SEScoops

Tag: Hulk Hogan

  • Hogan & Bubba The Love Sponge Discuss Incident With Kong

    Hulk Hogan appeared on The Bubba The Love Sponge radio show Tuesday morning and discussed the shock jock’s altercation with Awesome Kong the previous day. Courtesy of www.angrymarks.com, here is a transcript of the discussion:

    BUBBA: She was wearing wrestling gear, and she came in on me and sucker punched me right on my left cheek, and I was like, what’s going on… then she came out me again, hit me again in the mouth, and she goes, “This if for Haiti! This is for Haiti!” and I’m like “What is going on?” Then she hits me again… Finally I put my left hand out and push her away from me, and she comes at me again and I just cover up, because I cannot fight back on a woman. Not only will I be fired from TNA, which I probably am, but my radio career is gone if I take a woman out!

    HOGAN: I tell you what, though, after what happened, if you had clocked her you’d have got away with it.

    BUBBA: Maybe on the streets I’d have gotten away with it, but, how would the media have spun that had I clocked her?

    HOGAN: What nobody knows, and this is the real truth, that there were certain people there, y’know, and of course they have to run it by me and Dixie… she should get off the property, she should be fired immediately, that’s it. It was so violent. You could have actually lost an eye, you could have had your teeth knocked out. But, to give you your creedo, you are the one who said no, don’t fire her.

    BUBBA: No, I don’t want you to fire her.

    MANSON: Now, I’m confused. Does Hogan think that this is a funny incident?

    BUBBA: No, no he’s not. He knows how serious it is. He was being a dick earlier… but I don’t think he agrees with it. And, you know what, they said we were going to fire her and I said no, don’t fire her. Now, if she’s done other stuff, I can’t help what happens to her on other situations, but don’t fire her for sucker punching me, I don’t want to cost anybody their job.

    HOGAN: I think this is really just the beginning of a match made in heaven.

    BUBBA: No, that’s fine… that’s fine. But I tell you one thing, Hogan. If you… you better not call it pro wrestling, you might as well put the cage up and make it MMA because I will not work, I promise you that. You’re not going to embarrass me like that, and be that much of a loose cannon in this industry…

    MANSON: Oh now you’re gonna kick her ass? I don’t think you want a piece of her in the cage.

    BUBBA: Let me ask you, you’re the only person who has a cool head. Had I defended myself, and not covered up, and just blocked what the remaining of what she put in. Had I actually fought her, and done well, what would I be facing right now?

    HOGAN: Well, first off, you’d have killed her. She’s real good at throwing a sucker punch, but the way she was swinging at you, and everything, you could have shot right between her arms and knocked her out. It wouldn’t have been cool, y’know, there would be all kind of heat… You did the right thing, y’know, because you did not hit her back, and she was swinging wild and she’s out of her mind… you did the right thing, but at the end of the day it comes back to you and me hanging out together. You know you’re going to get heat, I told you this a long time ago. BUT, don’t put this one on me, because you stirred that up.

    BUBBA: How did I? I’m not putting this on you, but you lead by example… I’m gonna be honest, man, nobody there likes me. And they think, hold on, Hogan, they think I’m in there… I’m not a wrestler, I’m not going to take anybody’s job, I’m not gonna take anybody’s backstage announcing gig. I’m there to help you and try to get the TNA product going and working. I’m not a boss, I’m not a agent, I’m not nothing there and everybody… a lot of the old dudes, but AJ Styles gives me dirty looks…

    HOGAN: Well the word I got on the street last night was that Russo stirred this up, and Russo put her up to it.

    BUBBA: I don’t agree with that.

    HOGAN: It’s true! I heard it!

    MANSON: Now, did she give you a finishing move, because she’s known for a body avalanche, a gorilla press slam…

    BUBBA: No, no…

    HOGAN: She shoulda pushed Bubba over her head, splashed Bubba, and then just bounced off the wall and done two or three belly splashes…

    MANSON: Awesome Kong, she’s so awesome…

    BUBBA: Wait until my lawyers call Dixie up today.

    HOGAN: I just think you should get there early today, and just like she sucker punched you, I think because Russo set this up, you should just knock his assout.

    BUBBA: Well, I dunno… I don’t think Russo did this…

    HOGAN: He did it, I’m telling you as your friend! I wouldn’t lie to you!

    BUBBA: Hogan, I love you to death, but you’re the biggest worker… hold on. You’re taking something that really did happen and trying to make it an angle And the bottom line is, y’know what? All the wrestling sheets, you should know this is real because I didn’t talk about it, and I was upset so bad last night. Hogan, I mean, God, Dixie cannot want to deal with all this Bubba drama…

    HOGAN: No, this is just your chance to even the score, straighten this out. You just go right up to Russo when he’s not looking and you just sucker punch him like she sucker punched you.

    BUBBA: It will be more of a fight between Russo and I, he’s a pretty big dude, than me and Kong, but that isn’t going to be fair.

