Everyone from Roddy Piper, to The Undertaker, to Earthquake, to the Dungeon of Doom, to Vince McMahon himself tried, but they all failed. Ironically in the end, it may be Hulk Hogan that has done more damage to Hulkamania than any of his past rivals.
Only a handful of professional wrestlers will achieve legendary status in our lifetime. Like him or not, Hulk Hogan is one of those guys. When Hogan signed with TNA Wrestling he did more than just take a check, he mortgaged his legacy. Unfortunately it is getting close to foreclosure.
It is easy to pick on Hogan but nobody can deny his legacy through TNA Wrestling. He was the biggest draw with the WWE in the 1980s, which some would call the biggest boom period in pro wrestling. He achieved icon status across the board into popular culture. Even more impressive, unlike any other legend he did it twice, bringing WCW to prominence in the late 1990s. While he had his critics, nobody could argue with his place in pro wrestling history.
[adinserter block=”2″]That is why his signing with TNA Wrestling a year and a half ago was such a gamble. What would happen if Hogan went to TNA and fell flat on his face? What would happen if Hogan went to TNA and wasn’t a television or pay per view draw? What would happen and may the power of Hulkamania strike me down for saying this, Hulk Hogan went to TNA and became dare I say ordinary?
Well guess what? Hulk Hogan has become ordinary in TNA. He hasn’t made a difference in the ratings or pay per view numbers. His finger prints on the booking hold him responsible for some of the least successful periods in TNA wrestling over the last few years. Hulk Hogan has lost it and is about one match away from quite possibly doing irreparable damage to his brand forever.
Hogan has been more of a focus over the last few weeks on Impact Wrestling than in past weeks. He looks great, he talks better than half of the guys in the company, and has more charisma in his pinky than probably arguably anyone in the business. Yet the Impact ratings for Hogan’s appearances haven’t been good, as a matter of a fact they have been pretty bad. As a matter of a fact, more fans stay tuned to watch Crimson wrestle Kurt Angle than wanted to see Hogan, Angle, and Sting in the ring at the same time. This is not good news for TNA Wrestling and even worse, a sign that Hulkamania is on critical support. I won’t even get into the failed Monday night experiment.
The TNA booking plan is for Hogan to wrestle Sting at Bound for Glory 2011. That could be devastating to the Hulkster’s legacy. Think about this. If fans are tuning out of seeing Hogan for free on Impact Wrestling, what makes you think that anyone wants to pay to see him wrestle? The average TNA Wrestling pay per view buyrate these days is around 8,000. A Hogan main-event should jump that number up to 16,000. What if it stays at 8,000? What if it dips? Don’t worry, according to Eric Bischoff the fan reaction indicates that the market will be good for it. Yeah, welcome to the inside of bubble of the TNA offices.
At this rate, the current generation of pro wrestling fans will see Hogan as nothing other than some old pro wrestler hanging around past his prime. While true, he was always protected in the WWE with random appearances, making Hogan’s return a must-see event. To historians, Hogan will also be seen as a failure and in and out of the ring with TNA. Yes Hogan had some bombs here and there before TNA, but nothing to this extent. Sure, fans my age and maybe ten years younger will always Hogan in legendary regard. But to fans that came along in this era of pro wrestling, the days of talking about the legendary “Hogan chill” are in danger of ending and that is actually quite sad.
[adinserter block=”1″]What happens if Hogan left TNA tomorrow, could his legacy be saved? I think so but the problem is that Hogan would have to remain on the down low for awhile for the anticipation to simmer for a Hogan appearance. Can his ego do that? I don’t think so, heck even after all of the tragedy his family went through, the guy is still trying to get a reality show. Can he afford to do that? I doubt that as well, not as long he continues to live a lavish lifestyle.
I am not an idiot and I understand Hogan’s financial need to work full time in pro wrestling. But there are ways that could have been done, where his legacy could remain protected. Hogan could have stayed behind the scenes and popped up for random appearances like he would in the WWE. Maybe it would have worked, maybe it wouldn’t, but his legacy would still be intact.
Whether it is his hunger for the spotlight or lack of confidence in the TNA Wrestling roster, he has instead put himself in the center of everything which may have come at a very heavy price.
WWE: Hulk Hogan’s Unreleased Collector’s Series DVD
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Hulk Hogan’s autobiography, My Life Outside the Ring
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I must agree with most people here. I think its very simply an ego/money thing. He certainly could of made money staying behind the scenes, but that doesnt cover the ego issue for him. I dont think HE even knows the difference between HulkHogan and TerryB. Still a legend forever but we’ve all seen this show before.
Well , how is Hogan gonna wrestle without taking bumps? Regardless, his legacy is ruined completely.
hogan ruined his legacy when he opened his doors and let people into his personal life. he was revered by the general population as the "greatest wrestler of all time." not everyone knows (or cares) about what he did to wcw, or his lack of ability. they were entertained and he worked his way into pop culture. when he pulled back that curtain and let everyone on to what so few knew – that he is, in fact, a huge pice of shit he changed the game on himself.
who cares if he abused the "full creative control" card or doesn't know how to book a wrestling match. in every other aspect of life – the shit that actually counts – he appears to have failed, and let us all cast judgement on him in the process. hes simply back in wrestling because financially he has to be. hes not like any other retired athlete who came back to see if they still have it. hes like a dude who has to get a job at 60 because of bad breaks and losers luck.
when they talk about how hogan suffered later in life theyre not even going to bring up TNA. it wont even be a footnote in his book. the'll talk about the tv show, his sons car crash, the divorce, and the fact that he had to go back and wrestle again, but not that he ran TNA poorly and was booked in a bad match or two. his legacy is that he was the greatest of all time and he ended up just like every other wrestler, broke and broken and still performing because he has to.
Hogan's problem is, much like Angle, Flair and others, he doesn't know when to say "enough is enough". The guy's ego will not allow him to gracefully walk away from wrestling, no matter how bad things get. He was brought into TNA in order to increase interest in the company, as well as ratings, buyrates, merchandise sales, etc. Nearly 2 years later, Hogan has yet to do any of those things. Hogan needs to face facts and realize that, for the first time in his career, his run with a company can be seen as a colossal letdown and total failure. And I hate to break it to him, but coming back for another match with Sting is not going to do anything to help it. Sting turned 52 this year and has bad knees. Hogan turned 58 this year and has bad everything else, as well as his knees. The man has to wear a back brace at all times (which he hides under his shirts on TV), and has been told by his doctors that he can't take anymore bumps. Rumor has it that TNA will work around this by not having him taking any bumps with Sting. Well, if that's the case, what the hell is the point of the match in the first place? I could go on and on here (and already have, to a certain extent), but I think the point has been made-Hogan is way past his prime as well as his point of relevance. The longer he stays with TNA, the more damage he does to his overall legacy.
I think what killed Hogan in recent times was the fallout from his reality show and the phone conversation with his son after his accident. It showed he's shady. Sometimes the character cannot be separated from the real life person, and Hogan is suffering from that. I won't watch him anymore.
I think in all fairness and believe me, he deserves a lot of the WCW blame, his contract paid off if you look at the initial NWO success.
And that success led to Buff Bagwell being on the nWo. While I won't say Buff Bagwell is directly responsible for the death of WCW and therefore the death of true competition to the WWE, whoever decided that was a good idea should be forced to watch their mother be pulled through a woodchipper by the force of the blades.
His legacy went down when his contract helped to kill WCW.
WCW was touch and go the day the Crockett family went bankrupt and sold it to Ted Turner, let's be honest here. Hulk Hogan alone can't be blamed for that, anyone that thinks that is just an idiot flat out and simple.