Hogan's New Promotion

Fozzy

Hogan did an interview with The Sun claiming that himself and Eric Bischoff are about to sign a tv deal for a wrestling promotion that they're starting: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article808724.ece

HULK HOGAN is just days away from launching his own wrestling federation, The Sun can exclusively reveal.
The legendary former WWE champion claims he and ex-WCW supremo Eric Bischoff are currently in discussions to take on his old boss Vince McMahon head-to-head.

He revealed: “Last night me and Eric were getting ready to sign a deal with one of the TV networks here in America.

“We had a little bit of a problem with the licensing and merchandising, which has delayed it.

“But I totally expect we’re going to sign the TV portion of this very soon, because there’s no point in starting any sort of wrestling organisation without the TV locked in place.

“Now we’re just arguing among the lawyers on how to protect the brand and the image and make sure it’s a fair deal for everybody.

“Once we’ve wrapped the TV up we’ll make the official announcement. The network want to make a really big deal of it.”

Hulk added: “The basic idea will be the same as WWE, but I pray to god it’s nothing like what’s on TV now.

“I’m a fan, but it is pretty boring programming. It’s watered down and unexciting, and the viewer doesn’t have any option except to have it shoved down his throat.

“We’re going to have a lot of back story for viewers to understand why these people are doing what they're doing.

“It won’t be family members in the back writing storylines on things they know nothing about.”

Hogan does face one massive hurdle in building his own wrestling group – most of America’s top grapplers are already under contract to WWE, TNA or ROH.


COMING AFTER VINCE ... Hulk with his wrestling rival and Sly Stallone
Wireimage
But he maintains: “There are a lot of unhappy campers in the WWE and there are also a new breed of wrestlers that Vince McMahon hasn’t explored yet, that we have.

“And I’m in better shape than I have been for about 10 years.”

Wrestling is just one of many projects for Hulk.

He is the host of the hugely successful American Gladiators remake, has a range of branded products in the shops and is now even the face of the £3.5million FLW Fantasy Fishing game.

So with a second series of Gladiators on the books, and lots of money rolling in, does The Hulkster really want to face the trials and tribulations of the wrestling business once again?

The answers is a resounding 'yes'.

He insists: “Wrestling is in my blood. It will always be a part of my life in some way.”

As Hulk rushed off to call his TV network, we asked what Vince McMahon’s views on his plans were.

“I have no idea what Vince thinks or knows about all of this,” Hogan replied.

“I don’t speak to him.”

Dave Meltzer said this:

Hogan and Bischoff have talked for more than a year about starting a company, contacting many former WWE and WCW stars from the 80s and 90s. Before the divorce, Linda Bollea had told me Hogan and Bischoff would be starting a company, but not to compete with Vince, but to do overseas tours starring Hogan. We haven't heard any rumblings of top talent having been talked with, and there is very little in the way of free agent talent out there. If the two have legitimate network backing, they could be a player, but would need a long-term commitment or it's not even worth starting.

Hogan is believed to have put a considerable amount of money into a company where Bischoff controls the money.

Keep in mind Hogan has nearly half a dozen times at this point in time made threats of starting his own company, or strongly teased starting up with other companies. In every case, hindsight has shown the motive was to get McMahon to bring him back, since Wrestlemania season is here.

My gut feeling is that nothing whatsoever will come of this, but you never know

Charlie

I too am very skeptical and if indeed it does startup, it could just end up as another XPW, however, Hogan (for once in his life) seems to be talking alot of sense

Hulk added: “The basic idea will be the same as WWE, but I pray to god it’s nothing like what’s on TV now.

“I’m a fan, but it is pretty boring programming. It’s watered down and unexciting, and the viewer doesn’t have any option except to have it shoved down his throat.

“We’re going to have a lot of back story for viewers to understand why these people are doing what they're doing.

