TNA: Are We Finally Going to Really See the End of Hulk Hogan in Wrestling?

Is this finally the end?

Are we finally to a point where tonight we are going to see Hulk Hogan look into a camera and announce to the world that he is going to put his career on the line in a match with Sting at Bound for Glory? Are we finally going to rid ourselves of the drama that is Terry Bollea and his need to be in front of a camera every single week because he is afraid of becoming irrelevant?

I know—tough, harsh words, but sometimes the truth hurts.

I am so tired of seeing this angle, and this crap, and how things have shaken out and how Sting, Hogan, Ric Flair, Eric Bischoff and even Kurt Angle have become the poster children for Impact when we should be looking at Bobby Roode, Crimson, Matt Morgan, Gunner and Samoa Joe, salivating over what could be with the organization of Impact that is now faltering.

I am sad and depressed and angry, and I just want my damn wrestling back.

Hogan was so iconic in the 80s and he really put wrestling as entertainment on the map. Now, he is a face and a mouth and not much more. Flair is a face and a mouth and can style and profile, but little else. Sting can still draw and wrestle and talk and do the things that have made him an icon and one of the best ever. Bischoff can talk and run a company into the ground, but little else.

And Angle is the best veteran wrestler in the business today, but his angle and storyline is awful.

I am sad and depressed and angry, and I just want my damn wrestling back. Oh, yeah, I said that before.

If Hogan does what we all think he will tonight, and set the stage for his grand finale, then we can begin to deal with life AH (After Hogan).  We can set our sights on Roode winning TNA gold. We can look forward to Gunner and Anderson and James Storm being headliners. We can hopefully see Jeff Hardy come back and be the enigma he was and the fan favorite he wants to be again.

Wrestling needs the old to bring in the new, but in this case, the old has held the new down too long and fans and the IWC and arenas need to see more of the future, not the past.

TNA does a good job of catching you and holding you in suspended animation for about three weeks, then they bring you back to reality. It is a habit of breaking your heart just when you want to fall in love with it again. And they have a habit of leaving you at the doorstep, like after a first date, while you wonder if the next time you see them, if it will be that good again. And in some cases, will it be worse?

We need to see Hogan concede and move on. We need to see, and I hate saying it, Flair retire for good. We need to not see Bischoff on the screen and we need to see Angle leave to train for the Olympics. So much can be good again if we just get rid of these elements.  Wrestling has the habit of bringing us into its cult and not letting go. But the wrestlers are captivated by it as well, and this is what hurts the business.

So as we watch tonight and see what happens, we know what we are getting. We are either seeing the end of an era or the continuation of a bad dream. We hope for the former but in some way expect the latter.

In any case, wrestling again is doing what it set out to do all along…keep us in suspended animation long enough to buy into what it's selling, no matter how good or bad it might be.