Hulk Hogan Wants Nothing To Do With Writers?

[Tenta]

Hulk Hogan claimed he's going to have the TNA writers fired when he returns to TNA to "run the promotion" after the Hulkamania Tour in Australia concludes.

Hogan said in a radio interview with Jason Datillo of 91.3 SportFM in Perth, Australia that he despises having writers in the wrestling business, especially when he worked in WWE. Hogan put Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara on notice with the following quote.

"In TNA, I'm going to listen to those fans and give them what they want. I'm not going to keep shoving a bunch of terrible, horrible, stale programming down their throats," Hogan said, referring to WWE's writing. "(In TNA), I'm going to take the writers and tell them, 'go get another job. Sit in the back. If I need you to write a jingle for a commercial, maybe we'll use you for that.'"

Well, this was particularly interesting for me to read. I don't know if this is Hulk's bluster, or if these are legitimate feelings. We all know that he's not a fan of Vince Russo, per se, and perhaps this a passive aggressive shot at Vinnie Ru. Still, I must confess, Hulk has said quite a few things in here which are interesting, perhaps valid points.

We've all stated how the writing of the WWE has led to stale, canned produvtion. The emotion that typically personifies promos has been sucked dry by WWE writers that, quite frankly, aren't even that aware of what they write, if you ask me. But TNA's writing can't be that bad, can it? Does The Hulkster have a valid point that writers don't belong in TNA?

Personally, I can see where Hulk is coming from. TNA's best wrestlers get over mainly due to their in ring talent. That isn't to say TNA's boys are bad on the mic, but their work in the ring is leaps and bounds better than any work on the stick. It's how TNA's stars, for the most point, have gotten over. I can see where Hulk is coming from in saying he doesn't want writers. Having said that, Hulk's opinions are of an antiquated style, and perhaps this is him speaking about the days when writers weren't needed. Perhaps the business has changed too much from Hulk's heyday, and maybe Vince and Ed are truly needed to write out these angles and scripts. But I, for one, can agree with Hulk on this one, and can clearly say that I support this decision, if he continues to allow wrestlers such as AJ, Kurt, and Christopher Daniels get over with their incredible ring work. If Hulk's main point is that he wishes to make the wrestling the focal point, I'm on board with his statements.

What do you all make of Hulk's very strong stance of writers on the business?

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Because when Hogan wrestled there were no 'writers', just bookers. Basically, Hogan was told to go in a certain direction and the opponent followed. I see this being a bold move on his part. Basically saying Russo and Ferrara are gone when he gets back. That's harsh. Even if he's right, that's probably something to either get attention back to TNA or his stance on how the product should be ran.

Personally, I think Hogan can be a great booker..as long as he stays out of the ring. Or at least stay out of the main event. Hogan's serving notice to Vince and the WWE. Saying, 'We're pulling out all the stops, and there's no holding back.' I anticipate this being a fun time to watch wrestling again. Look for Hogan to come out, with guns blazing, and try to take the first swing in a new wrestling war.

 

[Tenta]

Because when Hogan wrestled there were no 'writers', just bookers. Basically, Hogan was told to go in a certain direction and the opponent followed. I see this being a bold move on his part. Basically saying Russo and Ferrara are gone when he gets back. That's harsh. Even if he's right, that's probably something to either get attention back to TNA or his stance on how the product should be ran.

Personally, I think Hogan can be a great booker..as long as he stays out of the ring. Or at least stay out of the main event. Hogan's serving notice to Vince and the WWE. Saying, 'We're pulling out all the stops, and there's no holding back.' I anticipate this being a fun time to watch wrestling again. Look for Hogan to come out, with guns blazing, and try to take the first swing in a new wrestling war.

I see where you're going with this Lariat, but having said that, if this man intends to be the booker (I like the division you've done, by the way. Most fans don't get that old promotions were based upon a booker, rather than writers), remember that we're talking about a guy that had creative control in WCW. This guy, more or less, booked his own storylines. Yes, this is the mastermind behind the Dungeon of Doom, The Butcher's Heel Turn, and attempting to make Kevin Sullivan the biggest heel in WCW.

How well did that go for him?

