By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist

Pro Wrestling is a funny business. For years and years, men (and women) have been able to put together personal grudges and general dislike for one another to do business together. Vince McMahon and Sable. Shane Douglas and Ric Flair. Ric Flair and Mick Foley. Sid and Arn Anderson. Jim Cornette and Vince Russo. Okay, so the last one didn't end well, but you get the idea.

On Jan. 4, with the debut of Hulk Hogan in TNA and the assumed return of Scott Hall and Ric Flair, as well as the possibility of Sean Waltman making an appearance or more, the heat between some of these guys would be enough to burn down Universal Studios. How the backstage area, housing an eclectic mix of personalities, will gel for the short-and-long term will be interesting to study. That said, while many of the gripes these men have against each other have been in private, several of them have gone on record blasting one another, as recently as less than a year ago. Here are some of those quotes:

"…(he) conned his way into the company (WCW)."
-Eric Bischoff, on Vince Russo, Torch Talk.

"I could never do it again…unless I was in control."
-Bischoff, on the wrestling business, Torch Talk.

"Big Lazy."
-Bischoff's nickname for Kevin Nash in his book, Controversy Creates Cash.

"It wouldn't have mattered to me if he had a broken neck, cancer, AIDS, typhoid or the first domestic case of the bird flu virus – I still would've fired him; he wasn't worth the pain in the ass he'd become."
-Bischoff, on Waltman, in his book, pg. 277.

"Vince was a one-trick pony, and pretty much full of shit."
-Bischoff, on Russo, pg. 335.

"The more I worked with Russo, the less I liked him and the less I trusted him."
-Bischoff, on Russo, pg. 340.

"Neither one of us were interested in TNA…there was nothing exciting there for Hulk or myself…the rest of the people in senior management there are not the sort of people we'd like to work with…there's no vision for that company." Those in the creative process in TNA "couldn't get a job in WWE, or shouldn't have had a job in WCW."
-Bischoff, in the UK Sun, February 2009.

Clearly, Bischoff has made a lot of enemies and perhaps did so without ever imagining he'd cross paths with them again, let alone in TNA. In the Torch Talk with Wade Keller, he seemed at ease with not being in the wrestling business anymore. Perhaps that was a ploy to take the wrestling world by surprise with his announcement of he and Hogan joining TNA. Bischoff was able to work with people in WWE that he had heat with (Flair, Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, Chris Jericho, other backstage workers) from Bischoff's run in WCW and that came with little trouble (aside from being confronted by Flair). It should be interesting to see what Bischoff's role with the company will be. I'd assume it'd strictly be behind the scenes, perhaps in creative. Considering Hogan is expected to be the on-air authority figure, that wouldn't leave much room for Bischoff on the show. I wouldn't be against the return of Eric Bischoff, lead announcer. That is, after all, where he started pecking away at WWE's credibility when he was in WCW.

"Way overrated. Never drew a dime."
-Scott Hall, on Sting, Torch Talk.

Very few wrestlers have much bad to say about Sting, yet leave it to Scott Hall to be the one to say it. Hall is expected to be Kevin Nash's tag partner with Nash winning a Tag Title shot in the Feast or Fired match at Final Resolution. How long he sticks around will be the question. Not only did Hall no-show his last scheduled appearance in TNA some years ago, he also created a stir with ICP in November of 2008 when they disrupted the TNA PPV by sitting ringside and generally causing a scene, upsetting wrestlers and personnel within the company. The fact that he's being brought back, I think, says a lot about TNA. It'd almost have to be a short-term deal. Even if he has sobered up and has his head on straight, he'd almost be more valuable to TNA behind the scenes than he would in front of the camera and in the ring at this point.

"Well, Hulk Hogan, you suck pal…you better not stop short or Eric Bischoff will go so far up your ass, he'll know what you had for breakfast."
-Waltman, Monday Night Raw, 3/30/98.

