Who has Benefited More?

[ForzaItalia]

Ever since Hulk Hogan has come to TNA nothing much has changed except for the ring and the entrance stage. The ratings still stay the same, they are still in that crappy building at Universal Studios, and WWE is still the dominant company in the pro wrestling. Now I want to ask you who has benefited more from Hogan being brought to TNA? The company itself or Hogan. To answer this question I would have to say Hogan. The reason I say Hogan is because ever since his arrival in TNA the show has mostly been revolved around him. Hogan has not really put anyone over unless you really want to count Abyss. He probably is getting good money in TNA and yet has really not done a whole lot to help it. The point is TNA has done more for Hogan than Hogan has done for TNA because Hogan is back on TV on a regular basis minus that Hogan Knows Best thing and is getting valuable TV time on TNA'S behalf, while that TV time should be used for the younger talent. Hogan has not brought in any ratings accept for the Jan 4 show and IMO it is the young talent in TNA that bring in the ratings because their passion for wrestling is so strong they do not care about a big pay check. Instead, they bust their asses every week to entertain the fans and they should be the ones to take the credit not Hogan. Hogan is just there to have one last ride when he really does not need it at all.

 

[Captain Jive]

I have to agree, Hogan has done nothing for TNA yet. I'm not saying it was pointless to bring him in, it just hasn't paid off yet. He may help TNA or he might not. You need to have big name stars to help get over the young guys, but he hasn't done that yet. If I was running the company, I would lay off on trying to get more people on an already over crowded roster and work with what I have, because talented wrestlers are the one thing they have going for them.

 

[Moonsault Madness]

Totally. TNA thought they could get the same magic like when WCW brought him in, but when WCW brought him in they already had momentum with Hall and Nash (the outsiders, top 3 tag teams ever) and the whole NWO thing. Hogan was supposed to come in and save the company form the big bad guys in black and white. So they used Hogan's name with the success/momentum they had. TNA should have waited for the same. Hulk came in like he at his age can put a company on his back. TNA should have started building som emonentum and something the the IWC would be interested in and then BAM, Hulk comes in and brings his manias with him. Hulk could have worked, they focused on Hulk when they should have let Bischoff do his thing for a while and then let the Hulkster come. So no, Hulk hasn't done much, but its not his fault, but TNA's.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Actually, Hogan came to WCW two full years before the NWO, Hall & Nash. Now, Hogan did have a much greater impact on WCW at that time because he was still a draw as a WRESTLER, plus WCW offered (though many think they screwed it up, then over used it) the superstar dream match of the past decade, Hogan vs Flair. Hogan actually suffered in WCW once his program with Flair ran its course because the company didn't have any other names to match against him that could draw except Sting, who was a fan favorite. Hogan joining the NWO was not only the biggest heel turn ever in pro wrestling, but now it meant that top fan favorites like Sting could match against him.

In TNA, I'm sure Hogan is getting paid well, but this isn't helping his legacy, its not killing it though either. He hasn't been able to "save the company" because the biggest draws in wrestling are the ones who ACTUALLY WRESTLE. Hogan cant be that guy anymore, and Flair isn't far behind, no matter how many people say he looks good for his age (which is true), he can't compete with his performances from 5 years ago let alone when he was in his prime (think Flair today could top his TLC Match with Edge from 2006, I doubt it).

Of course, TNA has other problems. Relying too much on mid card talent from WWE and not doing a better job of utilizing the main event talent they do have like Sting and Kurt Angle is killing them right now.

In the end, TNA has more than just Hogan's reduced drawing power to blame for their stalemate, however, I believe that Hogan got the better of this deal. Love him or hate him, Hogan is shrewd self promoter and business man, he knows how to get the best of the deal.

 

[16mikeytot]

Well Let Me See... HHHMMMM... Ok well this is what I think I believe if Hogan doesn't come in than neither does Eric Bischoff or Ric Flair or Rvd. Hell who knows what impact Hogan had? But maybe Hardy or Anderson don't come to Tna either. Maybe guys like Jey Lethal and Pope don't get pushed hell Abyss may still be acting like that little scared bitch we all hated instead of being the vicious monster heel he is now. Looking at ratings is the easy way too look at things and if you actually pay attention the ratings have actually went up the past few weeks.

