The Stockwell Superstar of The Week

It’s hard to avoid the hype, difficult to remain uninterested and near impossible not to have questions regarding the latest TNA signing… that’s right… The VERY FIRST Stockwell Superstar of The Week is TNA’S latest signing and without doubt the biggest signing in the company’s history, I am talking of the one and only Hulk Hogan.

 


 

 

– What has happened…

 

Hogan as you all know has been a stable within the wrestling world for three decades. Hogan has assisted in catapulting wrestling to a much larger audience twice in his lifetime – the most obvious being his time during the 80’s with the then WWF and then once again during his tenure with WCW. Whilst many will disagree and say Stone Cold Steve Austin was the reason wrestling got its second wind, you cannot deny that Hogan was a key figure during this period. If not for the infamous heel turn, would Stone Cold have ever existed? Would Vince have taken that step over the line and started the Attitude Era if not for the success and dominance that WCW had during the early days of the Monday Night Wars? Of course, Eric Bishoff played a major role in WCW’s success but the mainstream interest was always Hogan and his turn and what antics he was up to – a far cry from his previous self.

 

Wrestling (in its current form) can be categorized by decades. The 80’s saw the boost from independent wrestling circuits to a commercial entity that attracts millions of viewers, the 90’s took wrestling into a new more realistic form with ECW paving the way for the bigger promotions to follow and the 2000’s… well, the 2000’s hasn’t really been that memorable. Whilst the start of the decade was still exciting due to it coming off the back of the Attitude Era, the following years have become dull and repetitive.

 

WWE taking over all competition by no means helped the situation. By controlling the entire monopoly board, they have been able to shape the wrestling world into a product that better suits them and their business needs and whilst there have been benefits for the company, as a whole it has helped destroy wrestling for its true fans.

 

TNA has tried to fill the gap that WWE did not cater to but thus far, they have been extremely unsuccessful. In steps Mr Hogan.

 

Hogan as you all know is a major draw and him signing for TNA alone has already helped boost their presence. The question on everyone’s mind however is will the third time be successful or will it prove to be another disaster for the company?

 

– What I hope will happen…

 

In his press conference, Hogan made it clear that he is disillusioned by how stale wrestling has become in recent years, so can he be a key player once again as we come into the next decade? Of course, only time will tell. The Hulk himself has become stale in the last decade, his odd appearances on WWE TV have created the desired ratings boost but all in all, his appearances have been dull and seemingly only produced to once again boost his supposed big ego.

 

However, I hope Hogan is as passionate about the industry as he made out in his Press Conference because his brains (and Bishoff’s) and pulling power could prove to be the step up TNA has been waiting for. For instance, this weeks TNA was possibly one of the better shows I’ve seen from the company in a while. If Hogan can continue this trend and continue to keep stars build on stars like AJ, Joe, Daniels, Morgan etc etc, but place himself in a role whereby he assists in making these boys ‘the company’, then TNA could finally make the difference we have all been waiting for and hopefully WWE catches on and we start receiving better entertainment from both companies.

 

– What I hope doesn’t happen…

 

I hope that over time Hogan does not destroy the TNA roster to boost his own ego and once again cement himself as the best in the world.

 

The problem TNA has had in recent years is that they have put too much focus on the older stars such as Angle, Sting, Booker, Nash etc etc. By all means use these guys effectively but down push them down our throats as a mafia of better stars who are making the product better. Angle for instance is a great addition to the roster and his current step down to working with Wolfe and Morgan has been a nice change, continue to use him in this manner – as a standard bearer of the wrestling world, a man every up and coming star should have to go through.

 

Likewise, if rumours are true and stars like Flair join the fray, don’t repeat what has happened in the last couple of years and create another mafia of sorts. Continue this trend that Angle is currently undertaking and help make these stars bigger. By no means am I saying that men like Flair and Angle or even Hogan himself should drop back and not get a title every now and then but use it sporadically to assist the push of a younger star like AJ.

 

– – –

 

It really is an exciting time in the world of wrestling as we enter a new decade and Hogan is set to be a key player once again in how this next decade will play out. Sadly if Hogan fails and TNA go down further, Vince and Co. will only be reassured that they are ‘the’ only company and things could easily go from bad to worse and remember, there is another step down from PG. However, if Hogan succeeds, then we could be on the brink of an era of wrestling that could be as exciting as the Monday Night Wars Era.

 

Tune in next week because The Stockwell Superstar of The Week (or should I say ‘Superstars’) is Randy Orton and The Legacy.

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