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ISSUE 3371
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Mark R
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Oct 27, 2009 16:59 PST
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+++ TNA MANAGEMENT YET AGAIN SHOWS THEIR ENTIRE HAND WITH OUT FIRST
TRYING TO BLUFF. Total Nonstop Action signed a performer to a high
level, high priced contract who can not even barely walk these days with
out being in excruciating pain and can not barely even perform within
the wrestling ring either. Yes, TNA inked Hulk Hogan to a lucrative
contract and obviously are going to attempt to piggy back on his name
value alone, hoping that the market thinks it is 1994 all over again and
not 2009. What TNA wants to get out of bringing in Hulk Hogan to TNA is
to use him to bring in legions of Hogan fans and make it appear as if
TNA just got 'a whole lot bigger and more important' because Hogan now
is one of their own. But examine this business decision closely and it
isn't a wise decision to make because anything Hogan does in the ring is
going to be horrible in 2009 and he always historically has demanded top
billing and top spot. He isn't going to work with the guys in TNA that
are a fraction of his size and isn't going to work well with the head of
TNA creative (Vince Russo) who ran him out of WCW and subsequently got
sued by Hogan for making certain comments and doing certain things to
him during his WCW run with Russo in charge. Hogan has already
addressed the Russo situation and said as long as Russo knows his place
and stays in it then things will be okay, but the thing is that Russo's
place is to control and direct Hogan since Hogan is now with TNA - oops
I forgot the caviat in all Hogan's deals. You know the one that he has
creative control over anything he does with TNA and that means he
doesn't just lay down for anyone 'brother!".
When Hogan went to WCW in 1994 he systematically dissolved the company
being one that was reliant on Sting or Ric Flair and in essence slowly
changed & mutated WCW in to WWF-lite. Hogan at that time brought in his
buddies who began to soak up spots and that ran off the young talent
from WCW, right in to the awaiting and open arms of Vince McMahon. In
turn WCW bringing in Hogan helped them get over the hump but also helped
McMahon gain enough talent depth to rebuild and eventually run WCW out
of business. Who was the mastermind behind the Hogan acquisition in
WCW that began the over spending? Eric Bischoff. Don't worry folks it
is 2009 but Bischoff is tagging along with Hogan for the trek in to TNA.
Bischoff is going to kick in funds to help produce new TNA TV platforms
and use his ties with Jason Hervey (they have a production company
together) to create new TNA TV platforms to market. But the thing about
Bischoff being close to the front office in TNA is that he knows how to
run a company the right way and also the wrong way. Bischoff being in
charge ot TNA would give them more of a chance to make it past the level
they have been stuck on, but the thing is that Bischoff & Russo don't
get a long either. It would simply be one of those situations where it
was either Bischoff or Russo and right now Russo has power and Bischoff
has money. But the long term success of the company is dependent upon
men with money and not with phoney idea credibility within the business.
That tells me that as long as Bischoff has money and TNA is paying Hulk
Hogan that it is inevitable that at some point Hogan & Bischoff take
over control. What does this mean for the current crop of TNA talent?
What does it mean for Jeff Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Sting, Kevin Nash and
everybody else involved with TNA?
It means that if they (Hogan & Bischoff) don't like youn when they gain
control then you are buried on television or shown the door (ask Steve
Austin). It means that guys like Mick Foley and Tazz that came over to
see if the grass was greener in TNA might realize now that it may have
been when they arrived but the name of the game is going to change
totally with Hogan on board. Tazz may not have to worry as much since
he is just a tv announcer but for someone like Foley that is competing
in the ring from time to time it could mean a lot of problems down the
road. Foley & Bischoff are not the best of friends and Bischoff never
liked Foley when Foley was in WCW and was the catalyst of Foley leaving
WCW to go to WWF.
Right now Dixie Carter retains complete control, well sort of. I mean
if Bischoff is pumping in funds to float TNA to get bigger then she
obviously relinquished some power behind the scenes but is just playing
the role of being in total control to pat Russo on the back and make him
think confidently about his status with the company. But the kicker in
all of this is that the talent was not in on this decision or even in
the know that it was remotely heppening. The deal was kept 100% secret
from everyone and when a company starts to do deals like this that are
MAJOR earth shaking deals and they are kept secret from the talent that
paved the way for the deal to happen, well that talent begins to
distrust management. The talent feels lied to and betrayed to a certain
extent, even if the deal is considered good growth for TNA. And in this
case I can't see how it can be considered a positive moving forward
because it is almost a complete joke that now the top dog in the entire
company by default appears to be Hogan hinself. Lets be honest, Hogan
did not go to TNA to put over the next generation of talent and he did
not go to TNA to work awesome feuds on tv with some of the guys TNA have
been building. He went to TNA because he needs to promote his book and
his wrestling tour in Australia and he thinks being on Spike Tv is the
way to do that properly. He is right and it is, but at who's expense?
