2013 could indeed be the year of HOLLYWOOD HULK HOGAN. Seriously. Just look at the current angles going on in TNA. The promotion's #1 angle right now is Aces & Eights. After several months of building up to this year's Bound For Glory, the groups leader still has not been reveled, nor has the purpose of their existence been established as of this writing. Fans are constantly guessing as to who the leader will be and TNA keeps sending them swerves. The only consistent thus far has been Hogan. Although surgery kept him out of the BFG match clearly the angle is centered around him. According to rumors (and there is no way to confirm or deny this) the Aces and Eights angle is going to continue until Lockdown. This leaves the door open for multiple possibilities. So just for fun, let's take a look at a possible scenario.
Starting with our first (and only) consistent - Hogan - it becomes clear that the leader has to be someone with a history with the Hulkster. Lots of guys fit that role. Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff, Sting, Brooke Hogan (now that would be a swerve), Vince Russo are but a few of the possibilities. While all of them have different reasons for being the As&8s leader, for the purpose of this blog I'm going to assume that Scott Steiner (although I'm not saying that I think it's going to be him). His rants against Hogan, Bischoff and TNA over Twitter and the resulting lawsuit makes him a perfect heel with a vendetta against Hogan. Plus his reveal as the As&8s leader would be shocking to the fans.
After making a a big splash returning as the As&8s leader Steiner would also make for a good opponent for TNA World champion Jeff Hardy. While I don't know how good the match would be, the story line with the returning Big Poppa Pump having the interference of his gang would make for tough competition for the champion. With all the damage As&8s have done to the TNA roster it's very likely that they would be just as effective in securing that TNA World title for their leader. Once the title has been won, the real plot come into effect. Steiner wants total legal control of TNA. To achieve this he challenges Hogan to a title vs control of TNA match. This match will take place at Lockdown where Hogan will use that infamous ball peen hammer (thrown into the ring by As&8s) to defeat Steiner to save TNA and win his first (and probably only) TNA World title - his first championship in over a decade. A great way to climax the As&8s angle.
But that's not all... There is another angle involving Hogan that also needs to be settled. Matt Morgan. Since returning to TNA "the Blueprint" has been making Hogan's job a living hell. He humiliated Hogan at the grand opening of Hogan's Beach Shop and stole the cape Hogan wore when he faced Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in 1980. Since then Morgan has spit on Hogan's authority at every opportunity even calling him "Terry" in a show of disrespect for the GM. Once Hogan has one the TNA World title Morgan is going to want a title shot. Hogan comes out on Impact Wrestling and talks about how it was never his intention to wrestle for the TNA World title and that "unforeseen circumstances" forced the issue. He talks about how this is no longer his time and is about to surrender the championship when Morgan comes out and talks about how Hogan would love to be able to just walk away and retire as champion. But Morgan isn't going to allow it. He will make accusations on how Hogan supposedly forced him out of TNA, how Hogan is afraid of him and push every button he can until Hogan agrees to the match at the next PPV.
In order to help build for the match, Hogan will wrestle a 6 man Tag Team match on Impact Wrestling with Morgan on the other team. Throughout this match Hogan and Morgan will be teased; the commentators will make a lot of references to all of the giants Hogan has faced throughout his career. Morgan - at 7 feet - is one giant Hogan has never faced. Plus Morgan is much is much younger than Hogan and feels that this is his time (something Hogan once said on Twitter), but they will spend VERY little time together in the ring. Old school booking that will help build interest for the match.
At the PPV. Morgan will be accompanied by Joey Ryan. This will be to give someone for Hogan to beat up on and get the crowd to put (as Ryan has a lot of heat) while maintaining Morgan as the dominant man in the ring. Hogan will spend the majority of the match on the mat or trapped in the corner (to protect his back) as Morgan seems to have little trouble with the aging Hulkster, save for a few spots of offense as the Hulkster attempts to comeback. Toward the end Morgan goes to the top rope where he attempts to finish off the champion and claim the title. But the Hulkster moves out of the way. Morgan is hurting for the first time in the match. Now is Hogan's opportunity. He throws everything he has left at Morgan - even shouting "AXE BOMBAH!" before delivering the big clothesline. But Morgan won't go down. So Hogan gives the sign for the slam. The crowd goes nuts. The commentators are questioning is Hogan's back can handle it. After riling up the crowd Hogan delivers by slamming Morgan in the middle of the ring. Hogan then hits the ropes for the legdrop but Joey Ryan grabs Hogan's leg. Hogan reaches over the ropes, grabs Ryan and starts choking him before laying him out with a right cross. But then Morgan attacks Hogan from behind and delivers the choke slam (one of Hogan's few bumps of the match). It's all over. All because of the interference of Joey Ryan. 1-2-... KICKOUT!!!