    HOGAN: You can beat Russo up! Especially if you sucker punch him!

    BUBBA: Manson, let me tell you about this Awesome Kong chick. She put three of them on my right cheek that you wouldn’t believe. If you look at my forearms they’re all scratched up. And she’s all, like it’s Braveheart, “HAAAITIII! HAAAIIITI!” And I’m like what… and there’s a woman named Mandy who saw it all… and then she took a glass container and threw it down.

    MANSON: That’s why a camera should be on you at all times. That’s priceless footage.

    HOGAN: I thought it was great!

    BUBBA: But, hey, Hogan, what you don’t realize that they have “eyes in the sky” there, did you know that? They have … that whole entire building has surveillance on it. I’m gonna go get that tape.

    HOGAN: Well I can’t wait to see it because I can’t believe how quick she dropped your ass!

    BUBBA: She happened to meet me right there, where you guys… just outside the door, you know where it happened, right? I was going to go talk to Val Venis about something, I was heading to Catering, and she met me just down that hallway a little bit before you go down to Eric’s office. She was by herself and she was coming to find me. Just minutes before that, I was in that little office area where you and Eric did that shoot, talking to Hall and Nash and Sixx-Pac. So she was coming to find me, regardless where I was. And what if she had done it right there? She’d have got an ass-whipping by the boys!

    HOGAN: By the boys? There’d have been nobody around. The only reason you covered up is because everybody was watching, and you knew you had to behave. I think if you had been by herself you would have counter clocked her ass.

    BUBBA: Yeah, but she happened to catch me kinda in a dead area. What if we were shooting and she came in and did that, I mean, she was going to find me regardless of where I was.

    HOGAN: Oh, yeah, she was on the hunt! I’ve been around this business for a long time, and I’ve seen Dirty Dan Spivey just destroy Adrian Adonis to the point where we had to stop that. I’ve seen Paul Orndorff, naked, with a pair of shower shoes, kick Vader’s head in. But, without a doubt, when she hit you in your mouth, I thought she broke your jaw, I thought that was one of the hardest sucker punches I’ve ever seen thrown in this business, where it connected.

    BUBBA: But it didn’t drop me!

    HOGAN: All joking aside, I’m really proud of you for not knocking her out, bro, because that wouldn’t be cool.

    BUBBA: I’m gonna be honest with you, Hogan. After her third punch to me, in my mind I’m like, do I take her down with a double-leg, and then just pummel her. Or do I try to bring my right around… and in my head in the quarter-second I had to think about I was like, “You’re done, you’re over! You’ll be off the radio!” Women’s right will get you, look what happened when I barbecued a hog…

    HOGAN: If you had hit her, you might have killed her. I’m serious, because the way you were stiff-arming her, she was flailing, she was so out of her mind, if you had sucker punched her between the eyes you might have killed her. I’m proud of you for not doing it, BUT… but what happened, she deserved it.

    BUBBA: Dixie has a nice work environment… don’t I, have a talent there, have a right to walk around and not get beat up?

    HOGAN: You didn’t get beat up, you just got beat on!

    BUBBA: And it was a triple Lindy, three of them connected boom-boom-boom. And then I was like, man… and then, on the third one, I got my left hand out, and I’m keeping her off, my hand’s on like her collarbone area, and at that point she was wailing around, and I was like, do I drop her, do I shoot a double or single leg, or do I get down on a knee and cover up…

    HOGAN: Oh, she’d have kicked your brains in if you had got down on your knee.

    BUBBA: I know… but, do I just … hopefully somebody gets her off me, so if I don’t defend myself I can’t get in trouble. I was worried about lawsuits, women’s activists and getting in trouble if I had fought back and dropped her, or tried, or even attempted to..

    HOGAN: When you Hulked up… and you could see that your eyeballs were rolling back like a shark, and you were going to knock her out. .. but all the sudden you had presence of mind just to cover up and to do the rope-a-dope which was the way to go…

    BUBBA: Which makes me look like a pussy…

    HOGAN: No, it didn’t make you look like a pussy. If you had hurt that woman, it wouldn’t have been cool. Even though you could have gotten away with it, it still wouldn’t have been cool.

    BUBBA: Brent, what’s your spin on it? By the way, I will tell you this, on the way home I called Brent, he’s my confidant, I’m like, Brent, I’m really tore up with this. Brent, you wern’t happy about it, were you?

    BRENT: No, I’m still not happy about it. If I were you, and I’m shooting now, I’m being 100% serious, I’d never work another day in my life, and the only correspondence that they would get from me would be through Carlson and Wisner.

    HOGAN: Oh, please!

    BUBBA: Well, I’m just sayin’… to each their own.

    BRENT: Hostile work environment. It’s all day…slam dunk!

    BUBBA: Well, it is, it is all day, but… I dunno.

    HOGAN: You did the right thing, it’s all good, man. It ain’t no big deal.

