Hark! The Herald Angels are singing, and no it’s not Christmas time just yet. Those beautiful angelic creatures are singing because TNA has finally taken a step into the right direction by parting ways with Hulk Hogan! For several months now, TNA has made tough choices in its inner rehabilitation, some changes for the good and some changes for the bad, but no decision, in my opinion, will benefit them more than this epic one that has been made by the higher ups. The benefits of Hogan’s departure will be seen almost immediately within the brand, both morale and loyalty will skyrocket and this decision will also free up some much needed financial restraints that currently have this company in a chokehold. Hulk Hogan came to TNA with the intent to bring in some more viewers and to use his name value to bring in bigger names to the company. He did that. Absolutely without any doubt, Hogan succeeded in his original goals. The problem was that TNA signed Hogan to a contract that out lived his usefulness within the brand. They got caught in a situation where their debt to him was worth more than his overall value. Creative didn’t know what to do with him, they tried some different scenarios, but ultimately landed him in the General Manager’s seat on iMPACT Wrestling. Who didn’t see that coming? As the General Manager of their one and only national television production, Hogan used his name to try and shoot the brand to higher elevations and better ratings, and no lasting effort could produce any sustainable results for the company. Hogan attempted to aggressively recruit bigger stars, thinking that would be his answer to success, but the results to those mishaps can now be seen on WWE programming once again, proving my original theory of TNA handing out free paychecks to vacationing employees.
Hulk Hogan first came into TNA with a bang. He brought with him the press and publicity that would be acclimated with someone of his stature in the professional wrestling business. He also brought with him Eric Bischoff, a great mind and thinker in the wrestling scene but stale on ideas. With the two of them back in action together, it felt like they were trying to recreate a product that was once previously produced by the duo at the now defaulted WCW. The excitement that had first erupted when they had burst onto the scene quickly died down and the quick action duo of Hogan and Bischoff hit a gigantic brick wall and their momentum came to a screeching halt. TNA was then left with the daunting position of finding a scenario where their money wasn’t going completely down the drain and the duo could still be useful to them. Wisely they moved Bischoff to the front office, allowing him to run things from behind the scenes where he could shine. As we all know, we couldn’t be as fortunate when it came to the question of what to do with Hogan. TNA believed, like many did, that the Hogan name still had a little juice left in it and putting him in front of the camera could maybe buy them a few more viewers or at least keep the ones they had. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work out exactly the way they planned. Like many others in the wrestling community, I, too got quickly bored with seeing Hogan on iMPACT Wrestling week in and week out. Everything he had to say was dull, inane and discombobulated and the viewers were having a hard time getting aboard the Hogan Express any further.
The culmination of TNA’s financial problems didn’t begin and probably won’t end with Hogan, but his presence certainly didn’t help. Hogan has spent many years perfecting the Hogan brand. He has made, for the most part, smart career choices and positive brand building decisions for himself and his name. The name Hulk Hogan has always been the face of professional wrestling for so many generations of fans in the wrestling business. We were told to eat our vitamins and say our prayers and we too could grow up and be a Hulkamaniac just as he did, with his 24 inch pythons and his unwavering courage. So many of us believed in that particular scenario that we chose to follow him and live by his mottos and ways of life. His presence would be understated if I said it was tremendous. Hulk Hogan defined charisma in the 80s and early 90s with his ultimate babyface persona. Then in the latter years of the 1990s he redefined what a true heel was by shedding the strongly built Hulkamaniacs that had surrounded him for so many years and aligning himself with a different brand within WCW and catapulting his name even further with the arrival of one of the greatest storylines ever created, the infamous NWO. He and Bischoff together would help bring down the epic universe that is the WWE with their creative abilities and charismatic wrestlers. I guess the point that I am making is that throughout Hogan’s career he has developed himself and his brand, and that can’t come cheap. Not to any federation. Hogan probably isn’t making what he used to make in the prime of his career, but I am sure it was still probably a salary that most of us would never see in a lifetime. TNA was paying that salary, but for what? A retired wrestler too old to wrestle and a man who hasn’t been the most successful with keeping up with the changing times, this generation could care less about Hulkamania. TNA now has those dollars freed up and can focus their attention on maintaining a new and fresh roster of talented individuals known for their ability to wrestle and not to wave their hands around, cupping their ears and ripping off t-shirts.
It wouldn’t be right for me as a fan to say that Hogan is the direct result of TNA’s declining ratings and forced company overhaul. Hogan was just one aspect of that brooding formula, but an aspect nonetheless. I think Hogan had a hard time keeping up with current times and he couldn’t let go of his past like he had once before. He tried to muster all remaining charisma he had left and help put this company over, unfortunately he was spent and so was Hulkamania. His feud with the Aces & 8s bought him a little more time with the fans, but also became quickly stagnate in a sinking pool of quicksand known as TNA’s creative department. Hulk Hogan does and will always deserve all the props in the world for giving professional wrestling a face in the entertainment community for so many years. He is in a sense, the father of professional wrestling entertainment, a title he duly deserves. Hogan’s light has shined brighter than most stars in the skies and we should be grateful for his contribution, but it’s time Hogan. It is time for you to hang up your wrestling gear, throw the boas away and focus on enjoying this next journey of your life, retirement. And to all my fellow cohorts at TNA, I have to say to you in a very loud and climatic voice “BRAVO!” You are finally hearing me loud and clear and it’s about time. You can start sending the thank you notes at any time. Who knows where TNA will go from here, I am just happy that Hogan won’t be coming along for the ride. But then again, that’s just my Chaotic Theory…..
