Post by Bob Sapp on Jan 4, 2010 10:59:25 GMT -5
Man, I just find it hilarious when he says he's there to be TNA's Vince McMahon. He also seems to have "no idea" how long he's with TNA for. 
backporch.fanhouse.com/2010/01/03/hulk-hogan-ready-to-kick-off-fresh-start-with-tna-wrestling/
If you're flipping through channels on Monday night, and you happen to see a familiar bleached-blond-haired individual, clad in a famous combination of red and yellow regalia, please believe that you are not watching a rerun. In fact, you will be witnessing the return of the legendary Hulk Hogan to wrestling.
Hogan will kick off his much anticipated debut with Total Nonstop Action wrestling in a special live edition of iMPACT! on Spike TV. The decision to air Monday's debut live instead of on TNA's usual taped Thursday night time slot, is a clear indication that TNA wants to recreate the famous Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW in the late 1990's, which helped propel pro wrestling to unparalleled heights.
FanHouse spoke to Hogan about why he is choosing to return to wrestling at 56 years old, whether he is afraid of ruining his legacy, and putting the pieces back together in his personal life.
The full interview is below.
Ariel Helwani: Why did you feel the need to come back to professional wrestling?
Hulk Hogan: Wow, it's a double-edged sword. You know, a buddy of mine, Brian Knobbs, has a wrestling school, and I didn't know I was possessed, or perverted or whatever it is, but I went to the opening of his wrestling school, and I've never been to a wrestling school where it's air conditioned and the school is so nice and I happened to just walk by the ring and I kind of brushed the corner of the ring with my left hand and when I did, I got goose bumps. I mean, I got chills from head to toe, and I said, 'Oh my God, what's going on?' And the more I hung around and I got in the ring and started working out with the guys ... and I can't even really roll around any more. It was the walking up and walking around with the guys and saying, Man, I missed this so much.
I quit watching wrestling a few years ago. When people had told me that, I can't even watch wrestling anymore, I didn't understand what they meant, you know, but I kept watching wrestling and then I'd catch myself clicking over to, like, American Chopper or to different shows, you know, and I wouldn't go back to wrestling. Then it got to the point where I couldn't even watch wrestling anymore. What they had done with the product, it was just contrived programming that they were just stuffing it down people's throats, and it wasn't like the good old days, you know? Not that I want to bring wrestling back to the good old days, but it wasn't entertaining, the characters weren't larger than life; it wasn't like the water cooler talk the next day.
So the reasons for coming back to wrestling are twofold, it's a double-edged sword for me: 1) I'm addicted to it. I just love the business. And the more I watched it, as I said, I don't know if it's because the universe is moving faster, there are so many choices on cable and satellite that you have to start a fight with André the Giant at 9 o'clock and the match has to be over by 9:45, because when I started a feud with André the Giant it was like a two-year long feud and then it ended at WrestleMania III. So the programming moves so fast, the wrestlers are like robots, there's no more larger than life characters.
I wanted to get back in to the business, simply because I wanted to see if I could pass on the art form and teach these guys that the emotion and the excitement and the drama and the danger and the laughter and the comedy, you guys are missing it. So I was figuring on going back to work with Vince [McMahon], and you know, up until about a month before I signed the TNA contract with [TNA president] Dixie Carter, I had been talking with Vince, back and forth. I wasn't trying to leverage anybody, but I was just trying to see where the best place was to go and Vince McMahon wanted me to come back for 25 years. I'm 56 years old. He offered me a 25-year contract. He needs the Hulk Hogan names and the marks and the licensing, which I own, and I understood that business part, but the more I thought about the nepotism and the good-old-boy system there ... I know that story.
I walk out and I get cheered off the top of the building or I get booed out of the place: either I get cheered greatly or booed greatly and whichever one of those happens I'm in trouble, because if I take too much of the spotlight in the WWE they put a bullet in me right away, and I know the end of that story. So I said, You know what? This TNA company has been just really, really, really consistent. They've been on Spike for seven years, they're like the Little Engine That Could. I could make a decision to go back to work because, those guys, those guys will listen, you know. They're not jaded. That's why I wanted to go back to wrestling: No.1 to be involved because I'm like a drug addict, I love the business. I just want to be there, I'm an addict, I'm a wrestling addict, and I think I can help these guys make this larger than life, make real characters and really make it fun again.
