Hulk Hogan Not Happy With Not Having Champion for UK Tour

[Jack-Hammer]

Like others, I've been pretty critical of Hogan at times. That's not to say that Hogan doesn't have good ideas, make points or express opinions that I personally agree with.

Hogan has given an interview to Fighting Spirit Magazine in which he admits to preferring Bobby Roode as TNA World Heavyweight Champion instead of Jeff Hardy. Hogan's interview is a six page spread in the magazine but this was the little spot that will have some people talking.

"Dixie runs the company, but if it was up to me and it had been my decision, Bobby Roode would have been a great champion to have right now. The (UK) tour plus a champion makes sense; a tour with no champion doesn't make sense. [But] I choose my battles; some people look at the picture differently to how I do."

Personally, I've been less than thrilled with Hardy as TNA World Heavyweight Champion. I get that he's wildly popular and that he's said to bring in a lot of merchandise sales for TNA. He's also a lot of fun to watch inside the ring. I'm just not really all that into the guy. He's been fortunate, thus far in his 3rd title run in TNA, to have been put into feuds against wrestlers, such as Bobby Roode & Austin Aries, who've been able to carry their weight plus his when it comes to the build up of their feuds. He has another opponent now in Bully Ray who will be able to do the same thing because Hardy is wretched on the mic.

I also understand where Hogan is coming from as it refers to the UK tour. TNA does good business in the UK and it's extremely unusual to have someone whose both wildly popular, as Hardy is, and is the TNA World Champion simultaneously to not be on the tour. We still don't know what the deal is as far as Hardy missing the tour. Could it stem from issues surrounding his past legal troubles? Is Hardy legally allowed to leave the country? Did he just not feel like going and persuaded Dixie to give him some time off?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

We still don't know what the deal is as far as Hardy missing the tour.

Actually Jack we do, he's still on probation for his past issues, he isn't allowed to leave the United States for another year until his probation for past offenses ends.

On the Hardy/Roode battle on who should be champion, despite Roode's reign being entertaining and different especially due to its length and the fact it brought some measure of prestige to an otherwise crappy title, did Bobby actually draw any money? Did Bobby increase ratings? Did Bobby sell any merchandise during his time as champion?

Hardy we know does make the company money, he does sell t-shirts, he doesn't increase ratings but Impact Wrestling probably wouldn't no matter whose champion. PPV buyrates last year increase by a small percentage so at least Bobby can hold that to his chest, but Jeff from a business standpoint is a better suit for the job.

Should the champion have been on an international tour representing the company, as Roode had done the year before? Yes. But it's irrelevant now because the tour happened and Hardy wasn't there. They've already moved on, Hardy's next challenger is Bully and Bobby is running with Aries as tag team champions.

 

[dotty_84]

I hope people don't get up in arms about this, he's pretty much spot on the money. It makes sense UK is great for TNA no doubt they made a good bit off of their fans, and the Champion should be on tour especially with TV tapings taking place.

Maybe Bully Ray can spring a surprise and take the title, he's been great for over a year and something new for him and possibly adding depth to the A&8's storyline too.

 

[Tripleb2k1]

to correct you, its not that he's on probation...if you have a criminal record, you have to be granted a pardon to travel outside of USA. which WWE has had to do with R-Truth, Viscera, MVP, etc...

 

[The Perfect Max]

I have to agree with Hulk Hogan on this one which is quite upsetting because I'm certainly not a Hulkamaniac. But hey. Jeff Hardy as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion makes sense because he is wildly popular at the moment and has been for the most part since 2008, but if he can't make the UK Tour, which is perhaps the most important tour for TNA, then why is he champion? All champions should be people who are able to appear at anytime necessary, and represent the company worldwide. A company like TNA who needs to best exposure possible needs a great world champion to represent them, go round the world, do interviews and do shows.

This is quite funny actually, because the WWE are doing the same thing right now. Why is The Rock WWE Champion? Actually, this situation is even worse. Jeff Hardy is on every TNA show possible, but The Rock can't even make it to Raw, so those TNA fans upset by this, all I'll say is it could be worse.