I’m not sure I agree that getting rid of (or losing) Hogan is a good sign for TNA’s future.
I suppose if he truly is receiving such a huge paycheck compared to everyone else, then it will help TNA not to pay it.
I don’t think Hulkamania is stale, either. I’m not a particular big fan of Hulk Hogan, not since I was a small child, although I respect his attitude of late and how much he has put over the younger guys and gals in interviews, and the awareness he brings to the brand. Still though, last year when I attended Bound for Glory in Phoenix, I couldn’t help but pop for the man like everyone else in the building. The electricity when Hulk Hogan enters an arena live is out of this world.
Maybe Hulkamania is stale on the internet … Although if he goes back to WWE I won’t be surprised when all the haters suddenly think the Hulkster is awesome.
Al that said, this is a very well written article, and offers a very balanced, well thought out perspective. I guess time will tell if you’re right.
“Hogan’s attempt to aggressively recruit bigger stars, thinking that would be his answer to success, but the results to those mishaps can now be seen on WWE programming once again, proving my original theory of TNA handing out free paychecks to vacationing employees.”
I don’t understand this one. Who left TNA and is now employed by WWE as a direct result of Hulk Hogan’s presence in the company?
Just a few additional comments aside from the one I posted a few minutes ago…
First, if Hulk Hogan showed up on RAW with “Real American” playing in the background, tore his shirt off, and decimated some anti-American wrestler (I don’t follow WWE so I don’t know who their heels are), the entire arena would go bonkers. And let’s be honest – the entire internet (including all of the current haters) would go berserk. The hate that the internet fans have for Hulk Hogan is solely and totally derived from the caricature that dirt sheets have drawn of him over the last 15 years. They’ve created a story about a guy who is an egomaniac and obsessed with getting “one last run” in before he dies. Don’t worry about the fact that none of that is true; the dirt sheets began spinning a web some 15 years ago and they’ve built on that web to the point where they can now reference their past bullshit as historical evidence of their bullshit being correct.
Conjecture at its worst, for sure.
Second, Hogan brought Eric Bischoff, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Brooke Adams, and Ken Anderson with him to TNA. Yes, he also brought the Nasty Boys, Orlando Jordan, Val Venis, Bubba the Love Sponge, and some others who have fallen away. However, to simply write off the impact that RVD, Jeff Hardy, Brooke Adams, and Ken Anderson have had on the company is ridiculous. Of those 4 performers, RVD is the only one to go back to WWE and – in truth – he would have never been happy staying in TNA. As we’ve seen from recent news reports – RVD is an unhappy guy and a malcontent in the locker room. Getting him out of TNA wasn’t so bad in the long-run. Hardy continues to be a top merchandise seller for TNA and Brooke sets the screen on fire every time she’s on camera. As for Anderson, he said himself that he’ll be back in a few weeks. The biggest “get” for TNA in the Hogan years was getting Eric Bischoff – without a doubt.
Third, I agree that it will be nice for TNA to shift its financial obligations from having to pay Hulk Hogan his appearance fee (he didn’t have a salary) to potentially bringing in younger talent. However, let’s remember that Hogan will be back and that per appearance fee will be back with him. If Dixie and her team are smart (and despite the character she’s currently playing on TV, I think she knows exactly what she’s doing during contract negotiations), then they’ll require Spike TV to pick up the lion’s share of the cost of having Hogan appear on iMPACT Wrestling. As anyone who follows the relationship between Spike TV and TNA knows, the reason that Hogan has such cache is because the executives at Spike TV want him and his brand on their station. If I were Dixie, I’d agree to give Hogan the platform when he returns, but I’d demand that the majority of his costs were picked up by Spike TV.
And finally, let’s all try to remember that the internet fans hate everything about TNA… just because Hogan exists. Daniel Bryan could be the champion of the company and be facing AJ Styles in an Ironman Match at Bound for Glory with an undercard that featured James Storm and Gunner defending their tag team championships against Generation Me and the Knockouts Title being defended by ODB against Awesome Kong and the fans would still hate the show. You could even put a Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim ladder or cage match in there and they’d love it until Hogan appeared on screen an hour later for 3 seconds. If Bound for Glory this weekend is an incredible show for 2 hours, 59 minutes, and 55 seconds, but then Hogan comes on screen and wishes everyone a good night for the last 5 seconds (“Good night, everyone!”) the entire internet world would explode. Bound for Glory would go from a 5 star show to less than half a star. People would take to the streets complaining that Hogan is ruining wrestling and killing TNA. Effigies of Dixie Carter would be burned throughout the country.
If we’ve learned anything in the last 4 years that Hogan has been under contract by TNA, then we’ve learned that the internet doesn’t know the first thing about running a company or how to read news. We’ve seen that 99% of the opinions expressed on the internet are based off of conjectured “news” stories, fabricated caricatures, and hateful spite. And that’s what bugs me about social media – sure, it gives a voice to everyone in the world, but it falsely makes people think that their voice matters and their opinions are fact.
Thanks for the great comments! I appreciate all the opinions! That’s why I love writing this column. It sparks great conversation from different sides of the table!
Thanks again for reading my column!