    BUBBA: It’s no big deal to you, you’re not the one whose getting punked out when you go to work today.

    HOGAN: I thought it was awesome. AWESOME KONG RULES!

    BUBBA: Go ahead and put her over, Hogan. It’s called lack of leadership, my friend, she obviously has the mindset that you ain’t shit and you don’t care. She went after your number one guy, and what are you going to do about it, old timer? You’re all bark and no bite there, buddy!

    HOGAN: I’m going to book you and Russo together, because he’s the one who set it up.

    BUBBA: Or the fact that he set it up and you’re not doing anything.

    HOGAN: I’m setting it up!

    BUBBA: You’re not even sticking up for me on this.

    HOGAN: Oh, Jesus Christ, it was a girl, a 350-pound girl, calm down!… I was just worried about your shoulder, I knew you had hurt your shoulder trying to hold that monster off.

    BUBBA: Oh, my shoulder is amped…

  • Dixie Carter & Hulk Hogan Meet With Spike TV President

    TNA president Dixie Carter posted a message on Twitter stating that she and Hulk Hogan met with Spike TV president Kevin Kay on Thursday night. Carter wrote:

    “In LA for the TV Critics Conference. Just got back from dinner w/Hogan & Kevin Kay Pres. of Spike. Very exciting talks. Stay tuned.”

    In an interview that took place prior to TNA’s live Monday special on January 4th, Spike TV president Kevin Kay said the network was willing to move iMPACT! to Monday nights on a permanent basis if that show was successful – which it clearly was.

    Another good sign for TNA and wrestling fans everywhere.

  • Rumored Dates For Next Monday iMPACT!, Hogan-Bischoff, nWo

    – Following reports that Spike TV was very happy with TNA’s ratings performance against WWE RAW on January 4th, another live Monday iMPACT is being planned for March. March 1st and March 8th are the two dates Spike is considering.  Regarding going live permanently, everyone expects it to happen this year.

    – Spike TV played a big part in TNA bringing Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff in. Spike reportedly earmarked money and helped out with the contracts as they have done in the past with other major TNA signings such Kurt Angle, Sting and Mick Foley. Spike executives Kevin Kay and Brian Diamond are firmly behind Hulk Hogan and his importance to TNA when they ultimately look to challenge RAW on Monday nights week after week.

    – Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan were  in noticeable pain after last Tuesday’s iMPACT tapings. Hallw was having hard time getting around after the show. Some were surprised that Hogan was able to jog backstage at the end of Monday’s show because he was struggling to get around backstage so much.

    – As noted before, Sean Waltman had some heat on him after showing up late to the iMPACT tapings last Tuesday. Waltman told TNA officials that he was battling a stomach flu on Monday, but many were skeptical about Waltman’s excuse because of his track record.  TNA is counting on Waltman to take the majority of bumps for Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, just as he did in the nWo days.

    (Credit to Wrestling Observer Newsletter & prowrestling.net)

  • Final Card For Sunday’s TNA Genesis PPV

    TNA Genesis: This Sunday night
    TNA Genesis: This Sunday night

    Below is the final card for this Sunday’s TNA Genesis pay-per-view.

    Note that TNA has confirmed that a “major acquisition” will make his debut at the show.

    TNA World Heavyweight Title Match
    Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles
    * Angle’s Last Shot at AJ’s World Title in 2010

    TNA World Tag Team Title Match
    Matt Morgan & Hernandez vs. The British Invasion

    TNA Knockouts Title Match – Best of 3 Falls
    Tara vs. ODB

    TNA X Division Title Match
    Amazing Red vs. Opponent to be Announced That Night

    Scott Hall & Kevin Nash vs. Beer Money

    Bobby Lashley vs. Abyss

    Sean Morley vs. Daniels

    Desmond Wolfe vs. The Pope

  • Jeremy Borash Hints At “Big Name” Making Surprise Debut Soon

    — Jeremy Borash said this morning during an appearance on the Pain Clinic radio show that TNA is expected to debut a big-name wrestler at the Genesis pay-per-view, which takes place on Jan. 17. He indicated it would be a “big surprise.”

    — Hulk Hogan’s TNA entrance theme is actually not a new song as it can be heard on the WCW Nitro and WCW/nWo Thunder video games released on Playstation in the late nineties. At the time, a sound-alike was created because THQ didn’t own the rights to the actual New World Order song.

    — Kurt Angle appears on this week’s editions of TNA Today and Live Events Center. Click here to view the videos.

