This Day In Wreslting History - Hulk Hogan Signs With TNA Wrestling

Hulk Hogan and TNA shocked the world with a press conference at Madison Square Garden announcing that he had signed with the company. The press conference had been publicly billed as promotion for Hogan's second autobiography. Hogan did a morning signing session at a Barnes & Noble, then went to Madison Square Garden for the conference.

The conference today featured Eric Bischoff introducing Hulk Hogan. Hogan talked about TNA and stated he was becoming a "partner" in the company and that he was feeling great and looking forward to being a part of the company.

TNA President Dixie Carter gave a short speech saying she was looking forward to working with Hogan and that while they have great ratings for a Thursday night, Hogan would be the "boost that TNA needed." SpikeTV's Kevin Kay was also in attendance and gave a brief statement about the network working with Hogan.

A Q&A session was then held, but was said to mostly be fluff fan type questions, although one fan did ask Hogan whether working with Vince Russo would be an issue. Hogan responded that as long as Russo stayed in his place and didn't cross him, there would be no issues. Hogan then said that if he did, Hogan would have to take care of it.

When the topic of Eric Bischoff came up, Hogan did not say Bischoff was working with him in TNA but noted they have other side projects they are working on. Obviously, Bischoff came into the company with Hogan.

Hulk Hogan discussed signing with TNA during the final few minutes of an interview on CNN's Larry King Live.

King asked Hogan whether he would be wrestling for the company after they aired footage of today's press conference from New York City. Hogan responded that he didn't know what he would be doing for the company yet and that he would be testing himself on the upcoming Hulkamania tour of Australia.

Hogan also threw out the idea of doing an American Idol-type of reality series to find the "next" Hulk Hogan, a reality show concept Jimmy Hart had discussed wanting to see in a 2008 pwinsider.com interview.

source: pwinsider.com

Larry Zbyszko on TNA's Problems, Bischoff, Vince McMahon and WWE

The financial state of TNA: “…They just made wrong decisions…from what I hear, Bob Carter…he had a hard time saying no to his daughter, Dixie…Finally, they blew so much money with no real results after ten years that Bob resigned and I think the mother took over and she is controlling the purse…From what I hear…this guy is now fired, this guy is now fired and if you wanna stay there you get a pay cut. Half the guys wrestling there are on food stamps. I was shocked when I heard that one…”

Where TNA has gone wrong creatively: “…If you look at TNA today, I mean like ten years ago they had some great matches, AJ Styles vs. Chris Daniels, now ten years later, like six or seven months ago, I’m flicking through the TV and I stumble across TNA…and what’s the main event? AJ Styles vs. Chris Daniels, they’ve been wrestling each other for ten years. I couldn’t believe it…don’t these people understand…”

Eric Bischoff in TNA: “….Eric, who listened to a couple guys, pulled something off, then took credit for it, but everything he’s been involved in since sinks because he doesn’t know and won’t listen…”

Sting being “lucky”: “…Sting who was one of the luckiest men who ever lived, Sting couldn’t do a good interview, he couldn’t work good. We had to drop him from the ceiling for a year and dress him like the crow and not let him say a word to get one big match out of him…”

His relationship with and thoughts on Vince McMahon since once again working on occasion with WWE: “ …I haven’t bumped into Vince…I’ve been doing some things, like at ‘Mania, but I was running around doing Axxess, and signings, and filming DVD’s…when they tape the NXT shows they film that right down the street here…but, I haven’t bumped into Vince yet. I haven’t seen him since 1981. I can’t wait to see him, it will be very nostalgic…He looks great, between you and me, he’s one of the best characters he’s got…Vince is a classic, he would die for his creation and his fans, you can’t take that away from him…”

Triple H talks about how he got signed to WCW

Chris Jericho talks TNA and the "worst move they've made"

Chris Jericho made an appearance "Live Audio Wrestling" and was asked about his thoughts on the current TNA product. Jericho was vocal about some of the moves the company has made in recent years and continuing to keep Sting part of the roster.