 

[TheAnimal]

The name value of TNA has gone up slightly to the eyes of the 'marks' because they have Hogan and then they had other guys like Anderson, Hardy, Flair etc. If we are honest though, everyone in TNA knew what they were getting when they bought in Hogan and Bischoff. A lot of people are very aware how self-serving Hogan is, and that Bischoff goes where the money is so Dixie will get her bank balance decrease at the same rate Hogan's and Bischoff's goes up.

They havent saved TNA, the Jan 4th edition didnt get a 3.0 and the ratings/buys havent gone up to the extent that they should really for the influx of new stars and increased expenditure that has been incurred. Now they are looking to Paul Heyman to save them from the people who were supposed to be the 2nd coming back in November!

Failed to get Heyman so now they go for his idea instead, the extreme product, with the exact same people as 10-15 years ago so you get more of the Dads army. Whilst the Jay Lethals', Desmond Wolfes', Kazs', MCMGs' and even AJ Styles' take a back seat to guys who wont be relevant 2 months from now. Its like TNA admitted defeat and said what they have is crap, this is better, so we'll steal the idea. But they literally did try to recreate it all.

So TNA have reached the point that after 7 months of Hogan and Bischoff where somehow they have run out of ideas despite the amount of new stars and them supposedly taking WCW to the biggest and best point. Hogan and Bischoff have their pockets nicely lined though and get plenty of exposure. TNA meanwhile have had to look to someone else and when he said no, they stole his idea instead. Except Heyman, being the brilliant mind he is, knows what is wanted not just now, but in the future, and doesnt want to be on some 4th (i think) nostalgia ride. What they have now is an extremely short term and small ratings hike and back to the drawing board in Sept.

It is conclusive, Hogan and Bischoff really but you have to look a bit deeper to see it.

 

[KKKKwe]

Like come on how can TNA and Hulk Hogan do anything when they keep adding to the roster they they cant even hold plus they dont even hold big time star for like 6 months I mean Rikishi gone Booker t gone scott hall and x pac Gone scott Steiner Gone. Ok you get the point First off what they mainly need to do is bring the X-division back up currently its lousy and that was the only thing that kept me watch TNA (Yes I dont watch TNA anymore) secondly they should pair a bunch a guys together make tag teams factions nothing like NWO though that would be mad chaos and no more reliving the 90s also they should stop this crap of copying WWE angles and storyline like as soon as Kane became a monster and was on his damn rapmage Abyss became crazy and went on a damn rampage and the storylines where almost similar just Kane was find out the man who destroyed his bro and abyss was saying some crap like "theyre coming" also with the NXT storyline the brought back ECW to invade simialr storylines. All im saying is TNA aint fresh, theyre main eventers are boring Ric flair is still theyre talking stupidness. What TNA needs is a guy like Jeff Jarrett from 2005 - 2007 when he was NWA champ maybe they could split Meer Money and make one of them become main eventing mega heels. TNA just needs to get it together or soon the company will die and WWE will be shittier maybe PG overload

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Overall, Hulk Hogan has gotten more out of TNA than TNA has gotten out of Hogan. We all know that Hogan was brought into TNA because of his name and the fact that he's the biggest star in the history of American wrestling. TNA hyped Hogan's signing and arrival in TNA as if it were the Second Coming of Christ and did everything that they possibly could to let everyone know that it was happening.

For about the first month, things seemed to be going well. Actually, things were going pretty well audience wise as TNA drew the two largest audiences they've ever had in the first month of Hogan being there. After that, both the quality of the show and the numbers themselves began to steadily trickle downward. I will say that TNA has managed to regain its audience, that's a good thing, but I don't believe that Hulk Hogan has had anything to do with that whatsoever. One reason why iMPACT! was going downhill was because Hulk Hogan was being made the center of TNA week in and week out. He'd show up in every other segment, would do things to make various members of TNA wrestling talent look weak, convinced TNA to hire a lot of his friends that were nothing more than dead weight to hang around TNA's neck like a noose and pushed Abyss as the face of TNA. TNA saw some obvious problems and they began fixing them. TNA stopped putting Hogan in every segment, they stopped making him the center of attention each week, they fired his buddies and they turned Abyss heel.

I think that the TNA product overall is still pretty awful, but that no longer has anything to do with Hogan as his presence on TNA television has been dramatically reduced.