“It won’t be family members in the back writing storylines on things they know nothing about.”

shinzon

Hogans talked about doing this for years now, hope it does take off and be a proper rival to wwe, lets face it TNA's a joke now and no serious threat to vince, if bischoff is a partner and this is not just hulk blowing smoke out of his ass, then it could just about happen

As with everything with Hulk Hogan it either happens or it wont well just have to wait and see

Shin

Bounty Hunter

im also quite skeptical about this however I would love to see it. I also think that if it took off it would be far more competition for WWE than TNA, even if its just cos Hogan himself would draw an audience. would be interesting to see who would join this promotion as wrestling talent though unhappy / released WWE stars, TNA wrestlers unhappy with its direction, Hogans friends (The Nasty Boys etc..) and then the unexpected...Lashley/Macho Man?

Bubs101

I'd love to see it but I can't see who he could get in bar Waltman and Show and he might even be spoken for

Ruu_Old

I wish him well with it but unsure if anything is going to become of this.

flahavaj

Hogan is full of s**t! Even if it does get off the ground it'll be a total abortion!

krudler

as long as hogan isnt an active wrestler, the odd appearance maybe then it may be ok, can see it being wcw 2000 all over again though with Hogans buddies thinking they still have a place headlining a wrestling show

Charlie

If Heyman and Bischoff could sort out their differences, he would be a smashing free agent signing to upstart such a promotion.

A name like Heyman running things behind the scenes, would instantly pull in a fair number of fans who have grown disillusioned with WWE's current product and the lack of competition that TNA provides.

krudler

charlie mchugh wrote: »

If Heyman and Bischoff could sort out their differences, he would be a smashing free agent signing to upstart such a promotion.

A name like Heyman running things behind the scenes, would instantly pull in a fair number of fans who have grown disillusioned with WWE's current product and the lack of competition that TNA provides.

very true, remember how good Smackdown was when Heyman was booking it? it was better than Raw for ages, Heyman may have been a horrible businessman but he was a genius booker

Vince135792003

Eric Bischoff's ego would never allow him sign Heyman.

Charlie

Vince135792003 wrote: »

Eric Bischoff's ego would never allow him sign Heyman.

That's the problem indeed, and I have a feeling that Hogan wouldn't be a big fan of Heyman or his booking.

Still, in an ideal world. Heyman as booker, Bischoff as the money/marketing man (people forget the money he made for WCW before it went down the ****ter) and Hogan as the marquee name who'll draw a casual audience in.

If all three could work to their strengths and cut out the bull****, I think you have one hell of a promotion.

the flananator

charlie mchugh wrote: »

That's the problem indeed, and I have a feeling that Hogan wouldn't be a big fan of Heyman or his booking.

Still, in an ideal world. Heyman as booker, Bischoff as the money/marketing man (people forget the money he made for WCW before it went down the ****ter) and Hogan as the marquee name who'll draw a casual audience in.

If all three could work to their strengths and cut out the bull****, I think you have one hell of a promotion.

I'd be more interested in what talent they'd sign before worrying about a booker. Theres not really much maretable, young, free agents out there at the moment around which to build a promotion. Theres a few, sure, but enough to take on WWE?

Vince135792003

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Hogan as the marquee name who'll draw a casual audience in.

Hogan can't be the guy he was in 1994 coming into WCW. Time has just passed him by. You needed more than him to steer WCW ahead of WWE in the mid 1990's and your gonna need alot more than him now to even be remotely competitive in 2008.

And if you look at what WCW had to do to get competitive, it's almost unattainable for a third company to try and do it today. WCW got competitive by getting in Hogan, Hall, Savage, Nash, Luger, Piper etc.....

In 2008 guys like these just don't exist and of the few that do ('Taker, Triple H, Michaels), there's no sign of them leaving WWE.

Charlie

the flananator wrote: »

I'd be more interested in what talent they'd sign before worrying about a booker. Theres not really much maretable, young, free agents out there at the moment around which to build a promotion. Theres a few, sure, but enough to take on WWE?

There seems to be quite a few disgruntled wrestlers in TNA, and Joe still hasn't renewed his contract with them. Further, I think TNA has shown that there are wrestlers in the WWE that want a lighter schedule to take care of themselves, or are fed up with the glass ceiling that holds so many talent back (e.g. Christian, Booker T)

I wouldn't expect this proposed promotion to initially have mega stars to take on the WWE, but neither did TNA when it first started up. However I do believe that there are the performers out there that a genius like Heyman could book and develop characters for.

