Will TNA sign Hogan?

A few weeks ago, Hulk Hogan's TNA contract expired and an angle was filmed to explain his absence from TNA TV. Reportedly, Hogan is negotiating to resign with TNA and recent comments in an interview have fueled speculation of a WWE return. So, will Hogan resign with TNA? Could there be a return to WWE TV? There are certainly some interesting scenarios, but is Hogan worth it?

Hogan debuted on Impact in 2010 during TNA's feeble and disastrous attempt to recreate the Monday night wars. The NWO, Eric Bischoff, and Ric Flair were suddenly on TNA TV. Instead of an alternative product, the show resembled a weekly WCW reunion, which led to Impact going to Thursday night after an unsuccessful attempt to compete with Raw. Based on those results, it seems as though Hogan probably wasn't worth the ridiculous salary, but  there's more evidence that Hogan wasn't worth the investment. Prior to Hogan's debut in TNA, the ratings for Impact were around 1.0 and during his entire run with the company, the ratings didn't improve. I've said it before an I will say it again, Hulk Hogan isn't a draw in the current market. At this point, he's known more for a tabloid circus than wrestling and the TMZ headlines seemed to sour many fans on him. Even when TNA took Impact on the road, Hogan appearing didn't draw the fans to make it profitable for the company and the show is scheduled to return to the Impact Zone. Basically, Hogan did nothing for TNA, he didn't improve the ratings and he didn't improve attendance so, what did he do to benefit the company? This was said before and it's nothing new to anyone reading this column, but Dixie Carter is clueless about the wrestling business and Hogan worked her for major money. Dixie thought that since Hulk was a major star a decade ago, it would boost TNA. Hogan did an interview on the Howard Stern show prior to signing with TNA and he mentioned he was in major debt, which is probably why he signed with the company. Hogan needed money and TNA was his opportunity to cash in on the declining name value he had. You can't blame Hogan for taking the money, but you have to wonder how clueless Dixie is to sign him. The bottom line is Hogan is damaged goods and if TNA is trying to cut costs, there's really no reason to resign him.

Despite Hogan's comments about a potential WWE return, I doubt the WWE would resign him anytime soon because as was mentioned earlier, Hogan is damaged goods. Supposedly, they offered him a lower amount of money than TNA, but why would they pay him more money? Quite simply, Hogan needs the WWE more than the WWE needs Hogan and if Hogan's image is going to be restored, it would be as a result of the WWE presenting him as a legend to the current audience. Hogan claims he could have another match and the only major match in a WWE ring would be a Wrestlemania match against John Cena, but who knows if Hogan could actually wrestle again?

So where will Hogan actually sign? Hogan mentioning a possible WWE return was probably just an attempt to get leverage in the negotiations with TNA and if Hogan can't get a deal with WWE, then I would guess he would resign with TNA to get the money that is on the table. Don't get me wrong, this isn't an attempt to bury Hogan because as I said, you can't blame him for taking the money, but rather an observation of the investment TNA made to sign Hogan and the results of it. TNA has a great roster and a lot of bright spots, but the Hogan experiment wasn't one of them. As for the rumors of TNA possibly shutting down, I doubt it and hopefully it can continue to provide a stage for some of the great talent on the roster.