wrestling / Columns
411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Do We Want to See Hulk Hogan Back in WWE?
Image Credit: WWE
Welcome back to 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Greg DeMarco & Robert S. Leighty Jr.
1. You want to see Hulk Hogan back in WWE.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FACT – It is no secret I am a wrestling fan because of Hulk Hogan and he will always be my favorite pro wrestler of all time. Even as I started reading all the dirt sheets and finding out more about the behind the scenes aspects of the business, I always stayed a Hogan fan. I followed him to WCW and even to TNA. I was all for him getting a run with the TNA Title. I was thrilled when he came back to the WWE as he seemed at peace and seemed happy being back in the company he helped take to heights only ever seen when Austin was on top. I understand the reason he was fired and I know it is a complicated issue. I do think Hogan has paid the price for what he said and if the WWE (ie Vince McMahon) feels Hogan has shown remorse and has taken the steps to be welcomed back then I am all for it. I might be one of the few, but I want to see Hogan back with the WWE. Even if all I get is seeing him back in the crowd for the Hall of Fame ceremonies and the occasional one off Legends Segment when RAW celebrates one of the million milestones it hits.
Greg DeMarco: FACT – This is a unsurprisingly tough answer. Hulk Hogan made a lot of mistakes in his most recent years, but those aren’t things that separate him from you or I. What separates Hulk Hogan from you or I is that he made those mistakes in a very public, and very cavalier manner. When you’re Hulk Hogan, you feel invincible. You feel like you can do no wrong, and even when you do wrong, you win millions in a lawsuit for the way someone else covered your wrongdoing! But there are two men responsible for taking a regionalized, decentralized wrestling product and making it the global phenomenon we know and love(/hate) today: Vince McMahon…and Hulk Hogan. If not for Hulk Hogan, you wouldn’t get to read my pointed (and admit it, 100% on point) commentary on the product. Because I am probably not a fan. And even if you, the reader, are a mega fan of Evolve and New Japan, you more-than-likely aren’t there without one Hulk Hogan. The business as we know it today was created on the back of Hogan’s Rock-N-Wrestling, and eventually changed with Hollywood’s New World Order. Thus, he deserves to come back. Not yet, but sooner rather than later. And honestly I think we see if soon after the new television deal is finalized. Maybe it’s a non-wrestling appearance at WrestleMania 35, maybe it’s on the first edition of “WWE Raw On Fox.” But just like we celebrate the careers of The Ultimate Warrior and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, men with widely known morality issues, we will once again celebrate the career of Hulk Hogan during a WWE broadcast.
2. Setting Ronda Rousey up to work with veterans Mickie James and Natalya on the main roster is a smart idea to continue her evolution as a wrestler.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FACT – There is absolutely no downside here as there are no better ladies on the roster to help train someone while on the job. James and Natalya go back to the previous generation of ladies in the WWE and each is held in high regard for what they can do in the ring. Rousey looked great in her Mania debut, but that match was made so she couldn’t fail. She seems fully committed to becoming a WWE Superstar and that means she will have to do house shows and having her just squash the lower level women won’t let her learn, so it is best to put her in there with the two seasoned pros that can teach her everything she needs to know inside and outside the ring. It also gives James and Natalya a higher standing in the company and shows the WWE has full faith in both of them. This is easily a win for everyone involved.
Greg DeMarco: FACT – No brainer for me. Headed into WrestleMania 34, Ronda Rousey proved one thing, a thing that was already obvious and needed no proof: she’s a mega draw. At WrestleMania 34, she proved another thing: that she can do this! But she isn’t there yet. That’s where women the likes of Mickie James and Natalya come into play. Ronda Rousey is insanely talented, and equally complex. That combination has made her one of the most engaging personalities on WWE television in less than six-months. But the area in which she lacks the most is her in-ring ability. In professional wrestling, if a promoter believes in someone, they help them work on their areas of need. The way said promoter makes that happen is by surrounding that talent with people who can make them better. That’s what WWE is doing with Mickie James and Natalya. Both women are valuable backstage in planning out a match. Ronda needs that. Both can lead the efforts in the ring. Ronda needs that. But most importantly, both can teach Ronda what it all means. How it was put together, what went right, what wrong, how you adjust, and how you grow. Ronda needs that, and I would wager that Ronda herself would tell you this same fact. If Ronda Rousey does in fact go on to the main event of WrestleMania 35 (and I would argue that she should), it will be in no small part be due to the efforts of Mickie James and Natalya.
3. You have no problem with WWE running a major event in a country that doesn’t allow the women to perform.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FACT – Personally, I don’t have a problem with it because I’m not the one that has to answer to sponsors and shareholders. I know HHH has come out and stated that Saudi Arabia has made some strides, and they want to respect their culture while trying to make changes over time from within. Some feel this is company speak to get people off their back about taking millions of dollars to put on a show that goes against the Women’s Revolution speak that is mentioned every show. For me the WWE is a business and they are going to do what makes the most sense financially and right now this does that. Perhaps they are building goodwill over there and will have a chance to help that area of the world make a change as stranger things in this world have happened. For me I will watch the show when I get home from work and I will watch RAW on Monday as they go back to putting over their women and how they are changing the business. Any hypocrisy they may show in this mess is their own issue and doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the product.
