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It started with a taped interview Hogan gave Sirius Radio's Busted Open where Hogan claimed that Bobby Roode was not the next great thing in wrestling, saying that if it was up to him, it would be Jeff Hardy (who has already been WWE champion and on top for years).
Hogan also commented on AJ Styles, stating, "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."
Styles, who never takes to social media to voice complaints publicly, retweeted a few fan comments claiming Hogan used Styles' push as a scapegoat after failing to bring numbers to TNA and wrote, "Frustration setting in when your own guys bury the company that u have worked so hard for........ Brother!"
Those comments apparently got under Hogan's skin. When a fan, Anthony Maurizio, called Hogan on Styles' comments, Hogan responded, "Just waiting for somebody to figure it out and do Today Show, Fox and Friends , Leno, radio, tv ,etc. , instead of the same 5 star matches over and over.....and main stream and world wide international media on a miss my ass basis,brother. HH"
Hogan then began retweeting a bunch of comments written by fans about how his name provides more attention to TNA and basically putting himself over. He finally wrote, "Goodnight HULKAMANIACS and jabronie marks without a life that don't know it a work when you work a work and work yourself into a shoot,marks."
Hogan then continued retweeting all sorts of compliments and comments putting him over, well into early Sunday morning, the same Sunday where he's scheduled to return to the ring against Sting.
Of course, Hogan's claims that he was working during the interview makes about as much sense as last week's episode of Raw, since he was saying Robert Roode wasn't the "next guy" and was putting over Jeff Hardy, who is currently feuding with Immortal. Not to mention that if he was "working", why would Hogan be commenting that he'd be pushing James Storm if it was up to him? Hogan's comments on Styles were anything but a storyline work. If anything, Hogan was probably a little too honest for those within the company (on an interview he was doing to promote the company he just signed a new two year deal with) and was now trying to muddy the waters.
For Hogan to refer to Styles, who has never been anything but the most exemplary talent and represenative for TNA as a "Jabroni Mark" is one of the most ridiculous statements of the year.
Throwing out his ridiculous insults, Hogan's points about others stepping up and getting media appearances would actually make sense but all the media in the world means nothing if people aren't interested in watching it. Hogan's teased retirement did a poor quarterly rating for TNA - one of the worst quarters of 2011 and far worse than anything AJ Styles drew of late.
For all the talk of what Hulk Hogan means, Micro Championship Wrestling didn't come out looking too strong in the ratings, either.
But looking at the Hogan media from the last week - Did Hogan do a lot of media for TNA in the last week? Absolutely. But so did Kurt Angle and a number of other stars. The difference there is that when those other stars do appearances in the media, they always do the one thing that Hogan almost always fails to do - talk about TNA, even when they are promoting other exploits. Hell, even Mick Foley did that during his tenure there.
The other thing that did that Hogan failed to do - is actually promote TNA as if it was something worthwhile. Hogan promoted Hogan on 99% of his media appearances and then tossed in a few comments on the side about TNA. He spent more time on ESPN talking Andre the Giant and Randy Savage than he did TNA or explaining why he was wrestling Sting. He spent more time talking about the allegations that he and Brutus Beefcake were gay lovers than he did getting over the Dixie Carter storyline on Howard Stern. I am sure Hogan will blame it on those who were interviewing him - because the guy who could control 93,000 fans at Wrestlemania couldn't sway the direction of an interviewer - but the reality is that we knew more about Sylvester Stallone hiring Hogan for Rocky III over TWENTY YEARS AGO than we did about the TNA product by the time Sportscenter finished their Hogan rotation.
But, it all comes down to what I mentioned earlier - the media all means nothing if people don't want to see it. Hogan did almost nothing to get people to want to see TNA over the past week - but I guess that will be dismissed as well.
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