Hogan vs Flair angle - this is being looked at all wrong by many

[CBCS]

I would just like to comment on my take of the Hogan, Flair angle and get everyones feedback. I know we all agree we don't want to see these two guys wrestle, BUT I think IMO people are missing the point of this angle. I think they are trying to "pass the torch" and put AJ and Abyss over to become well known names. I honestly don't feel it is Hogan and Flair that want to wrestle, I feel they are doing it for the company to try to help elevate some of the talent. After Monday night, we won't be seeing Hogan in the ring for anything except for mic work etc. I don't feel that Flair will have many matches at all or even any at all after Monday night.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

I would love to agree with you but I can't, I just feel like they are going to do the exact opposite of what you are thinking. They don't even need to be involved in the match at all to put over AJ and Abyss, especially Hogan. Flair as AJ's Manager I am fine with but with this angle he is now the focus of attention and Hogan chose Abyss because he knows he can out talk Abyss. It would have made more sense for Pope to be Hogans partner because he is the #1 contender for AJ's title, something everyone seems to be forgetting. Hell even on the Poster for the Lockdown PPV Flair and Hogan are the most prominently featured wrestlers. From the looks of things right now TNA has turned into what I feared most, The Hogan and Flair show. I don't have hight expectations for Monday night, from wither RAW or TNA Impact. TNA's big deal is bringing in RVD who hasn't been relevant since Vince bought ECW. Then their main event is just more Hogan feeding his ego bullshit. RAW is gonna have some ****** host I'm sure and all their segments will suck. We will get more lame HBK/Undertaker 2 build up. Hopefully Bret Hart won't be there because so far that angle has sucked big time. Neither show has been impressive lately and I doubt that is going to change this Monday.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I hope you're right..but I'm not sure. I am not a Hogan-hater, and Ric Flair is one of my personal favorites. I think Hogan is doing this to draw attention to TNA. I believe he has the best intentions. There is no way he is trying to become an active wrestler again, and if you think so, you are an idiot. Same goes for Flair. He is a manager. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see Flair back in the ring again for something special.

Hogan's motives are often called into question, and have been for years. But in this scenario, I don't think I have so much a problem with his motives. On one hand, I think he might be delusional. I think he truly believes the only way for TNA to draw on Monday is for he and Flair to actually be involved in a match. Usually, I would say Hogan is an ego-maniac. I would say he is a self-serving guy, with nothing but his own interests playing a role. But this time, I am not so sure he is wrong.

Do I want to see him wrestle? No. I haven't wanted to see that since Mania 18. But in this instance, he might have some ground to stand on after all. Who in TNA is a bigger draw than Hogan or Flair? Kurt Angle? Yes, he probably is, but it hasn't helped TNA become a mainstream promotion, so why would it come Monday night? AJ Styles, Pope, Wolfe? Those guys are very talented, but do no have the name recognition nation wide to draw the way they want to on March 8th.

The problem is not talent. The problem is marketability. They have decent, homegrown talent. They are just not big names yet. No one outside of people who are already TNA fans are going to tune in just to see guys like AJ, Pope, Daniels, Wolfe, Abyss, Matt Morgan, or anyone of their other big names who have been there for a while. I think that is a big reason for Hogan pulling RVD in.

I think Hogan wants these guys to become as big as Cena, Batista, Orton, Jericho, HHH, etc. But they are not there yet. Their fan base just isn't big enough to compete with WWE. So Hogan and Flair are stepping up, even if it's not going to be great to watch. I hope it works. I hope in the next few months TNA develops more of a fan base, or can at least come close to competing with WWE on Monday Nights. WIll they beat them this year? I doubt it. And I guarantee they can't compete in the PPV market for at least another year.

So, while I don't really care to watch Hogan and Flair wrestle anymore, I am not sure it's a bad business decision. Unfortunately, they are TNA's two biggest names right now, and I don't see that changing for quite some time yet.