  • Hogan Says He’s Working To Move iMPACT! To Mondays

    Bubba The Love Sponge
    Bubba The Love Sponge

    TNA’s Hulk Hogan called into the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show this morning. Visit BTLS.com for more on Bubba’s show. Here are some highlights:

    Monday’s Steel Cage Asylum Match: Hulk and Bubba talked about the Steel Cage Assylum match that opened the show, which they both agreed was a disaster. Hulk said that when he and Bubba were in the production meeting on Sunday, about 10 people told him there was a decent door to the cage. He then got to the iMPACT! Zone on Monday and found out it had no real door and that none of the wrestlers could climb out of the top, hence the DQ finish. There were plans for a big bump off the cage but it just was not possible. He and Bubba agreed that the Steel Cage Assylum needs to be scraped for good.

    iMPACT! Moving To Mondays: Hulk says they have kinda dropped the ball by taping a Thursday show the day after going live and that right after he hangs up with Bubba he is gonna call Dixie Carter, Eric Bischoff and the people at Spike and tell them that they need to be on Mondays live from now on. He says he knows that it will cost a ton of money but you gotta spend money to make money. Hulk says that he will get Vince’s audience a bit at a time just like he did in WCW.

    They also talked about planned upgrades to the iMPACT! zone, “making nice” with the Bubba listeners who were denied entry to iMPACT! and Hogan’s divorce.

  • TNA Wrestlers Paranoid Over Hogan-Bischoff Takeover

    There is major paranoia in the TNA locker room now due to the arrivals of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, according to a report in the PWTorch Newsletter.

    There are a number of wrestlers now concerned about their standing with the company, after so many new wrestlers were brought in. There general consensus backstage is that roster changes are inevitable. Wrestlers who get paid per-date are also concerned about TNA keeping them under contract but not using them, as they only get paid when they are actually used.

    Despite all the new faces, few are believed to have actual long-term contracts. The word backstage at iMPACT was that Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Sean Morely and others were working without lengthy deals.

    The following is an ADVERTISEMENT and takes you away from SEScoops.com:
    BREAKING: TNA’s Next Major Signing Revealed [FULL REPORT >>]

  • Detailed Breakdown Of TNA’s Viewership: Who Drew?

    Hulk Hogan
    Hulk Hogan

    Big props to PWTorch.com for getting a hold of the minute-by-minute ratings data:

    In a news bit that should surprise no one, a minute-by-minute breakdown of Monday’s TNA iMPACT! rating reveals that the first Hulk Hogan segment contained the most-watched portion of the show.

    After opening with a whopping 3.05 million viewers for Hulk Hogan’s walk to the ring, Hogan’s first live segment peaked with 3.36 million viewers at 9PM. This figure then gradually (and steadily) declined as people began tuning out, presumably to view the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels encounter on WWE RAW.

    What is interesting, however, is that the next biggest attraction was neither Jeff Hardy, Ric Flair nor any of the active male TNA performers. Rather, it was The Beautiful People’s strip poker game. While TNA’s Knockouts have often drawn well in comparison to the other action, it is surprising that they maintained their dominant level of appeal on such a star-studded show.

    The first instance of the poker game drew between 3.00 and 3.01 million viewers; a segment that also featured Sean Morley drew 2.9 million viewers just after 9:30PM. Aside from a portion of Hulk Hogan’s appearance, the Beautiful People were far and away the biggest draw of hour two.

  • Hogan Stressed Backstage At iMPACT, Holds Meeting

    Hulk Hogan was said to be very stressed backstage at iMPACT on Monday, and feels the company has organizational issues. TNA was still filming pre-tapes late in the day, and it was said to be a very chaotic atmosphere for Hulk compared to the treatment he was used to in WCW and WWE.

    Hogan held a meeting with the TNA roster prior to the show, which was described as a basic pep talk meeting. Hulk told the wrestlers that he’s looking forward to getting to know them all. He told them his door is always open, and gave the impression that he and Bischoff are running the show, although Vince Russo is still handling his usual backstage duties.

    Some backstage sources say Russo came across as withdrawn, and after the show was telling people he had no idea what the storyline direction will be going forward.

    (Source: PWTorch Newsletter)

  • TNA & Spike TV’s Reaction To Monday’s Ratings

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    TNA officials and Spike TV executives were thrilled with the iMPACT rating numbers that came in yesterday. As previously reported, iMPACT! drew a 1.5 overall rating (2.2 million viewers) with the show peaking at a 1.9 ratingng (2.5 million viewers) for start of hour 2, featuring the debut of Hulk Hogan.

    TNA President Dixie Carter wrote the following on her Twitter yesterday:

    “Thank you, thank you for helping TNA set RECORD ratings in every way last night. We ALL won.”

    There is now serious discussion within TNA of putting on a weekly Monday night show head-to-head with WWE’s RAW. The most likely scenario we’ve heard would be TNA iMPACT! running from 8-10pm ET, only going head-to-head with RAW for 1 hour.

    – In an update from last night’s TNA iMPACT spoilers, Hulk Hogan did in fact appear in a backstage segment. Jeff Hardy was not at last night’s iMPACT tapings.

  • Hogan Holds Backstage Meeting & More On TNA’s New Direction

    – Hulk Hogan held a big meeting with the TNA entire roster backstage in Orlando today and the outcome was said to be very positive. The meeting was described as ‘rallying of the troops’ for tonight’s special with Hogan telling talent that this is their opportunity to shine.

