Hulk Hogan to TNA
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This past week Hulk Hogan
managed to do what Hulk Hogan does best – getting people to talk about him.
At the age of 56, few thought
Hulk Hogan would still be a relevant force in the industry in 2009 but this
past Tuesday at a press conference in New York City
he proved that assumption false after announcing that he would be joining the Orlando, Florida
based TNA Wrestling promotion.
The announcement caught many
off guard figuring that if Hogan were to sign another contract at this age that
it would be with the WWE where there was the most money to be made.
Wrestling is in a weird state
right now, some would say a stale one with audiences craving something
different. Therefore the announcements of Shane McMahon leaving the WWE and
Hogan and Eric Bischoff entering TNA have people excited because of the
prospect of seeing something different (even hypothetical ones) than the
national promotions are currently offering up.
Many credit Hulk Hogan with
the surge in popularity of WCW in the late 90′s where they became the biggest
wrestling company in the world and generated more money in a one year period
than any other company up to that point in time. The same
man can also be cited as a major negative to the company in the long term where
he exuded no desire to play on a team but rather promote Hulk Hogan and better
his situation rather than the health of the promotion that employed him. I’m
not going to characterize that approach as a complete negative because the
nature of professional wrestling is an individualistic one and blame for Hogan’s
business attitude needs to be placed more squarely on management – Eric Bischoff
from 1994 – 1999.
Hogan and Bischoff worked
very well together in helping to create a WCW product that was very top heavy
on names from the past that still had an audience that was willing to pay to
see them and a solid foundation of underneath workers that routinely stole the
show but were often beaten down by the system in place of the glass ceiling
separating the bottom from the top.
The biggest questions
surround the creative end of the company and who will be wearing which hat?
The bad blood between Hogan
and the current head of TNA creative Vince Russo is well documented and even
resulted in a lawsuit filed by Hogan following the July 2000 WCW ‘Bash at the
Beach’ event where Russo cut a promo on Hogan and went off the script to bash
Hogan.
Hogan stated at the press
conference that as long as Russo doesn’t cross Hogan than he will be fine.
If Hogan is serious about
this run with TNA than he will be heavily involved in the creative end and that
will undoubtedly result in Hogan and Russo clashing heads and Russo cannot win
that power struggle based on the commitment of Dixie Carter and Spike TV in
securing the services of Hogan after six years of attempts.
There is no doubt a huge
amount of panic is circulating around the TNA locker room just as there would
any locker room that is experiencing a change in power at the top.
A positive in the favor of
Eric Bischoff is that he has always had a much wider view of what a pro
wrestler can be and utilizing varying degrees of talent. Vince McMahon has
shown a tremendously narrow view in that regard when it comes to hiring
practices and who receive pushes to the top mix. It would not be a stretch to
assume that the X division would be given more of a focus with Bischoff’s track
record of success with the Cruiserweight division in WCW.
TNA faces a very difficult
balancing act over the next few months when it comes to the egos involved that
are being brought in, the personality clashes that are inevitable with the
names involved and current members of the TNA roster including a main event mix
that could feature Hogan, Sting, Mick Foley, Kevin Nash and Scott Steiner.
The wild card in this deal is
Ric Flair, who signed a three year contract with Eric Bischoff and comes as a
package deal with whatever ventures Hulk Hogan is associated with and that would
likely include TNA. Flair has stated he will not work for TNA out of respect to
Vince McMahon but could find himself obligated from a legal point to work for
whatever promotion he is directed to by Bischoff and Hogan.
It’s a dramatic change of
events for TNA, of which the effects of the changes will be felt immediately
and reveal just how serious Hulk Hogan is about TNA.
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