Hulk Hogan was asked during an AOL Fanhouse interview about his relationship with TNA creative team member Vince Russo. "Well, I'm involved from writing the shows, to saying goodbye at the end of the night, to planning the merchandise and the licensing and if we should keep doing house shows if they're not a return on the investment. And Vince Russo's an issue.

"He works for me now, and if it was the old Hulk Hogan or if it was the old school wrestling mentality -- like a lot of the fans say, 'Just fire his ass -- get rid of him, Hogan' -- that could have happened because when he came to WCW, the first statement he made before he ever met me, was, 'The first thing I'm going to do is get rid of Hulk Hogan,' and that was in a booking committee with Kevin Sullivan and a bunch of other wrestlers, and that's the first thing he said.

"He had never met me. So he fired me, because he was in that position at the time, and I had two years left in my contract and I was making million dollars a month at the time. That's a lot of money, just to pull out of somebody's pocket and fire somebody when you've never met them. So that whole mentality is not there for me, because I have gone through so much in the last couple of years and in my life, I'm -- you know, this is the real me now -- I totally understand that everybody, you know, I can forgive, but I can't forget.

"A leopard doesn't change their spots. So I've got to really be aware, but I'm not walking in there to fire Vince Russo the first day; I'm not walking in there to fire Terry Taylor the first day. I'm walking in there going, OK, guys, it's a new day, and I hope everybody here has something to contribute because I learn from everybody. I listen to everybody. I mean, even my next door neighbor said something about wrestling last night, and it was one of the best ideas I've ever heard, so I listen to everybody, and it goes with Vince Russo.

"With Russo I come in peace, but history is not going to repeat itself here, and if you try to undermine me, or if you try to underwrite my story lines or you try to do anything to hurt me or sabotage me, I've got my eye on you. But instead of me just knocking you out, or me just firing you, I have an open mind in how good of a writer are you.

"What do you really know about this business? What can you really contribute to this business other than just blocking out a two-hour show and doing the transitions and the inserts and the pre-tapes and keeping flow good enough to hopefully keep people interested? I mean how good are you really? So I mean, there's an issue there with him, which has to be addressed." To read the full interview, visit Backporch.Fanhouse.

Powell's POV: It's interesting that Hogan also mentioned TNA director of talent relations Terry Taylor. It's no secret that Eric Bischoff isn't a big fan of Taylor. Russo was at Hogan's party in Orlando earlier tonight. I sure hope the big angle tomorrow night isn't Hogan firing Russo. After all, that type of angle would only appeal to internet fans, and those same fans would be the first to find out if it were nothing more than an angle.

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