Is The Million Dollar Man a suitable replacement for Hulk Hogan in the Intro clip?

[D-Man]

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At the beginning of every WWE broadcast, a short video is played that pretty much sums up the history of WWE television programming in about 20 seconds. Tiny clips of video are played that show superstars of the past and present along with short audio clips, including Triple H holding up the Undisputed Championship belt(s) that he won from Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania X8, the Rock on the microphone, Kelly Kelly pointing to the crowd... you get the picture.

As I was preparing to watch the Tribute to the Troops, this preliminary video was played (as usual) but there was a small change... a "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase video and audio clip of him saying "Everybody's got a price..." had replaced Hogan's video and audio clip saying "Hulkamania is runnin' wild...". Now, being that I've always been a HUGE mark for Ted DiBiase Sr. and he's one of my favorite superstars of all time, I was very happy that he was chosen as the one to replace Hogan in that video.

So, my topic for discussion is this:

Do you think Ted DiBiase Sr. is a suitable replacement in the video, or do you feel another superstar of the past or present should've been deemed more worthy?

 

[Guyzwitgunz]

I think they need to replace that whole video itself. They have been using the same one for years a change will be good

 

[dansaun77]

he is as good as anybody really. I mean Ultimate Warrior, Bob Backlund or Randy Savage would obviously be better as far as the top of the heap people to be on there. But as we know, Vince chops and changes history to suit himself. WWE would not be the compnay it is without the massive assistance Hogan gave in the 80's so personally I think its pretty childish of Vince to pretend Hulk didnt exist in WWE. DiBiase best be inducted to the Hallof Fane in 2010, he thoroughly deserves the accolade

 

[Upgrayedd]

That's ridiculous. Who cares if Hogan went to TNA? It doesn't mean WWE can't acknowledge him now. Also, no, Ted DiBiase Sr. is NOT a suitable replacement. Randy Savage or Roddy Piper or Bret Hart. They should have just left it as is.

They do little things like this and then turn around and say that they're not worried about TNA. Ha!

 

[The Doctor]

While I find it slightly ridiculous that they'd edit Hogan out, I think that DiBiase is a more than worthy replacement. I am a huge, huge MDM mark, and it makes me happy that I'll be seeing him at the beginning of each and every show. He was a top heel, and really should have won The Big One. The Million Dollar Championship is probably the coolest championship in the history of pro wrestling, and I absolutely love his gimmick. He's up there with my favorite legends, along with Bret Hart and The Rock.

 

[Arkham Noir]

To answer Juniors question , the DVD makes the company money.While their intro is more of a representation of what everyone loves about the buisness. Why would they have their oppositions biggest name there? It's not about what Hogan's done, but what he is doing that matters

 

[The Kingpin]

I think its awesome, Million Dollar Man on the opening 20 Second clip of all WWE Shows?, I love it, totally worth it. Plus its funny how WWE doesn't want Hogan on the video anymore, although some other worthy candidates:

1. Bret Hart: Uh hes the guy there going with to beat Hogan on January 4th so why not put him in.

2. Brock Lesnar and Big Show of the ropes: Just one the most amazing moments ever.

But overall I love the fact that its the Million Dollar Man.

 

[rayisawesomeness]

so they take a 1 sec saying of hogan out of the video but still promote and sell hogans dvd...sometimes the wwe makes no sense!

The DVD's were already made before he signed with TNA, what what WWE gonna do, throw them away? Release them with no promotion?

As for the intro video, I think it's a bit stupid but I guess it's a good move because Hogan most likely will be playing a huge role in TNA and it wouldn't make sense for the WWE to feature a guy who is huge in another promotion in their intro video.

 

[King Douche]

Well WWE should not asscoiate with Hogan no more, clearly he wants to put them out of buisness. Now they cannot stop acknowledge everything he has done cause thats impossible, but not talking about him anymore they could do. Hogan does not like WWE and Vince anymore, talking trash baout them its not even funny. Once things in TNA do not work out he will suck on Vince's dick to get back in the E. This time though Vince should say no old man.