Like I said, look at TNA when they first started out in terms of talent pool. Now look at it. TNA's roster is one of the few aspects that I think most fans would agree is its strong point. This is one of the reasons people get so frustrated with it as promotion. They ave all this great talent, but book it so horribly.

No body knows TNA's situation. It wouldn't surprise me if it shut its doors next week (although I concede that's unlikely) because the place must me haemorrhaging money. There's no way that TNA are making anything short of big loses at the moment. There's only so long Dixies parents are willing to keep funding that creative and financial mess.

If all that talent was shored up, imagine what a promotion with money behid it and Heyman booking it could possibly achieve. Maybe not take on WWE as a global brand, but certainly challenge it in terms of a wrestling show (much like the old ECW did)

Charlie

Vince135792003 wrote: »

Hogan can't be the guy he was in 1994 coming into WCW. Time has just passed him by. You needed more than him to steer WCW ahead of WWE in the mid 1990's and your gonna need alot more than him now to even be remotely competitive in 2008.

And if you look at what WCW had to do to get competitive, it's almost unattainable for a third company to try and do it today. WCW got competitive by getting in Hogan, Hall, Savage, Nash, Luger, Piper etc.....

In 2008 guys like these just don't exist and of the few that do ('Taker, Triple H, Michaels), there's no sign of them leaving WWE.

But I wouldn't be talking about a promotion on the same scale as WCW. Hogan, might not be the star that he was in '94, but his name still resonates alot with wrestling fans (look at the pops he still recieves) and many casual viewers will still view him as Mr. Wrestling. Therefore, there would be a fair few people that would probably be willing to give this promotion a look at initially just to see what its all about, if Hogan's name is attached to it.

However, after that, the product itself would have to be very good, in order to retain those who initially looked in on it. Hence, why someone like Heyman would be ideal, as his strong point is booking great wrestling.

I guess I would see this promotion as being on a similar ground as TNA, but with proper PPV buyrates, paid audiences, and possibly even a small number of profit making house shows. They might not challenge WWE in terms of TV ratings, but they could certainly carve out a niche which TNA has had its chance to do and so far failed at.

EdK

Hogan always talks about this kind of **** coming upto wrestlemania to get booked in a big payoff amtch

Vince135792003

charlie mchugh wrote: »

But I wouldn't be talking about a promotion on the same scale as WCW. Hogan, might not be the star that he was in '94, but his name still resonates alot with wrestling fans (look at the pops he still recieves) and many casual viewers will still view him as Mr. Wrestling. Therefore, there would be a fair few people that would probably be willing to give this promotion a look at initially just to see what its all about, if Hogan's name is attached to it.

However, after that, the product itself would have to be very good, in order to retain those who initially looked in on it. Hence, why someone like Heyman would be ideal, as his strong point is booking great wrestling.

I guess I would see this promotion as being on a similar ground as TNA, but with proper PPV buyrates, paid audiences, and possibly even a small number of profit making house shows. They might not challenge WWE in terms of TV ratings, but they could certainly carve out a niche which TNA has had its chance to do and so far failed at.

I think you have thought more about this than Hogan has.

To be honest, I couldn't see Bischoff or Hogan being happy or wanting to get involved with something with success at that scale. When you've been at the top of the mountain all your life like Hogan has and for and extended period like Bischoff was, you don't climb it again to reach half way.

Fozzy

charlie mchugh wrote: »

There seems to be quite a few disgruntled wrestlers in TNA, and Joe still hasn't renewed his contract with them.

His contract with them lasts for another two years at least. Unless you're talking about his contract situation on tv! Why won't he sign the damn thing?!

Heyman's done interviews in the last week where he's said that he's moved on from wrestling. There's very little chance of him working with any wrestling promotion, never mind one run by Bischoff and Hogan!

Having thought about it a little more, I have even less belief that this will happen

Vince135792003

Fozzy wrote: »

Heyman's done interviews in the last week where he's said that he's moved on from wrestling.

I bet if there was an overhaul in TNA's creative team and they offered him a spot, he'd take it.