IGN.com is featuring an interview with Hulk Hogan where he talks about a variety of topics including the January 4 TNA Impact, the possibility of the show going live every Monday night, Bret Hart and more. Here are some highlights.
On the live TNA Impact on January 4 vs. a taped environment:
“Well for me it’s all about “feel.” And the Impact show that was live ? you know, I’ve been to all the big dances. I’ve done the crazy 94 thousand people matches, and you know not to toot my own horn but when you’re in a building like the Skydome in Toronto and you beat your own attendance record or when you’re in the Egg Dome in Tokyo and you’re putting 80 thousand people in the seats – there’s a certain energy thing happening there. I’ve been there and done that. I’ve been in the studio with Ted Turner before and in a short amount of time we came out of that little studio and took the show nationwide and became the number one sports entertainment company in, like, six months. That same energy was in there at Impact. I didn’t know what to expect. All the guys were like “it’s different. And there’s a delay. And there’s a bunch of smart marks in the front row. And they’re gonna be hounding us.” And they had the jitters a bit. I kind of lost my self-confidence when all these guys, who haven’t been in the business half as long as me, were telling me that all this stuff was going to happen. And I went out there and it was totally the opposite. It was that crazy kind of energy where you just knew it was going to blow it up. You know this was going to start crack-a-lacking. This is really gonna roll out well. So I was really happy with it, bro. Then the next night when we taped I was like “hmmm. We need to switch gears and keep going live.” It was a different vibe. It will work. It’s not “if,” it’s “when.”
On TNA possibly going live every Monday night soon:
“We had a crazy dinner last night with all the big dogs and I was just badgering them to death. Just beating them to death. It’s just time and momentum. And they get it. They understand that whole energy thing. That feel. And what about Hulk Hogan and TNA going live 11 months from now? (shrugs, not enthused) You know. Eh. You know, timing is everything. And so I was trying to explain to them that if you go live on a Monday and then you wait seven or eight weeks to do another Monday you’re missing an opportunity to bring more fans to the table. Because they’ll come back the next Monday and where are we at? We’re not there and they’ll go to the WWE. And then they’ll come back the next two or three Mondays thinking “this must have been a fluke because they weren’t on.” And if we’re not on then all you wind up doing is giving the other guy a big shot in the arm. But it’s all timing, and everyone understands. We got some good answers last night. It’s kind of like running back into the offices and re-structuring. They know what really makes sense. And it’s just making sure that things are re-assigned and get moved around gracefully. But they already knew. So it was really nice to sit down with all the guys from Spike and have our eyes all on the same page. It’s gonna happen way way sooner than I expected.”
On Bret Hart’s return to WWE on January 4:
“They pretty much have a cookie-cutter mold, you know. A contrived programming thing that gets stuffed down your throat because there’s no one else competing. Well, I don’t want to say “competing.” Let’s say, there’s no one else putting out a better product. I hate that word “competing” because I don’t want to do what they’re doing. And so I think Bret was the huge attempt. I think that was the story. And Vince is the top babyface and Vince is the top heel. Depending on which way he wants to go. I think right now he’s in the bad guy heel position so he’s the top bad guy. And when he wants to be a good guy, he’s the top good guy. For Bret to come out in that storyline with Vince ? you know, Shawn (Michaels) was like the Plan B if you needed to switch gears. I think they did step up and I think they expected different results. I expected a bunch of different stuff, from Bret’s look ? I was looking for something really exciting. I was like “oh my gosh, man, this is going to be fun” but then I saw it and went “hmmmm.” I smell blood. I watched the show after that with Tyson and the show before that with Timbaland and I liked those shows better. But that’s just me.”
To check out the full interview, click here.
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