Given your current health status, do you think you will ever wrestle for TNA or just have some kind of figurehead role on camera?
You know, and it's the perfect way and I don't mean to use this guy's name over and over again, but I have to, because he's so good at what he does: they're bringing me in to be the Vince McMahon for TNA. If you were to hire Vince McMahon, if Dixie Carter were to hire Vince McMahon and say, 'Go in and do what you do,' that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure from the beginning of that show to the end of that show everything that goes on in that company from the promotion, the licensing, the merchandising, advertising; I'm going to make sure everything that goes on in that company I have a handle on.
We've seen many situations in sports where athletes have stuck around too long, and in doing so, somewhat damaged their legacy. Do you think some of that has happened to you, and if not, do you think about that sort of thing?
You know, it's kind of weird because if you're talking about my performance, I wrestled last month in Australia. I wrestled four days out of the ten day period in Australia. And then I haven't wrestled before then for about a year. I ran an independent show in Memphis where I wrestled a big show, and then a year before that I wrestled Randy Orton. The year before that I wrestled Shawn Michaels, and even then, even if I was digressing and backing up, I shouldn't have been in the ring, because I was a step slower, my back hurt, my knees hurt. Then if I even back up farther than that, and I go way back when I wrestled The Rock at WrestleMania 18, I barely pulled it off then, because my body was so beat up. So if you're talking about staying around too long, physically and slowing down and there's been certain wrestlers going, 'Well, I can't do this anymore, I'm not going to embarrass myself,' I totally agree with that.
But for some reason, the people don't expect me to jump off the top rope and scissor drop kick you. The people don't expect me to go to the top of the cage and dive 50 feet and land on a concrete floor. The people just for some reason were so loyal to Hulk Hogan and that positive character, they just wanted to see me, and you know, if they booed or laughed when I pulled my headband off because I'm more bald headed than I used to be, if they were to laugh because you know, I can't run across the ring fast like I used to, but for some reason, just the character of the old, salty wrestler that's lasted a test of time, the character that he's beat up and his leg hurts and they know that I can't you know, body slam André The Giant any more because my back hurts too much. That doesn't matter. They just love and respect that old-time character, who's like the fighter that's so beat up he can't even hold his gloves up anymore.
For some reason, there's so much loyalty and respect I still can entertain those people, even though I've been around too long. And for some reason, maybe it's ego, maybe it's just because I love the business, but if I could go down there in a wheelchair and have a fight with a Giant, I would probably still do it because I just love it and it's an exhibition, you know, and the guy that I'm wrestling, you know, if my knee is so bad, you know, I can't fall on my knees, I'll tell the guy, Hey, brother, let's tear the house down, but just be careful of my knee. So I totally agree with sticking around too long, and I probably have, as far as going in the ring and wrestling, but for some reason those damn fans just keep screaming, 'One more match; one more match.' So I totally get it, and you're right and I probably did stick around too long.
Despite being over 60 years old, McMahon still competes in a match at least once or twice a year. So is it safe to assume that you will be doing the same for TNA?
Oh, God, I have no idea. Vince isn't beat up like I am. I don't know how old Vince is. Vince is -- I'm 56, Vince is probably 62, 63, I'm not sure. But Vince didn't have 30 years ... You know, when I was wrestling there was no Stone Cold, there was no Rock. I was the only guy for 25 years, and in the last five years, The Rock and Stone Cold came in, and you know, Hulk Hogan was watered down. But Vince wasn't beat up like I was. I mean, I was wrestling 400 days a year: Saturday and Sunday twice, Wednesday nights I was wrestling twice. Vince has probably had ten matches in his whole career.
