Not that I watch TNA all that much. Why would I? I saw most of their roster when they were in their prime, in WWE. So I’d almost need Moen faucets to work up any tears over the idea that most of these guys are still around.

Hogan was huge in the 1980s and still relevant, though less so, in the 1990s. That’s around 20-30 years ago. Entertaining as he was for his era, he’s now a couple generations past it.

But lets take Hogan seriously for a moment; as seriously as one takes selecting the best diet pills.

You want me to buy into this new gimmick, Hogan? Fine. Here’s how you do it: First, drop the Abyss gimmick. Unmask him, nix the costume and have him wrestle in standard trunks as Chris Parks. That would be a good start.

Then, let’s drop the old ECW gimmick of Brother Ray and Brother Devon. Let’s just wrestle them as Mark LoMonaco and Devon Hughes. While you’re at it, let Magnus be Nick Aldis. Make Raven be Scott Levy. Forget RVD; he must now wrestle as Rob Szatkowski. Sabu can go back to being Terry Brunk, Stevie Richards can be Michael Manna, and forget Sting… he’s now Steve Borden.

Oh, almost forgot one. Hulk, from here on you, you gotta just be Terry Bollea.

Of course, none of that will ever happen. Which is why Hogan’s promo is so blatantly bogus.

Bischoff. Hogan. And they’re the two names that matter. Then there’s Abyss and Jarrett and Flair and… Jeff Hardy.

The “new ownership” fired Carter on-air on Impact this week, and seized control of the company. Of course, it’s a work; Carter’s TNADixie Twitter account is still going strong. Yeah, watching Bischoff and Hogan run a company into the ground never gets old, does it?

Oh wait. Yes. It. Does.

So let Bischoff huff is cigar for now; but I don’t see this storyline increasing TNA’s ratings.

However, it’s all in the execution and if the egos of Hogan and Flair (oy, the eczema!) drown out the talent of Abyss and Styles, it’ll be all for naught. Sure, Hogan’s been selling the “it ain’t gonna be like last time” story since his arrival in TNA, but that’s all a bit too “inside baseball” for mainstream wrestling audiences who may not remember Hogan’s role in the WCW-WWE Monday Night Wars.

If TNA is to prove a credible threat to WWE’s dominance, the storylines will have to get a lot more mainstream, and quickly.

Whoever’s sending out Christmas party invitations, please keep Nick Hogan away from the bar and don’t give the lad back his keys! Hulk has gone through enough with this youngster, hasn’t he?

This would have been huge news about 20 years ago, long before TNA was conceived. Might have even been interesting when TNA was first starting up. But now? Yawn. It’s about as exciting as term insurance quotes. Which isn’t to say boring, but isn’t to say world-shaking, either.

While I enjoy Cena as much as the next guy, this return to the ring at Survivor series was an event that resulted in him regaining his World Title on his first night back. That’s the kind of star treatment few in WWE have enjoyed since Hulk Hogan left the company to join WCW.

Injured and returning twice in the last year, Cena’s made a habit of carrying around Swiss Army luggage, it seems, but apparently the World Heavyweight Title is in that bag and he can have it any time he wants.

At least with Triple H, there are marital ties to the McMahon family to explain it. With Cena, it could be another Hogan nightmare all over again, if he lets it go to his head. Time will tell.

That’s the concept behind the show; part wrestling promotion, part reality show in the vein of WWE’s original Tough Enough competition, the show fizzles out of the game as literally over half of the celebrities cast in it appear not to even have known what professional wrestling was, prior to the first episode.

While it’s clear most of the cast would be better off on a show about tropical cruises, Dennis Rodman and Danny Bonaduce at least look like they might be trying.

Still, with such old-school WWE castoffs as Brian Nobbs of the Nasty Boys, Brutus Beefcake, and Jimmy Hart running the show, it’s unlikely this CMT program is going to gain any traction.

Next!

Currently confirmed to appear in some way, shape, manner or form tonight on Raw are the following:

* Hulk Hogan
* Stone Cold Steve Austin
* The Undertaker
* Mick Foley
* Sunny
* Trish Stratus
* Lita
* Eric Bischoff
* Evolution Reunion (Ric Flair, Triple H, Randy Orton, Batista)
* 15-person gimmick Battle Royale featuring stars from the last 15 years

All in all, it’s building up to be a great show, and even greater if The Rock decides to make a cameo. C’mon, Dwayne Johnson, don’t make us beg! Cat5E!

Nick Bollea was traveling in his Toyota Supra “at a high rate of speed” with a friend, at around 7:31 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, when the car apparently lost control, slammed into a median, flipped and the rear of the car impacted with a palm tree.

A police vehicle rolled up right after the crash and immediately called in the accident. The yellow Supra was totaled and at this hour it is unclear whether it was Nick or his friend who was at the wheel at the time of the accident. However, since the car belonged to Nick and the Hulk Hogan family, the driver is believed to have been Nick.

Nick, who has become somewhat famous himself while appearing on his father’s VH1 reality show, Hogan Knows Best, has transformed from the younger of the two Hogan kids, living in the shadow of his famous father and his older sister, who would goof around for attention, including wearing animal masks, to an emerging adult with his own set of talents, hopes, frustrations and problems.

Now, though, both Nick and his friend were flown by medical helicopter from the scene of the accident and other than being informed that both are in either “very serious” or “critical” condition, the extent of their injuries are unknown at this hour.

We at Pro Wrestling Views ask readers to keep the entire Hogan family, and Nick’s passenger, in prayer in the coming hours.

Nothing about WrestleMania 23 really measured up, and mostly it was due to poor, run-of-the-mill booking. The main event, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels, lacked heat for many reasons. First, Michaels is too past his prime to really be a main event threat to the red-hot Cena. Also, both were crowd favorites and wrestling is at its best when there is someone to boo. That lead folks to have to choose between a legend like HBK and the WWE’s hottest champ since Stone Cold and The Rock walked away from the biz.

The “billionaire’s hair match” was too predictable to be interesting, despite some decent story-building. No one believed Donald Trump would agree to be shaved bald for WrestleMania, especially since he’s in the middle of a season of The Apprentice. So the outcome – Vinnie Mac getting shaved bald due to an Umaga loss – was entirely too predictable.

The ECW Originals vs. New Breed match was OK as far as it went. The lumberjill women’s match was nothing special. Undertaker continuing his undefeated streak by becoming the new SmackDown champ was also entirely too predictable, and another example of booking two crowd-favorites against each other with neither playing a true heel.

I liked the Money In the Bank ladder match best of all, but the rest of the card was purely average at best. It’s a shame that wiser minds didn’t prevail. Even though he’s not yet established very well, a far more compelling main event would have been a title match between Cena and The Great Khali… it would have called to mind the classic Hogan/Andre main event of 1987.

Missed opportunities.