Problem is, Jeff Hardy is on that probation shit, so it isn't necessarily his fault. If he could go over to the UK, he would do. This shows, however, how much TNA want Jeff Hardy as champion. As much as I dislike Dixie Carter (I dislike a lot of people), she has shown here that in a tough situation like this one, she has made a tough desicion and kept Jeff Hardy champion. She didn't have to, she could have dropped it from him, but they didn't because they obviously have some big plans for him. If not, why keep it on him only to take it of him on the next PPV? This may be a show of good things to come if TNA is so keen to keep the title on him.

 

[Rayne]

This is one of those times where Hogan is completely right. A tour without a champion? The belt is a prop. It makes people think that a match is more important than it is. So why didn't Jeff drop the belt to someone before the tour? There is absolutely nothing stopping TNA from putting it back on him when they come back stateside.

TNA really seems to be phoning it in lately. Sending out a tour without a champion almost says that they don't care much if the fans care much; they're going to tape a package, put it on their website and make it look like 30,000 screaming fans are awaiting them overseas anyways, so why go for broke?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Yeah, I'm with Hogan on this one. The moment they knew Hardy wasn't going to be able to make this tour, he should have dropped the title to a guy like Aries or Ray or Roode — whoever. Anyone who was eligible to make the trip, who could have represented the company as it's most coveted and sought after champion.

Just an awful decision, honestly, especially if they had any inkling that Hardy re-signing wasn't going to be affected by the decision to take the title off him (temporarily).

You could have then gone into Lockdown with Hardy gunning for his title back, which I'd argue is always much more entertaining a Jeff Hardy to see than the one where he's defending it.

 

[GameOver]

Yeah have to agree with the old man. Can bitch and moan about HH and Bischoff but the fact of the matter is they have more experience and have brought some exposure to TNA that Dixie did jack shit for. She's brainless

Hardy is just an ok champion, he's not a legend and never will be, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries were great champions now resigned to comedy jobbing to each other, but even that is far more entertaining then Jeff on his best day.

You want to tour another country and attract more viewers you need your champions there, and if you're champ is a recovering druggy and you still insist on putting everything into promoting him at the cost of building you're own legends you suffer the consequences .

 

[akathelaw]

They're giving Hardy the storybook run they envisioned before, when he threw everything away at Victory Road. It's infuriating to watch as a fan, and a big reason I usually miss Impact. Hardy doesn't deserve it and his star power has cooled in the last few years. TNA needs to focus on new talent from the indies. They need to create stars, not polish faded ones.

 

[RD_21]

When Roode was the champion I felt he was the best champion in the business at that period and his belt meant more than any belt in the biz. Then Aries became champs and I started to watch less actively then before. Now that Hardy is the champ I am barely watching the show anymore.

So I agree on Hogan for his reasons, but on mine also, I wish they would take the belt away from Jeff.

 

[Spinebreaker]

Have to get this bit off my chest, I *know* a lot of people will disagree...

Hardy. Is. Awful.

He doesn't have BAD mic skills, he has nonexistant mic skills. His matches are beyond dull. His high spots are all botched and all in the same order every week. He is among the most boring wrestlers on the planet, let alone TNA's roster. The ONLY reason his recent title run has been watchable in any way is because of the quality of his opposition. Roode, Aries Bully Ray, carrying matches and fueds while the charismatic enigma shouts 'creatures' and then does his 3 moves, in the same order, in the SAME SPOT IN THE RING. Every. Single. Match.

Right, abusive rant over.

Regardless of strict WWE fans opinion, TNA backstage are not morons. They knew months ago, (if not a year ago) that there may be issues with Hardy travelling. There were DOZENS of ways to get round that problem...

Hardy could have asked after his *injury* if another wrestler could defend it on his behalf. RVD springs to mind, or Magnus perhaps. All it would take is one backstage scene with Hogan and Hardy, and one shot of Hardy on the phone.

Daniels could have won, thanks to help from Kaz. OUTRAGEOUS cheating. Defended it during the UK tour by cheating all the way, then lost it back to Hardy on the return.

Last months PPV could have ended with Aries and Roode BOTH pinning Hardy, and those two compete in a best of 3 (or 5) over the tour to ascertain the new champ.

