It's been nearly 10 years since Hogan's TNA run began

[Gawk Rivers]

....And just about 5 since it ended.

I just wanted to remind you all of your mortality.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

The killing blow to the company. It only got them a one time 2.5 rating and a week later those million and a half new viewers never came back after being exposed to shit tv.

It started with impossible promises in a press conference done in Madison Square Garden. Promises about another Monday Night War that nobody asked for, it was literally if kids with slingshots would battle an army, obviously tna got massacred. Then promises of running shows outside universal studios, tna being tna they drew negative attendance and lost universal for a while. It all ended with both Panda and Spike hemorrhaging money without ever making a penny for five straight years.

The Hogan run is the reason why they lost AJ and Samoa Joe and now they're stuck with Dick Justice and Tyrus.

And the best part, Hogan knew all along that tna was a fourth string outfit. In a deposition he was asked the difference between the wwe and tna, he basically said that wrestlemania does more than one million ppv buys while bound for glory would be lucky to sell more than ten thousand buys. He also was asked how come he never did interviews with major outlets in which he promoted tna, Hogan said that he wouldn't waste an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to talk about TNA.

[Shark]

I always marked that as the beginning of the end of the TNA we knew. 2009 had some good stuff happen. Their audience, while not huge, was still good and growing. Then Hogan comes in, makes them move to Monday and they lost their audience and never got it back. Sad really.

[ronnie2hotty]

In 2009, right before Hogan came in, I was able to attend the No Surrender ppv (second to last ppv before Hogan was signed). After the show, I remember thinking that TNA was slowly gaining momentum and turning the corner.

Over a month later it was the Hogan and Bischoff show. They have never recovered.

[Push R Truth]

TNA was going on a First Date with a ton of potential new viewers and shit their pants in the first 5 minutes.


In retrospect it's amazing the fall after week one wasn't larger.

[BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps]

The Hogan/Bischoff regime had me curious at the start. Then the show got worse and worse. It was basically a rehash of all of their ideas that failed the first time.

After 10/14/10 I quit watching Impact regularly. At that point, I started just checking in whenever I would hear about something especially dumb they put on television.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Good to know that I haven't watched TNA in a decade.

That was it for me.

[Sephiroth]

To be fair TNA was always a two steps forward, one step back kind of operation. But the Hogan/Bischoff years undeniably did irreparable damage to them and it was all downhill. There is nothing that can be said that hasn’t many times already. Hogan played Dixie Carter like a fiddle and she went along with it every step of the way.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Jan 31, 2018 12:25:03 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

To be fair TNA was always a two steps forward, one step back kind of operation. But the Hogan/Bischoff years undeniably did irreparable damage to them and it was all downhill. There is nothing that can be said that hasn’t many times already. Hogan played Dixie Carter like a fiddle and she went along with it every step of the way.

Bruce Prichard in his first podcast of tna said that Bob Carter also got played by Hogan.

[Natural Born Farmer]

Even his first press conference had a very “it’s a payday, I guess” vibe to it. Difficult to understand how this played out well in anyone’s mind.

[HMARK Center]

Yeah, there's really no getting around it: the Hogan/Bischoff run did irreparable harm to the company, and is probably the chief reason it's in the shape it is today.

Obviously that's not saying everything was peaches and cream before then, but it was at least on a sustainable track. Sure, the 1.1 ratings were likely frustrating, but there was a core to build around, and the potential for financial growth if not huge ratings growth. But Hogan and Bischoff brought that WCW mentality with them: ratings meaning more than anything, even if in the grand scheme they don't mean much if your promotion isn't actually showing any potential to become profitable.

And yeah, that run of PPVs TNA had in the 3-6 months before the Hogan regime arrived were among the best the promotion ever had: AJ as champion, Joe as a top rival, Nigel/Desmond Wolfe making a huge debut, etc. I'll even argue that the first PPV or two that happened under Hogan weren't awful, they at least had some decent moments, but it just made the fall that much worse. The Hogan era had a couple of decent moments and ideas in it, but almost nothing with consistency.

