Email This Article - Contact Us - VIP Sign-Up - Back to Home Page

|

In November 2002, PWTorch editor Wade Keller interviewed former WWE and WCW World Hvt. champion Hulk Hogan, one of the biggest names and stars in the pro wrestling industry.

In this "Torch Talk," the first interview Hogan ever did with an insider publication, and his longest interview of any kind ever, he discussed many of the highs and lows of his career. Hogan was promoting his first autobiography at the time. Over the course of the two hour interview, Keller attempted to avoid covering the same ground that he did in the book. This interview in many ways worked as a supplement to the book, as many questions asked were intended as a follow-up to what he wrote over the course of 300-plus pages.

Currently, Hulk Hogan has signed with TNA after being unable to agree with WWE CEO Vince McMahon on how to incorporate Hogan into WWE. McMahon reportedly wanted control over writing the end of Hogan's character. Hogan says he wants to write the ending himself.

The following is a sample of Part 5 of the Q&A with Hulk Hogan from November 2002 with Hogan talking about his relationship with Vince Russo. At the time, Hogan was in the middle of a legal issue with Russo after the Bash at the Beach 2000 disaster. Now, Hogan will be working with Russo in TNA. Read Hogan's comments on Russo from 2002 in the following snippet. Torch VIP members have instant access to the complete Hulk Hogan Torch Talk with Wade Keller right now. Sign up for a VIP membership to access the Torch Talk now!

Wade Keller: I thought you came across as someone taking the high road in the book. Without being totally passive about standing up for yourself and making certain comments that needed to be said, for instance about Vince Russo. But at the same time, I didn't think it came across as a trashy book. I don't think anyone will read it and think that.

Hulk Hogan: Well, they definitely had to rearrange some of my verbiage on Russo. When it came to Russo, I was pretty much shooting from the hip on that deal. And boy, they panicked when they read some of that verbiage. They tried to be politically correct because the lawsuit is getting to a fever pitch here now. They didn't want me to do anything too out of line to give anyone any ammunition... I'm not as completely up to speed as I should be. There's so much legal schmegal stuff that I don't understand that a normal person wouldn't have a clue, they'd be making a mistake just by telling it like it is.

Keller: Don't answer this if you think it will get you in trouble in any way, but as far as that night goes, after it happened, did you hear what people were saying about it and read what was being written about that incident and then think, "Oh, I want to tell my side of the story because there's so much more than people know"? Because a lot came out in that book on that night. A lot of details came out that had not been previously known.

Hogan: No, that night, brother, I was shocked. I knew from being prepped by Johnny Ace, I knew what his opinion was about dropping the leg and letting the whole Hulkamania thing run wild. I knew what he suggested he would have liked to have seen. I know how I felt. When Russo went back out and did the promo, stuff like that... that's the type of stuff that I would discuss with you because it definitely involved your career, it definitely involved... My God, I want to make sure that your father, who is lying on his deathbed and watching TV, might not be sent over the edge by what I say. I want to take into account that your kids might be sitting in the crowd. You really need to think things through like that because it affects people on so many levels. Now, if it's a work and everybody agrees on it, well then hey, brother, run with it. But when it's not a work and it turns into an out and out shoot, then you really need to realize that this business is entertainment. This business is not venting your aggression in front of people. Otherwise, let's all get on an even playing field. If Russo hated me so bad, why didn't he get in the damn ring with me and say, "Hey, I don't want to work, I want to shoot and kick your ass, Hogan." That's what it's all about if he hated me that bad.

Keller: Why was Vince Russo so opposed to working with you? Because you had power and influence and he wanted 100 percent control? Do you think he just believed that you weren't a draw anymore and he wanted to go in a different direction? What motivated this guy to act like a mad man that night?

Hogan: All I can say is that I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he must have honestly believed I wasn't a draw anymore and was basically the biggest piece of cancer to ever keep hanging around in this business. Before he ever met me, he had a production meeting. In this production meeting he said in front of Kevin Sullivan and Mike Graham that one of his first goals was to basically get rid of Hulk Hogan. He said that, as a priority, in one of his first breaths when he came to WCW. I was shocked by that because I'd never met the guy. I figured that even if we didn't get along we could do business together. And even if he didn't have plans for me, I could go ahead and finish my contract out and get over everybody I needed to get over and pass the torch and go on my merry way because I owed it to all of the guys who put me over for all the years. But I was never even given a chance to do that, gracefully anyway.

Keller: Do you begrudge Jeff Jarrett at all in what happened that night?

Hogan: Not one bit, brother. You know what? He's one of the boys and I understand what he had to do. Not one bit. Never ever, ever.

Keller: What did you think when Vince Russo was brought back to WWE by Vince McMahon a few months back to be part of the creative team?

Hogan: (laughs) It was something that I really, really felt bad about. I feel Vince really had his ducks not in a row because I figure that something like that he should have discussed with me on a personal level. He said he didn't realize the lawsuit was still rolling and didn't realize a lot of things. I don't know how to explain it. It would be like bringing the gunmen back to Columbine without telling the principal. And I basically told him, "If Russo works here, I can't." Not that this had anything to do with Russo or what has happened to him or not happened to him, but I basically told Vince the day after I found out about it, which was a couple of days after he'd been hired, I didn't even know... I said: "Brother, if he's working here, I'm not and that's just the way it is. So do what you have to do and let me know." And if he had stayed there and worked, I would have left. I don't have a problem with that.

Keller: Do you think that your stance, your very reasonable stance given those circumstances, on Vince Russo had something to do with Russo departing so quickly after being rehired?

Hogan: I don't know. I really don't know. I have no idea. That was not my motivation. I just said: "This is real simple, I can't go home and tell my wife and kids that I'm working here when this guy's here. It doesn't work on any level for me."

Keller: No matter what anyone thinks of you or Russo, no matter whose side they are on, I don't think anyone could think that's unreasonable for you to say that you didn't want to work with that guy after what happened that night.

Hogan: No, it would be like me smoking ten cartons of cigarettes a day after they told me I had cancer. It just wouldn't work.

MORE TO COME...

-- Click Here to read the previous Hulk Hogan Torch Talk Flashback.

Send feedback on this article to pwtorch@gmail.com and we'll regularly publish reader feedback in the "Torch Feedback" category on the Main Listing.

For more BREAKING NEWS on WWE, TNA!
VISIT OUR AFFILIATE - PROWRESTLING.NET

For UFC & MMA NEWS & BLOGS:
VISIT OUR SISTER SITE - MMATORCH.COM

Upgrade to PWTORCH VIP: DETAILS & SIGN-UP INFO

(c) 1999-2009 TDH Communications Inc. - All rights reserved.