Bischoff and Hogan fronting new company?
 

From PWInsider:

Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are about to launch a new wrestling promotion designed to compete with World Wrestling Entertainment, according to comments made by Hogan to the UK Sun.

Hogan told the British newspaper, "“Last night me and Eric were getting ready to sign a deal with one of the TV networks here in America. We had a little bit of a problem with the licensing and merchandising, which has delayed it. But I totally expect we’re going to sign the TV portion of this very soon, because there’s no point in starting any sort of wrestling organisation without the TV locked in place. Now we’re just arguing among the lawyers on how to protect the brand and the image and make sure it’s a fair deal for everybody. Once we’ve wrapped the TV up we’ll make the official announcement. The network want to make a really big deal of it.”

Hogan did not name the prospective network. In regard to talent, Hogan claimed there were a generation of wrestlers out there that WWE has yet to touch as well as a number of talents that were unhappy with their current role in WWE. He also teased in the article that he would be wrestling as part of the project.

To read the entire article, click here.

So basically, if it DOES go through, we'll have another "Big Three", with this promotion likely taking the #2 spot, depending on if they can get big-name talent who aren't in WWE or TNA.

Would have been easier to just get in on TNA if you ask me.

Is it that time of year again?

Hogan and Bischoff have tried and failed countless times at doing this. What leads anyone to believe that this time will be any different?

They've never had a major TV deal though. If they get a decent network it could go somewhere.

I'm quite happy watching old Raven matches, i don't need another wrestling show, specially not with hogan involved

Wow. Could you imagine Hogan running an entire show? I guess we wouldn't even need Spoiler warnings anymore

Doesn't this come up like every six months?

I mean, what next? An article about Cena and Eminem feuding?

...Oh...:o

Thank God the Big Show signed back up with the WWE.

Otherwise we could have been in for an 8 month Hogan versus Big Show main event feud.

Who the hell is out there, other than RVD, that has any marketing value?

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Hogan Eric's main backer for WCW, and pulled out before TimeWarner decided to not give them the tv spots?

Hogan is going to main event every damn show. When he runs out of main event jobbers, he will job to himself. What will he name the promotion? Instead of superstars they will be called Brothers and the divas will be called Sisters.

This will fail miserbly, wasn't Bischoff already in charge of a wrestling company before? How did that work out?

Also I would love to see another wrestling promotion that would be a strong alternative to WWE, but Hogan sure as hell not going to do it...expecially when he can't realize that he's 56 years old and can barely walk anymore.

well that's not totally a true statement because yes, he was the main guy, but behind the scenes all those corporate dicks at (shit can't think of the name now) were really running things. Eric had to answer to them and they hated wrestling to begin with.

If this actually happens, and they do compete, they'd only last a couple of months tops. They won't have years worth of character development, feuds, title history, and everything like that. You can start out big with interest, but it takes years to build a company. Hogan sure has the money to afford this, but he will run that company into the ground, but never admit to being the reason why the company failed.

PS - this isn't going to happen.

so we can expect to see brutus beefcake,the nasty boys,virgil and dont forget the great horace hogan lol

El Generico?

Ahh of course! I mean..........OLE!

Sid Vicious... he's a bigger draw than Hogan, Rock and Austin!!!!!!!! omgzzzzzzzzz

Seriously, I hope this happens. I don't care what anyone says, if anyone can say "Hey, Vince, I'm going to compete with you" it's Hulk Hogan. The man has lots of money, a really strong following (as much as I hate to say it), and he's an icon.

Eric Bischoff is also a damn fine businessman, really. He'd make a great on-screen authority figure for the company. He was not directly responsible for WCW going out of business. The man is also smart enough to learn from his mistakes.

Also, Hulk Hogan cannot wrestle every week. He really can't. His body can't take it, and he's got American Gladiators to worry about. This is a major plus. The only time he step into the ring is when they need a bit of a ratings boost, which is all the man is good for these days, anyway.

Is Hogan sticking with American Gladiators? If so, NBC might be interested in housing this project. That way, they can advertise American Gladiators through it, and Hogan can advertise it through American Gladiators. Assuming that Hogan provides crossover appeal, and that those who watch American Gladiators could get into a wrestling product, that's like roughly 6 million viewers possible each week. Granted, it probably would not be that high, but it's a possibility.

This would probably kick the WWE into gear, because they don't have as good a TV deal, they're not on as high profile a network, so they might actually start using the talent available to them.

Hogan also seems to be hinting that some WWE guys would be leaving for the promotion? Is this possible? Big Show would probably go, but he's just signed with the WWE. Of the guys unhappy with the WWE, I don't know why would be interested in leaving, besides the entire under-card.

They just need to keep Hogan away from the creative process, which I think he would be willing to do. The man is probably very busy, and would be looking for other ways to whore himself out to make money in place of what he spends on this endeavour. I think he just wants his name attached as owner/the man who gave Vince a fight.

