Hogan Says TNA Lack

[SHAKEMASTER TV9 is Don Knotts]

Tomko is back and he's a big. It's funny that Abyss, the TNA big for years isn't that big. I mean, he outweighs much of the roster but height wise he's not taller than Foley, Sting or the MEM. He's only a monster compared to the X-Division guys.

[Blindkarevik]

On paper, I have no problem with this.

However, the fact is.... it's Hogan who said it. He does NOT have a good reputation as far as signing onto a company, then sitting back and acting as an employee. Rather, he signs on and all of a sudden wants to run things in his image. It's just like when Vince Russo signed on with TNA, everybody was sure he was gonna kill the company and we were going to have PPVs consisting of nothing but "____ On A Pole" matches.

It's not the words he said, it's the reputation he holds that is causing this backlash.

Personally, I haven't really formed an opinion other than I hope Hogan's presence gives TNA a boost enough to where WWE can't ignore them anymore and is forced to step up their own game. Everything else, is up in the air to me.

[hajimenoippo]

Why the hate? He wants more young, talented big men. The tna guys are too small to take seriously aj sucks

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

Nov 7, 2009 17:10:56 GMT -5 hajimenoippo said:

Why the hate? He wants more young, talented big men. The tna guys are too small to take seriously aj sucks

That's where the hate is. AJ does not suck. AJ and a few of the others are the reason a lot of us watched TNA. Yeah Hogan mentioned those big names that everyone liked however look at the history there. Brody and Hogan were NOT on good terms. Hogan is credited with ruining Vader in WCW. I remember Bam Bam not having much love for Hogan. When Hogan wanted big men we didn't get those guys we got Horace, Yeti, and I remember him hyping how talented Emory Hale was going to be for XWF


The hate is in the history. Hogan has a history of undermining the smaller guys and putting over lugs. Which I guess if you hate AJ is fine for you. For those of us who liked AJ, well that's why we are fearing for TNA now.

[Deleted]

Wonder if this means Holliday will get a break

[Sephiroth]

One thing to point out is that the guys Hogan put over in his remarks are credited as some of the best big men in recent memory, increedibly agile and terrific performers. If TNA had some talent like that, yountg and fresh, it could arguably benefit the company a lot.

[hajimenoippo]

Aj hasn't done anything for tna, him no selling any of sting's offense was stupid and I hope Joe takes back the title at turning point

[Lionheart]

Nov 7, 2009 17:39:01 GMT -5 hajimenoippo said:

Aj hasn't done anything for tnat

[ICBM]

I will wait and see as usual. Hogan's name, Bichsoff's marketing...as the Zen master said "we'll see..."

[Paco]

I gotta agree Hogan a bit.
I'd love to see the next Vader, Bam Bam, Bossman, etc.
It's been a good decade that I haven't seen their type of monster.
All monsters today have to be muscle freaks. Bring back the fat guys!

[KEJB]

Raymond Rowe is awesome. Def could be given the title of "Human Suplex Machine" from Taz. I dont know if he really has the size to be considered a huge dude tho.

Bernard and Umaga for sure.

Would love to see a few of the lesser known names in this thread be given a shot. Talent must always be created. ROH doesnt really make an bigs, so you can just wait for them to do it.

[mrjl]

Nov 7, 2009 14:32:50 GMT -5 bob said:

Hogan.....Hernandez, Abyss, Matt Morgan, and Rob Terry all say hi

Think Andre, Quake, Big Show, Yokozuna

[texaswhopper]

I will wait and see as usual. Hogan's name, Bichsoff's marketing...as the Zen master said "we'll see..."

So I've heard Uncle Eric negotiated the deal. If anyone knows how to talk to Hulk Hogan its him. Isn't that something? Eric with Hogan didn't have success in that celebrity wrestling program they were doing. If Hogan was entering into contract with a rival to the WWE, I knew Eric was probably not far behind. If thats all Eric's position is so be it. If Eric wants back into the limelight of wrestling then obviously Hulk Hogan is his way back.

Eric reminds of some type Tom Parker to Hulk Hogan. He just never could stay away from that money he knows a partnership with Hulk Hogan could bring him.

[Kroot bringing Justice]

Nov 7, 2009 17:39:01 GMT -5 hajimenoippo said:

Aj hasn't done anything for tna, him no selling any of sting's offense was stupid and I hope Joe takes back the title at turning point

[Andrew is Good]

Nov 7, 2009 0:29:00 GMT -5 Richard said:

Nov 6, 2009 23:15:29 GMT -5 Andrew is Good said:

There seems to be a bit of a negative stance on this.

Hogan didn't say, bring in big guys. He said bring in talented superheavyweights. I mean, if the guys he mentioned were in their prime and coming into TNA, how would people not want them. Just because they're big, doesn't mean they suck. The names Hogan mentioned were great workers.

Bison Smith, Rick Fuller I heard was good, Umaga, and I don't have any others in mind, but he wants something different in TNA. He doesn't just want one type of guy, who wants all sorts of different types.

Guys like Nathan Jones, Snitsky, and even Heidenreich and others, they're not that good. But, that doesn't mean that superheavyweight wrestlers are all slow paced, lumbering wrestlers.

Maybe TNA could reach out to NOAH and bring in Morishima for a run there.

