Hey look, I’m finally popping back up after a two weeks absence! Quite honestly, since there has just been so much depressing stuff involved with wrestling at this point, it’s kind of tiring to be so negative. However, along comes Hulk Hogan to just make things even worse and well…….let’s talk about it. The following thoughts will be on Hogan, the WWE’s reaction, Summerslam, Taker/Brock, RAW ratings, etc.
Hogan Knows Racism- Now, since a lot of people on this site do not know me personally…….I have a confession to make: I have NEVER liked Hulk Hogan. Even when I was a kid, I was drawn more to Randy Savage or the Ultimate Warrior moreso than Hogan. I guess it was me trying to be different or something but Hogan always came off as very goofy to me, even as a kid. My dad was a big Ultimate Warrior fan and I became a fan of Savage when I watched his Slim Jim commercials. Sure, I watched Mr. Nanny (which is actually kind of a vile movie in retrospect) but I’ve never been the biggest Hogan fan. That, of course, hasn’t changed with age and now I’m more critical of Hogan than ever. I think Hogan is a good showman, I think he puts on good matches every now and then and I do respect his efforts in doing what all he has done for wrestling………however, I can see the other side of the coin as well: the backstabbing, the glorification, the stupid storylines that were used to make him look better than sliced bread, being God’s gift to wrestling, etc. Hogan is considered THE top wrestler in professional wrestling history but I have, personally, never viewed him like that. Now Hogan’s life has been pretty much a wreck for about a decade. Sure, he was inducted into the HOF in 2005, had his reality TV show (which was fun to watch sometimes), had his big match with Shawn Michaels and seemed to be on Cloud 9. However, after 2006 and when he went to TNA, Hogan’s life has been a mess. His nasty divorce with Linda (who, herself, is just as strange), rumors he wanted to kill Linda (or was it the other way around), the shit with TNA, banging Heather Clem and having it caught on tape, the lies, the rumors, his son being a real piece of shit after almost killing his friend in a drag race accident, his daughter’s horrible singing, EVERYTHING!
Hogan has been a controversial figure for years and has done numerous heinous things in his life……..until this ended up being the straw that broke the camel’s back. In one long tirade, Hogan pretty much screwed the pooch. He admitted on the tape that he is “a racist to a point” and said the “N” word multiple times. The interview was what, 2008? That’s not that many years ago. This isn’t Paula Deen saying racist comments back in the 1970s and all of a sudden, it’s brought up again out of nowhere…….this was an actual leaked tape of Hogan making racist comments so there’s no point in going back. Sure, the only thing Hogan has on his side and the one thing I will defend about him is the privacy of the matter and how this was recorded without his consent……..but when HULK HOGAN is being recorded in making racist comments, it’s going to leak somewhere. Look at what happened with the sex tape and the damage that did Hogan. And also, the one thing Hogan should ask himself: why is he continuing to hang around with Bubba the Love Sponge in this toxic friendship that has been pretty much ruining his life? In all honesty, Hogan needs to start apologizing. What he needs to STOP doing is trying to position himself as a victim because, guess what, no one is buying it. It didn’t work with Donald Sterling and it will not work here…….it’s making things WORSE for Hogan. So what he needs to do is just apologize and keep his mouth shut…..unless he goes after Gawker, which I think is a great move for him because those guys are assholes. The entire Hogan family is a disgusting bunch at times (like when Nick Hogan wanted a reality TV show after he got out of jail while that friend of his is a vegetable for the rest of his life) and honestly, I hope Hogan learns from this. He really needs to learn from this because Hogan’s relationship is officially tarnished at this point, even moreso than what it already was. And honestly, I don’t see how Hogan is going to dig himself out of this grave.
The WWE’s response: Do I agree with the WWE cutting ties with Hulk Hogan and removing his face page from the WWE website? Yes, I do. Do I believe Hogan should be Benoited out of the WWE altogether? No…….I do not. Let’s call a spade to spade: being a racist is a horrible thing to be but this incident will not SHATTER the WWE and the link it has with its fans in the same way that the Benoit double murder/suicide did. This is Hogan, once again, saying the wrong thing at the wrong time……Benoit was a beloved wrestler who one day snapped, murdered his wife and son then killed himself. Hogan will eventually bounce back in some way from this, the WWE has been trying to recover from the Benoit stuff for 8 years. Will Hogan be removed from video packages and stuff of that nature, especially in the buildup to Wrestlemania? I feel about that the same way I felt when I watched the video package to the Rollins/Lesnar match where they were showing highlights of the Wrestlemania match, Lesnar lifted Rollins on his shoulders and the next clip is Rollins celebrating with the title because of the whole Curb Stomp bullshit. No matter what…..Hogan slamming Andre, Hogan vs Warrior, Hogan vs Roddy Piper, etc. Those things did happen and sure, it might seem like the WWE is glorifying Hogan in that way but it’s a piece of their history…….I think ignoring it is much worse.
