Report/Rumor: Heat On Hulk Hogan?

[Mitch Henessey]

You know what, every time one of these "What Should TNA do with Hulk Hogan?" threads pop up, the popular consensus seems to be "Well, of course TNA should keep him. He's Hulk Fucking Hogan! Duh!"

But he can't wrestle anymore?

Response: "Eh, so what. He's Hulk Hogan!"

Are the sporadic nostalgia pops really worth it?

Response: "Well, he's Hulk Hogan! So yeah."

Hulk Hogan really hasn't taken TNA to the next level or put them on the map as a strong force. So now what?

Response: "Dude. It doesn't matter! He's Hulk. Hogan."

Look. We all know Hulk Hogan is THEE legend in pro wrestling, and most people, who don't like him still have a tremendous amount of respect for his accomplishments. That's all good and well, but it's clear Hogan's mystique has noticeably faded. He is not the same guy anymore, and the days of him being a major focal point for any storylines with the guarantee of creating a significant amount of buzz are gone.

Due to the years of pain and punishment, Hogan's body is in shambles, and he can't wrestle anything resembling a competitive match. And because people really know about Terry Bollea the man now, his public image has taken a real hit. Plus, you have to throw in the stories/rumors of Hogan being a ruthless cut throat glory hog of a backstage politician during his WWF/WWE and WCW days on top of that.

So when you step back and look at the big picture, Hulk Hogan has become a shell of what he used to be, leading to the serious question of is Hogan really worth it anymore? It's a double-edged sword, if TNA decides to keep Hogan around. I mean, if you're going to have Hogan on your roster and pay him a nice sum of money, then it's not going to make any sense to limit him to rare and sporadic appearances. On the other hand, having Hogan dominate and be the focal point of TNA's major storylines isn't good. As I said before, Hogan is not the same guy anymore, so you can't except some mind blowing spike in the ratings, or hordes and hordes of fans lining up outside of arenas to get their hands on scarce tickets.

It'll be interesting to see how TNA handles Hogan in the storylines in the coming months. Whether the rumors are true or not, I still believe Hogan's really under a microscope, when it comes to evaluating his worth for the future. I would hope TNA cuts ties with Hogan soon enough, because I think it's safe to say the Hulk Hogan experiment in TNA has been a failure.

 

[Sweettre15]

Also word has it that due to Hogan's comments about how Bischoff should have carte Blanche, they both have heat backstage due to them not helping the company grow and being a potential slap to the face of Dixie Carter so yeah....In any event, sacking Hogan would be the best cost-cutting measure for TNA right now.

 

[IT Factor]

Quite honestly, I'm glad that most fans are now very publicly getting to see how Hogan conducts himself unprofessionally. He and Bischoff were a major contributing factor to the fall of WCW and now it seems they have done the same with TNA. It is very evident that both guys could care less about the future of TNA and whether it would even survive. Once they made all of their changes and all of them failed, they then blame TNA for not having enough money or resources like WWE has which sounds like a cop out. Hogan & Bischoff did a great job of trying to convince people they had changed since their WCW days but we now see just how wrong that was. TNA invested all of that money in both men and let them have carte blanche to bring talents in, make massive production and ring changes, and full creative control and three years later they are still barely getting 1.0s in ratings and the company is still no closer to being competition for WWE. For anyone who knew the history of WCW, this comes as no shock because it seems to be business as usual for Hogan/Bischoff and I'd be surprised if either guy remained with the company once their current deals expire. And then they can claim TNA failed once they left which would be an awfully convenient excuse. I guess some people will do anything to point the blame elsewhere and not be accountable for their own actions.....

 

[Rayne]

And then they can claim TNA failed once they left which would be an awfully convenient excuse. I guess some people will do anything to point the blame elsewhere and not be accountable for their own actions.....

Some people still believe that WCW failed because of a meanie television executive, and not an $80 million operating deficit. People repeatedly espoused Eric Bischoff's great legacy in television, despite that consisting of one good year in WCW which was paid for at a drastic loss, and two seasons of "The Scott Baio Show". And once TNA moves onto its next era after the Hogan/Bischoff era, people are still going to talk about all the great things the two of them did for TNA, and what they could have done if it wasn't for (pick a scapegoat).

I've said for years here that Eric Bischoff is one of the greatest con artists to grace professional wrestling, and that's not an insult. He is very good at crafting public opinion about himself amongst the feeble and ignorant, and that's the majority of your professional wrestling market.

 

[IT Factor]

Some people still believe that WCW failed because of a meanie television executive, and not an $80 million operating deficit. People repeatedly espoused Eric Bischoff's great legacy in television, despite that consisting of one good year in WCW which was paid for at a drastic loss, and two seasons of "The Scott Baio Show". And once TNA moves onto its next era after the Hogan/Bischoff era, people are still going to talk about all the great things the two of them did for TNA, and what they could have done if it wasn't for (pick a scapegoat).