So Vince can still duck walk down there, you know, and play his character. I have no contract to wrestle with TNA. I was trying to explain to Dixie, the problem I'm going to have though, is if you're going out there, and you're doing your dissertation and talking to Sting and talking to the talent or in the back, setting the record straight or breaking matches or there's someone disagrees with me, and all of a sudden the whole arena starts going, 'Hogan-Sting, Hogan-Sting,' then you've got a problem because you actually do have to give the people what they want, compared to what the WWE does, they just give them what they decide to give them. The people -- sometimes they predict the flow, and that's what I'm worried about, because I can't get in there and tear it up any more. My back is -- I had three back surgeries this year. I barely made it through Australia.
How long is your contract with TNA for?
I'm not sure. I think it's a year with rollovers, you know, if we're both happy. It's definitely a year, it's not any shorter than that. But it's something that we both want to work together and we both agree that if we don't get along or Dixie and I two or three weeks into this thing, if she goes, 'Hogan, how come you're letting the Martians wrestle the elephants? That's not what we want.' We agree to disagree and we've made that real clear that if they don't like the direction I'm going in, or if they can't handle the change or that they think I'm wrong that I'll just walk away, or whatever you want to call it, they'll fire me or I'll quit or whatever. We wanted to have this flexibility because I wanted to do a lot different stuff, brother, I mean, I've been watching TNA and they got a ton of talent there and they do a lot of things right, and I'm not trying to compete with Vince, or I'm not trying to hurt Vince McMahon, but I just want to put out a better product than he does.
It seems as though you are going to be running the creative department, as well. However, the current head of creative for TNA, Vince Russo, and you have had a very rocky relationship in the past, to say the least. How is that going to work out?
Well, I'm involved from writing the shows, to saying goodbye at the end of the night, to planning the merchandise and the licensing and if we should keep doing house shows if they're not a return on the investment. And Vince Russo's an issue. He works for me now, and if it was the old Hulk Hogan or if it was the old school wrestling mentality -- like a lot of the fans say, 'Just fire his ass -- get rid of him, Hogan' -- that could have happened because when he came to WCW, the first statement he made before he ever met me, was, 'The first thing I'm going to do is get rid of Hulk Hogan,' and that was in a booking committee with Kevin Sullivan and a bunch of other wrestlers, and that's the first thing he said. He had never met me. So he fired me, because he was in that position at the time, and I had two years left in my contract and I was making million dollars a month at the time. That's a lot of money, just to pull out of somebody's pocket and fire somebody when you've never met them.
So that whole mentality is not there for me, because I have gone through so much in the last couple of years and in my life, I'm -- you know, this is the real me now -- I totally understand that everybody, you know, I can forgive, but I can't forget. A leopard doesn't change their spots. So I've got to really be aware, but I'm not walking in there to fire Vince Russo the first day; I'm not walking in there to fire Terry Taylor the first day. I'm walking in there going, OK, guys, it's a new day, and I hope everybody here has something to contribute because I learn from everybody. I listen to everybody. I mean, even my next-door neighbor said something about wrestling last night, and it was one of the best ideas I've ever heard, so I listen to everybody, and it goes with Vince Russo.
With Russo I come in peace, but history is not going to repeat itself here, and if you try to undermine me, or if you try to underwrite my story lines or you try to do anything to hurt me or sabotage me, I've got my eye on you. But instead of me just knocking you out, or me just firing you, I have an open mind in how good of a writer are you. What do you really know about this business? What can you really contribute to this business other than just blocking out a two-hour show and doing the transitions and the inserts and the pre-tapes and keeping flow good enough to hopefully keep people interested? I mean how good are you really? So I mean, there's an issue there with him, which has to be addressed.
Did you learn anything from the demise of WCW that you will try not reproduce this time around with TNA?
Oh, brother, did I ever learn. Oh my God, did I ever learn. And Eric Bischoff learned too, because you know, when I got in there, we hit on something. We had a real edgy theme going with the N.W.O., and it changed wrestling. But what happened was, a lot of guys that were there [would say], 'Yeah, we'd rather talk than wrestle, you know, we're the bomb, we're the sh*t. Eric got too full of himself. I let things slip through my fingers, because when I was there every week with Eric, you know, it basically ran like a clock, but I wasn't making all the Nitros and the Thursday Night Thunders, I was making like every other one, and when I wasn't there, that whole team wasn't working together – me, Eric and a couple of guys.