 

[RicSpade]

Well I am pretty sure if I am not mistaken they still give guys a small royalty for being displayed in any way shape or form on their programming whether it be in the intro or showing them in a match. Although I think the only exception to that is guys who buy out of their contract (i.e. Brock Lesnar)

Honestly thought there was more than likely some type of legality issue to having Hulk Hogan displayed on the intro that they didn't want to be an issue in the future. But also how else are you going to start evolving the product if you don't change things every now and then. Sheamus is now in the RAW intro. Every TNA guy who was an alumni in WWE is now removed from the alumni page, which shouldn't surprise you. WWE may have made or maintained alot of the stars that went over there, but why promote that hey all my old talent jumped ship like it was 1995? You wouldn't plain and simple.

Hogan will still be shown in DVD collections that come out, as will Flair and whoever else that jumps ship and while the WWE will praise some former talent, you have to understand Vince wants to do everything to try and crush TNA and not promoting their top talent in promos or whatever is the one way right now he can make sure they aren't getting more exposure.

 

[justinept]

This is an interesting observation, but I can't believe that some people think it's stupid for the WWE to edit out Hogan in their intro video.

The WWE shouldn't be worried about TNA - not right now at least. Editing out Hogan or re-signing Bret Hart doesn't mean they're worried. It simply means that they're acknowledging a competitor. There's no reason to acknowledge the competition in any way, shape or form. Why promote a guy who is trying to beat you?

Did the WWE have a highlight reel in the mid 90's that featured guys like Hogan, Hall and Nash? No. And they shouldn't now either.

As far DiBiase; he is a very suitable replacement. The guy is legendary - maybe not to the standard of Savage, but legendary still ... and 100 times more legendary than Bob Backlund. Title wins and lengthy title runs do not accurately portray a guys status in the industry. Think about it, Shaemus has more World Title wins than MDM - does that make Shaemus legendary? Backlund had a 4 year title run ... the Rock's longest run was 4 months. Who is more legendary between those two?

 

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

Can you post a the video with Ted DiBiase instead of Hogan?

Also although its kinda stupid to edit out Hogan, the guy did sign with the closest thing the WWE has to competition. So it's clear why it was done.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

I know Hogan has well been Hogan and caused a lot of controversy in the wrestling world and hasn't been on the best of terms with Vinnie Mac and the WWE, but he did help build that company and it is rather petty to edit him out of the opening sequence just because he signed with the competition, but to be honest, it's not that big of a deal or at least I don't think so anyways. We all know how petty and vindictive Vince can be. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this isn't the least he does.

As far as DiBiase replacing Hogan, I feel it's a fine trade off. Ted has been more recognizable to the newer breed of fans, than most of the other legends, as he has been on WWE programming more lately. It's all good though. Besides I obviously don't pay much attention to that opening sequence as I didn't really know Hogan was in it to begin with.

 

[y2empleh]

you said in your post that you think that dibiase was a legend and that you are glad that they picked him. i dont know if i would call him much of a legend i mean i think his career was at its peak in the 80's and early 90's, along with hulk hogan.

when i think of that era in my head, some other names come to my mind as being bigger names and more "legendary" taht million dollar man, who i cant remember really being in too many main events or ever having the championship belt. i would rather have seen ultimate warrior, macho man randy savage, or rowdy roddy piper if i had to pick someone from that era to replace hulk hogan.

Dibiase is absolutely a legend. In the mid to late 80's there was no better heel in my opinion then dibiase. We won't be seeing Warrior or Macho Man in the video for obvious reasons but I'm perplexed on why you think Roddy Piper is a bigger legend then Dibiase. Dibiase wrestled in a world championship match at wrestlemania, piper didn't. I think Dibiase is a perfect fit for the intro. Plus they needed short memorable catch phrases which Dibiase had.

 

[Ytoojae]

I skimmed the posts pretty quickly, but...

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the cleverly disguised message to Hogan in what the WWE went with

I bet that the quote that they used "Everybody has a price" is directed directly at Hogan. I mean with Bret Hart coming back they could have easily gone with a "The best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be" even though it's kinda long; or Cena "hustle, loyalty, respect" but they went with the words "Everybody has a price".

I like it.

 

[Big Fella]

Back in during the peak of Hulkamania there were three separate tours and they were headlined by:

A. Hogan
B. Savage
C. Dibiase.

Savage would work with and occasionally lose to Hulk Hogan's "flavor of the month" that he was feuding with.

Hogan would work with whoever Savage was feuding with, and Dibiase would work with and generally defeat whoever the 3rd biggest babyface was at the time. (Brutus Beefcake, etc...) This was done to "save" the feud matches for television.