TNA is obsessed with the belt on Hardy. Hardy will sell T-shirts to little girls whether he's the champ or not. He hasn't increased viewing figures, he hasn't shot TNA to the moon, concentrate on what made TNA worth watching in the first place... build your own legends.

 

[LayCold]

I agree with Hulk Hogan. Daniels could have been the champ during the tour, I mean, during ONE MONTH, you don't have a World Champion ? It's stupid, the champion needs to shows up because he is the man that represents the company, even if we didn't see him, we should have footage of him (and not the same when a A&8 guy attack him ). If you don't have a world champion, you are looking weak

 

[MB1025]

I think in order for us to judge if Hardy should have dropped the belt or not we need to see what happens at Lockdown. There is something obvious that looks to be happening there and if it does it would mean a lot more if Hardy didn't drop the belt.

At the end of the day though I don't think it was that big of a deal. The UK still got 4 great TV shows and wrestling. Would it have been nice to have your world champion there? Sure, but I don't think it made much difference really.

 

[SpecialFNK]

the title is misleading. it's not that Hogan is not happy with Hardy as TNA champion. Hogan didn't like Hardy as the TNA champion.. while TNA was on tour in the UK. if TNA did not go on the UK tour, or if Hardy himself could have went to the UK, Hogan would have had no issue with Hardy as champion.

TNA could have had another champion beat Hardy before going on the UK tour. but how would it have looked like if "wrestler X" beat Hardy for the world title, and then lost if at Lockdown a short time after? if the plan is to have Bully win the title at Lockdown, I think it makes more sense to have Hardy remain champion. that is if that's the plan for Lockdown.

I can understand the negative look it is for TNA to not have the world heavyweight champion on an important tour to the UK. but it all depends on what the plans are going forward.

 

[shattered dreams]

This thread is pretty misleading unless there is more to that interview. All this really says is that would have liked to have had a champion for the UK tour and that Bobby Roode would have been a great option. I don't think anyone would disagree with either of those things. It doesn't say he is unhappy with Hardy as champion in general or that he prefers Roode as champ.

Even then Hogan admits there are different ways to look at this. The likely reasons for keeping the belt on Hardy are contract negotiations and the overarching story. Certainly not an ideal situation and I was a little surprised they didn't have him drop the belt but keeping Hardy was the most important thing for TNA period.

 

[JUSTINMFNBEEMER]

im probobably the biggest hulkamaniac in the universe, but jesus, he wont be happy with the champion till he gets that belt around his own waist. hes starting to remind me of vince, just out of touch. im by far not a hardy fan, but hell they could do worse.

 

[The Extract]

I don like Hardy as champion. In fact, I was actually shocked when they didn't have Christopher Daniels take the title on the show before the UK Tour began. I mean, Chris Daniels could have held the title until BFG where he and AJ face off for the World Title. Plus, they would have a champion that could actually leave the country. I don't like Hardy in the ring anymore, and his mic skills are vertually nonexistent, so I have no idea why they want him as champion. Hopefully, Bully Ray walks out of Lockdown as the World Heavyweight Champion.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't know who is better but as an employee of TNA Hogan is a fucking idiot for cutting down any fellow employee in an interview, especially their fucking champ unless it is a work.

Just say Jeff is a terrific performer and great champ. It's unfortunate he can't perform live for the UK fans but what Jeff has accomplished coming so far is amazing. He loves performing in the UK and thrives off the passion of the fans. When he's ready and able to make the trip you bet Jeff Hardy will electrify the UK fans again.

Is that so fucking hard? Right or wrong, does he have to be such an honest, candid douche bag. Fuck, I feel bad for Dixie sometimes. Leave the hardcore analysis for the fat pasty virgins on the interwebs.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

I don't like Hogan at all but he is 100% right. Your champ has to be defending the title if you are going out of the country. The belt needs to be front and center. They had plenty of time to work a program and get the belt off of Hardy. No excuses.

That said he is a fucking idiot for saying it in the interview. You can't say that about the current champ in the company you work for. You can think it all you want but keep it behind closed doors. Dixie should have made it known that talking about Hardy not appearing should have been off limits. If she did and Hogan did it anyway he should be fined.