 

[Mark0820]

There's a simple reason why Hogan and Flair are featured more prominently on the PPV poster. People know who they are. They don't know who AJ Styles and Elijah Pope are. I think they are doing this just to get the company over as legit. They know WWE is 3 weeks away from WM and are doing everything they can to steal some focus away from that. It's smart from a business perspective. It's gaining the young guys some viewers which can only help them.

 

[Weems2k]

I'm hoping the rumors I have been reading are true, and that Abyss snaps on Hogan, maybe even taking the mask off, and just being a bad ass heel type taking out anyone that crosses his path. Kinda like the run Yokozuna had in his prime. I also hope they get rid of that chicken outfit that Styles is wearing to the ring now.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Flair and Hogan are doing what they are suppose to do, and that is get two of these unknown top TNA talent some wrestling exposure. However I just don't think Hogan and Flair will actually get these guys the exposure that is necessary to get their names bigger. Remember Kevin Sullivan's little brother? He became the number one fan, and it really didn't get him anywhere. The Abyss and Hogan segments remind me a more bizarre version of that. On top of that, Flair really isn't someone that can get a young talent over. He was paired with Shelton Benjamin in 2005, and that was disastrous. He actually took Shelton down a step. And call me nuts, I think Shelton Benjamin has a lot more talent then A.J. Styles, so this might not be a good thing.

 

[NaturallyPricele$$]

I hope your right and Hogan and Flair are there to help bring up the younger talent. I just have a very sick feelings that the match will end with Hogan legdropping and cleanly pinning the TNA World Champion with a post match pose down by Hogan and Abyss. If this happens then the WWE has absolutely nothing to worry about.

 

[rkodeadman]

I would like to think that they're only trying to put them over but that will only happen if abyss or a.j. get the pin. If hogan gets the pin(might happen cause of his ego) then it will screw it all up. As long as this is their last time then it should be ok. But saying that the angle right now is pretty poor. Abyss getting power from a ring? Definetly hogans idea and lets hope that he doesn't turn into hogan2. That would be a disaster.

 

[AttitudeEra12]

I hope your right and Hogan and Flair are there to help bring up the younger talent. I just have a very sick feelings that the match will end with Hogan legdropping and cleanly pinning the TNA World Champion with a post match pose down by Hogan and Abyss. If this happens then the WWE has absolutely nothing to worry about.

Dont worry about Hogan pinning anybody with the leg drop. According to the Hulkamania tour results everytime he pinned flair it was with the big boot. Hogan can't do the leg drop anymore because of his bad knees lol.

 

[cawsnallthis]

Wow, that might be the saddest thing I've ever read on here! When you are a 2 move wrestler and you lose the ability to physically do one of them? It would be funny if it weren't so pathetically true. Maybe he can steal of Fist of Death from Big Show! Michelle McCool bit the Styles Clash, so that would make them even, move infringement wise!

 

[LongHessa]

How anyone is looking forward to this steaming pile of shit is beyond. IMPACT on Thursday was littered by horrible booking. There ratings are steadily going DOWN and it obvious why. RAW is pulling 3.8's and IMPACT is doing 0.9's with Hogan and Flair on the TV. It shows nobody gives a shit about there old goons anymore. Morale is apparently at a all time low and to me TNA is clearly not ready to go head to head with Vince. I wish they were but I honestly think Eric and Hulk will put this company out of business, just my opinion.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I hope this tag match tomorrow won't be as bad as some people think it will be. I'm hoping this match will lead to an Abyss heel turn, and take the focus off of Hogan and Flair. I HOPE Hogan and Flair will not wrestle on a regular basis, but you never know what could happen. I believe Hogan is very beat up at this point in his career, so I find it hard to believe he will want to wrestle on a consistent basis. Flair on the other hand, is addicted to the business. Flair has such a passion for wrestling. I seriously believe he will continue to wrestle until his last bast breath.

