Twilling's Blog The one and only blog I will ever write about the Hogan family By Rich Twilling Jul 27, 2008 - 11:32 AM Email This Article | Printer Friendly Page Send Us News & Results | Back to Main Listing Sunday, JULY 27 – 11:32 A.M. Hulk Hogan was a hero to many children back in the 1980s. Those children are now adults and many of them still put Hogan on a heroic platform. Personally, I was always the kid that rooted against Hogan. I wanted him to lose. I was tired of his matches because I knew he was going to stick to the same formula. I wanted Andre the Giant to beat him at Wrestlemania III. I thought Ric Flair was the best wrestler alive. That being said, I did not hate the guy. I figured he was a pretty good guy with a family, just like a lot of men his age. When I was ten years old, I was playing in a baseball tournament in the bay area. The WWF was running the Cow Palace and many of the wrestlers stayed in the same hotel as our parents. I obtained a lot of autographs. Two of them were from Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, before they became singles wrestlers. Ted Dibiase, The Warlord Bill Eadie (Ax), and Randy Savage were extremely nice, friendly, and polite people. I gave them all the benefit of the doubt and unless I knew something to the contrary, I figured they were all decent guys. The recent actions of Hulk Hogan have been appalling. We all know what he said to his son regarding John Graziano and I really do not want to rehash it. However, it is difficult to look at Hogan’s behavior over the years and not correlate his actions to those of his family. They seem to all be in the spotlight, yet none of them are really entertaining. Brooke Hogan has her own television show. Jason Powell referred to her as “this generation’s Corky.” Corky himself probably took that as an insult. Jessica Simpson probably thinks Brooke is a dumbass. Brooke is horribly lucky that she is Hulk’s daughter. Because of who she is, and solely because of who she is, she is able to have a “career” in the music industry. She has next to no talent. If she tried out for American Idol, she would not even make it to Hollywood. Nick Hogan is an immature, punk kid. Even on "Hogan Knows Best," he displayed flippant attitudes towards any type of self responsibility, which makes his behavior regarding Graziano anything but surprising. It is rumored that he is next in line to receive a reality show. There is not anything remotely entertaining about the guy so I wonder who would possibly watch his show. Well, I would, but only because I would be reporting on it. Linda Hogan is absolutely pathetic. In terms of talent, Brooke is like Barbra Streisand compared to her. I cringed when she told Hulk that she deserved to “live in the manner in which she was accustomed.” I never agreed with that because if it was not for Hulk, she would be living in a box somewhere. Additionally, the fact that she is dating a 19 year old guy is ridiculous as well. If Hugh Hefner was a Wal Mart greeter, he would not have numerous ridiculously hot girlfriends. If sixty year old James Woods was not a multi-millionaire actor, he would be going out with a stunning 21 year old. If Linda was just some old broad and not an old broad with money, this kid would have nothing to do with her. Wake up, Linda. All of this being said, Hulk Hogan is still entertaining. However, we all wish he would show some sense of contriteness regarding Graziano. I would like nothing more than to see all four of them get their lives together and live happily. However, I would also like to see three of them go away permanently from the public eye. Tuesday, JULY 22 – 9:27 A.M. -WWE Summerslam is on the horizon and it is possible that Batista will once again score a title shot. Of course, WWE could go with Batista vs. John Cena, but nonetheless, this got me to thinking to back when a shot at the Heavyweight Championship was a huge deal. If you received a shot, you damn well better have taken advantage of it because it was not likely to happen again. As Mickey Goldmill said in Rocky, “Like the bible says, you ain’t gonna get another chance.” At Wrestlemania III, Jesse Ventura made a big deal about how Andre the Giant deserved at least one shot at the title because of everything he had accomplished in his great career. Jesse’s head would spin if he had to explain the abundance of title matches granted to Batista. Yours truly decided to do a little bit of research, beginning at Summerslam 2006. In the last four pay-per-view events of 2006, Batista was unsuccessful in two title matches as a challenger vs. King Booker. He received a third championship match at the Survivor Series and defeated Booker for the title. He did not defend the title at the next PPV because he was involved in a tag team match. In 2007, Batista participated in fourteen (14) pay-per-view events. He was the World Heavyweight Champion in seven of these events. He defended the title six times and was involved in one tag team match. He challenged for the title in all seven of the other events, including three in a row vs. Edge (all unsuccessful) and three in a row vs. The Great Khali (two unsuccessful). This year, Batista has been unsuccessful in his two championships matches on PPV, vs. C.M. Punk at The Great American Bash, and vs. Edge at Night of Champions. If he is in the title match at Summerslam, I do not see him winning. WWE’s creative team has taken a beating for recycling the same matches over and over again. It is difficult to look at how they book Batista and not say the criticism is warranted. -It is funny how quickly things can change. When Jim Ross was drafted to Smackdown, he was very unhappy about it. Recently, a rumor surfaced saying Ross was on his way back to Raw. Ross wrote in his blog that he did not want to go back to Raw, citing the fact that he now had his “football weekends” off. With Triple H and Ross now on Smackdown, it is arguable that Friday night is in possession of the “A” show. With the schedule and the fact that Smackdown has always been the wrestling heavy show, I think Ross is right where he should be. A change of scenery, even an initially unwelcome one, can do wonders for someone. Now that the dust has settled, I bet Ross is very happy to be on Smackdown, both personally and professionally. This move could have added many years to the Hall of Famer’s career, so consider all of us very lucky if that is the case. BOOKMARK DOT NET AND ADD US TO YOUR RSS • HELP DOT NET: TAKE OUR ADVERTISER DEMO SURVEY CLICK TO RETURN TO MAIN LISTING OR SELECT A LINK BELOW FROM THIS CATEGORY Twilling's Blog Latest Twelve Articles Twilling takes a look at and predicts tonight's Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar fight Three focus points heading into WWE Raw: Batista vs. Jericho; DX vs. Miz and Morrison; who will answer Randy Orton? Comparing Vladmir Kozlov to Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle: Is Kozlov ready to become WWE Champion? Three questions regarding WWE Raw: Batista's title reign to be a short one? What is next for Jericho, Michaels, and Orton? Will Steve Austin appear? TNA Bound for Glory: What TNA did well and what they did poorly leading into the most important PPV in their history Three questions regarding WWE Raw: Shane McMahon, Evan Bourne's push, Jason Powell