    – Bubba the Love Sponge, who is the new backstage interviewer for TNA, said on his radio show today that there was a TNA creative meeting last night and that Hulk Hogan is definitely in charge as he vetoed some of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting with a “we’re not doing it like that” mentality. Bubba says that the direction TNA is going will appeal to the 18-34 year old male demographic and will be the opposite of what WWE is putting out. Bubba used the term “man stuff” when describing the TNA storyline direction.

  • Hulk Hogan Appearing as “Hollywood Hogan” Tonight?

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    Hulk Hogan may be showing up on iMPACT! tonight as his former “Hollywood Hogan” nWo character.

    New TNA backstage announcer and radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge posted a picture of Hulk Hogan working out on Sunday and Hogan is sporting a black beard with his blonde mustache – the look he had back in WCW at its peak.

    To see the picture of Hollywood Hogan, click here.

    With Scott Hall and Sean Waltman rumored to appear at iMPACT! and Kevin Nash already appearing, will we see an nWo reunion tonight?

  • Hulk Hogan Responds To CM Punk Trash Talking Him

    Hulk Hogan has responded to negative comments made about him by WWE superstar CM Punk about him this morning on the BJ Shea Morning Experience show in Seattle. You can listen to an MP3 of the interview at this link.

    Hogan listened to the comments and said, “Well, you know, it’s kind of like the law of attraction. He’s probably going to attract more of that negative stuff to his career because, you know, if you’re functioning on that level, that’s probably what you are going to attract, but at the end of the day, you know, I was selling out Madison Square Garden when that kid was pooping in his diapers, so you know, you’re going to see what I’m all about. I’m not there to wrestle. I don’t have a contract to wrestle. I’m there to run this company. Make it better, like I said, give the talent a choice. All the talents that are locked in there…I’m sure Vince McMahon is giving CM Punk the big push but paying him crumbs, because I know how that goes, because I’m giving the fans a choice, and the talent a choice and I’m going to prove to this negative guy that he’s wrong.”

    When asked about Punk making a personal attack on him, Hogan said, “That’s cool. I understand he’s surrounded by negative stuff up there and I can see why he’s jaded in his opinion. One of the things that I learned a long time ago is that you can’t judge anyone. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Some of the craziest looking, weirdest people seem to be the nicest people and the most honest people in the world. I would never judge anyone before I meet them. Some day down the road, CM Punk and I are probably going to work together and I would never judge him under any preconceived notions. I would judge him on the type of person he was when I met him. It’s all good, brother. I am vibing so high brother. I am going to reward those who are with me and those who aren’t my friends, I am going to win them over and make them my friends.”

    ** JEFF HARDY Says He’ll Be At TNA iMPACT! Tonight – Full Details

  • Hall, Bischoff, Russo Attend Hogan TNA Party (Live Report)

    Gary Cantrel of The Shoot radio show sent out the following recap of Hulk Hogan’s party at Margaritaville in Orlando.

    Visit BlogTalkRadio.com/TheShoot to listen to Gary’s show.

    The event did start promptly at five. There was quite a line to go into the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville resturant. The event was being held on the 2nd floor which filled up real quick. They were letting only a number of people up at a time. I just happened to be at the front of the line at one point when they filled up so I was outside for quite a while. There were two camera crews filming the entire event. The Spike TV/TNA crew and the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show crew who film material for his website and DVDs.

    Several people showed up and greeted fans waiting outside. First up was Eric Bischoff, who had his own personal camera man. It wasn’t a large camera so it could be footage for his own personal website
    . He was definitely very polite to everyone while in front of the camera. He went through pretty much the whole line and took photos with people.

    Next up was Scott Hall, who came over with someone, was probably a manager or friend or something. He too was taking pictures with the fans outside.

    Vince Russo also checked out the line. He seemed very polite and talked with some of the fans.

    The Spike TV/TNA crew came back to the front this time with Bubba the Love Sponge. He is doing the interviews. They first filmed Hogan coming outside with Bischoff and Scott Hall. Bubba did several interviews with fans.

    Later on after we got inside of the building, they had a ton more lights and Jeremy Borash was inside with cameras pumping the crowd up. They did several shots with fans chanting various things such as “TNA” and “Hogan.” They had Bubba interviewing more fans. After they recorded the footage and some additional B-Roll they thanked the fans for coming ou

  • Hogan Celebration In Orlando On 1/3 & Lots More News

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    – TNA Wrestling will be holding a part at Universal Citywalk in Orlando on January 3rd to celebrate Hulk Hogan’s iMPACT! debut the following night. Hogan and many other TNA stars will be there. The event will be filmed by TNA and parts will air on the three-hour iMPACT special the next night. Radio personality and longtime Hogan ally Bubba the Love Sponge is apparently having a big role with the event that they’re billing as a “Pre-Hulkamania Invades TNA” party. It begins at 5PM and admission is free. This event is expected to be similar to the Hulkamania Parade thrown by WCW back in 1994 when Hogan joined that company.