As far as the ratings go, I'm not really surprised Raw is winning that battle. Were right in the middle of Wrestlemania season, so it's not unusual at all for Raw to beat Impact in the ratings. Also, if this were 15 or 20 years ago, then yes Hogan and Flair would be HUGE draws, but both men are up there in age now, and they're not capable of being the the "top guys" any more.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

TNA's primary focus right now is to compete with the WWE at the expense of just about everything else they've had going. TNA once had a thriving mid-card scene that it now only pays lip service to, TNA once had a groundbreaking women's division that is now almost as bad as the WWE's and TNA once had a red hot tag team scene that, in my view, is now not even remotely interesting as the WWE's.

Instead of working towards making a great overall product, TNA has spent the majority of the past several months focusing almost entirely on the main event scene and using the names of Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair to get TNA over. Flair and Hogan are legends, like them or not. They're two of the best at what they do for different reasons but TNA's strategy of using them is simply not paying off. TNA is moving to Monday nights on a permanent basis, but TNA has done a crap job of hyping that movement and its a mistake. The ONLY part of the show that's gotten ANY hype is the main event tag match featuring Hogan and Flair. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair are the center of TNA Wrestling right now and it doesn't interest me in the least.

 

[Grizzly0u812]

Everyone is forgetting one thing on the Hogan and Flair angle, Sting, I am thinking Sting will be involved in this, Sting has danced with all the people involved in this match, he also hates people disrespecting the business and Title, so I think one way or another he will be involved, maybe lights go out and everyone is layed out when the lights come back on, Hogan has a bat in hand looking confused.

If this is going to be Hogan's final match as they say, he will probably clean house as best as he can do, yeah Hogan can not get around as good as he use to and Flair is up there also.

Can not see Hogan loosing and becoming a suit wearing bitch, hopefully this match is done properly to build up AJ and Abyss and not make Hogan and Flair look silly.

Flair will still walk with AJ and Hogan can still be the Boss but hopefully do it right to make all come out on top, still think something will happen with Sting or Hall and Xpac, can not see a clean pin in this.

 

[WWE*FAN*CB]

No sir you are actually looking at this angle all wrong. Its VERY clear that Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan want to wrestle especially Flair. Who has done all he could to get back in the ring since he was last in the WWE. I dont actually get why people dont want to see a 30 min. Flair vs. Hogan match, i mean yes their older but who cares? Flair and Hogan did SO much for pro wrestling and oh my what a match they would put on. I think Flair can wrestle now just as good as he did in the 70's. Hogan is the one making this all about him notice on that billboard in NYC its only him on the picture. So I hope all come out on their feet after monday, and im hoping Flair will return to WWE, becuase his heart is clearly not in TNA.

 

[Tiger Chaos Theory]

I've been saying this for awhile. I don't believe this match is there to get hogan and flair back into the ring prominently but instead, is being used as a way to advertise A.J. and Abyss as viable draws. I'm not sure of the way they are going about it but I'll reserve my judgment till after Monday night.

 

[hogan is the greatest]

it does not really matter what happens as long as we get to see hogan wrestle. hogan is the greatest of all time and he is bigger than anything tna has to offer. you got hogan and then you got the tna world champ aj styles who is a nobody enough said. i dont know why hogan just does not go ahead and take the world because even a old hogan is better than anyboby tna has

 

[wazaveli]

The only beef I have with this angle is how irrelavent the rest of TNA has become in light of Hogan and Flair coming into the company.

The shows have so much HH/EB/RF that its like Nitro all over again, which I don't overly mind as I grew up watching WCW, but I can see the greivences of people on the forums and why people criticize Hogan.

Lets all just watch the show, I'm sure Sting will get involved and make this more interesting as will the Pope who is being pushed out of this Mainevent scene even though he is the #1 Contender.

Hogan, from what I see can't walk so why he'd wanna wrestle is beyond me. Flair scares me when his shirt is off so here's hoping he wrestles very briefly.