However…….by doing all of this, the WWE shows that it’s fighting back against that racist Hulk Hogan but now they’ve opened up their own bag of worms that could come back to bite them in the ass. Folks……..think back to every black male wrestler, every Samoan wrestler (not named the Rock), every Latino wrestler and every Asian wrestler that you have seen in the WWE. The WWE is no white knight and that’s where I don’t agree with them at all……..the WWE is trying to position themselves as the white knight of the situation and they might as well just put the freakin’ shotgun to their face and pull the trigger! And no, I’m not talking about the fucking stupid “VINCE SAY THE “N” WORD ON WWE TV!!!” argument because A) it was meant for comedic purposes, B) it was supposed to be that Vince was so oblivious that he didn’t really understand what he was saying and C) it was one of the worst comedic moments ever for the simple purpose that it wasn’t funny, it was just Vince trying to show that he could say something like that and it be ok (watch the clip and watch how he looks around after saying it to make sure everybody “got the joke”.) I mean, they trash Hulk Hogan but they still have Michael Hayes on the payroll, who said that he was “more of a “N word” than you” to Mark Henry? They want to get rid of Hogan’s legacy but yet they have a statue of the Ultimate Warrior built and they honor his legacy after this guy called Droz “the cripple”, was celebrating the fact that Bobby Heenan was dying of cancer and made more piece of shit comments in his life (Warrior’s been gone for over a year and while I respect his legacy, that doesn’t erase the fact that this guy was a fucking piece of shit outside of the final three days of his life)? The WWE has done FAR WORSE things than Hogan putting his foot in his mouth and being an oblivious moron so the fact that they are positioning themselves as the “white knight” of the bunch makes me want to throw up because their hands are just as dirty. So……while I don’t defend Hogan, I don’t exactly buy the WWE’s bullshit either.
Brock/Taker: Switching things up, let’s head to this feud and boy, does this sound like desperation or what? RAW’s ratings are in the toilet, they got Summerslam coming up so they bring back Taker! Now, their segment on RAW was a winner from a storyline perspective and from a ratings perspective…….but the fact that it’s come to the point where they have to bring Taker out of the retirement home to come get revenge on Brock Lesnar for ending the Streak a year and a half ago is quite sad. Let’s look at this way: I UNDERSTAND why Taker/Lesnar is given this big pull apart brawl that is supposed to get fans fired up for their match at Summerslam and everything……..but WHY is it Taker and Lesnar and not some of this other young talent? Taker and Lesnar are the draws, understandable……..but why are they and John Cena the only draws in this freakin’ company? That’s the problem with the WWE right now……..they have to wheel Taker’s old ass out for this big match because they don’t trust anybody else to get those RAW ratings up and because they want a big match for Summerslam. I will admit: I’m still not crazy about the match in any way, shape or form. A lot of people believe that Undertaker is the heel in all of this…….and why? Because Taker kicked Brock in the nuts? I’ve seen Taker kick people in the nuts before…….I’ve seen Taker hit guys with chairs when they didn’t deserve, beat up referees when they didn’t deserve it and be just a flat out dick to people who didn’t deserve it! And you know what? Taker’s not a heel because the WWE isn’t booking him like one…….he’s just booked as the Undertaker. When are people going to learn that the WWE books a lot of their faces like dickheads? That’s what they are! That’s what they’ve become! THEY’RE DICKHEADS!!! Secondly, I hope there is going to be a stipulation added to this match because God knows Taker can’t take multiple German suplexes like Rollins or Cena. But the biggest question becomes this: who’s winning this match? Do you sacrifice Brock Lesnar’s own streak and reign of dominance to give the 50 year old Undertaker his win just because…….reasons? Or do you have Brock beat the Undertaker again, have Taker fail in his quest for revenge and maybe that can eventually start building up Taker’s eventual retirement (a win could too…..)? I say that there is a lot more going for this match if Brock wins because why does Taker need this win at this point? Just let Brock Lesnar be that one guy that Taker never beat. The WWE would KILL every little shred of dignity that Lesnar has……just for a cheap pop. I don’t know but we shall see how this plays out.