Hogan isn't going to be losing many matches on TNA TV or on TNA PPV's
because he just isn't.
So what you do by bringing in Hogan is complicate the pecking order to
the extent that unless Hogan is willing to work mini programs on the
side and far away from the title then he is going to be carrying the
title pretty soon and putting the world title on a guy of Hogan's age
isn't a good idea in 2009. The talent he will be working with (outside
of Sting) can run circles around him and would have to slow down quite a
bit to allow Hogan ton keep up and that just means anything Hogan does
it going to be in slow motion and second speed. They can try and milk
Hogan for everything that he is worth but again with major hip issues
and barely able to even do his leg drop finisher these days due to
health concerns, what exactly do you get out of Hogan in 2009 that is
worth giving him top dollar and top billing in a company that needs to
create for the future and not pander to the past? Not much. And lets
face it, Hogan being back in WWE in 2009 does not make a lot of sense
either because he just doesn't have the abilities that he once had and
it is sort if sad to think that he can't let things go.
It will be telling to see what type of rating the first Hogan appearance
on Spike TV does and if it doesn't bump from a 1.1-1.2 to a 1.4-1.9 then
his going to TNA would be considered a failure. But it doesn't just
have to bump that one week but sustain itself forever for the deal to
have actually meant anything to TNA. It is not out of the realm of
possibility that Hogan's name could mean that growth for TNA. My gut
tells me that it doesn't. Now if they were able to follow up the Hogan
deal by bringing in Goldberg and having Hogan v. Goldberg then maybe
they'd be in business. And if Bischoff is willing to spend the money to
co-promote Hogan v. Goldberg in TNA then it could happen.
+++ RAW THOUGHTS. Chris Jericho & Big Show in the ring with the
Bragging Rights trophy. Jericho doing his smug routine and not allowing
Show to tell us why he turned. Jericho thinks he did it because he loves
their team, he didn't. He finally tells Jericho he did it for himself
because he made a deal with Teddy Long and since he helped SD win at the
PPV he gets the next title shot against Undertaker. Jericho not thrilled
about that one. Kyle Busch & Joey Lagano drive in to the building at
this point. They have trouble speaking, maybe nerves, but book Big Show
v. HHH as the main event (Jericho laughing) and Jericho v. Kofi Kingston
right now.
Kofi Kingston beat Chris Jericho in a solid match and Jericho being used
to establish Kingston is good stuff. Randy Orton attacked Kingston on
the ramp and tossed hin to the floor.
Orton tells us that Kingston cost him his title last night by
interfering in his match with Cena. Cody & Ted show up and Orton wonders
why. They give him a Randy Orton Viper NASCAR and Orton is mesmorized by
it.
Comedy skit with the NASCAR guys that see's Jack Swagger and Miz wanting
the next shot at Cena.
Melina & Santino Marella beat Chavo Guerrero & Jillian Hall. Hornswoggle
interfered and was handed a green envelope which contained a cease and
desist order from DX. He can't be in the DX clothing anymore.
John Cena promo scheduled but instead Rhodes & Dibiase come out and
challenged him to a 1 on 2 handicap match for the belt. Cena does come
out and infroms them that he talked to the NASCAR guys and its Mark
Henry & MVP v. them.
Henry & MVP beat Rhodes & DiBiase.
Randy Orton promo about how it appears he isn't going to get a rematch
against Cena and he said he is entitled to a rematch and he is willing
to take it all the way to the BOD. Kofi Kingston comes on the titantron
and destroys Orton's race car. They ought to really use Orton to
elevate Kingston and that would be a nice way to distract Orton away
from the title.
Evan Bourne beat Miz by count out. Jack Swagger was doing mic work
distracting Miz.
Sheamus destroys Jamie Noble.
Big Show v. HHH was turned in to a lumberjack match with the guys from
RAW being ticked at Show. Jericho leaves through the audience and
basically Show gets hit by every finisher in the book to lose to HHH.
Good way to protect him but get HHH a win.
Oh and Cena was the special ref.
After the match it is announced the next title match is a triple threat
with John Cena v. HBK v. HHH. Interesting only because HHH & HBK have
to fight each other and that could mean that one of them turns heel and
if that happens I hope its HBK.
+++ ECW TONIGHT AT 10PM ON SYFY. Yoshi Tatsu v. Christian for the ECW
Title.
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