 

[Tastycles]

I am beginning to get the picture that Hogan actually does want to be a part of a successful company and that he is trying to position Abyss as the man that can take them forward. Arguably, he's doing it at the expense of the mid card, but that is the sort of thing that has to take a back seat. If TNA want to take it to WWE, then they have to give people a reason to watch, and Sting, the only active competitor to be a proven draw just isn't enough. They need Jeff Hardy, and they need their own stars to be compelling. Abyss has spent nearly 8 years being ManKane, and I think that the time has come for him to change into something that might actually bring the audience in.

Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic about Hogan's intentions, but I do see him and Flair getting into the ring together to be a means to an end, rather than the structure upon which TNA intend to be a big deal. Look at it like this, three months ago TNA's future main eventers were Matt Morgan and the 37 year old Hernandez. Now, Abyss is looking like he's going back there, Anderson, Dinero and by all accounts Hardy and RVD in the bag? That's a lot more promising. TNA has to build from the top down if its intending on going after the WWE, and it needs people that people have heard of in order to do it.

 

[Mr_Wrestling_Number_7]

I would just like to comment on my take of the Hogan, Flair angle and get everyones feedback. I know we all agree we don't want to see these two guys wrestle, BUT I think IMO people are missing the point of this angle. I think they are trying to "pass the torch" and put AJ and Abyss over to become well known names. I honestly don't feel it is Hogan and Flair that want to wrestle, I feel they are doing it for the company to try to help elevate some of the talent. After Monday night, we won't be seeing Hogan in the ring for anything except for mic work etc. I don't feel that Flair will have many matches at all or even any at all after Monday night.

All I know is, if Hogan hits a leg drop on someone tonight and pins them..they have officially failed before even truly beginning. I would like to think they are more clever than to pull a 'Hogan saves the day' routine. But seeing as how their storylines are so scattered as it is..I have my doubts. Last week, Angle coming in and talking to the Hulk about Hogan's match...Angle was all calm and collected...NOT A PEEP about the previous incident with Mr. Anderson. That right there tells me that they have tons of work to do as far as getting their stories in line. So yeah, This Hogan/Flair match bothers me. For I fear that if it goes the way I'm afraid it will..then it will mean they(the entire TNA company) haven't learned anything in the past 8 years. If it were me, I would have been taking notes on what to do and what NOT to do. This match is what NOT to do.

 

[Schizophrenic]

Does anyone remember the possible Hogan heel turn that was rumored for the past few weeks? I really don't see Hogan getting the win if he's gonna go heel. There is no way to do it like that. Hogan and Abyss win the match then Hogan attacks Abyss? I don't see that happening which means that AJ & Flair will have to win the match for that to go down. And I dont see Flair pinning Abyss honestly. Flair seems to be all about "getting AJ to the top" which would mean him getting the pin on TNA'sreturn to Monday Nights. IF Hogan turns heel, AJ is getting the pin, if he doesn't I still say Abyss will get the pin because Abyss being Hulktser's chosen on he will allow it to happen. However I still am expecting if Hogan tags in Abyss and he gets the win people will still bitch because "Hogan HAD to beat up AJ enough befor letting Abyss in". Why? Because it's the internet and it's full of morons.

 

[The Not So Bad Guy]

Because it's the internet and it's full of morons.

This is so true except for rumors speculation an innuendo noone knows what will happen or how it will come out tonight we have choices 1) tivo the show you don't watch 2) channel flip like a monkey like the old days or 3) pick a show to watch. But what if Hogan and Flair do what they have the experience to do and blow our minds. Hell they wouldn't have to do much. But if that happens and all You naysayers are proven wrong what next turn on AJ or maybe Abyss. Guys we watch talk and blog about this because we want to be entertained and enjoy wrestling just let it be and see how it comes down before you light your torches and get your pitch forks.