Hulk Hogan spoke to Minnesota’s City Pages newspaper this week and made some interesting things to say about his relationship with Vince McMahon in the 1980s, how much power he’ll have in TNA and what it meant to announce his partnership with TNA at Madison Square Garden. To read the whole interview, visit Citypages.com.

Hogan claims that Vince “didn’t really understand the business” after buying the company from from his father, Vince McMahon, Sr. “I moved in next door to him in Connecticut and taught him all about lifting weights and riding motorcycles and partying like a mad man; and then I taught him about the wrestling business and making money,” Hogan said. “And now I’m doing that again with TNA Wrestling.”

Hogan also talked himself up as the savior for TNA. He said the company agreed that he could have a “Vince McMahon role” calling the shots for TNA. Hogan says he will be “unofficially” running the promotion and will have the same if not more influence than he had during his run in WCW.

“All I told these guys was that they should give me a chance. If they didn’t like what I was doing they can tell me to take a hike, but let me have the chance to come in and take a shot at it,” Hogan said. “Let the fans and the other wrestlers take a look and decide for themselves what they’re in to and I’m confident that I will get this thing rockin’.”

Hogan is already crediting himself with generating the most buzz for TNA in its history and explains the significance of announcing his partnership with TNA Wrestling at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“The proof is already out there. In the course of a few days we’ve got more buzz going for TNA Wrestling then it’s had in seven years. For example, no other wrestling organization had ever been able to get into Madison Square Garden in New York for like, 100 years, because Vince owns it and his family owned it before him. So I came in and was like, ‘Watch this.; And we did a press conference at Madison Square Garden.

— Sting is not expected to return to TNA action soon. Word going around is that he won’t return until several months into 2010.

— TNA President Dixie Carter announced via her twitter account that Knockouts champion ODB has signed a “new multiyear deal” with the promotion.

— Jim Cornette updated the Q&A section of his website with a long response to the question “What is your opinion of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff signing with TNA?” Cornette answered, “This whole thing reminds me of why I hate corporate wrestling. I must admit there are bright spots, like imagining Vince McMahon’s face and blood pressure when he heard the news, or hearing Hogan bitchslap Vince Russo by saying they’d be OK if “he stays in his place.” Can TNA make their minds up, LAST month everybody had to be “100% behind Russo’s creative direction” and THIS month they hire a guy who once SUED him for his lousy booking? They have reunited the same team that helped WCW lose more money than any wrestling promotion in history.” To continue reading, visit cornette’s official website.

Jerry Jarrett, one of the founders of TNA Wrestling, posted the following comments on his Facebook page today regarding TNA’s new partnership with Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff:

The hot news currently is all about Hulk Hogan and Eric Bishoff signing with TNA. I sincerely wish them well and from the one comment I read, Hulk might be able to bring a positive shift to the company. Hulk stated that he wants to help the new talent learn and appreciate the “Art of Professional Wrestling”. If he is allowed to do this, the product will greatly improve and it will be positive for the business.

The “Art of Professional Wrestling” has been lost recently and I place the blame squarly on the shoulders of the promoters of the business. Wrestling talent currently is over-produced to the point that most wrestlers are reduced to trying to be actors, (which most are not) by giving scripted interviews and robotic matches. To make matters worse, the scripts are written by producers who don’t have a clue what professional wrestling is all about.

In about five years the business changed and in my opinion for the worst. I discovered in 2002, when we started TNA, that the heart of the business had been removed and all that remained was the illusion of professional wrestling. I walked in the building in Huntsville, Ala. to find the ring filled with wrestlers rehearsing every move that they planned to make during their match. I watched as wrestlers sat reading and memorizing interviews. I was dumbfounded when I discovered that basic principals of the business were alien to the new wrestlers. I felt that I was talking in a foreign language. What is heat? What is a ring general? What is selling? What do you mean when you say listen to the fans?

I was told after I broke into this business that it was our duty to teach the new talent the “Art of Professional Wrestling”.I was told when we began TNA that the business had changed and it was not possible to go back to that art form. I have my personal excuses for not going in that direction, but I regret not trying and this is why I truly hope Terry can do what I could not do.

