{"id":1405,"date":"2015-10-22T22:38:05","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T03:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/?p=1405"},"modified":"2015-10-24T00:33:05","modified_gmt":"2015-10-24T05:33:05","slug":"25-years-of-bruce-mitchell-day-22-2011-hulk-hogan-at-the-vanguard-of-the-modern-wrestling-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/10\/22\/25-years-of-bruce-mitchell-day-22-2011-hulk-hogan-at-the-vanguard-of-the-modern-wrestling-business\/","title":{"rendered":"25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL &#8211; DAY 22 (2011): Hogan at the Vanguard of Modern Wrestling Biz"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3151047589\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>This month marks the 25th Anniversary of Bruce Mitchell becoming a Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter columnist. No single person has influenced the editorial tone and direction of the Torch brand over the years than Bruce, who brought a hard-hitting, supremely well-informed, speak-truth-to-power approach to his writing. He went after sacred cows out of the gate, such as the beloved among \u201csmart fans\u201d (today\u2019s \u201cInternet fans\u201d or \u201cIWC,\u201d I suppose) Eddie Gilbert and Jim Cornette. He also went hard after people in positions of authority and power who were abusing or misusing that power, or just not delivering a worthy product. He has also applauded and paid tribute to the greatest moments and movements in pro wrestling over the last 25 years, with a style of writing that has yet to be matched anywhere, I contend (despite Bill Simmons\u2019s arrogant and uninformed contention last year that no one wrote at a high level about pro wrestling until his \u201cMasked Man\u201d columnist came along).<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate and highlight Bruce\u2019s stellar 25 years of influential and eloquent truth-telling about this fascinating industry, we\u2019ll be featuring a single column from each of the last 25 years each of the first 25 days this month. His long-form columns were a pioneer approach to pro wrestling journalism, and the next 25 years you\u2019ll experience a slice of what it is that has earned Bruce Mitchell widespread recognition within the industry over the years as being \u201cPro Wrestling\u2019s Most Respected Columnist.\u201d We began on Oct. 1st with his very first column, from Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter #89 (cover dated Oct. 5, 1990).<\/p>\n<p>Today we feature his column from the October 19, 2011\u00a0edition of the Pro Wrestling Torch Weekly Newsletter (#1225)\u00a0in which Mitchell wrote about Hulk Hogan and what he had done to take TNA and Dixie Carter for a ride.<\/p>\n<p>NOTE: VIP members can access hundreds of Mitchell columns and audio shows instantly in the <a href=\"http:\/\/vip.pwtorch.com\/vip-sections\/bruce-mitchell-page-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">BRUCE MITCHELL LIBRARY<\/a> here, part of the massive unmatched online archives of insider wrestling coverage from over the past 28 years.<\/p>\n<p>===<\/p>\n<p><strong>HEADLINE: \u201c101 Excuses for TNA Impact\u2019s 0.6\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>TORCH NEWSLETTER #1225<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>COVER DATE: October 19, 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Thirty years ago Hulk Hogan was at the vanguard of the professional wrestling business. Splitting his time between riding the building wave of Hulkamania in Verne Gagne\u2019s American Wrestling Association and playing big-money foil to top Japanese star Antonio Inoki in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Hulk Hogan knew exactly what to do and had everything he needed to get what he wanted from what there was to get in the business.<\/p>\n<p>Fifteen years ago Hulk Hogan was at the vanguard of the professional wrestling business. Already enjoying the fruits of the most lucrative contract in the industry\u2019s history, Hogan jumped in front of the hottest angle of the day, the NWO, and set off the fabled Monday Night Wars. Hulk Hogan knew exactly what to do and had everything he needed to get what he wanted from what there was to get in the business.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2318147580\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>October 16, 2011 Hulk Hogan is once again at the vanguard of the professional wrestling business. No longer able to draw fans and their money in any appreciable way, exiled by his own machinations from the largest wrestling company in the world, broken financially and emotionally by the very public dissolution of his family, the still well-known Hogan\u2019s contract with a company so minor-league he usually can\u2019t be bothered to mention it during his media appearances just got renewed for another year. Hulk Hogan knows exactly what to do and has everything he needs to get, well, not what he wants, but much more than he can earn from what there is to get in the business.<\/p>\n<p>You might think that anyone wanting succeed financially in today\u2019s wrestling business would study what Hulk Hogan has done in TNA the last two years, specifically first re-creating the NWO angle for TNA owner Dixie Carter, assuring her that was when the big money started rolling in for WCW, then casting her in the Crow Sting role, building the flop storyline for a year, then booking the dramatic match where he would add his nostalgic heroism to her fantasy wrestling experience just after his contract ran out again \u2013 ensuring the rollover of his contract for at least another year.<\/p>\n<p>You might think that someone planning to dedicate their life to sports-entertaining fans around the world would take a close look at Hogan\u2019s match Sunday with, not Crow Sting, but Joker Sting. After all, Hogan really is once again at the vanguard of the professional wrestling business. He understands that in today\u2019s world, if you want to make the big money, it\u2019s no longer about inspiring thousands and thousands of people to pay moderate amounts of money for your services, it\u2019s about giving one enormously wealthy person the entertainment experience they personally crave.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s the same thing in show business. Nobody much can draw on the concert circuit or sell, what, downloads, but mega-stars like Beyonce or Jennifer Lopez can make enormous amounts of money quietly doing personal concerts for wealthy families around the world.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, any Hulkamaniacs still out there who wanted to make their way to Philadelphia, 2,500 or so live and strong on this night, and thousands more on pay-per-view were welcome to join the experience the immobile Hogan and friends like Sting, Ric Flair, and Eric Bischoff had designed for Dixie Carter and her husband Serge. That experience was an unqualified success, but sadly, it won\u2019t do anyone else in the business, including the wrestling students in the TNA locker room, any good, whether they completely understand what Hogan did or not.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the beauty of what Hulk Hogan always does. He takes everything he can, and doesn\u2019t even leave a lesson for those who follow him. See, the key to what Hogan accomplished was that he really was once an act who could inspire imaginations and open pocketbooks all over the world. Without that, the con never takes hold, no matter how much everyone sacrifices of their reputation to make Hogan look passable.<\/p>\n<p>None of these ambitious wrestlers will ever be able to use what they may have learned from\u00a0Hogan because they\u2019ll never have the opportunity to have a career that will inspire nostalgia, much less benefit from impossibly wealthy patrons.<\/p>\n<p>END COLUMN<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-2957168364\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><strong>READ PREVIOUS \u201c25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL\u201d SELECTIONS <a href=\"http:\/\/vip.pwtorch.com\/category\/opinionandanalysis\/stafftakes\/mitchellstake\/\">HERE<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3660023802\"><div id=\"pwtor-3343585208\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>This month marks the 25th Anniversary of Bruce Mitchell becoming a Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter columnist. No single person has influenced the editorial tone and direction of the Torch brand over the years than Bruce, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2015\/10\/22\/25-years-of-bruce-mitchell-day-22-2011-hulk-hogan-at-the-vanguard-of-the-modern-wrestling-business\/\" title=\"25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL &#8211; DAY 22 (2011): Hogan at the Vanguard of Modern Wrestling Biz\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[79,547,362,426,120],"class_list":["post-1405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-takes_mitchell","tag-bruce-mitchell","tag-dixie-carter","tag-hulk-hogan","tag-mitchell-25","tag-tna"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/HoganHulk_artTB_6001.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1405"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1415,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1405\/revisions\/1415"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}