By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Hulk Hogan was interviewed by IGN.com's Matt Fowler on the big subjects following TNA's live Impact on January 4, including Hogan saying a move to Monday nights on a regular basis is "gonna happen way way sooner than I expected."

-- Hulk Hogan said he basically pleaded with Spike TV executives at last night's dinner meeting to take Impact live on a regular basis. Hogan said there just wasn't the same energy on January 5 when they taped the Impact episode that aired last night.

"The next night 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 dogs and I was just badgering them to death. Just beating them to death," Hogan said. "It's just time and momentum. And they get it. They understand that whole energy thing. That feel."

Hogan said his belief is that TNA can't go live once in a while "then disappear," as it leaves an opening for WWE to grab the Monday wrestling audience again and force TNA to re-build the audience all over again.

"I was trying to explain to them 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," Hogan said. "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."

-- Hogan also talked about his classic philosophy on wanting to make stars in TNA by "breathing life into characters" such as A.J. Styles because it gets them on mainstream TV to expose TNA to a wider audience rather than just depending on Styles wrestling great matches.

"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," Hogan said. "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."

Caldwell's Analysis: This sounds like Vince Russo saying critics want two hours of wrestling on a two-hour wrestling show. Hogan is exaggerating to make a point here, but the key is that TNA has to find a balance between "making stars" that stand out and keeping an eye on what makes money in wrestling - building toward compelling wrestling matches. I go back to that Desmond Wolfe-Pope exchange on the Spin Cycle. It struck a perfect, perfect, perfect balance on how to tell compelling stories that lead to wrestling matches and "breath life" into wrestlers to make stars.

-- Hogan also talked at-length about A.J. Styles, who he wants to turn into a big star in TNA. He talked about needing to tap into "some magic" in the character to find a balance with Styles's magic in the ring.

"I had a long talk with A.J. Styles and he's got some magic in him. You've got the whole Hulk Hogan-philosophy of 'the best wrestler is the guy who brings in millions of dollars and puts butts in seats' and then there's the philosophy that best wrestler is the guy who can grab a hold the stiffest," Hogan said, almost mocking the second "Bret Hart" philosophy. "Somewhere in the middle, this is a business and it's about generating revenue. And A.J. has that magic and no one's pulled it out of him yet."

Hogan added: "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."

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