Cornette Comments On Hogan And Bischoff In TNA, ROH, WWE HOF

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Jim Cornette gives his thoughts on the hottest topic in wrestling today, Hogan and Bischoff joining/running TNA, at his Q and A page. He’s not too thrilled:

Oh, this whole thing reminds me of why I hate corporate wrestling. I must admit there are bright spots, like imagining Vince McMahon’s face and blood pressure when he heard the news, or hearing Hogan bitchslap Vince Russo by saying they’d be OK if “he stays in his place.” Can TNA make their minds up, LAST month everybody had to be “100% behind Russo’s creative direction” and THIS month they hire a guy who once SUED him for his lousy booking? They have reunited the same team that helped WCW lose more money than any wrestling promotion in history.

But it’s not all bad for TNA:

In all seriousness, of course Hogan’s presence will boost ratings, at least in the short term, and one or two PPV appearances over six months or a year will do buys far beyond anything TNA’s ever done on PPV. He can get publicity like no one else associated with TNA. Bischoff has proven he can get television deals done, just possibly not GOOD television shows MADE.

And yet, he’s still not thrilled:

But to me there are still issues. Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara are still writing the show. If a lot of people are looking at a turd, does it smell better? This is not a company-making move unless the extra viewers see a product they can get hooked on when Hogan isn’t there or gone. It doesn’t speak well for the policy of the youth movement and pushing new faces and making new stars. Talk about a Bush-Clinton dynasty, how long has it been since someone not named McMahon, Bischoff, Hogan and Russo has been in charge of wrestling in this country, and the business is a lot less popular in the US than it was 10 years ago. Will Hogan do anything to make even one young talent like Lashley, or Morgan, or “Desmond”, a star, or just drop the leg in each appearance to make the “fans happy”? A lot of questions about whether this is a good move for TNA will be answered by what both Bischoff and Hogan do for TNA instead of themselves.

He also talks about why he thinks ROH is the future, bringing MMA in to the discussion:

The rise of UFC in particular and MMA in general has shown that people have a desire to strip away the hokey bullshit and get back down to the base of it–two guys are gonna fight, who’s gonna win? Whether it’s “real” or not is about number 5 on the list of reasons the UFC is kicking wrestling’s ass. People want to see two guys, charismatic, colorful, and athletic, engage in an exciting contest with flashy moves or hard strikes ending with one guy winning, sometimes in a controversial fashion and often necessitating a rematch. That describes both MMA and pro wrestling. They will pay to see that when properly promoted. They will watch sports entertainment on TV for free, but it’s getting harder and harder to get people to get attached enough to “sports entertainment”, presented outright as scripted entertainment and generally comedic in nature, to buy it on PPV or at the arenas.

ROH is, in my opinion, the wrestling of the future because it’s the only promotion now concentrating on the product, letting the wrestlers wrestle and letting the fans decide who gets over. The stars are young, athletic, dedicated and hungry.

He also weighs in on the WWE Hall of Fame. Guess what? He doesn’t like that either!

So seriously, even though there have been some genuinely great moments at the dinner, that was due to the talent themselves and not the prestige of Vince’s HOF. There are certainly people in there that would be in any HOF, and some that wouldn’t. Overall, I am prouder of both myself and both versions of the Midnight Express being in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, because in that one, you are actually VOTED in by people in and around the sport.