The business today has truly changed. The new wrestlers are taught in “training camps”, or wrestling schools. It seems to me that if you put twenty wrestlers in a school and one man teaches them all, they would tend to be somewhat clones of each other. Wrestlers should be taught the business by other wrestlers in live situations. A student who goes to a wrestling school will learn everything he is going to lean at the school in 90 days. He will never advance until he learns from veteran wrestlers in live match situations. Far too much emphases is placed on in ring work anyway. I think this is the result of wrestling websites, written by people who have never had a match, telling wrestlers that they have a 5 star match or a 2 star match. I’d guess that Hulk Hogan has never been given one 5 star match rating in his career. I’d also bet that he had drawn more money in the wrestling business than all the 5 star rated wrestles combined.

Superstars of the wrestling business become Superstars because of their personalities and not because of their in-ring wrestling abliity. Verbal skills are much more important that physical skills when it comes to drawing money in this business. You don’t develop verbal skills in a talent by writing a script and allowing the talent to read his lines. How can a writer of these interview scripts not produce clone interviews? The unique personalities of wrestlers are hidden and only the thoughts of this one writer are expressed.

The uniqueness of professional wrestling and it’s great public appeal is based on the interaction of personalities of the talent. To not understand this concept is to fail. If you take a walk in your memory and remember the great stars of professional wrestling, you will find that you best remember the personality and not the matches of these stars.

So Terry, good luck in your efforts. You have a big job in front of you.

Jerry

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune newspaper, Hulk Hogan pulled no punches when talking about his relationship with WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Hogan admits that his return to wrestling is partially motivated by money, but says the desire to help the industry and compete with Vince are also factors.

“Some people say Vince made wrestling and some say it was Hulk Hogan,” Hogan said. “We both did it together. I thought it would be cool to see who has more juice right now.” He added “I still have reasons to go do this, and it’s not just because I need to make money — which I do. I still love it. I still love it, man. I don’t know what else to say.”

Hulk explained that he wears his WWE Hall of Fame ring to cover up a tattoo of his ex-wife’s name, but any value the ring has is purely sentimental. “I think Vince McMahon paid $20 for it. My high school ring was better than this thing.”

Despite the expectations that he’s coming to TNA to wrestle, his true motivation is to get people excited about wrestling again. “It’s all about having fun and making the crowd go crazy and I think I can still do that, man. I might limp a little and might have to pull myself up by the ropes to get up, but I won’t know until I get in there,” he said. “If I really do embarrass myself to the point where fans are laughing at me, I’ll leave.”

Hogan also talked about his unsuccessful attempts to join the rock bands Metallica and the Rolling Stones. To read the entire interview, visit ChicagoTribune.com.

The news of Hulk Hogan’s partnership with TNA Wrestling helped this week’s iMPACT! increase 20% over last week.

The 10/29 edition of iMPACT! drew a 1.3 rating. By comparison, the 10/29 edition of WWE Superstars on WGN did a 0.9 rating.

This week’s iMPACT! featured footage from Hulk Hogan’s press conference from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The footage aired in the show’s final segment and TNA hyped it all night.

In an interview with Time Magazine, Hulk Hogan says that he chose to partner with TNA Wrestling instead of returning to World Wrestling Entertainment mostly because he wants to help the younger generation of wrestlers.

“When I woke up and realized I should be my own man and be responsible for being happy, I realized I still have a lot to contribute to the wrestling business,” Hogan said. “And jumping into TNA and being a part of that company is huge. I have a chance to give back and help these young wrestlers who don’t understand the business and the art form.”

Hogan explains how the business has changed dramatically since the 1980s. “The business moves so much faster now,” he responded. “It used to be if Andre the Giant and I had a feud, it’d probably play out six or seven months later at a big event. Nowadays, if Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan have a feud at 9 o’clock, it’s usually over by 9:30. It’s a story-telling art form to create emotion and drama and I just think a lot of that is lost.”

Here’s a classic Hogan quote .. The interviewer asked him about steroids, and how commonplace they were in the industry when he was coming up. Hogan said, “I just drank an iced tea here with lunch. If next year they say iced tea is worse than steroids, I’ll probably quit drinking that too. But at the time it was legal, just like drinking an iced tea is legal.”

To read the full interview, visit Time.com.

Following the announcement that Hulk Hogan will now be working with TNA Wrestling, there have been some curious changes to WWE.com that are worth noting.