Just when it seemed that the match was over Hogan begins to Hulk Up. The crowd goes crazy. Morgan punches Hogan several times but Hogan just shakes it off and points his finger at Morgan as the crowd shouts, "YOU!". Hogan blocks the next punch, throws three of his own, and sends Morgan into the ropes for the big boot. But before Hogan can deliver the big boot, the younger and faster Morgan delivers the carbon footprint to Hogan and quickly covers him for the pin and the title. Morgan has done it! He not only has finally become the TNA World champion, but he defeated the greatest of all time (even if he is past his prime) to do it. Not only that but he became the first person to stop Hogan in the middle of a Hulk Up. A huge feather in the cap of Morgan who has proven that yes indeed, this is his time.
Though this booking we achieve several things. We get a proper leader and climax to the As&8s angle. We find a proper way and reason for Hogan to get the TNA World title (and give one last reign for the Hulkamaniacs). We also have Hogan defeat an older wrestler to win the championship (so non of the younger wrestlers have to lose to the aging Hulkster - not that losing to Hogan is a bad thing mind you) while then dropping it to the younger generation. Hogan wins it in a cage match with the use of the ball peen hammer (which is relevant to the As&8s angle), but loses it cleanly to the younger and stronger Matt Morgan. We also get to play off of Hogan's years of battling giants and we get to see him slam one more giant before dropping the title. Even Scott Steiner only wins the title through interference of As&8s. The story is build up logically and the younger wrestlers never lose clean to the older guys. All sides win.
Even the booking of Hogan's matches are to help protect his back. The cage match will allow for more of a brawl so that Hogan doesn't have to bump much and can just crumble to the mat after being thrown into the cage. The 6 Man Tag Team match will give the fans a change to see Hogan victorious as champion one time on TV, it teases the title match and Hogan doesn't have to do much and therefore can hide his limitations while still using that incredible charisma (which is STILL the best in the business) to energize the crowd. And finally the ending of the Hogan/Morgan match is designed to tease the legdrop (which Hogan can't do because of his back), and having Morgan through the Carbon Footprint at that time also prevents Hogan from failing to hit the 7 foot giant with the big boot. This way a great story is told, Hogan's strengths are still used while keeping his weaknesses hidden. I hate to say it but Hogan isn't as young as he used to be, but as I've just demonstrated, with the right booking and under the right circumstances a Hogan World title win can still be magic.
That's how I would book it.
TNTMF,
The Boss
Starting with our first (and only) consistent - Hogan - it becomes clear that the leader has to be someone with a history with the Hulkster. Lots of guys fit that role. Ric Flair, Roddy Piper, Scott Steiner, Eric Bischoff, Sting, Brooke Hogan (now that would be a swerve), Vince Russo are but a few of the possibilities. While all of them have different reasons for being the As&8s leader, for the purpose of this blog I'm going to assume that Scott Steiner (although I'm not saying that I think it's going to be him). His rants against Hogan, Bischoff and TNA over Twitter and the resulting lawsuit makes him a perfect heel with a vendetta against Hogan. Plus his reveal as the As&8s leader would be shocking to the fans.
After making a a big splash returning as the As&8s leader Steiner would also make for a good opponent for TNA World champion Jeff Hardy. While I don't know how good the match would be, the story line with the returning Big Poppa Pump having the interference of his gang would make for tough competition for the champion. With all the damage As&8s have done to the TNA roster it's very likely that they would be just as effective in securing that TNA World title for their leader. Once the title has been won, the real plot come into effect. Steiner wants total legal control of TNA. To achieve this he challenges Hogan to a title vs control of TNA match. This match will take place at Lockdown where Hogan will use that infamous ball peen hammer (thrown into the ring by As&8s) to defeat Steiner to save TNA and win his first (and probably only) TNA World title - his first championship in over a decade. A great way to climax the As&8s angle.
But that's not all... There is another angle involving Hogan that also needs to be settled. Matt Morgan. Since returning to TNA "the Blueprint" has been making Hogan's job a living hell. He humiliated Hogan at the grand opening of Hogan's Beach Shop and stole the cape Hogan wore when he faced Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium in 1980. Since then Morgan has spit on Hogan's authority at every opportunity even calling him "Terry" in a show of disrespect for the GM. Once Hogan has one the TNA World title Morgan is going to want a title shot. Hogan comes out on Impact Wrestling and talks about how it was never his intention to wrestle for the TNA World title and that "unforeseen circumstances" forced the issue. He talks about how this is no longer his time and is about to surrender the championship when Morgan comes out and talks about how Hogan would love to be able to just walk away and retire as champion. But Morgan isn't going to allow it. He will make accusations on how Hogan supposedly forced him out of TNA, how Hogan is afraid of him and push every button he can until Hogan agrees to the match at the next PPV.