Sorry GSB but I don't feel bad for Dixie just like I don't feel bad for Vince. If history didn't teach either one anything than they deserve everything they get.

 

[Viperman86]

While I don't like Hulk Hogan, I absolutely agree. I haven't liked Hardy since the bs he pulled at Victory Road. He's not a good wrestler, he's a spot monkey, and the only reason he's champion is because of his popularity. I still don't know why they rehired him after that. The fact that TNA has to put the title on Hardy to keep him with the company shows how weak they are, while Roode and Aries were great champions. If you're champion can't be at the show, thats just stupid, and the fact that Hardy can't go into the UK shows why he shouldn't be champion. And people are going to say I'm only one less viewer so they won't care, but as long as Hardy is champion, I refuse to watch TNA. I pray to God that Bully Ray wins the title.

 

[Ayden C.]

I believe that Hogan making such bold comments really just complicates things more than they need to be complicated. Should they have had somebody hold the belt while Hardy was gone? Sure. But the fact is that they are on to new things now and comments like that are simply going to keep them from moving forward. Hardy doesn't deserve comments like this and they make the company look like garbage. What does he get out of belittling one of the top stars of the company? I am almost hoping that this is some kind of work. Hardy brings TNA more money than probably most of the roster combined and I would like to see you do what he does in the ring before you start calling him a spot monkey.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

Personally, I've been less than thrilled with Hardy as TNA World Heavyweight Champion. I get that he's wildly popular and that he's said to bring in a lot of merchandise sales for TNA. He's also a lot of fun to watch inside the ring. I'm just not really all that into the guy. He's been fortunate, thus far in his 3rd title run in TNA, to have been put into feuds against wrestlers, such as Bobby Roode & Austin Aries, who've been able to carry their weight plus his when it comes to the build up of their feuds. He has another opponent now in Bully Ray who will be able to do the same thing because Hardy is wretched on the mic.

I also understand where Hogan is coming from as it refers to the UK tour. TNA does good business in the UK and it's extremely unusual to have someone whose both wildly popular, as Hardy is, and is the TNA World Champion simultaneously to not be on the tour. We still don't know what the deal is as far as Hardy missing the tour. Could it stem from issues surrounding his past legal troubles? Is Hardy legally allowed to leave the country? Did he just not feel like going and persuaded Dixie to give him some time off?

I couldn't agree with you more Hammer. I feel the exact same way with everything stated above. I hate to be THAT guy, but I'm starting to get this feeling that Hulk Hogan is slowly poisoning the well here. This is the second negative statement in a month Hogan has made publicly about Dixie and her decisions in running TNA. Did I miss something here? Because I was under the assumption that Hogan was a HUGE mark for Jeff Hardy and was one of his largest supporters. Sure they could have hot shotted the title onto Roode before the tour, and set up a rematch for Lockdown.. but that would screw up everything TNA had planned. The creative team has done a stellar job of long term booking! There's still a lot of room for improvement. The debacle that is Ace's and Eights is a good example of that. But overall I've enjoyed TNA. Since September they've been slowly moving Bully Ray to that next level and now he's a legit PPV number 1 contender. I think this Aries/Roode storyline is brilliant.. but it would have been ruined if Roode ended up with the World Title. Not to mention the time and patience they've had with whatever they have planned for AJ Styles.

Recently someone called Dixie a money mark, and that's the perfect description for her. And honestly, it's all she should be doing. She's clearly passionate about TNA, but she doesn't know enough about wrestling to have this, "final say" power. In some cases sure. But if Hulk Hogan says, "Hey, we need a World Champion on this tour", then lil ol Dixie should have put a World Champion on this tour. Did Jeff want time off? Could he not leave due to legal restraints? Or did he use legal restraints as an excuse to get time off? All are possible scenario's. I think Impact this month did alright minus Jeff Hardy, but the only plausible option I see in having a World Champion on that tour, would have been to turn Bully and Brooke heel by joining Aces and Eights, and Bully somehow becoming Champion before running off to the UK. A month without Hardy would have had the fans begging for an encounter come this week, and the Lockdown match could still be set up. Besides that, there was no out, and Hogan is a jackass for putting Dixie on blast like that.