I learned -- because Vince was against the ropes. Vince McMahon was literally ready to close his doors and file bankruptcy. We had beat him for two and a half years in the ratings, and we had three times the audience he had. He was ready to shut his doors and we made a couple of big mistakes and there was the America Online merger and they didn't want Time Warner -- they kicked my guy, Ted Turner, to the curb, put him in some back room, and we never even heard from him any more and he loved wrestling. America Online in the merger didn't want wrestling as part of their portfolio. So I've now learned not to get too full of yourself -- this is 24 hours a day, you know, you can't actually put out a better product than Vince if you're going to vacation, go to the Bahamas, take time off. It doesn't work that way. You're in it to win it. I'm guaranteed one Monday night, and if I do good ... because we're going up against Goliath. I'm going to a gunfight with a pea shooter, and you know, and Vince is going to flow this show and front load everything and do everything he can to destroy us -- he tried to destroy me in Australia -- so I've learned to stay on it and don't take my eye off the ball this time.
Since you left professional wrestling, MMA, and more specifically, the UFC, has surpassed WWE in pay-per-view buy rates and in popularity with the key 18-34-year-old demographic. Is there anything you can learn from the success of the UFC and try to implement into your new job with TNA?
Well, MMA is spanking the WWE as far as the pay-per-view stuff. Dana White and the UFC has done an amazing job, and it's all about timing. The UFC was ready to close its doors, they were losing a ton of money, they were going under, they were getting ready to go out of business, and then they did a reality show called, The Ultimate Fighter. They developed the characters; they made people care about the fighters; the people found out who the fighters were; they breathed life into the fighters. That's what I want to do with TNA. They've got the best talent in the world down there, but no one is breathing life into the characters.
I have learned a ton of stuff from MMA, watching them. They remind me of TNA. Ton of talent, but no one has put that Frankenstein, shock the monster, breathe some life into the characters. I learned a ton from MMA, and I get along great with Dana White -- he's awesome.
What do you make of Vince bringing back Bret Hart to go against your TNA debut?
I think it's awesome -- I think it's great. I think that's another win for us. I think, you know, being able to talk to Spike TV and getting a chance to go up against the monster and Spike TV putting us on Monday Nights and letting us take this and having the fans -- they're going to have to make a choice on that night. And I think that's a victory for us. The fact that Vince would do something he swore he would never do -- bring Bret Hart back -- you know, because I was originally supposed to host the Monday Night Raw in Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago, and then they wanted to shoot an angle with me and Vince and bring me back into the whole fold. So I think Bret Hart coming back, I'm happy for Bret. I've heard through the grapevine, through some of his family members, because I'm friends with them, that he's excited about coming to the Raw, that's all he talks about is coming back. So I think he's got it back in his blood and I think that's a great victory for us that they had to bring Bret Hart back to go against us. That's another victory for us, so I mean, I'm excited about it, I'm very happy for Bret. I didn't want to see him always be bitter about the business.
And how is your personal life doing, Hulk? I know you recently got engaged, but it has certainly been a rough last few years for you and your family.
Well, brother, I'm so cool, it's ridiculous. You know, in a real short period of time, I lost everything: I lost my family, financially I was destroyed. I've just changed my thinking, brother, instead of taking the left, I decided to take the right, and I moved forward. Every single creation in my head starts with your thought, because every thought is a creation and what you think about you bring about, I've cleaned up all my thoughts. I'm positive, I'm not around any more yelling and screaming, and heavy drinking, no craziness, and for two years now, I've been hanging with my girl, Jennifer, you know, my kids love her, Brooke and Nick are down here with me now, my kids love her to death.