Both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair’s profiles have been removed from the Alumni section of WWE.com. Eric Bischoff, who will be joining Hulk Hogan in working with TNA, still has a profile on the Alumni page.

While its somewhat understandable why Hogan’s profile would be taken down now that he’s working for WWE’s top competitor, there hasn’t really been anything newsworthy with Ric Flair in recent days. While he is wrestling next month despite WWE’s grand sendoff last year at WrestleMania, this has been known for quite some time.

Bubba The Love Sponge

Hulk Hogan’job role in TNA could be more than just appearing on television and the occasional match. Radio personality Bubba The Love Sponge has posted some comments on Twitter.com that stating that Hulk Hogan will have more power than virtually anybody in TNA.

Mr. Sponge wrote, “[Hogan] is the boss. Period. Him and Eric biscoff will run the show. Things are going to get interesting. Vince is going to have a shit fit.”

He later added, “The boss boss. No work. He wouldn’t go back to only be the work boss. He is the boss boss. Promise”

When asked by one of his Twitter follows what he meant by Hogan being the “boss”, he clarified by saying, “He is the Booker. Period. Saw it in his contract. Terry and Eric won’t make the same mistakes that they made at wcw.”

• Check out: Bubba The Love Sponge’s Website

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated his blog at JRsBarBQ.com with his thoughts on Hulk Hogan signing with TNA Wrestling and Hogan’s ability to keep hiimself in the spotlight:

“Hogan makes big news this week launching his new book, talking Australian tour, and briefly mentioning TNA on what I saw of his Larry King appearance Tuesday night of which ‘Ol Lar’ phoned it in.”

“Hulk Hogan is ALL over the news this week which re-establishes the premise that Hulk is one of the greatest, self promoters of all time…BROTHER! Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as any independent contractor who is entrepreneurial in spirit such as a pro wrestler has to have the ability to promote one’s self in order to survive over time. Hogan is an old school guy, in many ways, so ‘keeping one’s self over’ is nothing new and many guys have raised that skill to an art form but none better than Hulk.

Hot of the heels of yesterday’s blockbuster news that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are now officially working with TNA Wrestling, there could be another industry-changing announcement brewing.

TNA Wrestling executives (including president Dixie Carter) were in New York City yesterday for Hulk Hogan’s Madison Square Garden press conference – but that’s not all they’re in town for.

SEScoops.com can confirm that TNA execs are meeting with Spike TV today in New York about moving TNA iMPACT! to Monday nights. From what we’re told, the show would air 8pm to 10pm, head-to-head with the first hour of WWE Raw.

We should have more on this story soon – possibly later today, so keep checking back for the latest.

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hoganwas a guest on the Howard Stern SiriusXM satellite radio show on Wednesday morning. There was

– Hogan confirmed what we reported earlier this year, that he had talks with WWE about facing John Cena at WrestleMania 25. The match never happened because Hogan pulled his back out while training.

– Hogan claims WWE CEO Vince McMahon contacted him recently about hosting an upcoming edition of WWE Raw. Ironically enough, Vince wanted Hogan to host WWE Raw on November 16th from Madison Square Garden – the location where Hogan held a press conference this week to announce he’s signed with TNA Wrestling.

– Hogan also claimed Vince McMahon wanted to begin the Hulk Hogan retirement tour, similar to what they did for Ric Flair last year. Hogan said he still feels he has plenty of gas left in the tank and doesn’t want to retire.

– Hulk said the main reason he signed with TNA Wrestling instead of going back to work for WWE is because Vince wanted to own the rights to the Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania names – which he wouldn’t do. He told Howard that Vince is probably not pleased with his decision to sign with TNA.

Hulk Hogan appeared on Larry King Live tonight on CNN to plug his new book, My Life Outside The Ring. The interview started off with Hulk explaining why he came out with the book now, saying that he wants to give people hope and show them that life is worth fighting for.

He says that he “crashed and burned” and his life as he knew it had changed when he walked into his house and it was completely empty. He says he prayed to be happy, and things changed instantly. He recounts the story where he came close to suicide but a friendly phone call from Layla Ali gave him hope. He talks about how he hardly knew her but she called to check on him because she saw how lost he was on the set of American Gladiators when he was served with the divorce papers. Larry got a quote from Ali who says she had no idea the shape he was in when she called her, but that the phone call was divine intervention.