In order to help build for the match, Hogan will wrestle a 6 man Tag Team match on Impact Wrestling with Morgan on the other team. Throughout this match Hogan and Morgan will be teased; the commentators will make a lot of references to all of the giants Hogan has faced throughout his career. Morgan - at 7 feet - is one giant Hogan has never faced. Plus Morgan is much is much younger than Hogan and feels that this is his time (something Hogan once said on Twitter), but they will spend VERY little time together in the ring. Old school booking that will help build interest for the match.
At the PPV. Morgan will be accompanied by Joey Ryan. This will be to give someone for Hogan to beat up on and get the crowd to put (as Ryan has a lot of heat) while maintaining Morgan as the dominant man in the ring. Hogan will spend the majority of the match on the mat or trapped in the corner (to protect his back) as Morgan seems to have little trouble with the aging Hulkster, save for a few spots of offense as the Hulkster attempts to comeback. Toward the end Morgan goes to the top rope where he attempts to finish off the champion and claim the title. But the Hulkster moves out of the way. Morgan is hurting for the first time in the match. Now is Hogan's opportunity. He throws everything he has left at Morgan - even shouting "AXE BOMBAH!" before delivering the big clothesline. But Morgan won't go down. So Hogan gives the sign for the slam. The crowd goes nuts. The commentators are questioning is Hogan's back can handle it. After riling up the crowd Hogan delivers by slamming Morgan in the middle of the ring. Hogan then hits the ropes for the legdrop but Joey Ryan grabs Hogan's leg. Hogan reaches over the ropes, grabs Ryan and starts choking him before laying him out with a right cross. But then Morgan attacks Hogan from behind and delivers the choke slam (one of Hogan's few bumps of the match). It's all over. All because of the interference of Joey Ryan. 1-2-... KICKOUT!!!
Just when it seemed that the match was over Hogan begins to Hulk Up. The crowd goes crazy. Morgan punches Hogan several times but Hogan just shakes it off and points his finger at Morgan as the crowd shouts, "YOU!". Hogan blocks the next punch, throws three of his own, and sends Morgan into the ropes for the big boot. But before Hogan can deliver the big boot, the younger and faster Morgan delivers the carbon footprint to Hogan and quickly covers him for the pin and the title. Morgan has done it! He not only has finally become the TNA World champion, but he defeated the greatest of all time (even if he is past his prime) to do it. Not only that but he became the first person to stop Hogan in the middle of a Hulk Up. A huge feather in the cap of Morgan who has proven that yes indeed, this is his time.
Though this booking we achieve several things. We get a proper leader and climax to the As&8s angle. We find a proper way and reason for Hogan to get the TNA World title (and give one last reign for the Hulkamaniacs). We also have Hogan defeat an older wrestler to win the championship (so non of the younger wrestlers have to lose to the aging Hulkster - not that losing to Hogan is a bad thing mind you) while then dropping it to the younger generation. Hogan wins it in a cage match with the use of the ball peen hammer (which is relevant to the As&8s angle), but loses it cleanly to the younger and stronger Matt Morgan. We also get to play off of Hogan's years of battling giants and we get to see him slam one more giant before dropping the title. Even Scott Steiner only wins the title through interference of As&8s. The story is build up logically and the younger wrestlers never lose clean to the older guys. All sides win.
Even the booking of Hogan's matches are to help protect his back. The cage match will allow for more of a brawl so that Hogan doesn't have to bump much and can just crumble to the mat after being thrown into the cage. The 6 Man Tag Team match will give the fans a change to see Hogan victorious as champion one time on TV, it teases the title match and Hogan doesn't have to do much and therefore can hide his limitations while still using that incredible charisma (which is STILL the best in the business) to energize the crowd. And finally the ending of the Hogan/Morgan match is designed to tease the legdrop (which Hogan can't do because of his back), and having Morgan through the Carbon Footprint at that time also prevents Hogan from failing to hit the 7 foot giant with the big boot. This way a great story is told, Hogan's strengths are still used while keeping his weaknesses hidden. I hate to say it but Hogan isn't as young as he used to be, but as I've just demonstrated, with the right booking and under the right circumstances a Hogan World title win can still be magic.
That's how I would book it.
TNTMF,
The Boss
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