WWE Crown Jewel

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Loki said:

To say the guy can't make a living though

I'm not disagreeing with all of your post but 'make a fuckin living'? The man is 100 years old and won about as many millions in a court case 2 years ago, if he's spent that all at once he deserves to die broke.

On the return, it's a load of really pointlessly harmful shite. Yeah, Styles, Orton, Lesnar most likely are all as bad, but they also can all wrestle. And I don't mean in the ~workrate sense, I mean if Hogan hits the move everyone associates with him he'd have to go out on a stretcher. All he has to offer now is fumbling over words, and we already have Nigel McGuiness for that 

Cunt could go live on a tropical island any time he wants, sipping margheritas, applying lotion to his daughters arse and saying the n word as many times as he likes with no hassle. But he's addicted to attention and it's really sad at this point

[David]

5 minutes ago, sj5522 said:

Yeah, Styles, Orton, Lesnar most likely are all as bad, but they also can all wrestle.

That's the key point for a lot of fans, isn't it? 

[BomberPat]

I don't think that was the point at all, it's not "Hogan can't wrestle~!" in the sense of Hogan being bad at wrestling, it's "what does Hogan bring to the table?". He's not there to wrestle, he can't take a bump - they're booking a known racist for no discernible benefit to the audience. It's much more of a "fuck you, we don't care what this guy did or said" when they're booking someone just because, not because of what they actually add to a card.

[Factotum]

Hogan has also shown absolutely no remorse for what he said. He's sad about HIM not about the words he used. That for me is the worst thing about it.

[Keith Houchen]

For me, it’s the best way to bury bad news. Old racist who is the person most associated with wrestling gets to be on the card for the biggest money mark in the world and it all happens away from the US and is all “Non canon”. The Saudis are happy, Hogan is happy, Vince is happy. 

There are a few noises from a few fans but we all know most fans will still tune in and keep their subscriptions 

 

[David]

4 minutes ago, BomberPat said:

I don't think that was the point at all, it's not "Hogan can't wrestle~!" in the sense of Hogan being bad at wrestling, it's "what does Hogan bring to the table?". He's not there to wrestle, he can't take a bump - they're booking a known racist for no discernible benefit to the audience. It's much more of a "fuck you, we don't care what this guy did or said" when they're booking someone just because, not because of what they actually add to a card.

He's probably being booked because the Saudi chap with all the cash wants him to be there. Wasn't is said before that he was a fan of the big names from the past? Isn't that why huge dough was chucked at Undertaker and Michaels? It makes perfect sense really.

Hogan standing in the ring, cutting a promo and posing to his music brings more to the table than 95% of the current roster.

[Guest]

Yeah if this was all happening in 2002 I'd get it, it's business. I used to be a Hogan sucks person cos he didn't flip or do chain grappling, but looking back he was a great performer in his pomp and vs Rock and Vince. I'm gonna get a kick out of him saying it's great to be here in the UAE, but it's not going to add anything to the product is it? And in 2018 it's not gonna draw any more nostalgic eyes than a HBK wrestling return already has is it?? Even Rocky setting his name on fire for an hour served more of a purpose

[Factotum]

No greater moment than Hogan coming out to Real American in Saudi Arabia. Corporate US rampant capitalism summed up in one moment

[David]

1 minute ago, sj5522 said:

Yeah if this was all happening in 2002 I'd get it, it's business. I'm gonna get a kick out of him saying it's great to be here in the UAE, but it's not going to add anything to the product is it? And in 2018 it's not gonna draw any more nostalgic eyes than a HBK wrestling return already has is it?? Even Rocky setting his name on fire for an hour served more of a purpose

All of that would be valid if anything about this show was about "adding to the product" or "drawing eyes."

It's not. None of this is about any of that. It's about an insanely wealthy fella from Saudi Arabia wanting to see his favourite wrestlers perform in front of him and his friends. 

