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PWINSIDER Q&A: HULK HOGAN - THE WORKER, NOWINSKI LOOKING FOR THE SPOTLIGHT?, VICTORIA AND MORE

Answered on 9/7

Now, I started watching wrestling when Hulkamania was still running wild (in my case: the late 80's). As a kid, I never recognized the pretty simple formula of our casual Hulk Hogan-match (Hogan-offense at the start, bad guy beats him up in the middle, hulking-up, legdrop, 1-2-3) and had no idea that the business was a work. Now, I recently watched the AWA-DVD and Hogan seemed pretty impressive in his match against Nick Bockwinkel in the AWA, so my question is: As an in-ring worker: How good was Hulk Hogan in his prime and when was his prime (again, as far as his in-ring-work is concerned) ?

Actually, Hogan in the early 80's (end of AWA run, New Japan run, start of WWF run, which I consider his prime) was a very good power wrestler.  Sure he wasn't Ric Flair, but he put on some very entertaining matches by mixing brawling with his power arsenal.  As time went on, a few years into his WWF Title reign, he became very formulaic and in a way became like a cartoon character (which is how WWF was marketing him anyway).  However, I recall Hogan wrestling Tatsumi Fujinami in 1993 in Japan, and being impressed at how Hogan worked that match.  That's when it became obvious to me that Hogan didn't always work hard, but he worked smart.  He did what he needed to do in order to get over with his audience.  In 1987, all it took was a bodyslam and a legdrop in the U.S., so that's what he did. 

Do you agree it is very tacky and lame for Chris Nowinski to try keep his name in the spotlight attempting to make it look like he's a real life doctor or something?

Not at all, and I think you are very wrong about Nowinski's intentions and what he is trying to accomplish.  Chris Nowinski had his career ended because of concussions, and rather than being bitter and angry about it, he has used his experience as motivation to help other wrestlers.  He isn't trying to "get the spotlight" for himself, but rather help others to understand the dangers of concussions in wrestling.  I think Nowinski should be praised for his work and efforts.  And this is coming from someone who felt Nowinski absolutely sucked as a pro wrestlers!  If you go back to old reports, I never saw any potential in him and felt his matches were horrible.  So, while I was never a fan of Nowinski the wrestler, I think Nowinski the advocate has done a commendable job.

I have a theory on Mr. McMahon's illegitimate son. If this isn't what is going to happen then this is what should happen. The illegitimate son should turn out to be Eugene. Eugene as you all know is the nephew of Eric Bischoff. This sets up an endless amount of possibilities. The obvious storyline that could play out is having Eric Bischoff use Eugene as a pawn in some kind of plan to control half ownership of the WWE. Then finally we can see Smackdown! turn into WCW "Nitro" by the hands of Eric Bischoff. This story line makes perfect sense in a lot of ways. Vince would be creating his own "Monday Night Wars" under the umbrella of WWE. It would take away the attention from the surging TNA brand. Vince would have to bite the bullet to re-introduce the WCW brand name again but at this time, I think he's willing to do that. You would see WWE, WCW, and ECW all under Vince McMahon. Most of WCW's titles are still in Smackdown!, and a lot of the old WCW wrestlers are on the Smackdown! roster so it wouldn't be a huge transition. It only makes sense if Vince goes this direction. That's if they were smart anyways. Your Thoughts?

It's a fascinating idea, but Eugene was released by the company last weekend.

Would you say that -- from a booking standpoint -- that TNA is a shoe-in for Worst Promotion of the Year? I certainly believe that to be so, as well as Kurt Angle should win any "Most Over Promoted" award that any wrestling site or newsletter gives out.

I don't know, "Worst" is pretty bad.  Then again, I think WWE and ROH are a lot more logical (wow, how scary is it to say WWE is more logical than any company?) than TNA these days.  I think TNA's constant insistence on booking swerves (and double swerves), heel/face turns out of nowhere, and overbooked finishes to matches does hurt the overall product.  I've said it before, but TNA has all the tools to be a great promotion.  The talent is there, the effort is there.  It's just the booking that, in my opinion, turns off a lot of fans that are looking for an alternative to WWE. 

I hope the WWE, in its infinite wisdom, gives Victoria a much needed push. She has been in the background much too long, in my opinion. I see her becoming womens champion again. I'm surprised she hasn't won the title as many times as Trish Stratus. Why not?

I would love to see Victoria get another push to the title, as I feel she is without a doubt the best overall female worker in the company, and is actually better than a good portion of the male roster as well.  However, since Victoria, while beautiful, has never been the "poster girl" of the company the way Trish or Lita was, she has never gotten the sustained push and title wins that they have. 

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