Jeff Jarrett says bringing Hulk Hogan into TNA was his idea—but what the company ended up getting was nothing like what he pitched.
While speaking on Talk Is Jericho, Jarrett revealed that he personally sold Panda Energy’s Bob Carter on signing Hogan because he believed there was no bigger name in professional wrestling when it came to opening doors outside the ring. The problem, according to Jarrett, is that Hogan was supposed to be TNA’s ambassador, not one of the people steering the company. Jarrett said his pitch to Carter was simple. From there, Jarrett laid out exactly how he envisioned Hogan fitting into TNA.
“Bob, Hulk is the single biggest box office attraction this business has ever seen. I can’t say we’ll ever see, but he’s up there. How are you going to do that? Well, I think he needs to be our ambassador. If you put him in a room with any executive around the world, he’s going to move needles. It’s just that simple. He’s gonna make things happen and we can have him on our show… I’m not gonna say quarterly and let’s not land on it, but a limited amount of appearances to keep him in brand.”
Jarrett wasn’t thinking about Hogan writing television or taking over creative. He wanted Hogan’s name attached to the company because he believed it would help TNA land bigger television opportunities, sponsorships, merchandise deals, international business, and even another video game after Midway shut down.
“He’s going to move action figures. He’s going to get a video game. He’s going to do all… we had a video game and Midway went out of business. We were trying to get another one. I just said, he’s our ambassador. You put him in the middle of TNA brand and he starts selling.”
Jarrett admitted his first meeting with Hogan left him feeling like everything was heading in the right direction. He met Hogan in Tampa alongside Eric Bischoff and walked away convinced the partnership was going to work.
“Fly to Tampa, walk in a room, Bischoff’s there… I left that meeting going… it was cheers, cheers, cheers all the way home on the private plane because Hulk said all the right things.”
Then everything changed. According to Jarrett, it didn’t take long before Hogan and Bischoff weren’t just representing TNA—they were running major parts of it.
“Chris, all of a sudden it was immediately like I went, ‘Oh, okay. Dixie threw in the keys. We’re writing the TV. We’re doing this.’ Next thing you know, the Nasty Boys… It was immediate and I just went, ‘They have no idea about this brand.’”
Jarrett said one moment in particular made him realize they viewed TNA very differently than he did. He pointed to Eric Bischoff publicly questioning one of the company’s biggest homegrown stars: “Eric had gone on record, ‘What is an AJ Styles?’ And I’m just like, ‘Oh no.’”
Even with all of that, Jarrett stopped short of saying Hogan and Bischoff were trying to sabotage TNA. He believes they genuinely thought they were helping, even if he feels they got almost everything wrong.
“Hulk and Eric didn’t wake up every day and say, ‘You know what, I’m gonna screw this place up.’ No. They woke up and thought, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power to do what I think’s best for the brand,’ and they missed on everything.”
Looking back, Jarrett says the biggest mistake wasn’t bringing Hogan into TNA. It was allowing the role to grow far beyond what he originally envisioned. In Jarrett’s mind, Hogan was supposed to be the face of the brand—not one of the people deciding where the brand was going.
What do you think? Would TNA have been better off if Hulk Hogan had stayed in the ambassador role Jeff Jarrett originally envisioned? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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