Jericho added, "TNA has to do something different. I think the worst move they’ve made was Hogan and Bischoff and Sting. Nothing against those guys, but we’ve seen it so many times. It’s the third go-around for those guys now in the last 15 years. There’s people out there, revolutionary people, that can take it in a different direction. They’ve gotta get some different minds and some different faces and start working from within. That’s just my opinion. I think that they’re happy doing what they’re doing. They never get any bigger, they never get any smaller. If that’s what you’re into, that’s fine, but for me, I always want to take things to the next level and take some chances. If you don’t, and you’re just doing the same thing over and over again, then it gets boring. Good luck to them. I hope they do survive."

source: pwinsider.com

This Day In Wrestling History

WCW's Clash of The Champions XX celebrates its 20th year of wrestling on TBS. The show also featured the last appearance of Andre The Giant in the USA.
September 2, 1992

Eric Bischoff awarded Triple H the new WWE Raw World title, exclusive to Raw.
September 2, 2002

Eric Bischoff Comments on the Internet Wrestling Community

"Unfortunately, the internet, the dirt sheets, the blogs, whatever you want to call them - a lot of them are operating with partial information. And that hurts a lot of the different parties involved. It hurts the talent in certain respects; it hurts the business in certain respects; it hurts the credibility of the people who write about things that they don't fully understand. It's unfortunate, but that’s the nature of the business."

Eric Bischoff Praises WWE Total Divas

Had a chance to check out Total Divas on E! via TiVo. Props to WWE (Kevin Dunn). Basic “Kardashian” format, but will grow the brand! Smart!”

Eric Bischoff's Thoughts on What TNA Does Better Than WWE

During a recent interview conducted by Brian Thompson of The Neck Breaker podcast, TNA Executive Eric Bischoff had the following to say when asked what he feels TNA does better than WWE:

"That's hard. I have a lot of respect for the folks over at WWE and I have a ton of respect for what they've accomplished within the industry. So for me to take an adverse position on anything they're doing, quite frankly I'd be thrilled with just about any of their mistakes at this point. [laughter] When I look at the television product, and again you have to look at what we do and what they do within context, meaning they're on probably the number two or three network that averages more than likely 3 million viewers all week long in prime time. We're on a smaller network. They've got a budget of probably, and I'm guessing, I don't know this, but they've got a budget of probably 6, 7 maybe even 800,000 an episode to work with. We have a fraction of a fraction of that. They're a 30 plus year old company that's been around for a long long time. It's got a lot of brand affinity and history and relationship with generations of wrestling fans around the country and around the world. TNA has been around they say ten years, but probably really seven or eight as a viable company. So you can't really compare. It's not apples to apples.

"That being said, when I look at the way we tell our stories, I, along with my partner Jason Hervey, have a very successful television production company, one of the more successful ones in Hollywood and we have since 2003. We produce shows for every major cable network and a few of the bigger networks like NBC. We have a fairly good knowledge of television and how it works and the audience and what the networks are looking for. One of the advantages I think TNA has with BHE [his company], myself and Jason, is that we're able to bring things that work in other formats, particularly in reality, and integrate them into a wrestling format. The wrestling format has pretty much been the same for the last 15 years and prior to that it was the same for 30 years. Now we're changing things. We're adding more reality. If you look at the Aces and Eights story, that story from conception to what you saw last night is over a year old and while along the way we've had to bob an weave a little bit, make some changes due to circumstances, some of them out of our control, whether they be injuries, talent contract issues or whatever, for the most part we've been able to keep that story very on the rails, very episodic.

More?

Interview with Eric Bischoff

WWE Looks at Moments We Never Expected

WWE's website has a new article looking at 10 moments you never expected to see in WWE.

Shane McMahon appearing on the final WCW Nitro in 2001 topped the list, followed by Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart reconciling on RAW in 2010, Bruno Sammartino accepting a WWE Hall of Fame invite, Vince McMahon hugging Eric Bischoff on RAW in 2002, and the nWo invading WWE in 2002.

This Day In Wrestling History

A double World Heavyweight title match in Nagasaki, Japan between NWA Champion Jack Brisco and PWF (AJPW) Champion Giant Baba ends in a draw.
January 23, 1974

Hulk Hogan wins his first WWF(E) World Title defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden.
January 23, 1984

Road Warriors reunited.
January 23, 1996

Eric Bischoff promoted to President of WCW.
January 23, 1998

Chris Jericho defeated Chyna and Hardcore Holly for the WWF(E) Intercontinental title.
January 23, 2000

Interview with Eric Bischoff

Eric Bischoff was interviewed this past week on 100.3 The Fan in Minneapolis. Extreme Pro Wrestling Radio interviewed Bischoff. During the interview, which lasted about 10 minutes, he discussed many topics including Hulk Hogan, Bruce Pritchard, and working with Vince Russo.

