They would have wanted Austin to stun hogan's old ass for the 3 count and Hogan would have been like "That doesn't work for me brother". The guy came with too many issues. He was a problem to deal with.
A few years after this Bruce has this exact same topic of conversation with Conrad and says the exact opposite. Pretty sure he told Conrad that they didn't need Hulk and didn't want to deal with Hulk, but Vince did the public meeting as a favor to Hulk so it would get to Eric and Hulk could get more money for staying in WCW. I believe that version. That version makes more sense. Getting rid of Bret because Vince couldn't afford him, but giving Hogan even more than what Bret was supposed to get? Not happening, especially not at the age Hogan was in 97. Vince didn't want that Hogan. Hulkamania wasn't coming back. Those days were over and Vince knew it. So let the guy get every dime out of Turner that he could.
He told Conrad that the WWF was interested because Hogan was a proven draw but Hogan's price was too high. They knew what they had in Hogan which is why they considered it. Hogan wanted too much so Vince worked it out with Hogan so that he could get more money from WCW. It had nothing to do with getting rid of Bret. They chose Bret over Hogan simply because Hogan asked for too much.
Bret has never and will never ever be on Hogan's level. 🤣 Never drew a dime. Hogan was still #1 in wrestling in 1997. In fact, Vince put the strap on him 5 years later in 2002 because Hogan was still #1 in the industry. Had the best WWF match of all time during that run too.
Who knows?!? I’m speculating here, but maybe he was getting rid of Bret to be able to pay Hogan, because Hogan was a better investment, and that investment would end the nWo and kill the competition right there… but then it never came to fruition, because Hogan got more money from Eric.
@@RG-lr4pk Sure Bret didn't draw anywhere near Hogan but thats ok because Bret could actually wrestle and Hogan could not. Hogan was MAYBE number 1 in 97 but he fell behind Austin only a year later. He did NOT put the belt on Hogan in 2002 because Hogan was number one. He did it because of the crowd reaction Hogan was getting and that big bad title reign lasted a month. If Hogan was number one he wouldn't have been a transitional champion. Also his match with Rock was FAR FAR FAR from the best match of all time. You don't know jack shit about wrestling so its time for you to save yourself the embarrassment, stop commenting and kick rocks kid.
'we did it out in the open, i don't know how it never got out.' Yeah especially with the Internet and all those smart phones with cameras in 1997 right Bruce?
Exactly. Plus, word DID leak out that Hogan and Vince had conversations about him possibly coming back in '97. I remember a couple dirt rags talking about it late in the year. Personally, I doubt the talks were ever 'close' on Hogan's side. He was merely squeezing WCW for more money.
You do realize that Vince would later tell Bret that he could afford to pay the very same contract that he told Bret he couldn't pay which forced Bret to sign with WCW, right? This has been confirmed by Bret himself. Besides, when these conversations were happening, WWF was considering it for the very simple reason that Hogan was a proven draw.
Wow that was dumb. Not only was hogan a much bigger draw, but signing him would’ve taken away wcw’s biggest draw simultaneously. But keep licking windows😂
2:00 a better investment…… hulk shows up buries stone cold, buries the rock. Buries Kane. Yep completely destroys the entire attitude era because he Can’t lose and can’t not be the champion. So I doubt that’s even close to a good investment.
Vince isn't Eric Bischoff. With Shawn running around still, Hogan wasn't going to "bury" anyone. Hogan's losing becasue Vince said so. End of story. Look what happened to Hogan when he finally wrestled Shawn during his second run in WWE. Hogan had no answer for that. If they couldn't afford Bret's contract, what on Earth makes you believe that Hogan would get the same deal, word for word that he got in WCW with Vince in charge? Don't be a mark.
I disagree full heartedly. Bruce stated on his podcast that the plan was to bring Hogan in as a heel. You align him with Vince immediately. Mania 14 was never Austin vs Vince as DX weren’t perceived as Vince’s “henchmen”. You put Hogan in the HBK spot and mania 14 becomes Austin/Vince which would skyrocket Austin even further. I think who it would hurt is Foley. With Hogan still around they don’t have to try to put Foley in the top heel spot so he doesn’t main event the next 2 PPVs against Austin.