    – Hulk Hogan came in at #85 on a “2009’s Most Annoying People” list in the UK. Hogan was listed for the OJ Simpson comments he made about his ex-wife earlier this year.

    – TNA will be releasing a Best of 2009 DVD on February 16th, 2010.

    – As previously reported , top independent tag team The Young Bucks have signed with TNA Wrestling. There is talk of them debuting on the January 4th live iMPACT.

    — Alissa Flash noted on her Twitter account that last week, she accidentally stepped on some shattered Christmas ornaments destroyed by her cat in the middle of the night. This could explain why she did not appear at last Monday’s all-Knockout television taping.

    — The TNA website has posted all-new holiday photos of Sarita, Velvet Sky, ODB, Tara, Daffney, Taylor Wilde, Lacey Von Erich and the infrequently seen SoCal Val. You can see the images at the following link.

  • C.M. Punk Rips Into Hulk Hogan & TNA (AUDIO)

    C.M. Punk ripped into Hulk Hogan during an appearance on the B.J. Shea Morning Experience radio show on KISW-FM in Seattle on Thursday morning. Punk explains that everybody wins if WWE has legit competition – but Hulk Hogan is a selfish old man who doesn’t have what it takes to get TNA out of first gear.

    “My take is first of all that we have Tribute to the Troops on Saturday” Punk said. “That’s probably going to be a much better show than whatever that TNA is going to put on. I have a lot of friends that work there and I do watch the show, but I seem to watch it on perpetual fast forward.

    “I hope, I really hope that something comes of it. I have zero faith in Hulk Hogan as a man who is what 60 years-old and tries to dress like he’s 18 and lives on the Jersey Shore. For a guy I’ve never met, I’ve formulated enough opinions about him just from being around him and like his business acumen and stuff like that, I really trust that he’s not in this for TNA and he’s not in this for the business. He’s in this for himself.

    “Hulk Hogan, I hope you prove me wrong. I hope there’s competition because when there’s competition we step up, everybody makes more money, and I think it makes the business healthier and that’s what I’m looking forward to, but I don’t have much hope.”

  • Hogan Frustrated, More Changes Coming To TNA, Nash

    – There is said to be some frustration among those on team Hogan over TNA’s lack of marketing.

    – There was a half-hour meeting with TNA talents at the recent iMPACT tapings where everyone was told to go back to working holds and telling stories in the ring with their matches.

    – The Wrestling Observer reports that Kevin Nash has been talking to former WCW personality Mark Madden, trying to convince him to come to TNA as an announcer. Apparently Nash doesn’t like Taz as an announcer and was complaining loudly when Taz replaced Don West.

    Nash responded on his Twitter with the following: “just found out i wanted Taz out and madden in. let me see dave meltzer. nash’s christmas wish list…..more money for me, more money for me”

    Visit PWTweets.com to read more from pro wrestlers and Divas on Twitter!

  • Hogan Said Vince Got Mad Over TNA’s MSG Press Conference

    Hulk Hogan tells the UK Sun that he really pissed off WWE CEO Vince McMahon when he held his TNA press conference at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

    “I don’t think he’s too happy. Knowing Vince the way I do and holding the press conference at Madison Square Garden…I know some people in house at the WWE and I know he didn’t respond favourably. There’s been nobody in the Garden for about 100 years really except Vince, his dad, his grandfather and his great grandfather promoting events and I kind of slipped in there and made the press conference for TNA. Then the other night I announced we’re going head to head with WWE on Monday nights.”

    Hogan also hyped TNA’s live 3-hour Monday Night iMPACT! special January 4th, which he says could re-ignite the Monday Night Wars and begin a new era in the pro wrestling industry. “I can’t imagine what’s going to happen when the Monday night wars start again but it’s great because it gives the fans a choice and the talent room to negotiate and have somewhere else to go.”

  • Hulk Hogan Lowers His Expectations For 1/4 iMPACT! Rating

    After being publicly linked to a 3.0 ratings projection for the upcoming 1/4 edition of TNA iMPACT!, Hulk Hogan scaled back his claims in an interview with the Toronto Sun.

    “Jan. 4, we’re going head to head with WWE,” said Hogan. “We’ve got to pick a fight. I don’t know what’s going to happen that night. If we get bodyslammed by WWE, we’ll get back and go at them again.”

    As WWE RAW rarely posts a rating in significant excess of a 3.0, there is no way TNA would be “bodyslammed” if it posted such a figure (in fact, as there is a finite limit to the pro wrestling audience size on Monday, a 3.0 rating for TNA would almost definitely mark a victory for the number two wrestling group).

    Hogan thus appears to be lower the expectation for his initial impact, instead hoping analysts focus on the big picture benefit he–and those wrestling standouts who accompany him in TNA–will bring to the table.

