Hulk Hogan Pesters Spike Execs To Move iMPACT!, Talks AJ Styles
Hulk Hogan was interviewed by Matt Fowler of IGN.com where he discussed the World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, the possibility of a permanent TNA move to Monday nights, WWE and more. Here are some of the highlights of the interview:
Moving iMPACT! to Mondays on a regular basis: "[On January 5th, the night after the live iMPACT! special], when we taped I was like 'hmmm. We need to switch gears and keep going live.' It was a different vibe (Jan. 4). It will work. It's not 'if,' it's 'when.' We had a crazy dinner last night with all the big [SpikeTV executives] and I was just badgering them to death. Just beating them to death. It's just time and momentum. And they get it. They understand that whole energy thing. That feel."
Gaining and losing WWE audience: "I was trying to explain to them [SpikeTV Officials] that if you go live on a Monday and then you wait seven or eight weeks to do another Monday you're missing an opportunity to bring more fans to the table. Because they'll come back the next Monday and where are we at? We're not there and they'll go to the WWE. And then they'll come back the next two or three Mondays thinking 'this must have been a fluke because they weren't on.' And if we're not on then all you wind up doing is giving the other guy a big shot in the arm."
Making AJ Styles a mainstream name: "You can go out there and have 5-star matches all day long. And I love A.J. Styles to death, don't get me wrong. But Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Jack Briscoe, Harley Race, A.J. Styles all gave 5-star matches and now (holds hand up to head) this is the water level now. When the water level rises and TNA is the number one sports entertainment company in the world, if you keep having those 5-star matches like that and you don't do the cross-over media and we don't have (Jay) Leno or Regis (Philbin) calling A.J. Styles instead of me then people that are having those crazy, unbelievable off-the-chart matches are going to be mid-card at best."
Meetings w/ AJ Styles: "I had a couple long talks with him and he's got it, bro. He really does. That whole A.J. Styles character ? if you just have to put bit of an edge on it and ramp it up. I want everyone to know who he is and not just 75 percent of the people or maybe half of the people. Those matches have a great place, but those matches – those 5-star matches combined with breathing life into the characters will just be the icing on the cake. But you have to have that."
To read the full interview, visit IGN.com.