Source: IGN
IGN TV: The first time I talked to you it was before the big Monday Impact. Now that it happened and you guys scored record ratings I wanted to ask how it felt to you? What did you think of the show?
Hulk Hogan: Well for me it’s all about “feel.” And the Impact show that was live – you know, I’ve been to all the big dances. I’ve done the crazy 94 thousand people matches, and you know not to toot my own horn but when you’re in a building like the Skydome in Toronto and you beat your own attendance record or when you’re in the Egg Dome in Tokyo and you’re putting 80 thousand people in the seats – there’s a certain energy thing happening there. I’ve been there and done that. I’ve been in the studio with Ted Turner before and in a short amount of time we came out of that little studio and took the show nationwide and became the number one sports entertainment company in, like, six months. That same energy was in there at Impact. I didn’t know what to expect. All the guys were like “it’s different. And there’s a delay. And there’s a bunch of smart marks in the front row. And they’re gonna be hounding us.” And they had the jitters a bit. I kind of lost my self-confidence when all these guys, who haven’t been in the business half as long as me, were telling me that all this stuff was going to happen. And I went out there and it was totally the opposite. It was that crazy kind of energy where you just knew it was going to blow it up. You know this was going to start crack-a-lacking. This is really gonna roll out well. So I was really happy with it, bro. Then the next night when we taped I was like “hmmm. We need to switch gears and keep going live.” It was a different vibe. It will work. It’s not “if,” it’s “when.”
IGN: What are the talks like these days, with Spike TV, about going live on Mondays more? Once a month perhaps or even all the time?
Hogan: We had a crazy dinner last night with all the big dogs and I was just badgering them to death. Just beating them to death. It’s just time and momentum. And they get it. They understand that whole energy thing. That feel. And what about Hulk Hogan and TNA going live 11 months from now? (shrugs, not enthused) You know. Eh. You know, timing is everything. And so I was trying to explain to them that if you go live on a Monday and then you wait seven or eight weeks to do another Monday you’re missing an opportunity to bring more fans to the table. Because they’ll come back the next Monday and where are we at? We’re not there and they’ll go to the WWE. And then they’ll come back the next two or three Mondays thinking “this must have been a fluke because they weren’t on.” And if we’re not on then all you wind up doing is giving the other guy a big shot in the arm. But it’s all timing, and everyone understands. We got some good answers last night. It’s kind of like running back into the offices and re-structuring. They know what really makes sense. And it’s just making sure that things are re-assigned and get moved around gracefully. But they already knew. So it was really nice to sit down with all the guys from Spike and have our eyes all on the same page. It’s gonna happen way way sooner than I expected.
IGN: Did you watch the RAW from the the 4th? With Bret Hart?
Hogan: No…. (smiles) Yes. Of course I did.
IGN: What did you think of their show? Some people thought that, other than the Bret Hart moments, the rest of the show was kind of standard. Do you think that they made an attempt to step up to compete with you?
Hogan: They pretty much have a cookie-cutter mold, you know. A contrived programming thing that gets stuffed down your throat because there’s no one else competing. Well, I don’t want to say “competing.” Let’s say, there’s no one else putting out a better product. I hate that word “competing” because I don’t want to do what they’re doing. And so I think Bret was the huge attempt. I think that was the story. And Vince is the top babyface and Vince is the top heel. Depending on which way he wants to go. I think right now he’s in the bad guy heel position so he’s the top bad guy. And when he wants to be a good guy, he’s the top good guy. For Bret to come out in that storyline with Vince – you know, Shawn (Michaels) was like the Plan B if you needed to switch gears. I think they did step up and I think they expected different results. I expected a bunch of different stuff, from Bret’s look – I was looking for something really exciting. I was like “oh my gosh, man, this is going to be fun” but then I saw it and went “hmmmm.” I smell blood. I watched the show after that with Tyson and the show before that with Timbaland and I liked those shows better. But that’s just me.
IGN: I’m very curious about your opinion on this. You mentioned “smart marks” earlier and being someone who’s been in the business for decades, what do you think of the new wave of Internet fandom and critique? The forums and the sheet sites? How do you feel about them?
