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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 use Hogan in 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 7 of the Q&A with Hulk Hogan from November 2002 with Hogan talking about his relationship with Eric Bischoff, who was president of WCW during Hogan's previous major run in the wrestling business and is currently Hogan's business partner. 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: We talked a little bit about WCW and those years that came after the WWF which most people focus on. I don't want to tap dance around this. To be as successful and as driven as you've been for 25 years, you had to have a huge ego to push you forward, so when WCW started on that downfall and you were there, how difficult was it to be associated with a product that was ahead of WWF and then all of a sudden was so far behind it?

Hulk Hogan: I kind of saw it coming. I love Eric Bischoff to death, brother. No matter what anybody thinks, Eric is a good person. We've got differences business-wise, Jimmy (Hart) feels a certain way about him, I feel a certain way, Vince feels a certain way. We all like Eric. But when Eric started saying that Vince McMahon was going to be out of business in a month, when he started saying Vince McMahon wouldn't survive after one more week of WCW ratings, I looked at him and I said, "Are you nuts?" I said, "Vince McMahon is a fighter, brother, he's not going to go away." And when Eric Bischoff was on there calling him out and wanting to fight him, I said, "You better watch out, he might show up. The son of a bitch is crazy enough that he might show up." And now that I've talked to Vince, Vince wanted to come. It was everybody else, (Pat) Patterson, Shane (McMahon), his wife, and everybody else who talked him into not going because it was the wrong business move. But Vince McMahon was going to come down there and try to kick his ass. It could have been crazy. (Kevin) Nash and (Scott) Hall have their own agenda. I'm friends with them now, but it was kind of weird and I don't mean to be on an ego trip, but when I was there with Eric, I didn't do every Monday Nitro. When I was there with Eric, Jimmy was there and he could attest to this, Eric and I would talk. And even if we rewrote the show at the eleventh hour as we usually did, we came up with some solid stuff that drew a darn number. All of a sudden, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, not that they were right or wrong, but they would rather talk than wrestle. All of a sudden it was, "Oh, buzzkill, we've gotta wrestle?" It got to the point that there were too many well, not even pre-tapes, it just wasn't even wrestling. Then all of a sudden there was so much talking that the fans were holding signs like, "Shut up and wrestle." And all of a sudden, instead of Eric getting three or four guys he trusted such as me and two or three other guys, every week he'd bounce around listening to different people and that was his demise. He was never consistent with anything, like who drove the white hummer. I still don't know who was driving the white hummer.

Keller: Yes (laughs).

Hogan: He never followed up with storylines. He had a chance to beat the hell out of Vince and kick him while he was down, but he kind of let him up from the fight and that was what it was.

Keller: Do you think also that he just suffered from burnout, that he just went too hard too fast and then?

Hogan: It wasn't his fault at all because all of a sudden we were doing one hour, then we do two hours, then they asked for three hours. Are you kidding? Even when we went back to two hours, three hours was the demise of the product because it was overexposure and it just got to be too much for a little Southern belle wrestling company. It was just too much TV. They would have been better off just doing one hour twice a week and kicking ass, and we'd still be kicking ass. But that's basically what it was. I didn't have a problem being associated with the product because, to tell you the truth, I was still making a ton of money. I had my guarantees there. I was on a roll there with Eric and these guys. I had a couple of years there where I was making a million dollars a month, so I couldn't complain. If that makes me a bad guy that I made that good of a deal, well then I'm sorry, I can't apologize but once. But I'm not that sorry (laughs). Everybody is there to make a deal. You would do the same unless you're nuts. If you could make a deal where you could make that kind of bread you'd do it.

MORE TO COME...

-- READ THE MOST RECENT HULK HOGAN TORCH TALK FLASHBACK SAMPLE.


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