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...AND MARKING OUT Leftovers: Feedback on the question of Hogan: should he be the champ or not. Better choices even?" MGoose37 wrote: Drop on your question, I was going to email it to you but here is my true feeling on the question. I would leave the belt on Hogan for two PPV's and have him beat Taker, and then Angle. This could line him up for a showdown with Austin and I would love to see the torch of pro wrestling official passed from Hogan to Austin. Remember with Hogan, the WWF would have never gotten Austin. Without Austin the WWF doesn't dethrone WCW and Hogan. Both men in the ring together at any time is going to be something special, because its the best of both worlds battling for nothing more then dominance of the profession they both helped make a mainstay for many fans around the world. Pieman said: I think Hogan should have the belt right now. Why not? I think having Hogan face the Undertaker makes some sense even though I know they are floating a four-way right now. Why can't Hogan and UT work a decent 15 minute match? As you said earlier, the crowd has as much to do with it and the wrestlers and I think the crowd will pop for Hogan/UT. Just my thoughts. Agugarty retorted: In fifty words, I might be able to list more deserving champions than Hulk Hogan. The Rock, Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Rob Van Dam, Edge, and maybe even Booker T. All of these men are more over than Hogan (watch RAW and try to deny it) AND they are much better wrestlers. In this group, there are at least 29 recognized World Championship reigns. These men's accomplishments include: A 6-time WWF Champion (tying for the WWF record; also having 2 WCW/World Title reigns) A 5-time WCW Champion (the WCW record) A 5-time WWF Champion (including an Undisputed Championship reign) A 4-time WWF Champion A 3-time WWF Champion A 2-time WWF Champion (who also has at least one WCW Title reign) The 1st ever Undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion (who also has a World Title reign) An undefeated WCW Champion A man who held the ECW Television Title for nearly two years (I think) The reigning King of the Ring The 2000 King of the Ring The 1997 King of the Ring The 1996 King of the Ring 5 Royal Rumble victories 10 WrestleMania Main Events The reasons go on and on and on. Hulk Hogan is (I think) a 6-time WWF Champion and 3-or-4-time WCW Champion. I don't believe that he has ever won a Royal Rumble. He has never been the King of the Ring. He never wrestled in ECW. The only thing he was the first to do was come out to music. Hulk Hogan's pop is dying quickly. People are starting to realize that he is a 50-year-old man, and that he has wrestled two singles matches since at least March 2001, probably much longer. I'm sorry that this is not 50 words, but I used up 38 just saying who deserved it more than Hogan, so I thought I should go all out. While that wasn't 50 words, it was well-put. I'll take long-winded with evidence over long-winded with nothing ANYday. Feedback Question of the Week: What's up with the WWF not recognizing the death of Lou Thesz? Who most at fault here? You tell me. Thanks. Welcome to another 10 minutes inside my brain. Enjoy the ride. Or not. Between a Rock and a Hard Place First SmackDown! and now RAW. What you say? Poor ratings, that's what. SmackDown! ratings have been low for a few weeks now and RAW, which has had consistently strong ratings since the split, saw its rating drop to a 4.4 on Monday (credit Dave and the Observer website). There are many theories surrounding the drop ranging from Hogan's nostalgic face run running out of steam to HHH's ineffectiveness as a main event face to WHATever. I think there is a larger force at work here. Or rather, missing from work here. The Rock. Yup. You heard me. I postulate that ratings are low because the Rock is nowhere around. Oh, I see you puro, mat-grappling fans out there dismissing me. But the fact of the matter remains that no matter how you may personally feel about the Rock, his character, his moveset, his execution, it can not be denied that he is a major ratings draw. Time and time again the Rock has proven that he can single-handedly make any angle better. Or even make an angle where there isn't even one present. Remember that feud with the Big Show after the Royal Rumble last year? Yup, the Rock made you care about the Big Show. Scary, but true. More than any other current roster member, the Rock has the ability to hold an entire arena and at-home audience on his every word. Austin is a close second, but he's been settling for mediocrity lately. Kurt Angle is another master of the crowd. And his day will come, but it's not quite today. The ratings show the today, right here, right now, belongs to the Rock. It's his time. It's amazing. Really. It's like he has the power to turn shit into sugar or something. I really can't explain it, but the Rock is Money. Who has been at the center of the two most talked about Wrestlamania matches with intense crowd heat? The Rock, that's who. And you would think Vince would have noticed this first and worked hard to renegotiate with Rock in order to keep him a WWF superstar forever. But, he didn't. And now, Hollywood has learned what Vince should have known and acted on long ago: The Rock is the shit. And he's gone baby. Hollywood has him, and while the selfish part of me will always want to see him wrestle more than he will, I'm happy for him. Why should he risk paralysis and injury to make a cool 5 million or so working and traveling for over 250 days a year if he can work for 10 week spurts making movies and pull in 10 million a pop or more? Easy choice for Rocky and Vince should have seen it coming a mile away. The Rock didn't just get this good. He's always has movie star looks, incredible charisma and the body of a Greek sculpture. If Vince didn't realize this years ago, the Rock's first Saturday Night Live appearance should have really sent the red flags raising. He should have seen it and worked to rectify the situation. I'm not suggesting that Vince and company could have or should have worked to stopped the Rock's rise to mega-stardom, but he should have worked to ensure that there were other WWF superstars were made and prepared to enter top slots in the main event. But not Vince. No. Vinnie the Arrogant had the nerve to say in interviews that the Rock will always come back to the WWF. Right. Whatever. Sure, he'll come back, but there's a difference in having the Rock around to write about on a weekly basis and planning for a 4 week return every five months or so. Vince should and could have worked to create new stars that fans could connect with so that the Rock's absence wouldn't be as detrimental as it has been so far. But no. Instead, we have basically the same cast of characters in the main event, but split across two shows: HHH, Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, StoneCold. Second verse, same as the first. And I think fans are tuning out. It's not all on Hogan or HHH. Austin is also in a horrible slump and finds himself and his anlge being carried by Flair. As CRZ pointed out, they have Brock Lesnar and Mark Henry playing the same role on different shows. Wrestlers with decent workrate like Lance Storm, Booker and Christain are being relegated to squash matches and silly backstage skits. And instead of taking this time as an opportunity to start making tomorrow's stars today, Vince chooses to push the same people harder than ever as if he has to prove to us that he's right and we're wrong. Well, Vince, I'm here to tell you that YOU are wrong. You're wrong to think you can excuse Rock from TV for no good reason and expect us not to care. You're wrong to think that we will tolerate Hogan with the belt until SummerSlam. And you were wrong to underestimate the importance of the Rock to your product. He's gone and now your product is suffering. Ratings speak to the fact that your shows are missing something in fans eyes and they are tuning out. That something is the Rock. I, for one, sure miss the big lug. Until next time, send hatemail and/or feedback to the addy in the link below. I'm out. Drop THE NEW The Shooters (or maybe not)
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