For the record I thought that the ovation Hogan got on Smackdown was one of the coolest things Ive ever seen in wrestling. Lots of people have been vilifying Hogans current run as WWE champ. Saying its terrible for WWE and "he should retire" and all that political bullshit that everyone screams about. But let me ask you this.
Could you just walk away if you were Hogan?
Think about it. None of us on this board have any idea what its like to be someone like Hogan. Nobody here has held a crowd of 70,000 people in the palm of your hand. None of us are famous or a legend yet we think we know better than Hogan or Vince McMahon. Every athlete, politician, and celebrity will tell you that hearing the cheer of a crowd for you is the greatest feeling you can have. SO why should Hogan just walk away? Hes earned the right to retire on his own terms. Hes a certified Legend in the world of wrestling, the business owes him a tremendous debt. He made it what it is, perod point blank. 90% of us wouldnt even be writing on this board if it were not for Hogan in some way. So who are we to tell him when HE should quit? So Ill ask again and I hope I get some honest answers.
If you were Hogan could you just walk away?
You know youre old when you try to convince some kid that was born in the freakin 80's that Samus Aran could whip Lara Croft's cave dwelling ass. Honestly, has there ever been a cooler weapon in the history of video games than the Screw Attack?
But let me ask you now, honestly......why WOULD you when he's getting ovations like that? I have NEVER seen anything like that before in wrestling in my life.......ever
Why? How about a 2.9 rating for the SmackDown you headlined against Chris Jericho in a free TV championship match? How about the fact that you can barely WALK TO THE RING, let alone work a quality match? How about the fact that those ridiculous pops aren't nearly as insane when WWE is in the States, where it has 95% of its shows?
You wanna know why he should walk away already? That's why.
To quoth Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man: "As much as the people love a hero, they love to see him fail, fall short, die trying... Sooner or later, they will turn on you."
Sooner or later, public opinion will turn against Hogan. The difference is whether he wants to go out on top ala Seinfeld, or die a slow death ala X-Files.
As for walking away...he should've stayed away when WCW went under...because ovations are like crack. Once you're hooked, you can't just walk away.
Holden: Judging by the buzz, that movie's gonna make some serious bank. Jay: What buzz? Holden: The internet buzz. Jay: What the f*ck is the internet? [Holden (Ben Affleck) & Jay (Jason Mewes) in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back]
I think Hogan wrestled a quality match against Flair last Monday.
But I agree, they should be careful and not try to stretch this out for too much longer. It's not really Hogan's job to walk away. It's the WWE's job to tell him it's time. I think if they limit his use though, they could find ways to use him for the next 9 months or so and keep it interesting.