I agree with you in principle, because I do think TNA needs more of a booker than actual writers. But I don't think it should be Hulk. The guy has tried booking before, with little to no positive results. I'd be happy with the booker concept, as long as it's not the Hulk at the reins. I'm not up for another Dungeon of Doom debacle.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

Hogan's booking did not go well at all. He basically tried 80's style booking in an age where it was stale and dated. Hogan's smart enough to hire a 'booker' to come in and help get TNA where it needs to go. Someone who can book and knows what's good and not good can do a good job in TNA.

IF Hogan books, then there may be some trouble. He'll make Suicide into the biggest heel in the company and put AJ Styles on steroids. Probably a little extreme, but Hogan wants to see this company be successful and would be willing to open his options up as to who he could hire to book. I think someone like Kevin Sullivan, who's the master of creating heels, and even hiring back Jim Cornette if Russo's gone. Then again, who knows if James E. would work for Hogan Another real possible option is Paul Heyman. As far as I know, he doesn't have any heat with Hogan and vice versa. The possibilities are good.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I hope Hogan and Bischoff realize that what makes people look down on TNA is the fact that they really try to be WWE-lite, and that Russo's writing is a major deterrent of what makes it such a bad product (although it's gotten better recently... it's almost like Russo realizes his job is on the line, so he's writing better shows now). Don't forget that TNA was at its absolute best when they just let the guys go out there and wrestle, and really wasn't too storyline heavy (i.e. before Russo got re-hired).

For TNA to become a legitimate threat to the WWE, this is a step in the right direction. Hulk taking the reins would at the very least be something different. Maybe Hogan can be the booker, while Bischoff and Foley (who seems to have a very good creative mind) can head the creative aspect of things.

TNA can be successful as long as they stop giving major time to WWE retreads, and more time to guys like Styles, Joe, and Wolfe... guys who are incredible in-ring workers.

 

[TellMeWhy]

I hope Hogan and Bischoff realize that what makes people look down on TNA is the fact that they really try to be WWE-lite, and that Russo's writing is a major deterrent of what makes it such a bad product (although it's gotten better recently... it's almost like Russo realizes his job is on the line, so he's writing better shows now). Don't forget that TNA was at its absolute best when they just let the guys go out there and wrestle, and really wasn't too storyline heavy (i.e. before Russo got re-hired).

If you're referring to TNA 2002, 2003, 2004, those were Russo eras as well because Russo was still involved in TNA back then and was booking & writing. Unless you consider 2005-2006, TNA's best years.

TNA can be successful as long as they stop giving major time to WWE retreads, and more time to guys like Styles, Joe, and Wolfe... guys who are incredible in-ring workers.

WWE retreads like who? Are you referring to the Pope? You can't be talking about Lashley because he's no where near the title or main event picture. And what does it really matter to fans like you if a guy originated in WWE or not? I just don't get it.


As for the thread, I think Hogan would be smart enough to hire a booker like Paul Heyman or even Kevin Sullivan.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

When it comes to Hulk Hogan having his hands mixing together the recipe for TNA's creative direction, I'm not very confident in his abilities. As has already been mentioned, Hogan was a horrible booker and had some of the worst ideas of the 90s.

Now, if Hogan were to hire a booker rather than do it himself, I'd feel a little better about things. However, there are still rooms for problems to pop up. Hogan's ego is enormous and, if given the choice, I can't say for certain if he'd turn the reigns of a booker over to someone else because of that ego. Hogan is smart, but I'm not sure if he's smart in the way some are thinking. When it comes to working out arrangements in which he comes out smelling like a rose and has the best possible outcome for himself, Hulk Hogan is extremely smart. For the most part, Hulk Hogan has always put himself first and everything else comes at a distant second. Hulk Hogan is legendary for his bluster and outright bullshit at times and, sometimes, I truly do think that he believes a good deal of it. If he convinces himself that he'll be a good booker, then I think he'll do the job himself. If that's what comes to pass, I won't be at all surprised if the results are disasterous for TNA.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

If you're referring to TNA 2002, 2003, 2004, those were Russo eras as well because Russo was still involved in TNA back then and was booking & writing. Unless you consider 2005-2006, TNA's best years.

I said "BEFORE Russo got rehired", so yes, 2005-2006 is exactly what I was talking about. It probably would have helped you if you read that entire paragraph, which was like 4-5 sentences at the most.