Please, please, please, get Paul Heyman to be involved as either an on-screen character or a writer. That's if this goes ahead, and isn't complete bullshit.

If Hogan can somehow take the top talent away from TNA (Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, Booker T, etc.) and some of the great talent in ROH (Chris Hero, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, El Generico, etc.), I would watch the promotion without fail.

I mostly agree with Noid. Hogan's name is a big bargaining chip, and if they can keep him from booking and/or wrestling, that kind of weight could carry fairly far.

Besides, I'm not really sure you can call someone taking a shot at a new promotion a bad thing. If it sucks, it sucks, but we haven't really lost anything. It's not like it gives wrestling a black eye; Vince has done that enough for one decade. And it's not just Vince, wrestling's not well received in the public eye, so whatever, you know?

Even if they don't raid TNA, there's enough solid indy talent out there looking for a shot, not to mention a bunch of former WWE guys who'd love the exposure. You know that Hogan's just GOT to be itching to sign up Daivari so that he can conquer the evil Middle Easterner again. Plus, throw in Lashley and guys like Raven, Al Snow, D'Lo Brown... It's got potential if they're really serious about it.

Exactly. And if it gets started, it's going to stick around. I remember when people gave TNA 6 months. They have survived six years now, with some fairly awful writing at times. This promotion could be complete shit, and it'd have the money to stick around for at least that long, if it wanted to.

As for who they can use as main event players, I'm almost certain they'll be going after Rob Van Dam, Scott Hall and Bobby Lashley. RVD is quite popular; Scott Hall boosted ratings when he was on TNA apparently, and he seems like one of the guys Hogan would want; and Bobby Lashley is fresh out of the WWE.

I'm curious to see who they could lure away from TNA and the WWE. I actually think Samoa Joe would go. Kurt Angle would probably be swayed by the alternative factor remaining, with the added increase of more money. As I said, Big Show would love to help Hogan out, but his contract would probably cost a lot to buy out. Carlito is unhappy with the WWE, but he recently signed a new contract with the company, too.

If they can get financial backing, they can certainly stick around. They just need to avoid making it HCW (Hogan Championship Wrestling). Hogan on commentary could be great to attract people. Though if he says "Brother" and "Dude every three seconds, I might just snap.

Al Snow is someone who popped into my head. I'm not sure if he would draw or anything, but he provides someone who is talented and could help younger talent out. Raven is someone I would definitely get, if just in a road agent position. The man is a former two-time World Champion, and you need to advertise guys like that to initially get people in. He would also make a great manager or colour commentator. D'Lo Brown is an agent with TNA, currently, but if they lure him away, great. He's one of the most solid guys to never win a World Championship.

People get sick of me singing these guys' praises, but I'd definitely pick up Nick Dinsmore (without the retard gimmick), Rob Conway, Doug Basham and The Damaja. Those four guys would make two great tag teams for the promotion (The Lords of the Rings and "The Basham Brothers") and would give them four solid mid-carders. Nick Dinsmore, Rob Conway and Doug Basham are three of the best technical wrestlers to ever come out of OVW, and they would have their uses in the company.

And Sid Vicious is looking to get into the business again, apparently. He's one of those guys who can provide an initial main eventer while you establish new guys.

I think it would be great if they called him "co-owner" or something like that. Have him come out to resolve disputes. It gets him on the show, and we wouldn't need to hear an hour-two hours of him every week.

If this promotion gets started and picks up Rob Van Dam, I'd hope Jerry Lynn would follow and they'd get to revisit their feud from ECW.

There are a ton of old ECW guys who are out of work now, but who could contribute to a promotion like this.

Rob Van Dam
Raven
Sabu
Steve Corino
Jerry Lynn
Al Snow
Danny Doring & Roadkill

There are a lot of ECW guys out there. Hogan might actually spring for "Enter Sandman," too.

2 Cold Scorpio is one guy I think would be good for it, because he is still apparently great, and can actually wrestle. He wouldn't be there to hit people with steel chairs, or something.

I almost included Scorpio, but I haven't seen him work in a while, so i didn't know how effective he could be. I've always been a fan of Scorpio's. He can fly, but he can work the mat, too. The fourway with him, Jericho, Douglas, and PB2 is one of my favorite matches of all time.

Yeh that pretty much sums up my feelings on the situation. I really hope this does get off the ground with a big TV deal, and I'll definitely be there to check it out. If it sucks, oh well, I won't watch it again and neither will most people. Then it will tank and go away in a few months and in the end we wind up right back where we started. The only place to go is up.

Scorpio can still go. His stuff in IWA has been great. If you can find it somewhere, get his match with Chris Hero from the 2007 TPI. Really great stuff.

Who are you to doubt El Dandy?

If hogan is any type of authority this will be worst than TNA. His ego will have him eating up TV time.