Does anybody know what the plan was for Hogan in 2002? Was the nwo stint with his Hollywood character always meant to just go until Mania?
More or less, yes. The plan was always to turn him babyface pretty quick, but the reactions he got accelerated it even more. The title reign was definitely an audible on their part, though, as HHH was supposed to hold it long-term. As I've noted before, that's one case where they actually pulled the trigger on something at exactly the right time and place to cash in on it, but the fad died out so unexpectedly quick that they couldn't even be blamed for the backlash that followed.