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ISSUE 3372
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Mark R
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Oct 30, 2009 16:36 PST
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+++ TNA & HULK HOGAN AND COMPANY. When Hulk Hogan signed with TNA it
was not just a one person signature and the first to follow was Eric
Bischoff & Jason Hervey. Then Jimmy Hart was with Hogan and is likely
back with TNA as well. There is talk that Hogan has gotten spots for
his buddies (I.E. Brian Knobbs) and that some of the talent on his
Australia tour will wind up working with TNA and being part of his crew.
The rumors began through Bubba Love Sponge on his radio show that Hogan
& Bischoff gained control of the booking and everyone in TNA shot that
down and said that he did not and was not going too. But the fact is
that Hervey & Bischoff are pumping funds in to TNA and it appars now
that Hogan & Bischoff actually did gain control of the booking and Hogan
has even gone as far as to say that he has a lot of power now. That
means TNA is an entirely new ball of wax and all of the talent has to be
on edge because if the new boys don't like them then their days are
numbered and they will slowly be replaced by the new guard (Hogan's
crew). It appears now that the new TNA project is going to attempt to
do what WCW did and bring in a lot of older talent from the past and use
them to build the fan base and have the younger talent do all of the
work on tv and on the road. It is not even certain that Hogan himself
is going to even step foot in a TNA ring (he may on special occasions
but certainly not on free tv and not full time) and might just put
himself on camera as figure head GM type...As expected with Jim Ross
out, Matt Striker is being moved to Smackdown to work with Todd Grisham
starting tonight.
It is very interesting because for a guy like Mick Foley who said a lot
of negative things towards Hogan & Bischoff, who faciliated his exit
from WCW to go to WWF and facilitated his eventual World title run with
WWF, things just got a whole hell of a lot more interesting if Bischoff
& Hogan have control and not Vince Russo. Foley left WWE because he did
not see eye to eye with management and did not like how Vince McMahon
was doing business but when he signed with TNA he did not have two guys
in charge that never saw anything in him and always thought he was a
non talent. I could see Foley being pushed out if Bischoff & Hogan do
have control and who is to say VKM would be waiting to take him back
this time around after the way he treated VKM on the way out. There are
other peices of talent within TNA that have to worry if Hogan & Bischoff
do have power, like Samoa Joe. Because if they don't see potential in
him right away then he will be weeded out.
+++ NEW ECW ANNOUNCER AND WHY MATT STRIKER IS OFF ECW. The new ECW
color man is from Florida Championship Wrestling and was called up to
take the roster spot of Matt Striker because Striker was moved off of
ECW and on to Smackdown full time to work with Todd Grisham. The reason
Striker is on SD is based on the status of Jim Ross being missing in
action. Ross is out with a battle with Bells Palsy and no one knows
when or if he is going to return to work. Remember Ross is still
negotiating a new contract and the deal very well could run out before
he is ready to return to work. WWE needed to make this move because
they needed a strong color man on SD and Matt Striker is the best color
man that have currently. Oddly enough there is a new color man position
open in WWE and WWE might need to agressively seek to fill it. If Ross
is brought back with a new deal then I suspect he will wind up on RAW as
part of a three man team. I don't see them outright replacing Michael
Cole but I could see them splitting his pbp time up by having JR sitting
at the desk as part of a three man squad.
+++ HOGAN AMUSES HIMSELF BY UPSETTING THE TNA LOCKER ROOM. Hulk Hogan
told Time Magazine that he was going to TNA to teach the young talent in
TNA how to properly understand the wrestling business and the art form
that is pro wrestling. So what he has done more or less is set himself
up to be the guy that put TNA on the map and taught all of the talent
how to properly work within the business, so if his inclusion in the
product spikes business then well it was all about him. I think some of
the veteran talent (that aren't exposed nationally) that work for TNA
might think he has a huge ego now because he basically insinuated the
problem with TNA was their talent doesn't know anything about the
business or how to work within it. And that's quite hilarious since
that isn't the case at all and numerous other veterans have already
taught them how do that over the years.
+++ QUICK ECW THOUGHTS. Even though Yoshi Tatsu did not win the title
he looked excellent in his match against Christian. He has a lot of
potential. The exit they paved for Sheamus off of ECW was about as well
done as could be for a guy they have huge hopes for over on RAW. I
still like the work William Regal turns in each week and think he has a
ton of things to do on ECW. I don't care what other sites say about
Tiffany, I think she does an incredible job as the ECW GM. I don't
think she is doing a bad job at all. I still don't understand why Paul
Burchill isn't pushed more and why he is on ECW when he could be a main
event player on SD or RAW. I liked the new ECW color man Bryan Sexton
and think he did a fine job in that spot. It was a bit of stretch for
Tiffany to claim that ECW was repreesented at Bragging Rights because
the talent on the two teams came from ECW. I mean I could make the same
argument for WCW using that logic. The fact is ECW did not have a match
on the entire PPV, deal with it.
+++ SMACKDOWN TONIGHT AT 8PM ON MNTV. Rey Misterio & Batista talk about
their issues. Build towards Survivor Series begins and Big Show is
expected to appear to collect his reward for helping Smackdown win the
Bragging Rights trophy by turning on RAW.
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