Hulk Hogan is not expected to make a return any time soon. WWE currently has no plans for him, although it can be assumed that he will make an eventual return when the time is right.

One backstage source speculated that Vince made a deal with Hogan that if he were to get the clean win over Michaels at SummerSlam, he would eventually have to job cleanly to John Cena, prospectively at WrestleMania 22. With Hogan going clean over Michaels, and then Cena going clean over Hogan (after Michaels wasn't able to), it would help to further elevate Cena. If that was the deal between Vince and Hogan, enabling Hogan to take advantage of his "creative control" stipulation and get the clean win over Shawn, it is unknown whether or not Michaels was even aware of it.

John Cena is clearly seen by Vince as the best chance he has of creating a new top tier draw. Both Batista and Randy Orton are seen way lower than Cena in the eyes of Mr. McMahon.

{Source: PWTorch Newsletter}

I'm sure Hogan will be crawling around when WM22 comes up. Besides that, I really don't see him doing anything else in the near future.

Yawn.

I can't wait for crowds to start completely shitting all over Cena and his shitty gimmick. McMahon's reaction would be priceless. There will never be another Rock or Austin you dumb fuck.

Why not just skip the middle man and have HBK put Cena over...you know, someone who is capable of a good match.

Pfft... Michaels will be busy wrestling the Rock or someone else in another dream match to cover up the fact he can't draw on his own. That doesn't mean I want Hogan/Cena. The match will be dog shit, but at least Hogan has a rub to give.

And what difference has Hogan made to the Buyrates of these shows? Oh yeah, none.

You were too quick to post, since I edited my post about a minute after submitting it. Shawn has no rub. Hogan does. 'Nuff said.


Edit: Everyone should know by now to ignore my jaded HBK comments, although it is true. He's never drawn.

That's not a concern. I don't think Hogan has a rub to give either. It is so unbelievable for him to keep winning matches, that it ruins the illusion, and people just don't care. They get caught up in the nostalgia and the spectacle of it all, but they don't care about the outcome of a Hogan match in 2005.

You make a good point about it all being nostalgic, but if you had to choose someone to "pass the torch" to Cena at the biggest show of the year, who would it be?

Possible Choices:
The Rock - He's always capable of coming back, especially for WM, and is still over with the fans, either as a heel or face. However, he's also a better choice because his pops as a face won't overshadow Cena's, and fans could buy him as a heel.

Steve Austin - Half crippled, and probably incapable of doing much thanks to his fucked up neck and knees. I don't see him going through with it, but he's got the "Attitude Torch Passing" aura to him, so that could be a factor, and it could be his last chance at a big money match.

Hogan - Other than Austin (and probably Bruno), one of the biggest draws in wrestling history, especially in the 80's. His ship sailed off a long time ago, but still has enough in the tank to have a few more big matches. However, the fact that most fans usually turn on any face up against him, Cena's popularity going into the match will be in danger.

There's no more rub with Hogan. Nobody gives a shit if he wins or loses anymore. They pop just to see the guy. The Rock would be the perfect guy to give Cena the rub. Actually, you want to know who could give Cena the right rub and the WWE would even have to go out of their ways to set up? Triple H.

Out of those three, the Rock, but in reality, none of the above. I would rather go with a meaningful feud that is relevant right now than have a star from the past come back to pass the torch. Besides those guys lost the torch a long time ago. If there is a torch to be passed now, it is held by HHH, and don't bet on him doing any favors for Cena. I'd say feud him with a guy like Angle who can give him a series of good matches. I think that would do far more for Cena's credibility than a one-off with the over-the-hill club. Furthermore, I don't Cena will prove to be the future star that WWE is banking on. Honestly, I don't know who it is right now, but I don't think Cena, at least in his current gimmick, has that kind of staying power.

(replied to DK's post)
Good luck. Triple H just gave Batista the rub (and it didn't help him much), and if rumors are true, Trips isn't very fond of Cena.

(Reply to WMD's post)
I don't know about the Angle idea. I never thought much of Angle as a rub giver, and they've already wasted matches with them on 2 PPV's with clean results. However, Angle isn't afraid to job a lot, so I can see it being a possible choice.

Beat me to the punch.

Batista was very hot during his feud with HHH. It was only after the two were separated that his flaws became obvious and he began cooling down. But yeah, he's certainly better off now than he was before HHH.

I won't argue the point about being better off now, because it's true. Before that, he was an Evolution lacky who occasionaly got a Raw main event spot.

Now he's feuding with JBL, which isn't too great of a position to be in, though, considering JBL has headlined some of the lowest drawing PPV's in recent history, against all kinds of opponents. I don't see Batistas reign running much longer, but he has the good fortune of being one of few face contenders on SD for the title. WWE will never give Booker the title, and right now Benoit is the US Champ, which leaves the Undertaker... again.

Before HHH ther was Deacon Batista. Now there is Batista World Champ. That's all.

Rock would be the best to "pass the torch" to Cena.

...I heard some rumor about Hogan/Austin at WM XXII.

Hogan/Austin is the match scheduled for next years Mania. Although there are certainly chances that it won't happen, but Vince has pencilied it in as of right now.

So it is true? Damn!

I found this over at DVDVR and I thought it could add to this thread a bit.....

So clearly Vince is crazy at this point to bring in ANYONE with these kinds of demands.

I also posted this in the Raw topic since I wasn't sure if it was a big deal or not to start on it's own, so I'll say it here.

I love how both guys still are playing the politics game. Hogan doesn't want to lose 1 of 2 matches, and when only 1 match was scheduled, Michaels didn't want to lay down.

No, honest, Shawn doesn't play politics anymore. He's born-again!

Honestly I think Shawn would be in the right here. I've said from the get-go that this match should have never happened. I understand that it may be a "dream match" for some people, but that didn't include me. Plus, I'll be curious to see what the buyrates were for Summerslam considering the main event. I'd love to see that bringing Hogan in did NOTHING to the rates.......which I'm sure will happen.

Right now, it's just speculation. However, the SummerSlam card was booked rather well compared to previous years, so if the buyrate isn't up much, everything was a waste of time, from Hogan/HBK to... whatever the lowest built match was. Probably Benoit/Jordan I guess, but no one bought for that... I hope.