On the subject of Hogan at Summerslam 2002 and whether Edge was rumored to win the RAW chamber as a surprise at Survivor Series, I shot a quick Tweet to Seth Mates and here’s what he said:
We first got word the Vince wanted to the put titles on Shawn and Big Show at Survivor Series while on tour in Europe, which was late October. The only alternative for HBK I heard about was RVD, which was pitched hard. Big Show was still a punchline then, so we pitched a million scenarios, Edge & Benoit among them. It was originally supposed to be Brock beating Hogan, but Hogan said that he wanted the title and Vince told him off. Also - no idea what the plan for Austin would have been for Summerslam, but he'd been programmed with Guerrero & Benoit at the time and wanted to work with them.
I did some translation from Twitter to English there, by the way. Thanks, Seth, you rule as always!
With all the crap to try to sift through from the "dirt sheets", it'd be fascinating to get more of these stories from the writers who were actually there as to what actually happened.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think it's awesome that Seth Mates and some others from that time period have been so open about this type of thing. I love reading whatever Mates has to say, especially since I was such a big fan while he was writing.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the hulkster angling for another title run.
ReplyDeleteScott should give him a regular column.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather he give a column to Mark Madden.
ReplyDeleteHe would drive the hits up.
Why not? I under the philosophy that if they can get it, and the promoter is dumb enough to do it, not the talents fault.
ReplyDeleteI actually had no issue with the idea of Hogan getting one final run with the WWE title, just not a damn month after WM18. There was the simplest possible storyline for Hogan's 2002-03....he takes the loss to Rock hard and wonders if he still has it, then spends the next year winning a few, losing a few and generally building up some momentum. You can basically run everything as it happened from WM18 to Summerslam, minus the title reign. Hogan takes losses to HHH (then champ) and then is destroyed by Lesnar, leading him to doubt himself again. He returns at MSG at Survivor Series as a mystery partner in a 10-man elimination match, then ekes out a win in the Royal Rumble.
ReplyDeleteSince then Angle vs. Lesnar looked to be set in stone, you probably end up with Hogan vs. heel HHH at WM19 and that's a great storyline of the old hero going for one last championship against the overbearing monster heel. If you don't book Hogan/HHH at Backlash 2002, it's even better since it's fresh. Print that money.
I'd love to hear that convo between Vince & Hogan.
ReplyDelete"ARE YOU OUT OF YOU'RE FUCKING MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND" I imagine it went something like that
That scenario could have been interesting, but I can also understand their idea of striking while the iron is hot. If it were me, I would have put the belt on him at Backlash, too.
ReplyDeleteHogan probablly told Vince he wanted to "raise the bar" and" take the WWE in a whole new stratosphere" or whatever Hogan-ism he uses.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing Madden drives up is his cholesterol level.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Hogan hadn't been that over in 4 years and it didn't look it was lasting long. I would say that milked it for as much as they could've.
ReplyDeleteMark Madden is a self-important piece of shit troll.
ReplyDelete