This is like the second half of the game, brother, and with my head clear and with pure intentions and not holding grudges against people, I'm in a great place. I just can't wait for the second half of the game, brother, I'm really excited about this TNA thing.
backporch.fanhouse.com/2010/01/03/hulk-hogan-ready-to-kick-off-fresh-start-with-tna-wrestling/
If you're flipping through channels on Monday night, and you happen to see a familiar bleached-blond-haired individual, clad in a famous combination of red and yellow regalia, please believe that you are not watching a rerun. In fact, you will be witnessing the return of the legendary Hulk Hogan to wrestling.
Hogan will kick off his much anticipated debut with Total Nonstop Action wrestling in a special live edition of iMPACT! on Spike TV. The decision to air Monday's debut live instead of on TNA's usual taped Thursday night time slot, is a clear indication that TNA wants to recreate the famous Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW in the late 1990's, which helped propel pro wrestling to unparalleled heights.
FanHouse spoke to Hogan about why he is choosing to return to wrestling at 56 years old, whether he is afraid of ruining his legacy, and putting the pieces back together in his personal life.
The full interview is below.
Ariel Helwani: Why did you feel the need to come back to professional wrestling?
Hulk Hogan: Wow, it's a double-edged sword. You know, a buddy of mine, Brian Knobbs, has a wrestling school, and I didn't know I was possessed, or perverted or whatever it is, but I went to the opening of his wrestling school, and I've never been to a wrestling school where it's air conditioned and the school is so nice and I happened to just walk by the ring and I kind of brushed the corner of the ring with my left hand and when I did, I got goose bumps. I mean, I got chills from head to toe, and I said, 'Oh my God, what's going on?' And the more I hung around and I got in the ring and started working out with the guys ... and I can't even really roll around any more. It was the walking up and walking around with the guys and saying, Man, I missed this so much.
I quit watching wrestling a few years ago. When people had told me that, I can't even watch wrestling anymore, I didn't understand what they meant, you know, but I kept watching wrestling and then I'd catch myself clicking over to, like, American Chopper or to different shows, you know, and I wouldn't go back to wrestling. Then it got to the point where I couldn't even watch wrestling anymore. What they had done with the product, it was just contrived programming that they were just stuffing it down people's throats, and it wasn't like the good old days, you know? Not that I want to bring wrestling back to the good old days, but it wasn't entertaining, the characters weren't larger than life; it wasn't like the water cooler talk the next day.
So the reasons for coming back to wrestling are twofold, it's a double-edged sword for me: 1) I'm addicted to it. I just love the business. And the more I watched it, as I said, I don't know if it's because the universe is moving faster, there are so many choices on cable and satellite that you have to start a fight with André the Giant at 9 o'clock and the match has to be over by 9:45, because when I started a feud with André the Giant it was like a two-year long feud and then it ended at WrestleMania III. So the programming moves so fast, the wrestlers are like robots, there's no more larger than life characters.
I wanted to get back in to the business, simply because I wanted to see if I could pass on the art form and teach these guys that the emotion and the excitement and the drama and the danger and the laughter and the comedy, you guys are missing it. So I was figuring on going back to work with Vince [McMahon], and you know, up until about a month before I signed the TNA contract with [TNA president] Dixie Carter, I had been talking with Vince, back and forth. I wasn't trying to leverage anybody, but I was just trying to see where the best place was to go and Vince McMahon wanted me to come back for 25 years. I'm 56 years old. He offered me a 25-year contract. He needs the Hulk Hogan names and the marks and the licensing, which I own, and I understood that business part, but the more I thought about the nepotism and the good-old-boy system there ... I know that story.
I walk out and I get cheered off the top of the building or I get booed out of the place: either I get cheered greatly or booed greatly and whichever one of those happens I'm in trouble, because if I take too much of the spotlight in the WWE they put a bullet in me right away, and I know the end of that story. So I said, You know what? This TNA company has been just really, really, really consistent. They've been on Spike for seven years, they're like the Little Engine That Could. I could make a decision to go back to work because, those guys, those guys will listen, you know. They're not jaded. That's why I wanted to go back to wrestling: No.1 to be involved because I'm like a drug addict, I love the business. I just want to be there, I'm an addict, I'm a wrestling addict, and I think I can help these guys make this larger than life, make real characters and really make it fun again.
