Does Hulk Hogan still have the drawing power and influence to turn TNA into a genuine competitor of the WWE in the same way he turned WCW…15 years ago?

Let’s face it, love him or hate him, the Hulk Hogan name is still a powerful draw, and it would be foolish to deny his influence on wrestling fans around the world. When Hulk Hogan acts, for good or bad, wrestling fans usually follow.

TNA has tried bringing former WWE Superstars into the fold in order to boost ratings and gain fan interest. Kevin Nash, Kurt Angle, Mick Foley, Christian and Booker T just to name a few, but to be honest, nothing has really worked to garner the casual fan’s interest. Impact regularly pulls a 1.3 or lower rating, which is about on par with the WWE version of ECW on Sy-Fy or Superstars on WGN.

And while an argument can be made that hiring former WWE talent has helped draw some new eyes to TNA, judged by ratings alone, their impact is negligible. This most likely will change with Hogan. Whereas most wrestling fans know and enjoy Mick Foley’s work and Christian’s charisma, they have basically no mainstream following. The casual fan couldn’t pick Booker T out of a police line-up. Hulk Hogan on the other hand has a pretty large non-wrestling fan base. His name alone draws attention, look at the mainstream press he’s getting for his book this week, he’s on the Today show, he’s on late night TV, he’s on Howard Stern. When is the last time a TNA wrestler was on the Today show? Just associating the Hulk Hogan name to the TNA organization is going to give them legitimacy.

Should WWE be worried?

Yes and No.

Yes-
1.-As pointed out earlier on this website, WWE is about to launch the new Hulk Hogan DVD collection, basically they are going to be promoting TNA programming by promoting the Hogan DVD.
2. - As stated above, the Hogan name carries more influence than almost any other wrestler out there, and Hogan is still a major draw. Even if you can’t stand Hulk Hogan, you’ll most likely tune in to his initial TNA appearance just to see what he does.
3. - There is talk of Ric Flair joining Hogan on his Australia tour, and also joining TNA. You simply cannot deny the drawing power of the Hogan/Flair combo.

No –
1.-The last time Hulk jumped ship, it was 1994! Almost two decades ago. Hulk can barely walk down the ramp, and his usual limited moveset is even more limited, Hulk won’t be an active competitor too often.
2.-Vince Russo is still booking TNA. I don’t care if you bring in The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin to feud with Hogan, Russo will find a way to screw it up, and suck the life out of the feud.
3.-If Hogan does have a successful run at TNA, that means it’s coming at the expense of the young talent. Can you see Hogan losing clean to Alex Shelly, Chris Sabin or AJ Styles?
4. – It hasn’t worked so far. Yes Hogan is the largest name in the industry, and no doubt tons of fans will tune into the initial Hogan broadcast, but unless there is a compelling reason to tune in week after week the ratings will most likely settle around the 2.0 or lower range. And I don’t think Russo can write compelling TV or book wrestling worth watching any longer.

If nothing else, this is a fun time to be a wrestling fan. Anytime something happens to shake up pro wrestling programming it’s a good thing. Who wouldn’t love to see Hogan turn TNA into a genuine competitor, who wouldn’t love to see WWE face genuine competition, who wouldn’t love to see a replay of the Monday Night Wars? The only person I can think of would be Vince McMahon.