He says they weren’t hiding anything on Hogan Knows Best, but rather were hoping that the show would bring them together. He says he has learned that life is beautiful, and he doesn’t retract anything in the book because it’s all the truth. Hulk briefly mentions that Linda is still with Charlie Hill, who went to school with his children.

Larry calls Hulk’s story “incredible” and says the book is sure to be a best-seller.

They show a clip of Nick Hogan on Brooke Knows Best talking about losing his mind in solitary confinement in jail. Hulk says Nick is a great kid and walks in the spirit of Christ. He says both Nick and Brooke are great kids, and what happened with Nick was an accident. Hulk’s lawyer says that Hulk has always wanted to take care of John Graziano, but they feel some people among John’s guardians have ulterior motives. He says Hulk is being sued because he co-owned the vehicle and allowed his son to drive it. He says Brooke is working on her career and doing great things.

Hulk says he’s handled all of the recent events in his life by going back to a place that was real, and that was back of inside himself to find the spirit of Christ. He says that he already possesses everything he needs to be happy inside him, and now he attracts positive things because he‘s realized that.

They show footage from Hulk Hogan’s press conference at Madison Square Garden today. They show a bunch of fans wearing their Hulkamania gear and that one guy with a huge Hulk Hogan tattoo on his back. Larry mentions that Hulk has signed with TNA, and asks if Hulk will get back in the ring. Hulk says he is going to contribute as much as he can in TNA and take the business to a whole new level. He says he’s going to test out his legs in the ring in Australia before he decides if he’ll get in the TNA ring or not.

On the subject of steroids, he says when he got in the business everyone was using them and it was the norm. He says around 1988-1990 people got educated on it and realized it wasn’t necessary.

Hulk says Nick Hogan is heading out to Rikishi’s wrestling school in north Hollywood in his spare time and is learning the ropes. He thinks Nick is curious about what attracted his dad to the wrestling business all those years and wants to get in shape.

To close off the segment, Hulk says he wants to do a reality show where they find the next Hulk Hogan, like American Idol for wrestling.

BREAKING: Ric Flair To TNA; Full Details On Plans for Flair & Hulk [FULL REPORT >>]

Credit: PWInsider.com

For those who have asked whether Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff coming into the company means they are going to take the reigns of TNA, I am told, “absolutely not.” The signing is not a precursor to removing the current TNA creative team. Given Vince Russo’s past issues with Hogan, that is going to be extremely interesting to follow.

There are SpikeTV and TNA banners up at the Hogan press conference outside Madison Square Garden right now. Jimmy Hart is with Hogan as well. The signing was kept a secret to even the inner-most members of the TNA circle until today.

The press conference today featured Eric Bischoff introducing Hogan. Hogan talked about TNA and stated he was becoming a “partner” in the company and that he was feeling great and looking forward to being a part of the company. The conference left the impression Hogan may be involved as a personality, but not wrestling for the group.

TNA President Dixie Carter gave a short speech saying she was looking forward to working with Hogan and that while they have great ratings for a Thursday night, Hogan would be the “boost that TNA needed.” SpikeTV’s Kevin Kay was also in attendance and gave a brief statement about the network working with Hogan.

The Q&A session was said to mostly be fluff fan type questions, although one fan did ask Hogan whether working with Vince Russo would be an issue. Hogan responded that as long as Russo stayed in his place and didn’t cross him, there would be no issues. Hogan then said that if he did, Hogan would have to take care of it.

When the topic of Eric Bischoff came up, Hogan did not say Bischoff was working with him in TNA but noted they have other side projects they are working on.

The details are still coming in, but I’ve received word that Hulk Hogan has signed a contract with TNA Wrestling and will announce the deal this afternoon at a press conference from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

A source who is at Madison Square Garden has informed us that TNA Wrestling president Dixie Carter as well as several top TNA executives are at MSG for the announcement. There are Spike TV & TNA Wrestling banners at the press conference – this is about to go down in a BIG way.

UPDATE: PWInsider.com is now reporting that Eric Bischoff will be joining Hulk Hogan in TNA as well.

More on this story as it develops … Keep checking back throughout the day.