On The Similarities between Bruce Pritchard and Vince Russo:

"It's hard to compare, two entirely different people with entirely different skill sets and backgrounds and experiences and things like that so it's kind of a waste of energy to try and compare them other than to say they are two completely different people. I enjoyed working with Vince, I don't wanna ever sound like I didn't. It was a challenge for me and it was a challenge for Vince because of our personalities and because of the way we approach things, but it was never personal for me...in TNA and I don't think it was for him either.

Bischoff was asked if there are any storylines that have not been done yet. He laughed and said "I don't think so."

To listen to the full interview, Click Like on Extreme Pro Wrestling Radio's facebook page.

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Steve Keirn
September 10, 1951

Ric Flair wrestles his first ever bout in the WWF(WWE) after being fired from WCW.
September 10, 1991

Fritz von Erich died from cancer at at age 68.
September 10, 1997

Eric Bischoff fired as WCW President
September 10, 1999

This Day in Wrestling History

WCW's Clash of The Champions XX celebrates its 20th year of wrestling on TBS. The show also featured the last appearance of Andre The Giant in the USA.
September 2, 1992

Eric Bischoff awarded Triple H the new WWE Raw World title, exclusive to Raw.
September 2, 2002

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Jesse "the Body" Ventura
July 15, 1951

Ric Flair defeated David Von Erich in a tournament final for the Missouri State Heavyweight title.
July 15, 1983

Eric Bischoff makes his un-expected debut on WWE RAW. Vince McMahon and Eric Bischoff hug on national television. Vince then announced that Eric was the new GM of Raw.
July 15, 2002

This Day in Wrestling History

At WCW's Great American Bash in Baltimore, MD, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash attacked Eric Bischoff. Nash powerbombed him off the stage.
June 16, 1996

This Day in Wrestling History

Happy Birthday to Paul Bearer aka Percy Pringle
April 10, 1955

Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo return to WCW and declare all WCW titles vacant.
April 10, 2000

Jeff Hardy defeated Triple H for the WWF(E) Intercontinental title.
April 10, 2001

This Day in Wrestling History

WCW Executive Vice President, Bill Busch, resigned from his duties. Eric Bischoff was rehired as the Executive Vice President of WCW
March 22, 2000

This Day in Wrestling History

The Monday Night Wars continued, WCW Monday Nitro's 4.6 rating defeated WWF Monday Night RAW's 3.6 rating. RAW in Uniondale, New York featured Owen Hart defeating WWF Champion Shawn Michaels by disqualification when Triple H broke one of his crutches over Hart's head while he had Michaels in the sharpshooter. Nitro was just over 200 miles away in Baltimore, Maryland, and featured Ultimo Dragon defeating WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero by submission to win the title for the second time, Booker T winning his first of a record six WCW World Television Titles from Disco Inferno, and a main event of WCW World Champion Sting defeating Hollywood Hulk Hogan.
December 29, 1997

Mick Foley (as Mankind) defeated The Rock for his first WWF(E) Title after Stone Cold Steve Austin returned knocking out The Rock with a steel chair. The show would air on the following Monday, January 4, 1999. That night Tony Schiavone would reveal the result during WCW Monday Nitro, airing live that night, noting that Mankind as champion "ought to put a lot of butts in the seats." Schiavone would later claim Eric Bischoff fed him that line to say. D-Generation X celebrated with Foley after the match.
December 29, 1998

On an edition of ECW on SyFy from East Rutherford, New Jersey, Tommy Dreamer wrestled his last match for WWE's version of ECW, facing Zack Ryder in a match where Dreamer promised to leave ECW if he lost.
December 29, 2010

Rumor Mill - Spike Officials Down on Dixie Carter

Spike TV officials have reportedly lost a lot of faith in Dixie Carter after she pushed them on the way they were doing the angle to get The Main Event Mafia back together last year. TNA spent months of building the angle with Dixie telling Spike that she had Kevin Nash and Booker T locked in. Booker and Nash both ended up in WWE, which led to no Main Event Mafia and the Fortune babyface turn on Immortal, ending up with a feud that went nowhere for the most part.

source: wrestling observer