WWE retreads like who? Are you referring to the Pope? You can't be talking about Lashley because he's no where near the title or main event picture. And what does it really matter to fans like you if a guy originated in WWE or not? I just don't get it.

WWE retreads like Rhino, Billy Gunn, BG James, Steiner, Booker, Nash, and the like. Guys who were already in WWE and are there in TNA to collect a paycheck while giving minimal effort. Of course I'm not talking about Burke, who is also a great in-ring worker who never got a fair shot in the WWE. Stop putting words in my mouth and being argumentative for the sake of being argumentative.

 

[johnbragg]

WWE retreads like Rhino, Billy Gunn, BG James, Steiner, Booker, Nash, and the like.

Half of those guys are either out of TNA or completely off of TV--Billy Gunn, BG James and Booker. Nash, Rhino and Steiner are bit players.

We are getting our wish. Who is "we"? We the people who have been demanding that TNA de-emphasize used-up WCW/WWE/ECW veterans and spotlight "TNA Guys" are getting our wish with Styles as champion, with Wolfe going toe-to-toe with Angle, with Samoa Joe and Daniels in the main event, Foley and Raven being used to build Abyss, with Nash suddenly riding Eric Young's(!) jock, etc.

Of course, we are just marking time until the Hulk Hogan TNApocalypse. But try to enjoy TNA while it lasts, OK?

 

[Upgrayedd]

TNA's writing is far better than WWE's. At least Vince Russo knows about this business rather than hacks in the WWE who know nothing about wrestling and couldn't make it in Hollywood who are writing.

I'm a huge Hogan fan and also a fan of Vince Russo's. Hogan has talked before about wanting to work with Russo again. I hope both of them get along.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Hogan wants TNA to be a success. He doesn't want to come into TNA, and just have things stay the way they are. Sure Hogan could just pop up on IMPACT every now and then, and that would probably be enough to give TNA a little boost, but he wants to do more than that.

TNA already has the wrestlers to make TNA a product where more focus on wrestling would be great. And if Hulk is willing to do away with some of the crazy or over the top storylines that might pop up once in a while, then I'm all for it.

 

[BladeRunner]

Firstly as has already been said, Hogan's the king of Bullshitting. He always makes things out to be terrible, unless he's involved, in which case they magically become awesome. He definitely gets foot-in-mouth disease because of all the BS he throws around.

And I like TNA's writing. Firing the writers would be a mistake. Hiring new ones, to branch out storylines etc. sure that'd be great. I like variety. But I never miss an episode of TNA because I like the writing. People love to hate on Russo and Ferrara for all kinds of reasons. But they write the type of wrestling I like to see. Crash tv, backstage antics, tons of swerves.

I'll be pissed if Hogan gets rid of the people who got TNA where it is today. Sure it's no WWE. Duh. But it's the people who've been with it all these years that have been slowly making it gain more and more popularity. You don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[NSL]

Oh...fuck...

If Hogan thinks the writing has gone stale and bland, and needs to be drastically changed, he really needs to actually tune in, and reconsider his contract. I'm not going to say TNA is better than they were in '05-'06, but it's getting there, and the roster is loaded. There's no reason to change anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

AJ is the champ, and that alone gives the company forward momentum. This is just all bad news

 

[Baximus]

I think this is just more of Hulk's stated opinion that he's sick of wrestlers having scripted promos. Hogan is one of many old school guys who think that wrestlers need more freedom in creating a cool and unique character and I'm 100% with him in that regard.

Now, he needs somebody to lay out story arcs, etc and book the feud. That won't change! But what I think Hulk was really railing against are the WWE writers who gave us Kofi's "I left Randy his mirror" promo that Kofi was doing his best to remember the words to on live TV.

In the end, I took this as Hulk saying that wrestlers need greater freedom with their characters and I agree completely.

 

[Hundred Dollar Man]

the best move TNA could make in this situation is to have Hogan, with some input from the wrestlers involved in an angle, come up with the story line and plan it out.

Guys like Russo should only be brought in after the framework is set and the talent wants to massage what they are going to say on mic to sell the angle. In short don't let the writers write the book but let them edit the manuscript so they don't sound like idiots on tv.