Why? Would Vince have stopped being the booker with Hogan there? Or do you think that Austin would look small time in the same company as Hogan? You might be right about number 2 since Austin was back in the midcard tagging with JBL when Hogan returned in 2002.
Wait wait wait wait.. this doesn't jive. Bret offered to drop the belt to Austin at SS 97 instead of HBK because he liked working with Austin. He was told no because they already had plans for Austin to be win the Rumble and go over at Mania, complete with the whole Tyson thing. That was already penned, and ready to rock. So.. they would have completely scrapped a solid, good to go, six month plan to accommodate Hogan? Because I'm damn skippee Hogan wouldn't have come in unless he was top guy at Mania... and we all remember how awesome the ending of Mania 9 was, right? Hogan wanted back because he wanted to be a face again.. he wanted to relive Hulkamania, brother, and he was tired of doing the nWo stuff, because he didn't like working as a cowardly heel. This is true as he was trying to wrestle in the red and yellow in his last couple appearances in WCW in late 1999 and early 2000. I'm sorry man.. but after the initial pop of "wooo, HOGAN left WCW!!" the fans would have been pissed.
In Wrestling it’s called working...Vince ,, can’tˋˋ pay Brets 1,5 mil. ,ok...he is about to make the Tyson deal...about 3 mil ...and Hulk makes about or close to 10 mil per year with WCW ,..yet they ,,negotiate ˋˋ ...Vince helped his former Wrestlers to make as much as possible with WCW ...so one day when Business slows down this contracts would bite WCW in the ass...Guaranteed...
Screwed Bret because they couldn't afford him, no way they'd have gotten Hulk back. Pritchard is a stooge as Vince Russo always called him, a yes man for Vince McMahon
Bret couldn't draw flies, Hogan the biggest draw and star in pro wrestling history. Hogan was always WWF's golden goose and coming in as the black and white Hollywood character would have been huge for WWF at the time. A very safe and very wise investment (idiots like you seem to forget how much Mike Tyson was paid for his appearances there at the time).
Hand solo, Bret couldn't draw flies? That's why ppvs were sold out with him as champion and over seas he was their biggest draw, more so than Hogan, he even used to get more fan mail than Hogan. Before you call someone names, do some research, like read Bret's book. Hell the whole reason Wembley Stadium sold out for SummerSlam 92 was the main event of Bret vs Davey Boy. Also Hogan isn't the biggest draw, Austin is. 100% fact.
@@williammccollom6847 You are a nutcase. Bret outdrew Hogan? Only in your dreams, and Hogan drew a lot more people than Austin did. Austin had higher ticket prices, so had more money from a smaller audience.
Late 97 i'm assuming? Would have been the kill-shot to WWF. Hogan would have been the investment to make 10 years before this time, but in 1997 Hogan was bore-assing fans and was only getting rub from Hall and Nash and the whole NWO angle, but even that was getting worn thin in late 97'. Austin vs. McMahon is what firmly put WWF back on top, but with Hogan in the picture that wouldn't have happened. Hogan and Bischoff killed the entire Sting storyline with the Starrcade ending and that was the hottest angle in wrestling at the time. There is also a rumor (think Prichard talked about it somewhere on YT) that Flair was looking to jump to WWF in Spring of 98', when he had that legit beef with Bischoff. Supposedly the plan was for him to show up at Unforgiven, the April PPV of that year, and sit in the front row. Flair was still under contract, but being sued by Bischoff for missing a house show LMAO, and Flair's lawyer advised him against showing up on WWF Television. That PPV was in Greensboro, NC (Flair Country) and would have taken the attention away from Austin and Foley....glad Flair stayed put because idk how well he would have fit in WWF in 98'
Wwf didn't need Hogan at that time anyways the big egos needed to be all cleared out so the the new young stars like Austin and rock can shoot up too the top and they sure did.