But Dibiase was expected to draw similarly to the big 2 baby faces, and was expected to do so because he was the top heel. Other guys would be fed to Hogan, but Dibiase's character was booked to look strong, even after taking a beating in the ring. He had his run-ins with Hogan, and was the guy to put over Savage at Wrestlemania 4. So yeah, he was a big deal and is the worthy replacement of Hogan.

I think I answered what this thread was supposed to be about, instead of debating whether or not Hogan should have been removed at all.

 

[kee4]

I think that WWE saying that TNA isn't a threat to them is great and maybe good for their business. TNA is a legit threat to them, they decided to edit Hogan out of their video because he signed with the competition and wants exactly that...competition. Obviously this is working with WWE FINALLY getting Bret Hart back counter TNA. Personally I'll probably be somewhere around 50/50 January 4th but I don't know what WWE would have up their sleeve outside of Bret Hart. In response to the thread as a whole, any superstar that helped WWE become what it has today deserves their place in that clip. Ted Dibiase Sr. is one of the most memorable characters and it doesn't matter who he's replacing, he still has a great legacy within WWE.

 

[Krundell]

Bret Hart should have a bigger role in the opening video. I personally would love to hear "The best there is , the best there was, The best there ever will be!" in that video The only thing you see bret doing in it is kissing the belt for a nano-second. He deserves a bigger role

 

[mr_dna]

They had to change it really . Think about it TNA's biggest star on the intro to every WWE Show & PPV they would be silly not to. But as far as Dibiase replaceing hogan no.

It should be the hitman they are useing him to fight hogan on the 4th and what better way to add another little tease untill then .

 

[Dagger Dias]

So, my topic for discussion is this: Do you think Ted DiBiase Sr. is a suitable replacement in the video, or do you feel another superstar of the past or present should've been deemed more worthy?

I can understand completely why Hogan was taken out of the video. This is another way for WWE to be preparing for January 4th. Hogan is going to be all over the TNA Impact episode that night, why would WWE show footage of the guy who is going to be at their competition? Hogan may have been a legend, but it makes perfect sense that they would edit him out for now.

As for Ted Dibiase Sr, I think he is a suitable replacement because he was a great heel at the time and from the same time as Hogan. Not only did they replace Hogan, but with someone else from that time who he had feuded with. I find that to be a brilliant decision on WWE's part because it is a way for them to say "We are better then you and don't CARE if you have Hogan!" by him no longer being in the intro video.

I can't think of many others who they could have put in there other than Ted Dibiase Sr who aren't already in clips from that intro video already. He was a good choice to put in there in my opinion because anyone who would have been a better option was already in the video.

 

[Chill]

I can totally see why they've done this, after all Hogan is yet again the ultimate traitor in Vince's eyes and now that WWE have gotton Hulk's latest DVD out of the way (they would have lost bucket loads of money had they decided to pull the plug on it at such a late stage) I wouldn't expect to be seeing too many Hogan references on WWE TV anytime soon.

It's a pretty logical thing for them to have done this and while it may be a petty thing to do, especially considering Hogan is probably WWE's biggest ever star, I'm suprised it took them this long to remove him from the opening video to be frank. And of course Ted Dibiase is more than an adequate replacement with him being another great star from Hogan's generation...

 

[Tastycles]

No he isn't suitable, and it's pretty obvious why he isn't. The whole point of that thing at the start is that it shows WWE through the ages. The early years are represented by a bunch of announcers, the Attitude Era is shown by McMahon, The Rock, The Undertaker and Steve Austin and Hulkamania had a lone representative in Hulk Hogan (Andre's section is from the 70s, for all of the gimps that might try and make that point).

The fact that an entire period of the company's history can be summed up by one guy is testament to how important he was. If the question on Family Fortunes was "name a wrestler from the 1980s", Hogan would win by a country mile and DiBiase would be about 5th.

It doesn't matter, to be honest, and it is a pathetic move by the company, but they have done it for whatever reason. There is only one person close to being a sufficient replacement and that is Ric Flair, but even he would fall short. As good as DiBiase was, he really doesn't sum up that era at all. It'd be like replacing The Rock's bit with X-Pac, still a big name at the time, but by no means the man of the history books.

 

[Freddy4190]

It's a given that Vince was gonna start pushing away from Hogan. I don't mind it at all, given that the MDM was on Raw not that long ago and still helps out every once in a while, it fits. I wouldn't mind a new intro completely, if done right. It's about time for a change anyways right? This is the new opening, by the way.

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