I like Hogan I really do, hell I even met the guy and thought he was a class act to myself and other fans. Therefore, I'd like to see TNA succeed and for him to have a comfortable role in the company as an ambassador to the organization.
Do I really approve of what he says often times? Well, to be honest it doesn't matter what I approve of and don't approve of. I hear all the outlandish things Hogan says and see all the outlandish things he does, but I keep reminding myself that Hogan's is in a business that shares the same DNA as carny-fare. That's not to say I have ever been ashamed of being a wrestling fan. But even the wrestlers who I loved watching when I was a kid, I am not going to resort to letting them reel me in about all these wild stories they tell. I.E. Hogan saying he taught Vince everything he knows, while I do think Hogan of course had the ambition and foresight to sell himself to promoters like Verne Gagne and Vince McMahon, at the same time I am not going to go and say that the promoters don't deserve their credit. I mean after all, look at what Vince did WITHOUT Hogan and to even a lesser extent Gagne still had some success after Hogan went back to WWF, granted the AWA was hanging on by threads, but the number of young and great talent that got their feet wet in Minnesota went on to some great successes just a few of those names were Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Curt Hennig and Yokozuna. So with that said, even the biggest Hogan mark can't be so blind to say that it's always been about Hogan and that Hogan has always been "all that" and that no promotion can survive or be productive without him. Because that's a farce. Especially in the case of the WWF, Vince deserves his credit, however that's not to shortchange Hogan either because the best performers in my mind have to be able to carry their weight too. If such wasn't the case guys like Rude, Hogan, Piper, Savage, Flair, etc. would have fallen flat on their face when they took their acts to other organizations. In fact all these men fine tuned their personas that they got famous for before EVER even associating with Vince McMahon, Jr. But anyway getting back to Hogan's outlandish statements, yeah I personally feel that Hogan extends kayfabe into his so called "real self" that he presents to the media. It kind of nauseates me at times but I've come to expect that in today's day and age with wrestling. Whether what I think it's good kayfabe or not is besides the point, the bottom line is I don't think Hogan ever gets out of character when he's in front of a camera or talking to a media outlet.
As far as Hogan's on air role goes, I think he's probably made a few suggestions. Such as I don't doubt that he was instrumental in TNA returning to the four sided ring, which I might add they were using for a couple years before adopting the hexagon ring. And yes I know the offspring of him and his boy Bischoff getting involved make things look suspicious. However, while I think there's input with Hogan suggesting stuff, I don't think he has all this control that us folks here think he does. As a legend of the business I feel he wants to have a very loose and flexible schedule to where he can do his own side projects and not be as tied down like the WWE Legends deals seem to be. Which to add I think he must have some sort of WWE Legends deal considering that he appears in stuff like video games from time to time. But it obviously isn't a restrictive one to the point where he can't do his thing with TNA.
With TNA being a private enterprise and not a publicly traded company, I really don't know who does what in that company. However, I do think if Hogan had all this power that so many people think he does. I think his buddies like the Nasty Boys and himself (prior to all those surgeries with his back) would have been collecting title reigns and doing all sorts of other crazy shit. Granted, Hogan's been pretty camera happy at times, but there are also times where he doesn't even appear on TV and he has taken time away from the air period. Plus look at the configuration of the title pictures in TNA, Roode as World Champion, Devon as TV Champion (granted he's not a TNA homegrown talent but nothing wrong with a vet who's not associated as being a Hogan crony with a title), Aries as the X-Division Champion, Daniels and Kazarian as the Tag Champs, Gail Kim as the Knockout Champion and as far as the Knockout Tag Titles go well...yeah that's one sticking point there with Eric Young and ODB but hey Harvey Whippleman was the Woman's Champion before, need I say more?
There have been plenty of opportunities for craziness to occur in the title pictures of TNA since Hogan got there and yes there's been some questionable stuff going on before, like Bobby Roode not winning the title the first time against Kurt Angle, but I think that's more than made up for itself.
I really don't know what place in the wrestling world TNA will have in another ten years, if it'll even be around by that time, but who knows, they've come this far where other ventures have not, see Drew McManus' World Wrestling All-Stars and Jimmy Hart's XWF. Those two organizations amounted to nothing while TNA for all its flaws and what not has been around for a decade. What Hogan's total role is I don't know, again none of us really do no matter how much we want to try and say we do by citing the internet. Bottom line is, I would like to see Hogan succeed in a company like TNA and hopefully contribute some meaningful stuff to the company. Yes it's cringeworthy to think of what they might do with Brooke and Garrett Bischoff but again I haven't see Garrett sweep the title pictures and upset the balance they have right now, and who really knows how "important" Brooke's role is going to be. I am not going to jump the gun.
Even though I'm not a total TNA devotee I give them credit where it's due and I maintain that things could be a LOT worse with the company. During a time where the true kingpins of wrestling are not reaching the same numbers they once did years ago, I find any alternative that's managed to stick around this long to be doing something commendable and right. It's a shame some people will still find ways to uselessly bicker and bitch when it's quite unnecessary. And yes I even put myself in that category because I often times get pretty standoffish and rude on these forums. But just the same, I'm doing my best to have a more open mind on a topic like this.
