With Hulk Hogan's contract set to expire in the beginning of October, his appearance in the closing segment at Wednesday night's TNA tapings could end up being his last appearance with the company as negotiations of a new deal have been ongoing but nothing has been signed.
Reports indicate that in the closing segment of last night's TNA Impact Wrestling taping, due to air Oct. 3, that TNA promoter Dixie Carter gave Hogan an ultimatum to join "Team Dixie," but he ended up saying that he quit TNA and walked out of the arena as she begged him to stay and join her side.
That segment, set to air next Thursday, may have been Hogan's last stand with the company.
411Mania.com reports that TNA is in the midst of re-evaluating its talent contracts after the attempt to bring Impact Wrestling on the road didn't boost the company's revenue as much as it had hoped. The site reports that Hogan is the highest paid personality on the wrestling promotion's payroll, and negotiations have not gone well on extending his contract as each side wants something different while TNA is looking to cut costs and Hogan, arguably the most popular wrestler of all time, wants to get paid his just due.
Hogan is in a situation similar to AJ Styles, Ken Anderson and Mickie James, as all three of them were in tough negotiations with to renew their contracts, leading to Anderson and James leaving while Styles stuck with TNA by signing an extension just through December.
Hogan publicly knocked TNA recently during a Q&A session in Toronto, 411Mania.com reports. He stated that the company needed "real leadership," which he meant to be his longtime friend and business partner Eric Bischoff. He also added that TNA needed an "unlimited checkbook" to accomplish everything it has set-out to do. The site reports that Hogan's comments were seen as a slap in the face to Carter and that some say that Bischoff had been given the reins to control the promotion and the revenue stream failed to increase.
Hogan was also angry over the fact that his daughter, Brooke, was released from TNA without Hogan being told beforehand, reports 411Mania.com. Hogan had stated that he would have liked to have been aware of the situation and even wanted to tell Brooke the news himself. Hogan was also reportedly peeved because Brooke moved from Florida to Nashville under the impression that Carter would use her contacts to help Brooke break into the country music scene, but it never came to fruition.
Jeff Jarrett has taken on a more active role in the business aspects of TNA wrestling, leading to many sources believing that Bischoff may remain loyal to Hogan and depart with him.
For now, Hogan appears to be done with TNA as a new deal hasn't been signed and it looks like he has been written off television.
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