Given your current health status, do you think you will ever wrestle for TNA or just have some kind of figurehead role on camera?
You know, and it's the perfect way and I don't mean to use this guy's name over and over again, but I have to, because he's so good at what he does: they're bringing me in to be the Vince McMahon for TNA. If you were to hire Vince McMahon, if Dixie Carter were to hire Vince McMahon and say, 'Go in and do what you do,' that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make sure from the beginning of that show to the end of that show everything that goes on in that company from the promotion, the licensing, the merchandising, advertising; I'm going to make sure everything that goes on in that company I have a handle on.
We've seen many situations in sports where athletes have stuck around too long, and in doing so, somewhat damaged their legacy. Do you think some of that has happened to you, and if not, do you think about that sort of thing?
You know, it's kind of weird because if you're talking about my performance, I wrestled last month in Australia. I wrestled four days out of the ten day period in Australia. And then I haven't wrestled before then for about a year. I ran an independent show in Memphis where I wrestled a big show, and then a year before that I wrestled Randy Orton. The year before that I wrestled Shawn Michaels, and even then, even if I was digressing and backing up, I shouldn't have been in the ring, because I was a step slower, my back hurt, my knees hurt. Then if I even back up farther than that, and I go way back when I wrestled The Rock at WrestleMania 18, I barely pulled it off then, because my body was so beat up. So if you're talking about staying around too long, physically and slowing down and there's been certain wrestlers going, 'Well, I can't do this anymore, I'm not going to embarrass myself,' I totally agree with that.
But for some reason, the people don't expect me to jump off the top rope and scissor drop kick you. The people don't expect me to go to the top of the cage and dive 50 feet and land on a concrete floor. The people just for some reason were so loyal to Hulk Hogan and that positive character, they just wanted to see me, and you know, if they booed or laughed when I pulled my headband off because I'm more bald headed than I used to be, if they were to laugh because you know, I can't run across the ring fast like I used to, but for some reason, just the character of the old, salty wrestler that's lasted a test of time, the character that he's beat up and his leg hurts and they know that I can't you know, body slam André The Giant any more because my back hurts too much. That doesn't matter. They just love and respect that old-time character, who's like the fighter that's so beat up he can't even hold his gloves up anymore.
For some reason, there's so much loyalty and respect I still can entertain those people, even though I've been around too long. And for some reason, maybe it's ego, maybe it's just because I love the business, but if I could go down there in a wheelchair and have a fight with a Giant, I would probably still do it because I just love it and it's an exhibition, you know, and the guy that I'm wrestling, you know, if my knee is so bad, you know, I can't fall on my knees, I'll tell the guy, Hey, brother, let's tear the house down, but just be careful of my knee. So I totally agree with sticking around too long, and I probably have, as far as going in the ring and wrestling, but for some reason those damn fans just keep screaming, 'One more match; one more match.' So I totally get it, and you're right and I probably did stick around too long.
Despite being over 60 years old, McMahon still competes in a match at least once or twice a year. So is it safe to assume that you will be doing the same for TNA?
Oh, God, I have no idea. Vince isn't beat up like I am. I don't know how old Vince is. Vince is -- I'm 56, Vince is probably 62, 63, I'm not sure. But Vince didn't have 30 years ... You know, when I was wrestling there was no Stone Cold, there was no Rock. I was the only guy for 25 years, and in the last five years, The Rock and Stone Cold came in, and you know, Hulk Hogan was watered down. But Vince wasn't beat up like I was. I mean, I was wrestling 400 days a year: Saturday and Sunday twice, Wednesday nights I was wrestling twice. Vince has probably had ten matches in his whole career.