WCW had a lot of contributing factors to its demise. However, if you watch any of the retro documentaries either WWE produced or otherwise, you see that it started with Bischoff and Hogan making selfish business decisions and lead to other bad decisions that inevitably spiraled out of control. If there had been any semblance or normalcy or professionalism in WCW, they may still be in business today. At one time, WCW was a huge deal and made more money than it lost. Bischoff was a big reason why WCW became a big success but he also had a huge hand in its eventual demise. As did Hogan with his adamant refusal to job once the NWO angle caught fire. It is not even about picking a scapegoat at all. When you look at how much TNA invested into the dynamic duo of Hogan/Bisch, then you truly see how they have failed in every possible aspect. That's not scapegoating it is pointing out the obvious patterns which you'd have to be blind not to see.

I've said for years here that Eric Bischoff is one of the greatest con artists to grace professional wrestling, and that's not an insult. He is very good at crafting public opinion about himself amongst the feeble and ignorant, and that's the majority of your professional wrestling market.

I will give Bischoff credit where it is due. He is one smart guy who is far from being naïve and he knows how to work the pro wrestling/entertainment business to his advantage. He had a lot of positives for his legacy in WCW which he was forever be credited with, which speaks volumes about his intellect. However, his Achilles heel will always be ego. It happened in WCW and it is on-going in TNA and until Dixie Carter smartens up and cuts deadweight, TNA will remain a drowning company in need of bailing out.

 

[SpecialFNK]

The six sided ring brought in exactly ZERO viewers. Just like the no one watches football to see the field. Why can't marks understand this?

using a real 4 sided ring is one of the biggest reason I started watching. I tried to watch TNA before Hogan came in, but it was hard to watch using a ridiculous gimmick ring. how were professional wrestling fans supposed to take TNA seriously when they didn't even use a professional wrestling ring? professional wrestling is done inside a ring that has 4 sides, that's it.
how many football leagues change the field that much? CFL I think is wider, but still basically the same. AFL is shorter but basically the same. how about football being played on an oval or circle? never going to happen.
getting rid of that ring was one of the best things TNA could have done.

Hogan might not HAVE TO mention TNA in all his appearances, but it sure would help. if he really wants to help grow TNA he should be promoting it as much as possible.

I've been a big Hogan supporter. he probably gets the loudest pop from the crowd more than anyone else in TNA. crowds still love to see Hogan live, even if he is just talking. but take a step back and ask yourself, how would TNA be doing if Hogan was not there right now? until this past week he was not on TV for what a month? did TNA on TV suffer at all? then Hogan comes back for this past Thursday, and I think he actually made it worse. he totally blew the promo at the end. it was 10:58 and Impact Wrestling was close to ending and Hogan not only announced a title match against Bully for Sting who can't wrestle in another title match, but he said it was "tonight". tonight, with 2 minutes left on the show? out comes Sting and the brawl for a minute before TNA goes off the air.

there are so many Hogan haters out there, fair or not, that if TNA was to not have Hogan anymore it might make people happy regardless of who he was replaced with. Dixie could replace Hogan as GM with herself and fans would probably like that more than having Hogan there anymore, even if Dixie is incompetent at making wrestling decisions.

I'm not hating on Hogan. IMO he is the greatest of all time. not only the top face all time but also one of the top heels all time. I don't think anyone is even close to being a legend on the level of Hulk Hogan. there are many people who have never seen a wrestling show and can't name another single wrestler, but they know Hulk Hogan as that wrestler from WWF. but I think at this point TNA might be better off without Hulk Hogan.

 

[The Boss]

He should leave because he misspoke? Howard Finkle announced King Haku by his old name of King Tonga at WrestleMania V? Should he have been fired. What about all the times Vince forgot the names of wrestling holds? Or when Gene Okerlund dropped the F bomb at SummerSlam? These things happen to EVERYBODY. It's called human error.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I really have little problem with him being in the WWE video game, I can see how performers would see it as disloyal to TNA, but he's had a long career with WWE and his association with the company will always be remembered and should be, in any form video game etc.

I would think there would be more heat over the comments he made at the Toronto expo. First, he should plug TNA and encourage fans to watch. That's a given. Second, for him to say things would be better if Bischoff were in control, might not be too respectful of Dixie Carter and management. It seems like TNA has given Bischoff and Hogan a lot of input. Their children were given jobs they hadn't earned, at pay rates they didn't deserve and that alone should have been a reason for a little more respect. Bischoff is a part of creative and Hogan has some insight and a backstage position there, so some of the responsibility for TNA's shortcomings rests on their shoulders. It's great that he gets pops when he appears in the arena, but what has attendance been since he was with TNA ? More or less ? Didn't they lose a spot at Universal for poor attendance ? How many people are watching the tv show or buying the ppvs ? Everything is down since he and Bischoff came on board and they own responsibility for some if not a lot of that.


IMO, they need to go. I mean you can't have these two there. You give them all they want or ask for to be a part of this company, they don't deliver and they then have the nerve to put down you the owner and your management team ? That's just way too much nonsense to put up with for too little reward. It looked like a good idea to bring them in but they didn't deliver. The company is dropping performers and the show has less appeal than it has ever had. What they did in the past was phenomenal and their contribution will never be forgotten but that was then, this is now and the past isn't good enough reason to let them ruin your future.