Hogan: Well, you can’t work yourself into a shoot because that’s a very small percentage. That’s a very minute percentage. It’s just like the movie The Wrestler. That storyline and that ending are just, maybe, one or two guys I know in the business. A lot of guys I know are working high schools and making two, three, four grand in a weekend and doing well. Those “smart marks” and I guess you and I named them are just a really small group of people. And that’s why the goal is to get in the bigger live arenas and get out of the little studio environment. Because they don’t represent mainstream America. And so when you’re out there and you’ve got the whole building screaming for TNA and AJ Styles and you’ve got ten guys chanting something like “we want Bret” or “we want Vince” or whatever – “we hate Hulk.” Anything. You’ve just gotta look at the big picture and even if they’re louder at certain points than the rest of the thousand, or fifteen hundred people – I forget how much the studio holds – but you have to have the presence of mind to realize that that has nothing to do with the big picture. And I know they’re on the Internet, and going on the dirt sheets and there’s this underground wave of people that think they’re smart to the business. Well, I’ve been in the business for 30 years and I’m not smart yet. So I would love someone who’s “smart” to tell me what the real deal is. I try to look up above all that, to the bigger picture. To the big mountains and not the little teeny speed bumps. It doesn’t really matter. It’s a non-issue.
IGN: Across the board, people loved the AJ Styles – Kurt Angle match from the Monday Impact. How do you feel about the new modern-era wrestling match? A lot of times it’s not the traditional heel/babyface match and there’s a lot more back and forth. They move a lot faster. Do you think they need to slow down to “tell the story” more?
Hogan: On TV, the storylines have to move quicker. You’ve got the whole universe now. You can go all over cable and satellite channels to find stuff. Before, back in the day you only had a handful of choices since there were only so many channels. But those high-impact matches – and that’s why I’ve talked about breathing super-life into these characters. You can go out there and have 5-star matches all day long. And I love AJ Styles to death, don’t get me wrong. But Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Jack Briscoe, Harley Race, AJ Styles all gave 5 star matches and now (holds hand up to head) this is the water level now. When the water level rises and TNA is the number one sports entertainment company in the world, if you keep having those 5 star matches like that and you don’t do the cross-over media and we don’t have Leno or Regis calling AJ Styles instead of me then people that are having those crazy, unbelievable off-the-chart matches are going to be mid-card at best. Because when you get guys who do the Junkyard Dog thing, or cross-over with Cyndi Lauper, or The Rock Stuff and the Stone Cold Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan stuff. Those 5-star matches are going to fall way below that line of entertainment that we want to achieve.
Hogan: I had a long talk with AJ Styles and he’s got some magic in him. You’ve got the whole Hulk Hogan-philosophy of “the best wrestler is the guy who brings in millions of dollars and puts butts in seats” and then there’s the philosophy that best wrestler is the guy who can grab a hold the stiffest. Somewhere in the middle, this is a business and it’s about generating revenue. And AJ has that magic and no one’s pulled it out of him yet. I had a couple long talks with him and he’s got it, bro. He really does. That whole AJ Styles character – if you just have to put bit of an edge on it and ramp it up. I want everyone to know who he is and not just 75% of the people or maybe half of the people. Those matches have a great place, but those matches – those 5-star matches combined with breathing life into the characters will just be the icing on the cake. But you have to have that.
IGN: At Genesis this weekend, TNA is now advertising a big acquisition. Is this going to be part of TNA’s strategy going forward? Getting known names into the company?
Hogan: Yes and no. I mean, you need to do that but that’s the easy part. I don’t even have to work to do that. I mean, my phone’s blowing up. I’ve got guys that are over, or guys that are active. Guy’s who aren’t active. Guys who work for the WWE are blowing my phone up. And it’s just happening naturally. That’s turned out the be the easy part. I thought I would have to stay on the phone and beat people up like “when’s your contract end? or Do you want to work anymore? Or How many days can you work?” Asking them if they’re still healthy and all that stuff. But I don’t even have to worry about that. My phone’s been ringing so much from guys who want to come in. Thank god, that’s the easy part. Because I was all messed up in the head and I thought that would be tough. I was in the airport with one of the guys from the WWE and they said “the guys in the WWE are cheering us on like crazy.” And the people in the offices are scrambling around like chickens with their heads cut off. So it’s good for the business. And no matter what Vince thinks, it’s going to be great for his business too.
Original Article: http://tv.ign.com/articles/106/1061485p1.html
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