So Vince can still duck walk down there, you know, and play his character. I have no contract to wrestle with TNA. I was trying to explain to Dixie, the problem I'm going to have though, is if you're going out there, and you're doing your dissertation and talking to Sting and talking to the talent or in the back, setting the record straight or breaking matches or there's someone disagrees with me, and all of a sudden the whole arena starts going, 'Hogan-Sting, Hogan-Sting,' then you've got a problem because you actually do have to give the people what they want, compared to what the WWE does, they just give them what they decide to give them. The people -- sometimes they predict the flow, and that's what I'm worried about, because I can't get in there and tear it up any more. My back is -- I had three back surgeries this year. I barely made it through Australia.
How long is your contract with TNA for?
I'm not sure. I think it's a year with rollovers, you know, if we're both happy. It's definitely a year, it's not any shorter than that. But it's something that we both want to work together and we both agree that if we don't get along or Dixie and I two or three weeks into this thing, if she goes, 'Hogan, how come you're letting the Martians wrestle the elephants? That's not what we want.' We agree to disagree and we've made that real clear that if they don't like the direction I'm going in, or if they can't handle the change or that they think I'm wrong that I'll just walk away, or whatever you want to call it, they'll fire me or I'll quit or whatever. We wanted to have this flexibility because I wanted to do a lot different stuff, brother, I mean, I've been watching TNA and they got a ton of talent there and they do a lot of things right, and I'm not trying to compete with Vince, or I'm not trying to hurt Vince McMahon, but I just want to put out a better product than he does.
It seems as though you are going to be running the creative department, as well. However, the current head of creative for TNA, Vince Russo, and you have had a very rocky relationship in the past, to say the least. How is that going to work out?
Well, I'm involved from writing the shows, to saying goodbye at the end of the night, to planning the merchandise and the licensing and if we should keep doing house shows if they're not a return on the investment. And Vince Russo's an issue. He works for me now, and if it was the old Hulk Hogan or if it was the old school wrestling mentality -- like a lot of the fans say, 'Just fire his ass -- get rid of him, Hogan' -- that could have happened because when he came to WCW, the first statement he made before he ever met me, was, 'The first thing I'm going to do is get rid of Hulk Hogan,' and that was in a booking committee with Kevin Sullivan and a bunch of other wrestlers, and that's the first thing he said. He had never met me. So he fired me, because he was in that position at the time, and I had two years left in my contract and I was making million dollars a month at the time. That's a lot of money, just to pull out of somebody's pocket and fire somebody when you've never met them.
So that whole mentality is not there for me, because I have gone through so much in the last couple of years and in my life, I'm -- you know, this is the real me now -- I totally understand that everybody, you know, I can forgive, but I can't forget. A leopard doesn't change their spots. So I've got to really be aware, but I'm not walking in there to fire Vince Russo the first day; I'm not walking in there to fire Terry Taylor the first day. I'm walking in there going, OK, guys, it's a new day, and I hope everybody here has something to contribute because I learn from everybody. I listen to everybody. I mean, even my next-door neighbor said something about wrestling last night, and it was one of the best ideas I've ever heard, so I listen to everybody, and it goes with Vince Russo.
With Russo I come in peace, but history is not going to repeat itself here, and if you try to undermine me, or if you try to underwrite my story lines or you try to do anything to hurt me or sabotage me, I've got my eye on you. But instead of me just knocking you out, or me just firing you, I have an open mind in how good of a writer are you. What do you really know about this business? What can you really contribute to this business other than just blocking out a two-hour show and doing the transitions and the inserts and the pre-tapes and keeping flow good enough to hopefully keep people interested? I mean how good are you really? So I mean, there's an issue there with him, which has to be addressed.
Did you learn anything from the demise of WCW that you will try not reproduce this time around with TNA?
Oh, brother, did I ever learn. Oh my God, did I ever learn. And Eric Bischoff learned too, because you know, when I got in there, we hit on something. We had a real edgy theme going with the N.W.O., and it changed wrestling. But what happened was, a lot of guys that were there [would say], 'Yeah, we'd rather talk than wrestle, you know, we're the bomb, we're the sh*t. Eric got too full of himself. I let things slip through my fingers, because when I was there every week with Eric, you know, it basically ran like a clock, but I wasn't making all the Nitros and the Thursday Night Thunders, I was making like every other one, and when I wasn't there, that whole team wasn't working together – me, Eric and a couple of guys.
