Interestingly Enough Vince Used Hogan's Name Last Night.

[Milkyway!]

As we all know Hulk Hogan back stabbed the WWE way back when during the Monday Night Wars, and put WCW on the map. Now he's currently wrestling in TNA, once again a company in competition with the WWE.

Basically all I want to know is did you like Vinnie Mac's use of Hogan's name in such a slurred tone? Was it warranted? Did it surprise you as much as it did me? Do you think it added to the promo's in any manner whatsoever?

Personally I enjoyed it. It honestly shocked me to high heavens I didn't think I'd ever hear Hogan's name on Monday Night Raw again.

 

[MMK]

Hogan was in the All Stars video game, was he not? So I don't really see how dropping his name every now and then is shocking in anyway.

WWE doesn't view TNA as competition, nor should they, so it's not like they're mentioning a WCW guys name on-air like back in the day.

The Vince/Cena segement was awful. Cena can't act. Even when he's pretending to break the fourth wall and mention all this supposedly off-topic stuff, he still comes across as a goofy cartoon character. Compare his shoot segment to Punks last week (which I admit actually had me fooled for the first few hours after having seen it for the first time), and you can just see who the better actor is.

They shouldn't have mentioned Hogan last night, or any other supposedly off topic names or subjects, including Punk. They should have just put on a standard RAW as if nothing had happened last week. Sweep Punk under the rug. That would have kept the fans guessing as to whether or not Punks shoot promo was authentic. But once Cena and Vince got involved and they aired that video package of Punk from last week, there was no doubt that the whole thing was scripted and it's just another lame storyline made up by creative.

Terrible raw. Terrible segment. But the ppv should make up for it. Those MITB matches are always, well, money in the bank.

 

[The Champ]

Wasn't really a big deal to me. Hogan isn't one of those guys that you hope the fans just forget about, everyone knows who he is and many know the history between him and McMahon. This is supposed to be a realistic storyline, so bringing real life aspects of it such as the Hogan-McMahon relationship is smart. I don't think he was just trying to take a shot at Hogan for no reason. Remember that he also called Michaels, Austin, and Cena replaceable pawns in the exact same promo. They're doing their best to capture real life emotions and place them into this stuff, which is a recipe for an amazing angle. So far, they've done a great job, and hopefully that can continue when Punk returns next week.

Hogan was in the All Stars video game, was he not? So I don't really see how dropping his name every now and then is shocking in anyway.

WWE doesn't view TNA as competition, nor should they, so it's not like they're mentioning a WCW guys name on-air like back in the day.

The Vince/Cena segement was awful. Cena can't act. Even when he's pretending to break the fourth wall and mention all this supposedly off-topic stuff, he still comes across as a goofy cartoon character. Compare his shoot segment to Punks last week (which I admit actually had me fooled for the first few hours after having seen it for the first time), and you can just see who the better actor is.

They shouldn't have mentioned Hogan last night, or any other supposedly off topic names or subjects, including Punk. They should have just put on a standard RAW as if nothing had happened last week. Sweep Punk under the rug. That would have kept the fans guessing as to whether or not the shoot was authentic or not. But once Cena and Vince got involved and they aired that video package of Punk from last week, there was no doubt that the whole thing was scripted.

Terrible raw. Terrible segment. But the ppv should make up for it.

It was pretty damn obvious that the promo was a work. Dictated by pretty simple logic, there's no way they would have let the promo continue as long as it did before they cut off his mic. I'm honestly surprised that anyone believed that it was legitimate.

Also, what purpose would putting on a standard Raw have accomplished? If that would just make people think that it was real and that nothing would come of it, then they would be much less likely to tune in next week to see what happens next. When you have an angle like this, you need to keep the people interested, and a regular Raw that ends with Cena holding up the WWE Championship in victory does not do that the way the Cena/Vince segment did.