    Hulk Hogan makes his live TNA television debut during a special three-hour iMPACT! on January 4. The TNA show will go head-to-head with RAW for at least two hours that Monday.

  • VIDEO & Recap Of Hulk Hogan On TSN’s Off The Record

    VIDEO: Visit WATCH.TSN.CA – HIGHLY RECCOMENDED!!

    Hulk Hogan on TSN’s Off The Record with Michael Landsberg
    December 10, 2009
    by: Marty Hotts

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    This was a full 30 minute interview with Hulk Hogan. He talked about his book, citing the same story about having a loaded gun and almost committing suicide until Layla Ali helped snap him out of it.

    A question was asked about Macho Man Randy Savage and Elizabeth’s death. He talked about deaths in wrestling saying that many wrestlers fail to distinguish the difference between their wrestling careers (fans, money, fame) with their personal lives, which leads wrestlers to this road.

    Prior to the commercial break, they showed a “quirky fact” showing that Hogan and McMahon stayed in a hotel room and wrote the entire “No Holds Barred” movie in 48 hours.

    Talk was then moved to Vince McMahon. An old clip from December 2002 showed him talking about Russo being a former writer and then worked close to McMahon. He then said in that old interview that McMahon was a friend regardless of the ups and downs.

    In the present interview, he talks about McMahon and saying that previous explanations regarding the love-hate relationship they had in the past, McMahon would answer “it was just business” and Hogan said he understood that. He talked about whether there is morality in business when he was asked about it.

    Landsberg then asked January 4, you’re going head-to-head with WWE – Why? He said for years, WWE has been the only wrestling show you could watch, the only one that was available or “shoved down the throats” of the fans. This changes the wrestling landscape.

    He again mentions that McMahon called him up 8 weeks ago for him to come and host Raw and shoot a “Babe Ruth” type return to WWE. He said this was similar to last year where he wrestled John Cena and broke his back. He said he knew how it was going to end.

    Hogan said when he signed the TNA deal, he was going to be the McMahon of the company and wanted to be on Mondays to let the fans decide. He noted that the execs may have hesitated about the number that they may get or if it would be a disaster.

    Landsberg quickly said but that was 1995, WCW was owned by a major company, had more resources and Hogan was younger, Flair was younger. Hogan backed it up by saying that this would be true to the fans and letting the fans decide whether they want to watch WWE or Hulk Hogan.

    Landsberg threw a quick question asking “If I said TNA has signed a 2 year Monday Deal, what would you say”, Hogan replied with “that’s the first I heard about it”. Landsberg chuckled and said that Hogan did not confirm and kind of stated that he didn’t know about it, hinting that this may actually be the case.

    After the final commercial break, Landsberg asked a lot of questions in his “Next Question” segment. Some key ones were:

    Q: Would you let Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake cut your hair?
    A: Never

    Q: What was the most uncomfortable angle you ever took part in?
    A: Having Kidman beat him repeatedly week after week

    Q: Talk about the Pat Patterson story when you joined the business:
    A: Hogan said that on his first night, he was in a car and Patterson and other wrestlers said he had to give one of them oral sex or he would get “gang raped” (bleeped out on the show) after his match when he enters the showers. At that moment, he said that’s not his deal. After his match, he was ready to fight, but was instead greeted with cheers, beer, and celebration. He thought that was pretty interesting joke.

    The show should be posted on https://www.tsn.ca/otr soon.

  • Hogan Predicts 3.0 Rating For Monday iMPACT! (POLL)

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    With reports coming out that Spike TV is a bit nervous about how TNA iMPACT! will perform on Monday, January 4th head-to-head with WWE RAW for the first time, Hulk Hogan sounds pretty confident he’ll make an immediate impact and is is setting the bar pretty high.

    Hogan told hosts, “Everybody (at Spike) was scared of their own shadow. ‘What if we don’t do a number?’ The thing is, I said, ‘Don’t even worry about it. You have to give the audience a choice,’”

    During an interview on the “Right After Wrestling” SIRIUS satellite radio show, Hulk Hogan predicted that Nielsen ratings would triple to a 3.0 on his debut appearance on TNA Impact on Monday January 4.

    Hogan said he sees “something there” with guys like AJ Styles and Matt Morgan and wants to “bring to life” the TNA superstars who he feels have that “it” factor.

    The full interview will air on “Right After Wrestling” on Monday night December 14 at 11pm EST on SIRIUS Channel 98, Hardcore Sports Radio.

    [poll id=”12″]

  • Hogan Comments On Jeff Hardy, RVD & Kennedy Joining TNA

    Monday Night iMPACT!
    Monday Night iMPACT!

    Thanks to SEScoops reader Andrew for sending in the following live report of Hulk Hogan’s Monday appearance on Bubba the Love Sponge’s radio show:

    – Interestingly, he made mention of Rob Van Dam and how over he was in WWE. He said “politics” was the reason RVD was never as successful as he should have been.