Greg DeMarco: FACT – I am sorry, but it’s true. Greatest Royal Rumble is a major opportunity for the WWE to showcase their product to a new audience, and make a boatload of money doing so. From a business perspective, this is a slam-dunk. Does it suck that it happens in a country where the rights and treatment of women is not equal to that of men? Yes…but I could easily be talking about my own United States of America. Or New Japan Pro Wrestling. Or Evolve. Or countless other wrestling efforts around the world. But Greatest Royal Rumble represents the potential for change in the world, thanks to professional wrestling. Triple H himself said it best: “While, right now, women are not competing in the event, we have had discussions about that and we believe and hope that, in the next few years they will be. That is a significant cultural shift in Saudi Arabia. The country is in the middle of a shift in how it is dealing with that – the position is changing, and rights are changing, as are the way women are handled and treated in society. We think that’s a great thing and we’re excited to be at the forefront of that change.” It’s so easy to blame WWE for this move, but you can’t change a culture overnight. But you can, in small steps, be part of a shift that leads to change, and change that leads to inspiration. There is no guarantee that women will ever be allowed to wrestle in Saudi Arabia. But if you dismiss the opportunity of Greatest Royal Rumble, you guarantee that no woman will EVER wrestle in Saudi Arabia.
SWITCH!
4. WWE will introduce women’s tag team titles by the end of 2018.
Greg DeMarco: FICTION – Sorry, but I don’t see it. WWE has come a long way in developing their women’s division. WrestleMania 34 presented a match in Charlotte vs. Asuka where you could legitimately argue that it should have occupied the main event position on the card. Instead it delivered the best match of the night, and showed that both Charlotte and Asuka can main event WrestleMania in the future. Possibly next year. But a Tag Team Championship? First I have to ask, where? Raw? Smackdown? It’s not common for WWE to add a title to one brand and not the other, even with 205 Live being associated with Raw it’s still quite separate. But there’s a bigger question: Who? Right now you have a handful of tag teams readily made, and the two that makes the most sense (The IIconics and Absolution) are both on the two-hour show, Smackdown. What I could see is Women’s Tag Team Tournament that plays out on Facebook Watch, where the winners get…wait for it…A TROPHY! But the talent, and the airtime, simply isn’t there for a women’s tag team championship.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FICTION – Please no more titles for the main roster as there are too many already. This may have been a decent idea when they had separate PPVs, but not with the two brands joining together each month. Add in that you would have to get a set of titles for each brand and again it is just overkill. The divisions are deep right now, but I don’t know if they are that deep. Just keep the focus on the 2 Main Titles and have a few feuds underneath that can carry things along until a new challenger is needed. Now if they women got their own show when the WWE gets a new TV deal we may see something by the end of the year, but I don’t see that happening either.
5. Considering their history, Miz vs. Daniel Bryan could be WWE’S feud of the year by a long margin.
Greg DeMarco: FACT – Another no-brainer, right? Let’s look at this from a different perspective. If not Miz & Bryan…who? (Insert New Day sound bite here.) Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns? Nope. And I don’t even hate it like you do. AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura? Maybe. Because Heelsuke is amazing. The Usos vs. The New Day? Despite both entities still being on Smackdown, that was last year. Charlotte vs. Asuka? Was a competitive rivalry, not a feud. The fact is, I don’t even need to talk about the actual storyline involving Daniel Bryan and The Miz to say this is fact. The only feud in the entire WWE that can compete with this is Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa, and it’s technically not on WWE television, it’s in NXT. So yeah, The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan for the win. The big win.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FACT – Once Bryan was cleared, his feud with The Miz was the first thing that popped in my head. As I had hoped Miz was right there to add fuel with his tweet when Bryan’s returned was announced and it appears we are finally getting a payoff to their nearly 8 year rivalry. I recapped Talking Smack every week and the way they would take shots at each other and always played off each other to keep things building was what helped make Talking Smack amazing. Now with Bryan cleared they can cut loose on each other again with promos that will lead to a very good match as they will be motivated to tear the house down. There is no other feud in the WWE that has as much heat or history. Now if you want to count NXT as being under the WWE umbrella then, Gargano vs. Ciampa is the feud of the year and nothing else is close. Thankfully the wording of this questions leads me believe they are only talking about the Main Roster so I can’t see anything touching this feud unless the WWE keeps holding off on it.
6. Combining the videos on Raw and the one-hour documentary, WWE did a good job of paying tribute to the late Bruno Sammartino.
Greg DeMarco: FACT – What did you realistically expect? Three hours of bearhugs? Bruno Sammartino is a legend. He’s wrestling history. Remember when I said modern day professional wrestling was build on the back of Hulk Hogan? Well the road for Hulk Hogan was paved by Bruno Sammartino. But I don’t see what more WWE had to do here. This wasn’t a current roster member, where their passing came with an element of shock that has to be addressed. They paid tribute. They showed videos. They aired a documentary. Bruno has been celebrated, and Bruno is in the Hall Of Fame. I am glad that bridge was rebuilt, because the Hall Of Fame is incomplete without Bruno Sammartino. He was our dad’s favorite wrestler, and likely his dad’s too. His historical significance cannot be understated, and the manner in which WWE celebrated his life was both appropriate and enjoyable.
Robert S. Leighty Jr: FACT – Bruno is on the Mt Rushmore of WWE stars along with Hogan, Austin and then pick a 4th (Rock, Cena, Andre) and deserved an amazing tribute and the WWE gave that to him. To me the 10 Bell Salute with the entire roster out is always perfect and send chills down my back while putting a tear in my eye. The WWE owed Bruno that tribute and more and they delivered with the video packages and tweets from those inside and outside the building. The documentary (which I covered) was a tremendous piece of business and was a fantastic way to wrap up the day full of tributes. It helped give newer fans information on what made Bruno so amazing while also honoring his legacy. It also showed the world why Bruno’s life story is one made for Hollywood and it showed that him even getting out of Italy alive was a miracle. The WWE did everything right with this one and even if they did more it wouldn’t feel like too much because there is no WWE as we know it without Bruno Sammartino.
