This is Bobby Roode’s week. Sunday is TNA’s biggest show of the year – Bound For Glory – and for the first time in several years, the main event features the opportunity to push one of TNA’s young, up-and-coming homegrown talents to the next level .. There’s a good chance Bobby Roode will go over on Sunday night and have the biggest night of his carrer. But that didn’t stop TNA’s biggest star, Hulk Hogan, from totally burying the guy this week.
Hulk Hogan taped an appearance with The Busted Open show on Thursday that will air today at 3pm on Sirius Radio. When asked whether Bobby Roode is ready for to be the #1 guy in TNA – here’s what Hogan said:
“Nah, he’s not ready. He’s not the next guy. Ya’ know, they might think he is. Dixie Carter might think he is. The whole world might think he is. He’s not the next guy. If I had to bet money on anybody and really be serious about betting money on anybody, I’d say Jeff Hardy is the next guy if he keeps his act together.”
“Um, that’s what you gotta to have, man. This is much more than being a wrestler, this is crossing barriers, medias, ya’ know media barriers, and, and entertainment barriers of all kind. Getting your character down verbally has 90% to do with getting over.”
“I just have a very strong feeling Kurt Angle’s going to clean his clock performance wise, and carry the match, and basically remains the champion. He’s training for the Olympics. He’s had some up and down moments, and I think this is not gonna be a down moment for Kurt Angle, so I’m betting that farm on him.”
Here are some more highlights of what Hulk Hogan said about several other TNA stars and his match with Sting on Sunday:
James Storm: “I’d go with James Storm all day long. Mainstream brotha’! Cowboy hat, beer drinking, middle America, Nascar, Walmart, Country Western. I mean all day long, it’s a no brainer. That’s me. That’s my opinion. So, I mean, Bobby Roode’s a tremendous athlete. I would change. I’d build him from Venice Beach, California or Omaha, Nebraska instead of, I dunno, Canada, eh’? I love him to death. He’s a great kid. When he looked down at me from the ring, and we had an argument one day, and he goes, “What the hell have you ever done?” I said man, this guy’d be a great heel, but yeah he has a lot of potential there for him to, but if you ask me to choose who to run with’, and you gave me those two choices? That’s my opinion.”
Jeff Hardy: “If I had to bet money on anybody, and really be serious about betting money on anybody, I’d say Jeff Hardy’s the next guy if he keeps his act together. Well, I think he’s got a lot of shine to him, I mean he just doesn’t have 5-star matches. He shines outside the ring. He walks through the mall, and people know who he is. He’s got a look, he’s got an air about him. He’s got the “IT” factor. That’s what you gotta’ have, man. This is much more than being a wrestler. This is crossing barriers, medias,, media barriers, and, and entertainment barriers of all kind. And I think the kid, Jeff Hardy has the potential to really be the guy.”
AJ Styles: “It’s never too late. I mean, I just don’t know. I, when I first came in all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed a couple of years ago, I had a ton of suggestions which I was kind of pushing real hard, which I thought would take him to a crazy, crazy level, and nobody responded. So, I don’t know at this point. I have my ideas, but a lot of things that I believe in, and what I feel from the crowd, and what I know. The little I know about this business. Sometimes, it’s either taken and used, or used and it doesn’t work, or it’s not used at all. So, it’s just..it’s my opinion. I don’t know at this point.”
Wrestling Sting at Bound for Glory: “The main event is Kurt Angle, thank god! And uh, Bobby Roode stepped up, and he’s definitely become a presence, so I’m betting the farm on Kurt Angle, and uh, I guess I’m kind of like the icing on the cake, Sting and I have a crazy track record with Pay-Per-View buy numbers, and it just made sense to give everybody a little extra, and let everybody know, and, that it’s not a performance orientated match. Of course none of em’ were for me, anyway. But it’s a situation where I think there’s gonna’ be some interest to see what happens out there with Sting and I, and if I can roll my walker down the ramp, I’ll be good to go. I don’t even want to think about it. It’s just going to happen like everything else. I’m not into talking about diving off something or falling off something. I never have really talked about a match. There’s really nothing to talk about. You gotta’ go out there and listen to what the people want. They want a car crash, they’ll get one. I’m not looking for back surgery #9 or anything like that. I mean I’m not out of my mind, and crazy. I don’t think Sting’s ever really had anything broken on his face. My nose and teeth are, have been so beat up, it doesn’t matter, but Sting? I don’t know if he can take one straight in. Even as of last week, it was there. I just stood in the ring with him, and it’s electric. I mean it’s there. You just follow that energy man, and we could end up in the middle of the ring, we could end up at the top of the building, I mean you just don’t know. It could go 5 seconds, it could go 50 minutes, I don’t know. I mean, if it’s there, it’s there, and right now, standing in the ring with him, it’s there. I’ve stood in the ring with a lot of people that it hasn’t been there. But I’m not worried about this one because it’s there. The feeling and the energy’s there from the people. They want to see something crazy happen. Well, I had my last match a long time ago, so we definitely didn’t attempt to build this as a match. It’s kind of like, almost a grey area again. The crazier Sting gets, the more over his character gets, but then the down side should have been me getting booed more, but it’s kind of like the N.W.O. feel all of a sudden. The more aggressive I get, the more people cheer me out of loyalty, out of love, out of compassion, whatever it is. I think the people might’ve farted at me turning good guy, shaking hands, and going you know what? One last fight, and I’m gonna’ fade off into the sunset. I don’t think they would’ve bought that. The timing doesn’t feel right for that.”