Rick Fuller, unless there is another, was a WCW jobber mainstay that was horrid. Smith would be interesting but, I don't know if he would give up his Japanese commitments. Umaga would be a iffy, IMO. He's great in the ring but, he and Joe draw so many comparisons (unfairly really) that it might more of a disservice to
bring him in.

So according to this logic, Rick Fuller is the exact same person he was when WCW closed. The EXACT same. No experienced gained, nothing. By that logic, there are a lot of shitty wrestlers out there, because they used to be shitty when they started out, like most every wrestler.

Giant Bernard is definitely a good one. Maybe he and Tomko could form a team in TNA, that would be something good to see. And, someone mentioned why people want Albert. As another response to the statement above, people get better with experience.

It's one thing that bugs me about Dragon Gate USA. Every guy is the same size and has the same style, so it's essentially the same match. I like how recently, ROH has started to become more diverse, bringing in guys like Bison Smith, Rasche Brown, Brodie Lee for a time, D'lo Brown for a time, and the Dark City Fight Club. Not everyone needs to be a high flier and a technical wizard. Sometimes people want to see some big bulls in there beating the crap out of each other. And again, this isn't about bringing guys who look good. This is about bringing guys who are big, bad, and impressive.

Take Earthquake for example, who Hogan has complimented in the past. He could work his ass off, despite being 400 pounds plus. The guy could throw a dropkick for god sakes. He was good, he was believable, and he could work. That's what Hogan is looking for.

[DrizzlinShytes]

Maybe Hulk can fill the position that he just created???

[Richard]

Nov 7, 2009 21:37:49 GMT -5 Andrew is Good said:

Nov 7, 2009 0:29:00 GMT -5 Richard said:

Rick Fuller, unless there is another, was a WCW jobber mainstay that was horrid. Smith would be interesting but, I don't know if he would give up his Japanese commitments. Umaga would be a iffy, IMO. He's great in the ring but, he and Joe draw so many comparisons (unfairly really) that it might more of a disservice to
bring him in.

So according to this logic, Rick Fuller is the exact same person he was when WCW closed. The EXACT same. No experienced gained, nothing. By that logic, there are a lot of s***ty wrestlers out there, because they used to be s***ty when they started out, like most every wrestler.

No, it's me saying he had been in the business for 8 years when he got to WCW and sucked, worked 3 years for them and sucked and, now nearly 10 years later, I am going to wager he still sucks.

If I am wrong, I am wrong so be it but, I just have my doubts.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling_employees

Here is the thing though, TNA isn't really lacking in heavyweights. They have a roster of 38 by wikipedia and it looks pretty complete.
Now if your talking tall guys they got Super Mex, Morgan, Nash, that guy in British Invasion who don't do much and probably Tomko. For all around heavier barrel chested Bossman/Brody types you got Abyss, Foley, Joe, Rhino, Ray and Devon, and I'd throw Lashley in here too as he is booked as a monster at the moment. So that's almost 1/4 the roster.

If they add too many more they are just going to start having the Wrath in WCW or Tomko in WWE problem. Big guys have to be booked a few certain ways. On a small roster how many monsters doing squash matches can you have? Joe's run left the X-division looking pathetic because there was never a pay-off to put over a small guy as finally stopping him. Lashley isn't so bad yet because he's still been limited in use but it isn't going over well with the crowds. Rhino and Abyss have all the talent in the world but they have been booked into oblivion. If you like Hernandez, Morgan, Tomko etc why would you want them to become just another guy on the roster. At the moment they have something that makes them stand out. When Morgan and Tomko were in WWE they were just some generic guys in the background.

[Bobby Womack]

Nov 8, 2009 7:17:55 GMT -5 ritt works hard fo da chickens said:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Total_Nonstop_Action_Wrestling_employees

Here is the thing though, TNA isn't really lacking in heavyweights. They have a roster of 38 by wikipedia and it looks pretty complete.
Now if your talking tall guys they got Super Mex, Morgan, Nash, that guy in British Invasion who don't do much and probably Tomko. For all around heavier barrel chested Bossman/Brody types you got Abyss, Foley, Joe, Rhino, Ray and Devon, and I'd throw Lashley in here too as he is booked as a monster at the moment. So that's almost 1/4 the roster.

i think your answer is evidence of the problem rather than a counterpoint to it, when abyss and joe are two of the guys that top your list as 'monsters' there is definitely a problem, they would look like chumps if they were to go to the wwe or wcw if it were still alive, foley was average sized and a punching bag for most of his wwe run, and rhino had the exact problem we're discussing here, he (much like mike awesome) seemed big in ecw but then when coming up to the majors his size was nothing to write home about and he floundered, and the dudleys werent really big guys (size wise) even in ecw, so when that is a promotions list of 'monsters' i can definitely understand a credibility/believability problem

[Dragonfly]

When most people think of the term "big men" they think of guys like the Great Khali and Gene Snitsky - generic hosses that can't do much more than run people over. As we've proven in this thread, there are several great big men out there are not only enjoyable to watch, but can work well with talent of all sizes. Hell, I've seen Jason Bane have entertaining, competitive matches with five-foot-one Matt Cross. And these are just the "better-known"big men. We didn't even start going "obscure" yet (Kaimana, Dash Bennett, Dean Radford, etc). If he's looking at "talent," Hogan's "plus size initiative" will go over great. If not, well...

And about Ray Rowe: If they can call Hernandez "large," they can call him "large" as well.