, why are we even bringing them up.

Hulk Hogan isn't that important to TNA anymore. Look, I would rather watch Kurt Angle all day and I'm willing to bet that real TNA fans would as well.

I won't lie when it comes to the fact that Hulk Hogan can outdraw Angle if he was the main event, but not by much... and unless guys like Angle are on the show, the ratings won't matter, because come the next week, they won't have those ratings anymore.

Kurt Angle is great. One of the all time greats. However, he simply doesn't compare to Hogan in terms of recognition. 5 star matches are great. Every company needs as many as they can get out of their wrestlers. However, these matches make fans stay. They don't bring in new viewers. If somebody isn't watching your product to begin with, they certainly aren't going to see a great PPV match. Names, not matches, are what get people to tune in and try something new. Say what you want about want about the failed Monday night wars, or the move back to Thursdays, Hulk Hogans debut with TNA gave them their highest ratings in history.

I agree, names are going to sell the card, but what's going to keep those fans tuned in? Matches. If Hulk Hogan can pull a 1.5 one week, then fall to .7, and Angle can pull two 1.2's, I know who I would rather have.

You're failing to see what I've been harping on about this whole post: Hogan can bring those fans in, but who's the person that KEEPS those fans? Angle. Would you watch TNA if all they had was 2 minute matches, but they had Hulk Hogan on? Maybe for one week, but you'd probably never watch again. What if they had a bunch of solid matches throughout the card? You'd keep coming back. Simple.

P.S. For those of you who couldn't resist talking about Hogan's "destroyed" image, what the hell do you make of Angle the last few years? A few DWI's, a restraining order, being arrested for steroid posestion, and an assault charge don't exactly make for a great image. I like Angle, but lets be fair.

They're both a mess, but Hogan's fall was on a much bigger scale. The childhood hero, the biggest icon in wrestling (at one time), and now he's only in TNA for a pay check, basically. Not to mention all the other stuff we saw about him in the media.