WWE Senior Vice President Bruce Prichard recently took to an episode of his “Something To Wrestle With” podcast, where he talked about a number of topics including whether they were paying attention to Hulk Hogan’s run in WCW.
Prichard said, “We were definitely aware of Hulk being in WCW because at the time, we didn’t know if he was going to come back for us or go to them. He obviously went to them. And we were definitely aware of it, and felt that if there was anybody that could help turn the tide for WCW, it was Hulk. So we were aware of it. His initial foray into WCW sure as hell what they expected. Because it’s just kind of like, ‘Okay, Hulk’s here,’ but it wasn’t that huge boom that they were looking for. It was just, he was just another guy, put in [against] just other guys. And so that quickly produced the same result that he was getting with us, where we were like, ‘There’s got to be something — you got to do something new. He’s got to go get a rest, whatever it is, reinvent the wheel.’”
“And, you know, that was, you know, just the reality of it. And Hulk didn’t do anything for their business at first. They probably did from a merchandising standpoint because they didn’t have merchandise sold for anybody else. But the Hulkamania s**t, that sold. And that was something that was unique to Hulk, and in that regard he probably made a difference. But as far as the gates and everything else, creatively what he was doing was, I think, pretty lackluster at best.”
On whether Hulk Hogan leaving for WCW motivated Vince McMahon and how McMahon took it personal and felt betrayed:
“Absolutely. And look, it was very personal. I think it was personal to both guys. And I think Vince felt very betrayed. I think, you know, Hogan felt very betrayed. I think they both blamed the other. And yet, they were very heavily reliant on each other. They needed each other, and neither one wanted to admit that. So you’ve got that dynamic, that pride dynamic coming in. But you know, yeah, we were definitely looking and seeing what they’re doing now, because they do have Hulk. And Hulk was one-on-one with WWF for so many years. So when you see Hulk, you think you’re looking at WWF.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
