Hogan and Russo working together.

[mont3818]

Seems like someone would have already brought this is up, and probably already did, so I'm sorry for that but... how the hell are vince russo and hulk hogan gonna be on the same creative team?!?! I mean.. their fall out in 2000 was the nastiest thing ever shown in front of the camera to the audience. It seems like russo absolutly hates hogan, and maybe vice-versa. Anyone know how this is gonna work?? Doesn't it seem like you can only have one or the other??

Plus Hogan is much more valuable right now. He should give them a little shake up and all that. As long as its not overkill and he does things that are genuinely for the better of TNA To me, russo is beyond worthless but theres apparently something talented about him since they've had him for this long.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not too thrilled about the idea myself but, who knows, maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised. I know...I'm not holding my breath either but stranger things have happened.

Everyone wants to see Hogan do good things for TNA, but history is working against him. He's a shameless self-promoter that would tell you creating the world in 6 days was his idea instead of God's if he thought he could get away with it. History shows that it's always been Hulk Hogan first and everything else in wrestling at a distant second.

As for Russo, the guy's not the devil but he's not the genius that his marks tout him as either. He didn't kill WCW, but he certainly didn't do anything to help it. He's had some great ideas that've been played out on various angles in some of the most memorable moments in wrestling history and he's had some ideas that never should've seen the light of day.

In the end, do I think Hogan and Russo can be professional and work together for the benefit of improving TNA? It's possible I think. Anything is possible, but I'm not too sure how likely this is. Off the top of my head, the only certain way I can think of in which they'd be able to get along is if Russo were to go along with everything that Hogan does. If Russo is willing to become a lackey to Hulk Hogan, they'll get along great. Otherwise, I just don't have that much confidence in it. I might be wrong, hopefully I am, but I won't be surprised if they don't.

 

[drondog]

I'm not too thrilled about the idea myself but, who knows, maybe we'll all be pleasantly surprised. I know...I'm not holding my breath either but stranger things have happened.

Everyone wants to see Hogan do good things for TNA, but history is working against him. He's a shameless self-promoter that would tell you creating the world in 6 days was his idea instead of God's if he thought he could get away with it. History shows that it's always been Hulk Hogan first and everything else in wrestling at a distant second.

As for Russo, the guy's not the devil but he's not the genius that his marks tout him as either. He didn't kill WCW, but he certainly didn't do anything to help it. He's had some great ideas that've been played out on various angles in some of the most memorable moments in wrestling history and he's had some ideas that never should've seen the light of day.

In the end, do I think Hogan and Russo can be professional and work together for the benefit of improving TNA? It's possible I think. Anything is possible, but I'm not too sure how likely this is. Off the top of my head, the only certain way I can think of in which they'd be able to get along is if Russo were to go along with everything that Hogan does. If Russo is willing to become a lackey to Hulk Hogan, they'll get along great. Otherwise, I just don't have that much confidence in it. I might be wrong, hopefully I am, but I won't be surprised if they don't.

Gotta agree with you Hogan is all about Hogan. Last Monday he could've been at Impact taping the show to hype the PPV, but now he was signing books. Now are they going to wait to debut him on the PPV, hoping people will buy it, that isn't a smart bet. Hogan has already put himself over the company and hasn't been there more than 3 weeks. I don't see him and Russo getting along either. They hate each other and I think bringing Hogan, Bishoff, Russo, Ferrara, add Nash in there and you got the end of TNA. Lets just hope they all learned something from closing WCW down. I would love to see TNA beat WWE, I'm tired of the same old storylines, gimmicks, PPV buildups, and oh yea the same five men in the main event for the last 10 years!

 

[UFOcalling]

The thing that no one seems to remember is that Russo DID kill WCW....in the ratings, when he worked for WWF! Not enough people give him credit for bringing Raw back from the dead! The WWF was so close to going under, until Russo & Ferrara (and VKM, of course) decided to start writing dirty story lines. It worked, they absolutely CRUSHED WCW in the ratings eventually.

