By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Hulk Hogan says he signed a one-year contract with TNA with the option to extend the working relationship with TNA president Dixie Carter every year.

"I think it's a year with rollovers, you know, if we're both happy. It's definitely a year, it's not any shorter than that. But it's something that we both want to work together," Hogan told Fanhouse.com in a lengthy interview.

Hogan also his "out" that each side has the option to terminate the working partnership if Hogan and Carter "agree to disagree" on the direction of the product with Hogan controlling the creative aspect.

"We've made that real clear that if they don't like the direction I'm going in, or if they can't handle the change or that they think I'm wrong that I'll just walk away, or whatever you want to call it, they'll fire me or I'll quit or whatever," Hogan said. "We wanted to have this flexibility because I wanted to do a lot different stuff, brother, I mean, I've been watching TNA and they got a ton of talent there and they do a lot of things right."

Hogan ended the quote by saying, "I'm not trying to compete with Vince (McMahon), or I'm not trying to hurt Vince McMahon, but I just want to put out a better product than he does."

Related to WWE CEO Vince McMahon, Hogan claims McMahon offered him a 25-year deal to return to WWE and "own Hulkamania." Hogan says he mulled the offer, but decided he didn't want to give up the rights to his character and trademarks.

"I was figuring on going back to work with Vince, and you know, up until about a month before I signed the TNA contract with Dixie Carter, I had been talking with Vince, back and forth. I wasn't trying to leverage anybody, but I was just trying to see where the best place was to go and Vince McMahon wanted me to come back for 25 years. I'm 56 years old. He offered me a 25-year contract," Hogan said. "He needs the Hulk Hogan names and the marks and the licensing, which I own, and I understood that business part, but the more I thought about the nepotism and the good old boy system there ... I know that story."

In a continuance of the multiple-decades power struggle between Hogan and McMahon, Hogan says he was wary of McMahon trying to prove he's bigger than Hulkamania by having the power to "make or break" Hogan in WWE.

"If I take too much of the spotlight in the WWE they put a bullet in me right away, and I know the end of that story," Hogan said. "So I said, You know what? This TNA company has been just really, really, really consistent. They've been on Spike for seven years (editor's note: four years on Spike, one year on FSN, and three years on Wed. night PPVs). ... I think I can help these guys make this larger than life, make real characters and really make it fun again."

Caldwell's Analysis: What we have here is Hogan presenting himself as the man who controls the "power plays" in the wrestling business. RVD has recently bragged about sitting back and waiting for the best offer from WWE or TNA, but Hogan takes it a step further by saying he could have forced McMahon's hand in WWE to "put the bullet in the almighty Hulkamania" or he could have gone to TNA and instantly taken creative control - because he's Hulk Hogan - despite not having formal experience in a "General Manager/executive role."

Hogan and McMahon have been waging a political power play battle off-and-on for 20+ years and this is the latest incarnation with Hogan hitching his wagon to the young, underdog upstart with a reliable cable TV clearance, Spike TV executives that can be influenced, an inexperienced company president, and a need for that "Midas touch" from Hogan. Of course, if it doesn't work out, Hogan has his "out." He's covered himself by saying TNA might not be on board with what he brings to the table, which won't be his fault, nor TNA's fault. Hogan has pre-arranged the chess board with some good political moves and he's ensuring the King and Queen are well-protected at the end of the day.

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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