Report: Hogan Reaches Verbal Agreement with WWE, Company Still Talking to Sting

According to one recent report, Hulk Hogan looks to be on the verge of returning to WWE, just in time for WrestleMania season.

Dave Meltzer notes in this week's (subscription required) Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the star has reached a verbal agreement with the company, although a match at the biggest show of the year is probably out of the question due to the legend's ailing physical state:

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Hogan also reached a verbal deal to return this past week although it’s been pretty clear for several weeks that this was happening. Hogan won’t be at a match at WrestleMania, at least as things stand now, no matter what Piper has been pushing for, because Hogan can’t pass the physical, although no doubt he will be around that weekend and be part of the show...As noted here before, Roddy Piper was trying to push the idea of Piper & Punk (which is why he endorsed Punk last week on Raw) vs. Hogan & Cena.

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Meltzer also goes on to note that the company is still talking to Sting about coming in for a program in the near future, mentioning the star hasn't renewed his TNA contract yet.

from WWE.com

Of course, the Hogan return isn't truly a surprise.

Following his announcement to Bill Apter back in November that he was done with TNA, it was only a matter of time before he ended up back with Vince McMahon. Where else was he going to go?

No doubt the upcoming WWE Network also increases his value to the company: Hogan would be ideal to host much of the old footage as well as participate in various round tables and documentaries. It's hard to imagine having a WWE Network launch without him, in fact.

As for Sting, well, that is truly up in the air.

The floundering state of TNA has been well-documented—does he really want to stay on a sinking ship? It's difficult to see Dixie Carter still being willing to pay him big money, too.

However, if he were truly willing to make a deal with WWE, wouldn't he have done so already? It's been 13 years since WCW shut down, he's had plenty of chances to go.

He may not trust the company to respect his character and legacy—something he indicated in the above interview, noting his unhappiness over The Rock's infamous remark in 2001 when "The Great One" claimed on-air he didn't know who former WCW champion Booker T was. Per Sting, he was worried that if he went, he'd face similar shoddy treatment.