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.

In an interview with IconvsIcon.com, WWE Hall of Famer Rowdy Roddy Piper says that he’ll be hosting an upcoming edition of WWE Raw. While Piper hosting WWE Raw seems to be an indication that everything is  fine between the two parties, that’s far from the case. Piper says he wasn’t happy with his involvement at WrestleMania 25 this April and wants to close his career on a better note.

“I wasn’t very happy with Wrestlemania XXV. In my mind, I want to put a cap on it as you say, with one more match, an extraordinary performance,” Piper said. “Ya know the clock is tickin’, let’s be honest, so sooner rather then later. So, I think if you saw me in Raw that it would be leading into that match. I don’t know what it is yet. But yeah, you are correct.”

Since WrestleMania back in April, Piper has been outspoken against WWE for booking him in a three-on-one handicap match with Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka against Chris Jericho. “I wasn’t wild about WrestleMania 25 to put it mildly. There’s not a chance in hell that that’s the last way you’re gonna see me,” Piper said on the Monday Night Mayhem radio show in August. “There will definitely be a return of Roddy Piper…and sooner than later. How many more fights I have in me, I don’t know.”

Piper knows that his days in the ring are virtually over, but he’s got an idea for one more high profile match that he’d like to see take place at WrestleMania 26 next year.  “You got Vince McMahon who’s done a great job of promoting, who became a bodybuilder, and the last I saw him, I think he’s convinced himself he could fight now,” Piper said. “I say this…why don’t you just put Roddy Piper and Vince McMahon in the ring.”

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.

During last night’s Iron Man match at Bragging Rights, a spot where John Cena got busted open caused a lot of commotion backstage.

The incident happened when Randy Orton hit Cena with a microphone and started Vince McMahon ordered Cena to be cleaned up immediately after seeing the blood. WWE’s John Laurinaitis along with trainers rushed to ringside to clean him up, as WWE currently has a very strict “no blood” policy as part of their TV-PG programming initiative.

With their first attempt, Cena wasn’t aware what they intended to do so played babyface and mounted offence against Randy Orton. The cut was finally glued shoot and cleaned up after the next fall.

Cena and Orton were scheduled to work among the crowd and WWE wanted to ensure there was no health issue with a bloody wrestler among fans. If it were to have happened, the issue would have been taken seriously by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission and likely used as more ammuniton against Linda McMahon’s senate campaign.

As the blood was unplanned, WWE decided to stop the clock during the bout as it wasn’t known how long the clean up operation on Cena would take.

(Credit to PWInsider.com for some of the information used in this report)

Ric Flair appeared on “Busted Open” on Sirius radio on Tuesday and revealed what Vince McMahon was to him coming out of retirement and wrestling overseas. “I told Vince McMahon about three months ago that I wanted to back and work and that I’d just work overseas. He said, ‘You know, go for it.”

Flair added, “I’m in good health. I like to sign autographs and I’m really enjoying (non-wrestling projects), but there’s nothing like wrestling. I’ve been working out really hard and I’m looking forward to it. It gives Hulk (Hogan) and I a chance to see if we’ve still got it going on.”

Flair was also asked about the possibility of appearing as a guest host on WWE Raw. “That may still happen,” he said. “My schedule hasn’t allowed it to happen. I work with Coca-Cole, Krogers, Wal-Mart, and Sam’s Club. The lottery thing has been huge to me. I can’t give enough credit to the North Carolina education lottery for giving me the opportunity to work for them. It’s been great.”

The Busted Open radio show airs on Tuesdays and Fridays 4-5 p.m. EST on Sirius 127, and XM 242. Visit Sirius.com for more info.

• READ MORE about Ric Flair coming out of retirement.

Silicon Valley’s MercuryNews.com has an article that looks at WWE’s transition from TV-14 programming to TV-PG, with quotes from WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

McMahon explains that desepite the success WWE saw during the edgy Attitude era, the time was right to shift towards more family friendly programming. “We just followed our audience and tried to listen to them,” McMahon said. “It’s a more sophisticated product. It’s just the right move business-wise, but more specifically the right move in terms of reaching our audience.”

Since going PG, WWE has picked up a number of new sponsorships, including Pepsi, 7-Eleven stores, Mattel toys and the Army National Guard.

Vince also said by toning down WWE’s programming, they are moving farther away from being in direct competition with mixed martial arts. “You really can’t compete with that,” he said. “Why not deliver a more sophisticated product and not go to those extremes? If the audience wants those extremes, they know where to go and how to get it.”

Wait, what?! WWE? Sophisticated? WWE? World Wrestling Entertainment?

The article also notes that singer Ozzy Osbourne will be hosting Raw this fall.

— According to an article by BostonHerald.com, a source at the Boston Park Plaza hotel revealed some interesting details about what goes on when Vince McMahon and superstars and staff of World Wrestling Entertainment stay at a hotel.

First off, “all of Vince McMahon’s charges go to the master bill,” the info sheet states. Those charges would include “a special room-service order upon (McMahon’s) arrival between 11:45 p.m. and midnight . . . WWE will pay the chef to stay late.”

Additionally, all of the WWE rooms had to be non-smoking and “all rooms traveling with Vince McMahon should be pre-keyed” so he doesn’t have to wait to check in upon his arrival.  Say what you want about him, the guy knows how to travel!

— In a recent interview with WWE Magazine, Vince McMahon gave his thoughts on what defines today’s WWE Superstars. Using the massive Warlord as an example, McMahon says bigger is not necessarily better in today’s WWE. When asked what defines today’s top WWE superstars,  Vince said:

“It’s everything that people don’t see. It’s easy to say from a visual standpoint that bigger is better in reference to past eras of WWE. But take The Warlord, for example. He was enormous — one of the most visually impressive Superstars we’ve had — but he couldn’t sell five tickets. He had no charisma, no “gift of gab,” which is what really sets apart today’s Superstars, even if they may not be as physically intimidating. Someone like CM Punk, even though he’s a good-looking guy, isn’t built like that. He probably weighs less than I do. But today’s fans are drawn to his confidence and charisma. Those are the things a Superstar exudes, and they translate though the television set.”