I don't know how they intend to do it, but I think Hogan and his crew are trying to push Dixie out of any handlings when it comes to TNA's WRESTLING decisions. Maybe he thinks if he can make her hated by the IWC, she'll get flustered and step down. She seems tough though. If anything he's just gonna piss her off.

 

[lowandmighty]

Hulk Hogan is absolutely right. The WORLD champion should be there if there's a tour to another part of the world.

If I was in the U.K I would feel like I got screwed and wasn't being taken seriously as a fan.

This is embarrassing to TNA. In other individual sports you can't just sit at home when you're the champion while the rest of the competition competes against each other all around the world because you would lose your ranking.

Hardy should be stripped of the title in my opinion.

 

[The Eighties]

WWE will be doing the same thing, Rock will be champion and miss as many Raw's as Hardy missed Impact's, the fact is it's not worth changing booking plans and hot potatoing the title so the belt can be on a tour over the shoulder of a placeholder champion.

Personally I think Hardy is better chasing the belt but I find his title run less annoying than it could be as he doesn't hog Impact even when he is there.

I'm not sure what Hogan has to gain by this though, unless he's working around Dixie and looking to push her further out of creative decisions by undermining her.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

While I don't like Hulk Hogan, I absolutely agree. I haven't liked Hardy since the bs he pulled at Victory Road. He's not a good wrestler, he's a spot monkey, and the only reason he's champion is because of his popularity. I still don't know why they rehired him after that. The fact that TNA has to put the title on Hardy to keep him with the company shows how weak they are, while Roode and Aries were great champions. If you're champion can't be at the show, thats just stupid, and the fact that Hardy can't go into the UK shows why he shouldn't be champion. And people are going to say I'm only one less viewer so they won't care, but as long as Hardy is champion, I refuse to watch TNA. I pray to God that Bully Ray wins the title.

Not to piss on your bonfire, but isn't "popularity" THE reason why you make someone your Champion? It's not like the WWE has kept Cena at the top because of his tremendous talent as a wrestler and on the mic. Even those magnificent wrestlers like Austin, Michaels and Rock became Champions because of their popularity. They differ in how their popularity was "made". Some did it through wrestling skill and charisma, others just appealed to a lot of people like Hardy. In the end, they all became popular and then they became Champions.

This, of course, changed when Vince started slapping that belt on anyone with a shred of talent but that's another story.

As far as what Hogan said, I don't buy it. Why? People agree with it. RED FLAG. Hogan's always been a huge Hardy supporter, and now all of a sudden he prefers Roode to have been the Champion? Come on. If Hogan wanted a Champion on that tour he would've made sure we had one. I think he's just sucking up to the IWC so a few agree with him and so on, which is not a bad thing - it's a bit PR-ish but go for it.

And I also disagree with his statement and everyboy elses. Have Hardy drop the belt because of a tour? Are you insane? TNA was fully aware of Hardy's issues when it came to overseas work. They knew this guy would probably last long enough until this point and they knew what would happen.

What if they did take the belt off him? Then what? Roode or Daniels or whoever wins it, goes on the tour with it, then we come back to the states and ... what then? Hardy gets it back? So we get some shit-fuck two-three week reign, and the person who basically kept it warm for Hardy looks like a doofus.

Or maybe he comes back to the states and he doesn't lose it. Then Hardy's whole reign, this huge story of redemption they had going on was for absolutely nothing.

Just because of a tour? Do you really think UK fans are sitting there going "You know wot, mate, oi fancy meself some TNA bot they don't ave that Hahdy in theeh. Oim not going."

Hell no, UK fans love TNA, not Jeff Hardy. Probably some wanted to see him but the arena was packed and TNA had great shows, as usual. All of this proves that TNA dodged a bullet and chose the right way to tackle this.

Also consider that they're going on the road once more and they need Hardy as Champion, so if he lost it prior to the tour he was gonna win it back as soon as TNA returned to the land of obesity and we'd have that whole doofus thing I talked about.

Sorry, brother.