Hulk Hogan in TNA Wrestling: Immortality Had a Price

Creative Control

In 2009, Hulk Hogan was wrestling his last matches. The “Hulkamania Let The Battle Begin” Australia Tour was supposed to be his last ride, made of four matches with Ric Flair. However, a few weeks later, IMPACT Wrestling hired Hulk Hogan. He took up both a backstage and an on-screen role, where he also occasionally worked as an authority figure in the Impact Zone.

Spike TV and IMPACT held a huge press conference to announce his arrival. “Hulk Hogan is one of the world’s top pop culture icons and the biggest superstar in the history of professional wrestling. We are truly excited to welcome him into the TNA family,” said Dixie Carter, President of TNA Wrestling. “Our goal is to become the world’s biggest professional wrestling company. Hulk defines professional wrestling, and we look forward to partnering with him in a variety of ways as we continue to grow TNA globally.”

“I’m thrilled to be jumping back into the world of professional wrestling,” said Hogan. “My fans have been asking me to return to the business for many years on a full-time basis, but the timing or the opportunity has never been right until now.  TNA Wrestling is a great company with an already excellent fan base, business, and broadcast partner.  I firmly believe now is the time for some change at TNA as they are positioned to jump to the next level in their development, and I’m here to work with Dixie to help make that a reality.”

Partnership With Bischoff

Through Hogan’s partnership with Bischoff Hervey Entertainment Television, the deal with TNA was negotiated by longtime Hogan colleague Eric Bischoff. Additionally, BHE TV inked a first-look deal with TNA and would be working with the organization to develop new programming extensions of the TNA brand. “Hulk Hogan adds yet another level of star power that positions TNA iMPACT as Spike TV’s version of ‘Must-See TV’ on Thursday nights,” said Kevin Kay, president of Spike.

On paper, it looked brilliant. Hogan would make his official TNA debut on January 4, 2010, in a special live three-hour Monday night episode of iMPACT! to compete with WWE RAW (which featured the return of Bret Hart).

Hulk Hogan came to WCW to make it bigger and larger than WWE. He was coming to IMPACT with the exact same idea in mind. Hogan tried and failed to build a new viable competitor to WWE. Why? His ego got in the way.

Bad Decisions and Storylines

Hulk Hogan did have five matches in the promotion, three of which were televised. Only one of them was a singles match. His last match didn’t happen on PPV, but as part of a 6-man tag match at a UK house show in Manchester.

Behind the scenes, Hogan and Eric Bischoff were allegedly responsible for some of the more infamous TNA decisions at the time, including wanting to go head-to-head with WWE on Monday nights and scrapping the signature 6-sided ring (which, in the end, happened to be an excellent idea).

During the four years, Hulk Hogan feuded with Sting and Ric Flair, just like the old days in WCW. Hogan also got into some family drama involving his daughter and Bully Ray. He made TNA hire a bunch of wrestlers who took part in Hogan’s tour of Australia, including Ric Flair, Orlando Jordan, Mr. Anderson, The Nasty Boys, and Bubba the Love Sponge.

Old Ideas

With Hulk Hogan, TNA didn’t just mine WWE for storyline ideas. They took from WCW as well. One of the biggest moments in Hogan’s career was his heel turn and subsequent formation of the New World Order at WCW’s Bash at the Beach in 1996, which happened at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL.

Bound For Glory 2010 was being run in the same arena, so the ending of the main event three-way World Title match between Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, and Mr. Anderson featured the same ending, with Hogan turning heel and standing tall with the newly formed Immortal faction.

The year 2011 was full of odd Hogan-related nonsense, feuding with Sting over the authority figure status. 2012 was all about the Bully Ray-Brooke Hogan relationship. Hogan made his daughter be hired to the point of her becoming the boss of the Knockouts Division in both kayfabe and backstage, further diminishing what was once one of the brighter divisions in TNA.

Hulk Hogan’s last appearance in TNA came in 2013, where he kayfabe quit the company during the show, as his contract with the promotion was actually expiring. While writing him off, the execution became infamous for Dixie Carter begging Hogan to stay to the point of holding onto his legs while he dragged her up the aisle. Hulk Hogan seemed to look so powerful, and TNA so weak.

The Positive

Scrapping the six-sided ring was a good idea, but the fans became aware of it way later. One of the bigger yet overlooked changes for an important TNA figure during the Hulk Hogan era was Sting. Fans loved the various versions of Sting throughout the years, with the Surfer look, Crow character, Wolfpac stint, and a few other ideas.

TNA took a bigger risk by introducing the Joker Sting character when playing mind games with Hogan and Eric Bischoff. Sting has gone on the record expressing praise for this as one of the happiest times of his career, getting to experiment with a new character that late into his career.

Hogan Damages TNA

Losing a lot of goodwill with fans, Hogan and co damaged the brand to the point that it took more than a decade to recover from. However, Hogan remained popular among fans despite the damage done. TNA/IMPACT Wrestling is still around today, maybe despite Hulk Hogan, but not because of him.

The best of Hogan being in TNA/IMPACT is the company becoming aware of its own ability to be successful. It took a lot of time for TNA to bet on itself and its talents again. The proof is in front of your eyes, right now. Hogan thought he would become as “Immortal” as his nickname said. His “bad” influence has helped the company believe it could be on the road to immortality.