[Mister Pigwell]

I see this as the most common answer when someone asks "so, when did ya give up on TNA".

[Deleted]

I'd bailed as a fan earlier that year when Main Event Mafia became a thing and it was clear they were going to be booked on top regardless. This just made it WCW mark 2.

[Corre.222]

Remember that Dixie Carter promo when she pretty much said it was "Her way or the highway"?

Where is she now? Looks like she had to find out for herself, despite those wrestler's protestations who she roasted....

[corndog]

Jan 31, 2018 22:43:07 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Yeah, there's really no getting around it: the Hogan/Bischoff run did irreparable harm to the company, and is probably the chief reason it's in the shape it is today.

Obviously that's not saying everything was peaches and cream before then, but it was at least on a sustainable track. Sure, the 1.1 ratings were likely frustrating, but there was a core to build around, and the potential for financial growth if not huge ratings growth. But Hogan and Bischoff brought that WCW mentality with them: ratings meaning more than anything, even if in the grand scheme they don't mean much if your promotion isn't actually showing any potential to become profitable.

And yeah, that run of PPVs TNA had in the 3-6 months before the Hogan regime arrived were among the best the promotion ever had: AJ as champion, Joe as a top rival, Nigel/Desmond Wolfe making a huge debut, etc. I'll even argue that the first PPV or two that happened under Hogan were awful, they at least had some decent moments, but it just made the fall that much worse. The Hogan era had a couple of decent moments and ideas in it, but almost nothing with consistency.

It really sucks even more remembering how good TNA was right before Hogan arrived. I didn't care if they couldn't break 1.1 ratings, the shows were solid and they were pushing the right people. It finally seemed like TNA was getting things right and headed into the right direction. Then January 4th, 2010 happened.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

In the first show, I wonder what the casual fans thought about that stupid red bird cage that homicide couldn't climb up, or Hogan's washed up buddies beating up the young talent, or sack of shit Bubba the Love Sponge.

That shit is one of the worst wrestling shows ever, I'll go one step further and say it's the worst ever. Because of that garbage they lost a million and half new viewers who never returned.

Just think about it, this was their only shot at making it and in one night they killed any good faith they had.

If the show was any good they wouldn't have lost a million and half f***ing viewers, and they wouldn't be in the spot they're in, barely scraping by and running shows in dilapidated churches without running water. Maybe they would still have AJ but because of that show Tyrus is their biggest star.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Dixie was always going to kill TNA, Hogan and Bischoff just put the gun in their proverbial hand.

[Woo]

Jan 31, 2018 23:31:16 GMT -5 @returnofthestryker said:

I'd bailed as a fan earlier that year when Main Event Mafia became a thing and it was clear they were going to be booked on top regardless. This just made it WCW mark 2.

The Main Event Mafia was always eventually going to be dethroned by AJ Styles. 2009 ended on such a high then Hogan joined and I have up. I told Dixie to her face Hogan would kill her company.

[Deleted]

Feb 1, 2018 6:58:54 GMT -5 Woo said:

Jan 31, 2018 23:31:16 GMT -5 @returnofthestryker said:

I'd bailed as a fan earlier that year when Main Event Mafia became a thing and it was clear they were going to be booked on top regardless. This just made it WCW mark 2.

The Main Event Mafia was always eventually going to be dethroned by AJ Styles. 2009 ended on such a high then Hogan joined and I have up. I told Dixie to her face Hogan would kill her company.

I don't believe for a moment they would have lost to AJ. There would have always been a reason to keep them on top.

[OVO 40 hunched over like he 80]

Feb 1, 2018 2:46:06 GMT -5 Tiger Millionaire said:

Dixie was always going to kill TNA, Hogan and Bischoff just put the gun in their proverbial hand.

This pretty much.

Dixie chose the people who were on the cover of the death of wcw to run her company.