- As noted earlier, Hulk Hogan appeared on SportFM in Perth,
Australia to talk about the Hulkamania tour and TNA. Here is a more
detailed transcript, courtesy of Phil Lions and PWInsider:
Question: Can I ask you about your relationship with Vince McMahon? Is it still good?
Hulk Hogan: Brother, it's a love-hate relationship, you know. I talk
to him once in a while when he needs a main event for WrestleMania but
right now, once I get done with this Australian tour, I'm going back to
the Unated States where I signed a deal to run a company called TNA -
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. It's another promotion that you guys
are very familiar with here in Australia and I'm getting ready to take
over the helm and it's going to be the number one wrestling company in
the world just like when I did back in the 90s when I formed the nWo
and we took over the wrestling business. I'm gonna do that again.
Question: Now, when you're at home watching wrestling as a fan
who's the wrestler that you like watching in the ring? Who's someone
that really captures your attention when you're watching as a fan?
Hulk Hogan: Well brother, I really like watching Kurt Angle. He
really understands this business. And also one of my favourite
wrestlers of all-time Sting. I really love watching Sting in the ring.
And now there's a new kid that's coming up through the ranks and is
doing pretty good - a kid named AJ Styles. That's one of the things I
like about these new guys - they understand wrestling the old way, the
way to really go out and fight for what they want. They don't sit in
the back and talk and choreograph the matches like some of the other
promotions do and I've really enjoyed watching these guys.
Question: Can you give us any information about what your role in
TNA will be? Will we see you as a wrestler in the ring? Will you be
behind the scenes? What would your on-air role be? Can you let us in on
a little bit?
Hulk Hogan: Well, I signed a deal with Dixie Carter to come in as
her partner. I know there are several people on the show -
storyline-wise - who say they are part of TNA (management) such as Mick
Foley and Jeff Jarrett, but this situation is for real. I'm going in to
turn this thing upside-down. I'm gonna pick the whole wrestling
business up and bodyslam it and whoever's not on my team - on Team
Hogan at TNA - they're gonna be at the bottom of the pile. Just like I
did in the early 90s, once I went to work for Eric Bischoff and Ted
Turner they became the number one wrestling promotion in the world.
Question: Hulk, if there was one thing you could change about the
wrestling industry at this point in time what would it be? How will
Hulk Hogan revolutionize the wrestling industry yet again?
Hulk Hogan: Well, the one thing I would change and I'm going to
change is..I hate the writers. I cannot stand that they have a writing
team sitting in the back telling the wrestlers what to say and telling
the wrestlers what to do in the ring. That's one of the reasons why I
went to TNA because the other promotion that's what they're all about -
scripting the verbiage and scripting the matches and telling the
wrestlers what to do. They have a team of writers in the back that
don't understand this business, that have never been to the big show,
that have never been in the big main events. All the writers are either
wrestlers that are midcard wrestlers or they were family members that
were handed a pen and paper and told, "You've learned what you've
learned from our family now keep writing". They've never learned the
wrestling business from being in the middle of the ring in the main
event in front of 20, 30, 40, 90 thousand people.
Question: You've been in the ring with the biggest names the
wrestling industry's ever seen but there's one wrestler the fans would
really love to see you in the ring with. There's one wrestler that you
never really got to take on in a one-on-one situation and that of
course is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Steve Austin versus Hulk Hogan -
what would the outcome be?
Hulk Hogan: I ran into Stone Cold one week before I came to
Australia. I went to a Gold's Gym in Venice Beach, California and there
he was. He was working out during the day. He was doing a movie with my
buddy Sylvester Stallone. And I told him, I said, "Brother, I'm going
back to work. I'm getting back in the ring. If you want some come get
some. Money's not a problem. Your schedule's not a problem. If you
really want to get in the ring and you really want to make history then
come get into the ring with Hulk Hogan". I did not get an answer.
Question: So you threw the challenge out there but you did not get an answer?
Hulk Hogan: Face-to-face threw the challenge out, in his face.
Question: Back in the 80s with the WWF you helped bring them to
the pinnacle of the entertainment industry, then later on you went to
WCW and of course then to WWE. Which one of those runs was most
memorable to you?
Hulk Hogan: The run that stood out the most was going to WCW with
Eric Bischoff to prove who the most powerful man in the wrestling
business was. I proved in a short amount of time that where I go the
talent goes and that where I go the fans go. And I'm gonna prove it
again this time. When I leave Australia - when I'm done with the
Hulkamania tour - this may be the last time I ever wrestle. I'm going
back to the Unated States and I'm gonna run TNA. I'm gonna be on
camera, I'm gonna be behind the scenes taking care of business in the
back and if the fans scream and shout loud enough I might even lace the
boots up, brother, but I'm not planning on doing that. I'm planning on
taking that company and turning it into the number one company in the
business. When I leave here that's the mission I'm on and if I do come
back to Australia it would probably be with TNA.
Question: And I have to mention this, Hulk. One of my favourite
memories of you in the ring was when you took on The Rock at
WrestleMania 18 several years ago. You actually went into this match as
the so-called bad guy and The Rock was the good guy but you ended up
receiving all the cheers from the crowd. That was a unique situation.
Can you describe that whole moment for us?
Hulk Hogan: Brother, that goes back to what I'm talking about right
now. You have to give the fans what they want and that's what I'm
getting ready to do. I'm gonna do the Hulkamania tour and then when I
leave here I'm going back to the Unated States and when I work for TNA
I'm gonna turn the wrestling business upside-down. That's the same
thing that happened with WrestleMania 18. Vince McMahon wanted me to be
the bad guy. Vince McMahon wanted to put a bullet in Hulkamania. Vince
McMahon put me up against his number one good guy The Rock who had a
big push. And when I went out in front of 70,000 people in Toronto the
fans told Vince McMahon what they wanted and they booed The Rock out of
the building. They proved that the fans predict this business. These
fans predict what the atmosphere and the environment in this business
is all about. And that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go back to TNA
and I'm gonna listen to those fans and give them what they want. I'm
not gonna keep shoving a bunch of terrible, horrible, stale programming
down their throats. I'm gonna listen to the fans. I'm gonna take the
writers and tell them, "Go get another job. Sit in the back. If I need
you to write a jingle for a commercial, maybe we'll use you for that".
This is the wrestling business. If these wrestlers can't talk and these
wrestlers can't wrestle then they need to head for the door.