    – When Bubba mentioned Jeff Hardy, Hulk said he would “love to have Jeff Hardy” in TNA.

    – Hulk said he has not spoken to Randy Savage or Scott Hall.

    – Hogan said he has not spoken to Vince Russo. He once again said that if Vince Russo is able to come up with a great idea he would listen.

    – He once again squashed rumors that he was only coming to TNA as a talent. He said that he would be the booker in TNA.

    – Hogan said the writers will be in a “secondary position” in TNA and that if the workers have to have the writers to get over then they can “head up north [to WWE] where everything is scripted.”

    – Hulk put over Umaga and Mr. Kennedy [Hulk called him Mr. Kennedy, not Mr. Anderson] saying they “tore it down” in Australia.

    – Hulk told a story about when he was wrestling in San Francisco and met a then 3-year-old Eddie “Umaga” Fatu.

    -Hogan said that the night before Umaga died, he spoke with him and told Umaga he would love to involve him in his plans for TNA, and that was the last time he ever spoke to him.

    – Bubba mentioned that today is Ravishing Rick Rude’s birthday. Hogan put Rick over and said that he was really good friends with him. They spoke about some other topics including Hogan’s divorce and the Tiger Woods situation but that was the extent of the TNA and wrestling related topics that were covered.

  • Monday Night TNA, RVD & Flair In TNA, No More 6-Sided Ring?

    – The ongoing speculation that TNA will wind up on Monday nights competing head-to-head with WWE Raw continues. While nobody from TNA or Spike TV have commented directly about the rumor, people who are being contacted by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff about joining them in TNA are “under the impression” that a Monday night show is inevitable. There has been talk of TNA holding a live television special on Monday night, January 4th to test he waters and see how they would do up against Raw.

    – Hulk Hogan is not a fan of TNA’s 6-sided ring and has been telling people that it’s one of the first things he’s like to change when he comes into power next month.

    – Hogan and Bischoff are said to be confident that Rob Van Dam and Ric Flair will wind up in TNA.

    Related News: Ric Flair Comments On Whether He’d Work For TNA

    – Despite being featured on the TNA Genesis PPV poster, Hulk Hogan will not be wrestling on the show. It’s likely that he will eventually step in the ring, but not until the right match has been set up with months of storyline build leading up to it.

    Related News: TNA Genesis PPV Poster With Hulk Hogan

    – It’s interesting to note that the DVD cover for “End Game” which starred Kurt Angle and former TNA Knockout Jenna Morasca promotes Angle as a WWE star with no mention of TNA. There is also no mention of Jenna’s run in wrestling.

    (Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)

  • Hogan-Dixie TNA Storyline, Angle High On Wolfe, Drug Testing

    – We’ve got some new details regarding a storyline that’s already underway involving Hulk Hogan’s involvement with TNA Wrestling. The original plan was for Hulk Hogan to lead the younger, homegrown stars of TNA against the “old guard” of established WWE & WCW castoffs, led by TNA president Dixie Carter. Hulk Hogan’s recent comments that he’ll be “in charge” of TNA are all part of the storyline (Hogan will have a great deal of power in TNA, but his comments are the start of this angle). Dixie Carter was going to be a big player in the “Hulk Hogan joins TNA” angle, but there was a recent decision to cut back on Dixie’s role and have Mick Foley is now expected to be the leader of TNA’s “old guard” movement. Dixie Carter will still be involved, but will not have the same role as originally planned.

    – Kurt Angle is said to have a high opinion of TNA newcomer Desmond Wolfe following their pay-per-view match last month. Angle actually laid the entire match out but claimed that after his back went out in the first minute they had to change plans and work on the fly until the finish.

    – TNA held surprise drug testings at the last set of TV tapings. The last set of tapings like this had a 25% failure rate but nobody was punished.

    – The four-hour TNA special on New Year’s Eve on Spike TV will air from 7-11PM. The first two hours will be a countdown with the ten best matches of 2009, as voted on by the fans on TNA’s website. The last two hours will be a regular edition of iMPACT.

    (Credit to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for some of the information used in this report)

  • *Spoiler* On Hulk Hogan’s First TNA PPV Appearance

    TNA Genesis: 1/17/2010

    The official Pay-Per-View poster ha been released for January’s TNA Genesis event and it contains what appears to be spoilers for future TNA storylines and Hulk Hogan’s TNA debut.

    TNA champion AJ Styles and Kurt Angle are featured prominantly on the poster with the tagline, “A Night of Firsts.”

    Below Styles and Angle is a picture of Hulk Hogan with the text, “Hulk Hogan Returns to Pay-Per-View.”

    Pay-Per-View provider iNDEMAND has the following synopsis for the event: “A night of firsts, a night of new beginnings and the night Hulk Hogan returns to Pay-Per- View. TNA Wrestling presents
    TNA Genesis Live on Pay-Per-View Sunday January 17. *Card subject to change.”

    TNA Genesis takes place on Sunday night, January 17, 2010.