Kevin Owens’ Demotion: Remember, there are still people out there that do not mind that John Cena beat this guy twice because he’s still a “rookie”. I honestly think that logic is bullshit because while Owens is technically a “rookie” on the WWE roster……..he waltzed in and beat John Cena in his first match. Owens accomplished what he needed to accomplish to get himself over: he beat John Cena, his segments were some of the highest rated on RAW in the past few weeks, his merchandise sales went up, the crowds fell in love with him (or loved to hate him, whichever one it was)……..it’s the WWE that failed Kevin Owens. Somebody backstage (Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, etc.) wants to see this guy fail……that’s why Kevin Owens lost twice to John Cena on PPV and tapped out clean. Owens did well enough to show that the guy can go in the ring (we already knew that) and that he was better than Cena in the ring in every facet (WE ALREADY KNEW THAT) but he no longer has that MEGASTAR appeal that he had when he beat John Cena at Elimination Chamber……..that’s gone now. Now we don’t know what the future holds for Kevin Owens and now he’s put in a match against Cesaro at Summerslam. On the plus side: that match is going to be awesome and I don’t see any match beating it in MOTN honors. On the negative side: both of these guys need a win, neither man can afford to lose (clean) so now what? My hope is that these two feud for a while and build each other up back to the main events by feuding with each other (and I don’t mean just trading wins back and forth, willy-nilly, I mean like an actual feud where Owens is established as the clear heel and Cesaro as the clear face). But here is the biggest question of this whole thing that I want to ask the Inside Pulse readers: if Vince McMahon is STILL not that high on Cesaro as a future main event talent and Cesaro beats Kevin Owens at Summerslam or even vice versa……..only for neither man to move up the totem pole in the long run and this leads to nothing……what is the point of putting on this match outside of it being a great match? Is it going to build to something? Is it going to push Cesaro? Is it going to push Owens? Is it going to push both guys? Let me be clear……I HATE the booking going into this match and I do not see how this will turn out well for anybody.
RAW ratings: I knew, going in, that Taker was going to be a brief ratings spike and naturally he was. However…….that’s the problem. Taker’s not only a beloved part-time guy, he’s a break from the monotony. You know that if they have to bring back Undertaker, they are going to put him in something interesting, something to really get fans hyped and they are going to make sure it gets a lot of press and attention. The problem? WHY CAN’T THEY DO FOR EVERYBODY ELSE???? That’s why RAW’s ratings are in the toilet: they build to nothing with the regular performers and once the part-timers come back, that’s when they want to start making things interesting. Remember the days when EVERYBODY on the roster was important and not treated like shit? Yea……..I miss those days too. As for John Cena potentially winning the WWE Title from Seth Rollins at Summerslam as a possibility of being another way to save ratings……..I believe it will happen. Many can point to Rollins being a ratings failure and that’s why it’s happening…….I blame the WWE and their shit writing moreso than Rollins. Rollins has not been booked as “MUST SEE TV”, he’s been booked like a joke champion who is just lucky enough to have the belt and would rather squabble with his bodyguards than focus on the real problems at hand. So yes, I am definitely predicting JOHN CENA to become the 16-time WWE champion at Summerslam and I believe that they will have Ric Flair come out to personally endorse John Cena as the greatest World champion ever the next night on RAW. You know why? Because I just know that the WWE will do it, not just to save ratings, but to do it out of spite…….because they are children that way.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say for now. I will be back with some more Summerslam predictions once this card gets more fleshed out and no, I will probably not be very optimistic at all because the WWE keeps killing that optimism. Every time they make a change……..almost instantly, they switch it up and go back to the original plans. That’s why I believe Taker will probably win at Summerslam. That’s why I believe John Cena will probably win the WWE Title. They might have Cesaro beat Owens to add another loss to Owens’ resume just out of spite. There is nothing this company is doing right now, outside of bring NXT to Brooklyn to get them more exposure (that also means that the Full Sail crowd need to keep their fucking mouths shut because how do they expect NXT to get any bigger if they don’t expand out of that building and gain a bigger following elsewhere?), that is making me optimistic about the future. Even if they started doing something creative in the next few months, they are going to retcon it to build to Wrestlemania. Am I being a pessimist or am I simply referring to history? The WWE has been doing this for YEARS……..they retcon everything they have at the end of the year just to build up to Mania……THAT’S IT!! It’s a vicious cycle and one that the WWE doesn’t have any interest in breaking any time soon because it works…….it makes them money……..everybody just accepts it…….it works. And it’s sad that it works.