 

[MC Z-Rex]

I cannot say I know enough about the biz to have an opinion on the "writers vs. bookers" debate. But if the Hulkster wants to change it up, I'm all for it. I mean WWE puts the emphasis on the entertainment side of Sports Entertainment. TNA used to be the alternative. I remember when the X-Division was the big thing about TNA, all of the new up and comers like A.J. and later Joe. The Word Heavyweight picture was mostly former WWE midcarders and some new names. Ron Killings was excellent, Jeff Jarret finally got a push. Monty Brown, Abyss, and to a lesser extent Rhino, got themselves over with the fans without big name writers. It was fresh, these guys seemed like real people.

If Hulk wants to do without writers, thats great. If they want to have TNA make a real impact, focus on the Sports aspect of sports entertainment. and have the brand live up to its name Total Nonstop Action.

 

[MachoMadness]

listen to the interview....it's on youtube. It's a good interview, and it made me excited for TNA's future.

He wasn't talkin about TNA's writers, he was talking about WWE's current writers and how they tell how the wrestlers how to act, what to say, yada yada yada.

If Hulk does what he was saying he wants to do in TNA, I think it will be for the better. He really emphasized that wrestlers need to be able to talk.

Hogan was also asked who he is a fan of right now, as a wrestling fan, and he responded, "Kurt Angle, Sting, and AJ STYLES." I was happy and somewhat releaved that he is a fan of AJ's.

 

[UFOcalling]

Obviously, Hogan just wants to put his "stamp" on TNA. If the company becomes more successful after his arrival, he wants to be able to take all the credit for turning the company around. I'm paraphrasing here, but didn't Hogan say recently that he wanted to "...give Vince and WWE a run for it's money..."? Didn't he also recently say something along the lines of "...the last time I made a switch (from the WWF/E), it paid off considerably..." or something like that?

His ego only got bigger when WCW was on top, I don't think the Hollywood Hogan act was much of a stretch for him. He was always saying how he was the true icon (and the only icon) of wrestling, and that back then WCW was winning the Monday night wars because he jumped ship (to WCW).

That "character" he was playing didn't sound far off from what seemed to be his sincere ego-maniacal thoughts, with the "volume turned way up" (to quote Cornette, I think?). That's why that character worked so well, and I hope that's all he means by what he said in this interview.

To get rid of the writers now would be a mistake. I agree with some of the other posters on this thread, who said that maybe TNA writing/booking has only been better as of late because Russo's job might be on the line. Isn't that a good thing though? He's trying to prove he wasn't a flash-in-the-pan by stepping his game up. Having Ferrara there can only make him feel more comfortable, and he's got an old friend and co-worker to bounce ideas off of.

By the way, weren't Russo & Ferrara the guys who let Austin and the Rock go to the ring as "themselves"? I mean, they must have helped the wrestlers develop their characters, probably helped them hone their catchphrases, and definitely worked on their promos with them...but in all actuality, they didn't "create" those characters; Austin & The Rock did. Russo & Ferrara WERE there along the way, however, if nothing else to tell them what was working and what wasn't. I think they did a brilliant job of it too, in my humble opinion.

This is all Hogan's ego getting in the way, which is what I was afraid of from the beginning. He can act like such an ass sometimes, I really hope we don't see him with the belt for years on end, or AT ALL, for that matter. He's just looking to extend his legacy by firing the writers so he can say "the reason TNA is on top is because of ME. ME, ME, ME, ME, ME."

Hogan's always been a showboat...after The Osbournes got such great ratings, he (along with a bunch of other ego-maniacs) decided that if HIS family got a show it would be even bigger. When Ventura got elected Governor of Minnesota, he came out on WCW television with red & yellow feather boas (ala Jesse the Body), and declared he would run for President of the United States. I'm sure everyone here knows he does NOT like to feel upstaged. Countless other posts pose the question "who did Hogan pass the torch to?"....he never really passed it to anyone. He made us think he was passing it, but he was constantly stealing it back from them (Warrior, Goldberg, etc).

I'd LOVE to see him try to blame TNA's failure on someone else if he ends up firing the writers. Imagine him assuming complete creative-control, and TNA tanks. He'd be backpedaling so fast our heads would spin. Good luck, bald-o, don't fuck TNA up. Some of us like the direction in which it's currently headed.