My Hulk Hogan/TNA/Spike TV Meeting at Spike Headquarters
I’ve got to you tell this story because I was indeed a part of this meeting at Spike TV – DESPITE the fact their VP of Communications recently claimed that no one at the floundering network knows who I am.
This was a big deal at the time – not only for TNA, but for yours truly.
A meeting was scheduled at Spike TV Headquarters (in New York City) to lay out the strategy for Hulk Hogan once he signed with TNA on October 27, 2009. Now, from the start, I honestly didn’t want any of this, but I had no choice. At the time I was still trying to get over Dixie Carter having been negotiating with Hogan and Bischoff the entire time that Matt Conway and I were busting our butts writing her television and attempting to change the direction of the company through a youth movement of home grown talent.
No, Dixie certainly wasn’t obligated to tell me about her clandestine meetings, but in my opinion, it would have been the right thing to do.
But now that Hogan/Bischoff were officially a part of the company – Dixie needed to get me totally on board. So, she informed me that I needed to fly into New York the night before we were to have a meeting with Spike to put together a game plan. This was just prior to Hulk making his debut on TNA. She also informed me that she and I would be meeting with Eric Bischoff before meeting. Now, keep in mind, the last time I saw EB was about 9 years prior at “Bash at the Beach”! So, was there some anxiety? A little.
I’ll never forget the night prior. Dixie put me up in some fancy-schmancy hotel, in the heart of Manhattan. I hated that BS – always have. I’m blue collar all the way. Don’t spend $250 on a room I’m going to spend about 8 hours in.
Anyway, the entire room was maybe a “tad” larger then a California closet. I swear, the bathroom was practically on top of the bed. When you got up, you literally HAD to go to the bathroom, whether you needed to or not.
Needless to say, I didn’t sleep at all that night. I just didn’t feel good about any of this.
So, the next morning I got up, met Dixie, and together we met Eric. Awkward! Yeah, it sucked, but you know what? Eric was cool.
There was no doubt a sense of friction in the air, but Eric treated me with respect, and I returned the favor to him. I guess part of his candor had to do with it being his first day on the job, and at the time, I had been working with Dixie for the better part of seven years. So if his intentions were to bury me somewhere along the line – this wouldn’t have been the day. Regardless, he was high-road all the way.
From there, we went to our meeting with Spike and let me tell you – it was standing room only. The entire conference room was filled to capacity. The only faces I knew were the high rollers from Spike who were present – Scott Fishman, who I had known well, Brian Diamond, another stand-up guy, and the President of the network, Kevin Kay. Also in attendance was Jason Hervey, Eric’s partner in his production company. Jason is an absolute GREAT guy – no doubt, the nicest guy in the room that day.
From there, Eric did most of the talking representing Hulk, as the Hulkster himself was not present. Eric, as he should have, put Hulk over like a million bucks, painting the picture that this one iconic figure, if used correctly, was single-handedly going to put both TNA Wrestling and Spike TV on the map. Everybody in that room was sitting on the edge of their seat, hanging on Eric’s every word. He had EVERYBODY in that room, and he knew it. And again, it was his duty to sell Hogan like no other could.
I can vividly remember just sitting there, looking at all the faces, and listening. The one thing that kept running through my mind was a meeting I had with Vince McMahon seven years prior.
At that time, the plan was for me to re-join the WWE, but Hogan was there at the time and I was concerned, having just come off Bash of the Beach two years prior. When I voiced my concerned to Vince, he told me to not be worried about Hulk, because at the time Hulk was not drawing for the WWE. Keep in mind – that was SEVEN YEARS prior to this meeting.
As I’m sitting there, I’m on board. I really am. If Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan could turn TNA around—I was all for it. I knew that I had been doing my damnedest for the past seven years, but as the meeting went on and they talked about all the possibilities with Hulk…I just knew from my prior experiences in the business that ONE MAN was not going to give them the pay-off they were looking for on their investment.
They had such high hopes for what Hulk was going to bring to TNA and their network – that they made their OWN expectations unreachable from the start. No one man was going to walk into the door of TNA and turn that company around with the limitations of both the organization AND the network. Nobody – with the exception of maybe Vince McMahon himself.
And, as the saying goes . . . the rest is history.