I learned -- because Vince was against the ropes. Vince McMahon was literally ready to close his doors and file bankruptcy. We had beat him for two and a half years in the ratings, and we had three times the audience he had. He was ready to shut his doors and we made a couple of big mistakes and there was the America Online merger and they didn't want Time Warner -- they kicked my guy, Ted Turner, to the curb, put him in some back room, and we never even heard from him any more and he loved wrestling. America Online in the merger didn't want wrestling as part of their portfolio. So I've now learned not to get too full of yourself -- this is 24 hours a day, you know, you can't actually put out a better product than Vince if you're going to vacation, go to the Bahamas, take time off. It doesn't work that way. You're in it to win it. I'm guaranteed one Monday night, and if I do good ... because we're going up against Goliath. I'm going to a gunfight with a pea shooter, and you know, and Vince is going to flow this show and front load everything and do everything he can to destroy us -- he tried to destroy me in Australia -- so I've learned to stay on it and don't take my eye off the ball this time.
Since you left professional wrestling, MMA, and more specifically, the UFC, has surpassed WWE in pay-per-view buy rates and in popularity with the key 18-34-year-old demographic. Is there anything you can learn from the success of the UFC and try to implement into your new job with TNA?
Well, MMA is spanking the WWE as far as the pay-per-view stuff. Dana White and the UFC has done an amazing job, and it's all about timing. The UFC was ready to close its doors, they were losing a ton of money, they were going under, they were getting ready to go out of business, and then they did a reality show called, The Ultimate Fighter. They developed the characters; they made people care about the fighters; the people found out who the fighters were; they breathed life into the fighters. That's what I want to do with TNA. They've got the best talent in the world down there, but no one is breathing life into the characters.
I have learned a ton of stuff from MMA, watching them. They remind me of TNA. Ton of talent, but no one has put that Frankenstein, shock the monster, breathe some life into the characters. I learned a ton from MMA, and I get along great with Dana White -- he's awesome.
What do you make of Vince bringing back Bret Hart to go against your TNA debut?
I think it's awesome -- I think it's great. I think that's another win for us. I think, you know, being able to talk to Spike TV and getting a chance to go up against the monster and Spike TV putting us on Monday Nights and letting us take this and having the fans -- they're going to have to make a choice on that night. And I think that's a victory for us. The fact that Vince would do something he swore he would never do -- bring Bret Hart back -- you know, because I was originally supposed to host the Monday Night Raw in Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago, and then they wanted to shoot an angle with me and Vince and bring me back into the whole fold. So I think Bret Hart coming back, I'm happy for Bret. I've heard through the grapevine, through some of his family members, because I'm friends with them, that he's excited about coming to the Raw, that's all he talks about is coming back. So I think he's got it back in his blood and I think that's a great victory for us that they had to bring Bret Hart back to go against us. That's another victory for us, so I mean, I'm excited about it, I'm very happy for Bret. I didn't want to see him always be bitter about the business.
And how is your personal life doing, Hulk? I know you recently got engaged, but it has certainly been a rough last few years for you and your family.
Well, brother, I'm so cool, it's ridiculous. You know, in a real short period of time, I lost everything: I lost my family, financially I was destroyed. I've just changed my thinking, brother, instead of taking the left, I decided to take the right, and I moved forward. Every single creation in my head starts with your thought, because every thought is a creation and what you think about you bring about, I've cleaned up all my thoughts. I'm positive, I'm not around any more yelling and screaming, and heavy drinking, no craziness, and for two years now, I've been hanging with my girl, Jennifer, you know, my kids love her, Brooke and Nick are down here with me now, my kids love her to death.
This is like the second half of the game, brother, and with my head clear and with pure intentions and not holding grudges against people, I'm in a great place. I just can't wait for the second half of the game, brother, I'm really excited about this TNA thing.