The reason Russo & Ferrara went to WCW is because they offered a lot more money than they were being payed at WWF. After blaming Bischoff for the decline in ratings, the WCW higher-ups thought Russo & Ferrara could "save" the company. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and there was nothing anyone could do to save WCW, because of the impending AOL/Time Warner merger.

Now....with that out of the way, I think Russo & Hogan CAN work together. I think Russo now knows that he doesn't have another option...at least not in the wrestling world, what other company would hire him? I think Russo will swallow his pride, and collaborate with Hogan & Bischoff.

As long as Hogan & Bischoff don't try to turn TNA into another trip down "nostalgia lane", like WCW was with all the old-school guys (Savage, Flair, Luger, Piper, Hacksaw, etc), they might be able to come up with some great programming. You could bring in some older guys, just don't put them anywhere near the title-scene.

Every one of us here knows that these are some of the biggest egos in the business. I'd even go as far as to say that Hogan's ego might be bigger than McMahon's. I think Russo's head has deflated considerably since his days with WCW, and he'd be more willing to work with Hogan, provided that he doesn't want to put the belt on someone who's over-the-hill (ie: himself).

I've said this in other threads, but it bears repeating. TNA needs to exploit their TV-14 rating, and focus on dirtier story lines just like WWF did when WCW was burying them in the ratings. That's what pulled them out of the gutter then, and it will work again. Focus on the younger talent, not the out-of-shape veterans. Hogan has been putting over the young guys in recent interviews, so hopefully that's the route they're going to go.

If the four of them (Bischoff, Hogan, Russo & Ferrara) can't work together, obviously Russo & Ferrara will be the ones on the chopping block. I think Russo will bend over and take whatever he has to, just so he can keep earning a paycheck.....but hopefully he won't have to, and I pray that Hogan & Bischoff won't make the same mistakes twice. I really enjoy TNA, and I don't want to see those two ruin a good thing.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I am itching and itching for the demise of TNA. For some reason (actually I know exactly why), I hate TNA, their product and what they stand for. I pray this is the self destruction that TNA deserves. Hogan and Russo despise each other (just about as much as I despise John Cena) and I always wondered from the 1st day I saw that Hogan was joining TNA if him & Russo would be able to make it together. The answer is no. As everyone has clearly stated, Hogan is his biggest fan and his #2 biggest fan is again, himself. So with that said, I seriously doubt Hogan will listen to Russo, especially after the fallout from Bash at the Beach 2000. Good luck TNA, you just really did yourselves in.

 

[Twanfusco]

I find it quite amusing that many people are so quick to call it the death of tna just because it's the same guys in charge that are considered to be the downfall of wcw. first off, I don't watch tna very regularly, that's not because I think wwe has better storyline going on or even better talent, I guess it's because I'm used to the big production I've seen for years, silly I know but when I do turn on tna it's confusing so I can't get hooked. Anyway, my point is hat just because these guys were a part of wcw's downfall doesn't mean they will kill tna, it's a different situation as far as I can tell, especially financially. In wcw there was a lot of money to spend and no-one to put a lid on it, compared to Ted turner, Dixie Carter is small fish. So straight away the first problem bischoff, hogan and russo face is workin to a budget which means less extravagence and more in ring story telling, you generally need guys who can go every week for storylines to be a real success and the old guys just don't have it in them. Bischoff is smart, he's admitted in interviews that his own ego got in the way at wcw, to make the same mistake twice would I think crazy and I don't think he will. They may not be an overnight success but to say that they will be the death of tna already is ridiculous even for forum posters. As for russo and hogan working together, stranger things have happened and everyone is a little bit older and a little bit wiser/ senial. Let it unfold and then say tna is dying.

 

[SK]

I feel sorry for Russo here. His and Hogan's history will never allow them to work amicably, and now that Hogan is Russo's boss, well it's Hogan's way or the highway, which most likely means the highway. Russo is a great booker when he has some control,but with Hogan standing over him like a vulture, I really can't see them working together for long.

If Hogan demands too much or criticises Russo too much, he'll be straight out of there, which would be a real shame because it looked like he was taking TNA up.