As for Cena being a cartoon character, he's supposed to appeal to kids. He's almost supposed to be a cartoon character. Yet, in the segment with Vince, he didn't really come off that way to me. He was standing up for Punk's rights, and basically telling his boss that he didn't know how to run the damn company anymore. Not sure how that was cartoony. The end of the promo especially was very powerful, and Cena did a good job to me of projecting the meaning behind his words.

 

[H33LTurn]

It didnt shock me as much, you cant give Hogan the Benoit treatment, he practically made the WWE what it is today. But again it was just WWE playing to the internet fans who know the struggle between Hulk and Vince. Hogan's name has been continuously used as a slur over the past year so it didnt really surprise me but again I think Vince is just trying to twist things into his reality. Hulk didnt betray him, he did the right thing during the steroid trial and walked away from the WWF after giving it many years of his life. Vince has just never gotten over what a big loss he was and that he ratted him out during the court case, therefore you get Hogan's name as a slur on RAW.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

It didnt shock me as much, you cant give Hogan the Benoit treatment, he practically made the WWE what it is today. But again it was just WWE playing to the internet fans who know the struggle between Hulk and Vince. Hogan's name has been continuously used as a slur over the past year so it didnt really surprise me but again I think Vince is just trying to twist things into his reality. Hulk didnt betray him, he did the right thing during the steroid trial and walked away from the WWF after giving it many years of his life. Vince has just never gotten over what a big loss he was and that he ratted him out during the court case, therefore you get Hogan's name as a slur on RAW.

Hogan really didn't rat Vince out. Yes he admitted that roids were a common in the WWE at the time but he did say that Vince never ordered him to take them or bought them for him.

But the mentioning of Hogan doesn't surprise me at all. He seems to come up every once in a while. But this time I think the WWE is extending an olive branch to him. I think Wrestlemania is going to be HUGE this year.

 

[Tripleb2k1]

what they did and what should've been done are 2 different things...if I was writing, here's how I'd do the Punk/Cena/Vince angle:

A) don't air the CM Punk "Shoot", don't acknowledge it other than to mention that "due to Punk's actions last week, Mr McMahon has suspended him indefinitely"

B) have the triple threat #1 contenders match as main event, followed by the PPV graphic of Del Rio vs Cena

C) as the show is signing off, have Cole act like he's worked up about something being said over headset....fade out...

D) after show is off the air, have Vince & Cena film an argument that was the real last segment but do it behind the the curtain in Gorilla position...

E) Air the footage later in the week on WWE.com(friday after smackdown)...come up with some bogus story about how it was delayed because of discussions of approval from Vince, WWE Board of Directors & WWE Legal Department on whether to air it or not.

F) next week have them do a cold open to RAW with Michael Cole talk about the legal jockeying all week on whether to air it last week which was aired the previous friday, then air the Vince/Cena argument, have King & Cole seemingly at a loss for words as they then go into the planned show...

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I liked it. It was a really great way of getting heat from the crowd. Vince came off as the ideal tyrannical boss by showing that he is ready to fire almost anybody if they do not conform to his rules. Hogan was the biggest babyface to have graced pro wrestling and still is the biggest in the minds of a lot of fans. By telling the fans that he used his positon to get even with Hogan for Hogan pissing him off, Vince came across as a huge jerk. It isn't exactly true but that is what the best heels do, twist the truth in order to get their job done, which is to get heat from the fans.

I understand that some people might be shocked at this Hogan reference because Hogan is in TNA currently. But the moment demanded for Hogan to be referred. This has been a somewhat shocking storyline and the Hogan reference just goes along with it. And also it's not as if people are going to tune into TNA the moment Hogan is mentioned.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I thought it added a nice sense of realism to things. Vince McMahon is known as being a total control freak and his idea of anything in wrestling that isn't under his control, in most situations, is to pretend that it doesn't exist. It's a mind set that we've seen Vince move away from in a lot of situations over the past several years but it's still sort of a surprise. He almost never talks about former WWE talent working for other companies.