 

[UFOcalling]

I can see where you're coming from, Live4DaMoment...I understand why you think that TNA hasn't benefited at all from the arrival of Hogan and Bischoff. Everything seemed really gimmicky when they first arrived. You already mentioned the Jan 4 show, which they thought would be the major "game changer" for TNA. They moved to Monday nights, which they quickly realized was a mistake.

I think that so far, TNA has improved since the arrival of Hulk & Eric. Granted, they had a lot of their experiments fail...but it seems like they're learning from their mistakes. I think that TNA thought Hogan was going to be their "golden boy" or "savior" or whatever, but it seems like they finally realized that gimmicks are not going to work in the long-run. They should have learned that from their WCW days, but better late than never.

I know that this whole ECW/EV2 thing is gimmicky, but I don't think that's TNA's fault. I think they wanted Tommy Dreamer as an employee, and it was his idea to do this show. I don't think we'll be seeing anymore "crazy" gimmicks once the HardCORE Justice PPV is over. I don't even think they're expecting a huge buyrate, this seems to be for the ECW guys WAY more than for the fans.

Over the past month or so, TNA has really come into it's own. I think the past six or seven months they were in the experimental phase, and they've finally found a formula that seems to be working. It's not boosting the ratings significantly, but have you been watching Impact? It's been so much better lately.

To be honest, I think that TNA has helped Hogan AND Hogan has helped TNA. I'm not 100% convinced yet, but I think that Hogan is there for the right reasons and not just in it for himself. It seems that the quality of the product is on the incline. I think that the reason storylines weren't making sense before is because the new team was testing the water for what they could/should do. I think they have a great sense of what's happening now, and things seem to be completely stabilizing.

 

[Chess]

I agree with a lot of comments here. Due to HoganTNA has managed to bring in top name wrestlers, RVD, Hardy, Anderson and Ric Flair WOoooooooooooooooo! This is good. I would also say the production values are much improved due to Hogan.

The bad thing was Hogan brought in losers like Nash and Waltman, the Nasties and Orlando Jordon, as well as ruining TNA TV for 2 - 3 months with himself and his buddies.

I think Hogan has managed to keep his vanity and his personal quest to be on TV till he dies, however the money is probably irrelevant. Bischoff has been a waste of time and money, he's simply used TNA to get TV project through spike.

So to sum up both sides have gained something. But Hogan slightly more as TNA actually wanted some numbers to.

I think that the TNA product overall is still pretty awful, but that no longer has anything to do with Hogan as his presence on TNA television has been dramatically reduced.

Dude, every comment I read from you has a bit of hate towards TNA.
Ignoring the latest ECW waste of time. TNA TV has actually been pretty good for the last 2 months, they have also put on 2 good PPV's. I agree Hogan probably has had little influence lately and this has led to decent TV. You can see Russo (who I guess you also hate) is back on writing duties and the clusterfuck style has returned.

Because of you, I tried to watch WWE again for the last 2 weeks. I am afraid it is not good. 1 good match in 2 weeks (Edge vs Orton). WWE needs to actually put on wrestling again for me to like it. I do not care for their pantomine, the Nexus suck, and guess what all their top guys are older than TNA main players. WWE is just not entertaining at all, at least TNA tries.

 

[johnbragg]

I'm pretty sure that Hogan's pitch for getting the big bucks from Dixie wasn't to have the exact same ratings they had a year ago, a nicer set in the Impact Zone, and (apparently) even crappier PPV buyrates.

Couple that with the fact that TNA lost some credibility, if possible. In the run-up to January 4, a lot of big things were said and a lot of promises made. There was a lot of talk about what TNA and Hogan were going to do, and how successful they were going to be, and on and on. I doubt that the other shareholders in Panda are that happy about the Times Square billboard today.

Is the product any more entertaining? I don't think so. There have been some acquisitions--RVD, Jeff Hardy, Anderson. But there had been acquisitions before--Booker, Christian, Kurt Angle, going back to Sting. I'd say that the TNA 2010 signings have more to do with the WWE Wellness Policy than anything about Hogan or Bischoff.

 

[The Crock]

Hogan. The company hasn't gone anywhere and is still... well... shit. Hogan is the one getting paid to push "The Monster" Abyss to the sky for no apparent reason. He took away the six sided ring, which was the last unique thing that TNA had, because the X Division is going nowhere fast. Hogan hasn't done, and won't do, anything for TNA. Ever.