Are you telling me that you don't know that a lot of those cheers were being piped in over the PA system?
Very interesting... http://www.prowrestling.com/news.php?id=10825/articles/news Thanks to Dave Scherer and Pwinsiders for the following: There are strong rumblings and reports that Ted Turner may be getting back in the wrestling game by sending out feelers to both Steve Austin & Bill Goldberg about a new promotion that could possibly air on TBS. Turner of course was the owner of WCW when they attracted such stars as Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, & Scott Hall to compete head to head with the WWE. After the merger with AOL/Time Warner, WCW was then pretty much put on the shelf and later sold. Turner has a no-compete clause with AOL as far as wrestling goes which ends in March of 2005, so that would be when the federation could come together. As stated earlier, Turner seems to be laying the foundation on what he hopes will be a return of wrestling to TBS sometime next year.
They do, but I doubt they need that for Hogan. The guy is still over. They didnt' pipe in any cheers when he fought the Rock in Toronto. Besides, you can't pipe in a standing ovation.
It's really kind of the same as the old school signs that would light up the word "Applause." People hear cheering and then they want more of it. Let's face it, when Hogan was relegated to working an angle similar to the Dusty Rhodes/Midnight Rider angle from 1988 and being an aside to the Zach Gowen angle...that signaled that Hulkamania was on life support.
It's so funny how quick smarks are to dismiss cheers for Hogan, and then declare any of the little pops that Benoit gets as an edict from God. No, that was another signal that Vince had no interest in really getting behind guys who stayed in WCW til its end, even ones that originally worked for the WWF (see: Nash, Kevin; Hall, Scott; T, Booker; Goldberg, Bill; etc...)
Let's get one thing straight. I am not a smark. I know a whole lot about the industry. I studied up as much as I could when I was considering trying to get a job in the industry about 8 years ago. I decided to become a lawyer instead. But since you are such a well versed fan, here's a bonus question: Who said "He doesn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch?" Back to the point. I never said that Hogan wasn't getting any pops, I was saying that a lot of what you heard on TV was artificial. That was a fact. Hogan was costing WWE a lot more than he was bringing in. This resulted in Vince dropping his per night payoff. That led to Hogan quitting. So explain the success of Rey Mysterio. To debunk your theory further: Nash - Was involved in main event storylines with HHH until his injuries became a huge problem. Then Vince did not renew his contract. Huge downside guarantee. Hall- Substance abuse...again. Booker - IC title runs, tag title runs, and World title matches. Not too shabby. That's a lot more than a lot of "loyal" guys on the roster. Goldberg - Won the World title. Was involved in big storylines fome day 1. Match at 'Mania against The Rock. He would not resign unless he got a crazy amount of money. No deal. How do you know what is in Vince's head anyway? Reading the online dirtsheets? There's a reason why they have historically been called dirtsheets. They're accurate about 30% of the time.
You don't think that pushing his "music" video and having DVDs of him already isn't "getting behind him?" Whatever.
If that did happen then it would be a good thing for the Wrestling industry. It was competition between WCW and WWF that made the industry boon in the late 90's. Competition always makes things better. It forces everyone to do the best they can, to inivate, to survive. FYI, TBS is rebranding itself into a "comedy" type network to foil TNT's drama theme. Wrestling, comedy? probably fits.
You know what's missing out of the WWE right now? The "bad ass" element. Evolution tries to be bad-asses, but they're just pretty boy Four Horsemen re-incarnated. There needs to be an NWO type. Too much comedy and hollywood in wrestling. We need some tough guys again. Just a thought as I sit here looking for countertop and tile colors that would go well together...
Gorilla Monsoon. I'd rather not ever see Hogan again on tv, either, but l can accept the fact that the guy DID draw even during his final run. The reason for the Mr. America gimmick is because Vince wasn't about to let Hogan go over anybody except Vince. It was a continuation of the Hogan/McMahon feud because Hogan didn't want to lie down for anybody else so Vince was the only guy he'd work with. They tried to use the whole angle as a way to get Gowan over too, but of course that didn't work out. Just try to remember that even smart fans have different opinions on wrestlers and pushes. Guerrero's my favorite wrestler ever, but Benoit I can take or leave. Does that mean I'm missing something? No. I just don't like the guy too much. And for the record, I thought the Rock-Hogan Mania match was awesome, even though the actual "wrestling" was crap. For a lot of us, even the smart fans, the People's Elbow is always just gonna be a more exciting move than the Crippler Crossface. Not because it looks cooler, or "more real," but just because it's performed by a guy who's more fun to watch. Benoit puts on great matches when he's working with the best. Guys like the Rock I can watch interact with some chode like Kevin Kelly and be entertained. Am I a better fan than you for it? Hell no. I just like what I like, same as you.
I miss the table and ladder matches with the Dudley Boys and Hardy boys. What ever happened to the Hardcore title?
One of the fallouts from the WCW purchase was that there were like 15 belts floating around the WWE. So they decided to do a bunch of title unification matches. IIRC, Rob Van Dam was the last one to win the Hardcore title, and it was unified with Intercontinental title which RVD already held. Then (again, IIRC) RVD lost his IC/Harcore/European/(WCW US?) in another unification match against Triple H. The Intercontinental title was absorbed into the World Heavyweight Championship (which itself, had just been de-merged from the WWE Undisputed Championship). Since then, the Intercontinental and United States belts have both been put back into issue (although I don't believe that the current US Title is being sold as the same former WCW US Title) to give both shows an upper-midcard championship. The Hardcore title's last TV appearance was when Steve Austin handed it to Mick Foley last year at a ceremony in his honor. I assume that the belt was retired with him.