"Bite me!"
-Bischoff, to Waltman the next week on Nitro, in response.

Depending on Bischoff's position in management, he may not have to deal with Waltman at all. That is, if in fact Waltman comes into the TNA fold, which at this point, is no sure thing. If Bischoff is working the creative side, there could be some tension. However, if he's going to be upper-level management or only dealing with Hogan stuff, it likely wouldn't be a problem. It's been more than ten years since their heat began, and Bischoff has buried other hatchets that ran much deeper since that time, so he may have no problem working with Waltman once again.

"….that God-damned politician Hulk Hogan….you will never see that piece of shit again…Hogan, you big, bald son-of-a-bitch, kiss my ass."
-Russo, on Hogan, Bash at the Beach, 7/9/00.

Perhaps the most closely watched relationship will be that of Russo and Hogan. It was assumed that Russo would be ousted as head of creative once Hogan came in, but that doesn't seem to be an automatic anymore, even with Hogan publicly denouncing the writers. Russo's shoot on Hogan, mixed with a worked-shoot match and angle in 2000, confused most people, but it seems that Russo has mellowed in recent years and might be more open to working with Hogan now than he would've been in the past.

"There's nothing negative (in ROH) unlike in TNA, where all they talk about is trying to beat Vince (McMahon)."
-Flair, in an interview with Alex Marvez, May 2009.

"Vince Russo, a clown….I just turned my back and laughed at him."
-Flair, on Russo, The Monday Night Wars DVD.

"The only one who will never come off the ‘asshole' side of the page is Eric Bischoff."
-Flair, in his book To Be The Man…, pg. 295.

"(I)rrational…he's a shadow of his former self…most wrestling fans have already forgotten him. He's a mid-card talent now."
-Flair, on Scott Steiner, pgs. 286-287.

"Flair's a piece of shit."
-Steiner, on Flair, December 2008 interview with the Miami Herald.

Flair is reportedly close to signing with TNA, but whether he'd be on board for the Jan. 4 show is still questionable. Flair has already showed he can work with Bischoff in WWE, despite his disdain for the man remaining. If Bischoff has any hand in creative though, Flair may be wary. He probably has reason to be wary of Russo, too. Such a shame that Flair needs the money so badly to work with people he hates, but he wouldn't be the first. Hard to know whether Steiner is playing his hot-head character in interviews or not, but there appears to be heat between him and Flair as well.

"…it's kind of like the NWO not when the NWO was hot, but when the NWO started to lose steam when these guys didn't want to wrestle anymore and all they wanted to do was talk."
-Hogan, on TNA (and the Main Event Mafia), February 2009 interview.

It's hard to deconstruct Hogan's quotes, because so many of his claims throughout the years have been so laughable. So, when he goes from bashing TNA one month to proclaiming he'd like to work for them the next month, few even bat an eyelash. The big question on everyone's mind is: "Is Hogan in this for the long-term?" How badly does he want to stick it to Vince McMahon, widely considered his main motivation for going to TNA. Like Flair, he recently went through a divorce and could probably use the money as well. Hogan seems desperate to re-create the Monday Night Wars, and with the programming WWE has been putting on recently, they're ripe for the plucking. But will TNA have the horses to accomplish it? And if not now, when? If TNA doesn't make a dent in the ratings in any of their Monday night shows (rumored to be a few throughout the year), then what's next?

With the above quotable evidence, even if TNA doesn't turn out to be a threat to WWE, it should be a fun ride anyway, with many combustible personalities attempting to work together to take down the Godzilla of the pro wrestling business. Screw TNA beating WWE in the long-term: Will they survive all these egos inside the company at once, not to mention those already in TNA, many with their own agendas?

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Greg Parks has contributed to PWTorch.com dating back to covering WCW Saturday Night in 1999. He currently writes a weekly full page column for the PWTorch Newsletter plus covers Smackdown live every Friday night. He also participates in Roundtables and Audio Shows.

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