Hogan will be appearing because the Saudi chap is paying a lot of fucking money for Hogan to appear. All indications suggest the guy will love having Hulk appear. It has nothing to do with the product. If this event wasn't happening Hogan wouldn't even be in the picture.

[Guest]

Sure, but they've been clearly bracing to reintroduce him for months now regardless, he'll be on an American show in the next couple years, no doubt in my mind

[David]

1 minute ago, sj5522 said:

Sure, but they've been clearly bracing to reintroduce him for months now regardless, he'll be on an American show in the next couple years, no doubt in my mind

If there's demand for him, then they'll bring him back for sure. In what capacity I don't know, but speaking personally if I saw Hogan advertised for Monday Night Raw I'd tune in, which is something I've not really done in a long time.

For this show though, he's being booked to appear because the person paying for the show wants him there.

[Keith Houchen]

If I won the Euromillions and did the biggest money mark show the UK had ever seen, Hogan would be the host, Nash and Hall would be there and Great Khali would squash Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega in 10 seconds. 

No new business would be made, no storylines would progress, the performers would take their inflated paycheques and everyone in attendance gets a picture of me holding a fork. 

Thats all this show is, it’s Metallica making an album with Lou Reed. 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I dont mind people thinking Hogan's a big racist who should fuck off forever because he's shit. Tiger Rick's argument for example, I get. He doesnt like him and never has and doesnt want to see him anymore. I just dont get the big deal about it from a morale point of view, considering what WWE is. It's a shithole who does everything for a con. This women's Evolution business for a start. Vince McMahon doesnt believe in equality. He doesnt believe in fairness. He has made his money exploiting every minority or tragedy there is. From 9/11 to the 7/7 bombings to the OJ trail to this journalist getting murdered. This is a company who dropped a man from 70 foot to his death and responded to a lawsuit by paying off the whole family so they publicily hound his widow. After all what this company has done, bringing back Thunderlips isnt going to make me cancel the subscription I dont have.

Now to be fair, this is from someone who wont watch Crown Jewel anyway. Not because its in Saudi Arabia. It could be in my back garden and I wouldnt take the day off work for it. They're all cunts. Undertaker's a born again oddball, probably because he's been such a cunt in his life he has to sooth his soul somehow now he's in his 80s. Shawn's an old rapist, who still cant admit his gammy eyes are all fucked because of all the coke he did. It's just shit these days sadly. The whole company is blessed that nobody gives a fuck about it, because its a #METOO scandal of Savile proportions if anyone gave a fucking fuck.

[BomberPat]

I agree with all of that but, at the same time, can't really begrudge people for choosing where they draw the line. And if "promoting a self-confessed racist" is that line, fine.

[The Gaffer]

1 hour ago, David said:

Hogan standing in the ring, cutting a promo and posing to his music brings more to the table than 95% of the current roster.

To the Saudis, maybe.

When he guest hosted WrestleMania 30 it may as well have been his hologram for all the excitement it brought along. The only reason anyone was talking about him the next morning was because he forgot the name of the building that WrestleMania III happened in.

I'm not trying to downplay the guy - we've established who the Hogan marks are - but even those people have to admit that his Western TV appearances are a long, long fucking way beyond the sort of 20 minute pops he inspired in 2002.

I don't recall him drawing a lot for TNA in 2010, either, after that first night on Impact. And yeah, it's TNA, but it's the hulkster, brother!

Goes across the board, of course. Legends aren't worth shit nowadays. WWE is a living, breathing theme park to itself where it feels like they've never left, and you never really have to tune in for anything. They never feel real when they are there. It's like editing software is somehow bleaching them into those adverts-on-the-walls GM offices. It's honestly like you've just unlocked them in the videogame.

There's a whole other argument to be made that outside of Rock and probably Lesnar for the big match Network subs, WWE is in some weird post-draw era. Things look set to be more or less the same forever, unless some mental, zeitgeisty storylines really start piling up that none of us can foresee.