If you think about it, however, I think there's one perfectly clear reason why Vince had no problem even mentioning Hogan's name on Raw: Hulk Hogan is not a threat to WWE. The days of Hulk Hogan drawing huge ratings and monster crowds into arenas all over the country are gone and Hogan's time in TNA has proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. As expected, Hulk Hogan coming to TNA led to a momentary increase in their ratings but after the nostalgia effect wore off, the ratings went back to normal. Or, as we saw several times last year, significantly below normal. Even though TNA is the closest thing to competition the WWE has, Hogan's presence has shown to be a non factor and I'd say that makes Vince feel comfortable in his position.

On top of all that, look at all the shots that Hogan & TNA in general have taken at Vince over the last 18 months or so. While Vince mentioning Hogan's name isn't necessarily a shot, Vince's tone and the statement that even guys like Hogan aren't irreplacable had something of an "look where this guy's at now" tone about it.

 

[Yesiamaduck]

Of course it was warranted, it totally fits in with the storyline..... not to mention several people have been slurred on during this particular storyline. Don't see any reason not to.

Hulk Hogan and TNA are far removed from a threat to the WWE so the is no need to worry advertising a 'star' on another brand when that star has long since faded.

 

[hollowpoint]

I didn't have a problem with it at all. Putting his name in the storyline served a purpose beause it was a list of greats who left and like many on here have said, he's not a threat anymore like he was on WCW. This whole thing is like a breath of fresh air because it breaks away from the normal and makes it seem like these guys are actually talking unscripted which is a nice change.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

It didnt bother me at all. Hulk Hogan is known as a WWE performer first and foremost, and using his name in something like this has effect. No-one in WWE regards TNA as a genuine threat, and I bet that alot of the audience don't even know Hogan is there.

It made the promos look more realistic and less scripted and Vince mentioning Hogan's name in his speech was something that the situation demanded (as Myriad said previously). It made sense in this situation, and I think it was fine.

 

[MMK]

Also, what purpose would putting on a standard Raw have accomplished? If that would just make people think that it was real and that nothing would come of it, then they would be much less likely to tune in next week to see what happens next. When you have an angle like this, you need to keep the people interested, and a regular Raw that ends with Cena holding up the WWE Championship in victory does not do that the way the Cena/Vince segment did.

Of course you need to keep people interested. And the best way to do that is by making people think that it was real. You act as though thats a bad thing. That somehow it would be better to turn it into a storyline? Turning what many thought had elements of a real shoot into yet another "Cena gets fired" angle (which just happened a few months ago and only resulted in Cena getting more tv time than ever) sure as hell doesnt keep me interested. If anything it deflated any interest I had in the match. Why silence Punk at the end of last weeks RAW if youre just gonna replay his comments the following week? They should have continued playing up the whole shoot feel of it. Everyone since we know this weeks RAW was taped the week before. By having Vince give a prepared response, in full character, just moments after Punks promo eliminated any doubt anyone might have had as to whether or not the promo was anything other than another angle.

People were already interested in the Punk/Cena situation. It didnt need a gimmicky storyline stipulation involving Cena and Vince. That is not the way to keep people interested. If you believe it is, then by that logic this weeks RAW must have been better than last weeks which ended with people thinking that what they saw may have been real. In a years time no one will remember the Vince/Cena cartoony segment, but they will remember Punks promo from the week before. Wrestlings at its best when you mix a little reality into it and leave fans wondering what was and wasnt real. Last weeks RAW with Punk did just that. This weeks RAW didnt. No one actually believes Cena will be fired for good.

Folks need to go back and watch clips from the 90's and see how they used to pull of worked shoots back then. Like when Hall and Nash invaded WCW. The announcers never mentioned there names on air or hyped them up in anyway. They did there best to ignore them which left fans to suspend their disbelief just long enough to think that WWF might be trying to takeover WCW airwaves. The reality of it is what kept fans coming back. Its how WCW changed wrestling. Compare that to this Punk situation where the very next week they give away the fact that its all just another angle. In the end all it will be good for was one week of Raw that got everyone talking. But if done properly it could be a long term game changing moment.