Fallen Creator/Professional Wrestling: Difference between revisions

* [[Hulk Hogan]] was once the single most dominant personality in the whole of [[Professional Wrestling]], and one of the most financially successful. His [[All-American Face]] role model status was permanently tarnished in [[The Nineties]] by a steroid scandal and his [[Implausible Deniability|clumsy attempts at outright denial]]. His attempts to play Superman to the more traditional, heel-oriented WCW audience pegged him as a [[Creator's Pet]] until a well-timed [[Face Heel Turn]]. His post-WCW appearances have typically led to one strong nostalgia-based TV or PPV number, and disappointing returns afterwards (and his non-WWE appearances didn't even have that one strong number). His attempts at branching out into acting went nowhere. Then the personal issues came: his son Nick was involved in a high-profile street racing accident, with a passenger in a vegetative state, Hogan himself was caught on tape claiming it was all a God-given punishment to the passenger, which the TMZ crowd did not like one bit; and a nasty divorce followed, with both sides airing their dirty laundry in public. Hogan's recent attempts at a comeback with rival [[TNA]] haven't generated any significant interest, and an attempt at a revival of the [[Monday Night Wars]] almost cost them their TV slot. The divorce and the legal settlement from the car wreck have left him with a negative net worth, and the damage done to his back by years of bumping, heavy weightlifting, and steroid abuse have more or less finished him as an active wrestler. His recent attempts at staying relevant include [[Ten-Minute Retirement|TenMinuteRetirements]], protein powder multi-level-marketing schemes, making an ass of himself on Twitter on a regular basis, and lending his name to a midget wrestling TV show.

* [[Ric Flair]] is like the "only less so" version of Hogan. His reputation as one of the best wrestlers in the business by and large kept the disintegration of his family out of the public eye (in particular, his then-wife accused him of abusing steroids, hitting her, and exposing himself to other women; the latter has been a backstage trademark of his for some years if other accounts are to be believed), as did his position as a dignified WWE elder statesman. After being given an incredible send-off in 2008 for a retirement match against [[Shawn Michaels]], Flair ultimately had to sever his WWE contract in order to make enough money on outside projects to cover his back taxes (he's had IRS issues going back to the '70s) and his alimony. He was a partner-in-crime on Hogan's failed Australia tour, and ended up following him to TNA, with little or no impact on ratings, buyrates, or house show attendance. His return from retirement has acquired him a significant [[Hatedom]] in the wrestling fandom, since his retirement show was so emotional. [http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6891795/the-wrestler-real-life This article] shows how far he's fallen money-wise. The absolute low point was a money dispute with Highspots.com (over him putting up a NWA title belt as collateral for a loan without mentioning there was a lien on it for another outstanding debt) that threatened to land him in jail.

* Verne Gagne was a ten time World Champion and his American Wresting Association (AWA) promotion was at the very least, one of the "Big Three" promotions from the 1960s-first half of the 1980s (alongside the National Wrestling Alliance and World Wrestling Federation). The Minneapolis based AWA was one of the most successful and expansive single territories in the country. More to the point, the AWA at it's peak, featured a virtual "who's who" of wrestling. One of these notables was Hulk Hogan, who went to the AWA after ending his heel run in New York and becoming a successful superstar in New Japan Pro Wrestling. As [[Vince McMahon]], Jr. was expanding the WWF and raiding the AWA's talent (including [[Hulk Hogan]], who immediately became "The Chosen One"), Gagne stubbornly refused to change with the times (i.e. adapt to a more "sports-entertainment" type promotion). Gagne seemed to think that what worked in the '70s could still work in the '80s. By late 1987, the AWA was running on fumes (even though they landed a national cable TV deal with [[ESPN]], they were still losing talent left and right to the WWF, including then World Champion, [[Curt Hennig]]) and had to align themselves with World Class out of Dallas and the CWA out of Memphis. This culminated with the AWA's first and only stab at pay-per-view called ''Super Clash III''. Gagne burned his bridges with the other promotions when it was revealed that the wrestlers were literally, working for free. [[Jerry Lawler]] refused to defend the AWA World Title until he got the payout from Super Clash III. Instead, Lawler was "stripped" of the belt and the next champion was Gagne's real life son-in-law Larry Zbyszko. With the AWA sinking further and further in irrelevancy, they threw a Hail-Mary called the "Team Challenge Series", which backfired (and is generally regarded as one of the most embarrassing, poorly executed and desperate angles in wrestling history). Not too surprisingly, the AWA was forced to shut down by the end of 1990. [[It Got Worse|It got even worse]] for Verne Gagne however. In 2009, Gagne, who by this time in his life, had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease, accidentally killed a 97 year old man in memory-loss section of a Bloomington, Minnesota health care facility. Meanwhile, Verne's granddaughter Gail (Greg's daughter) had a warrant issued for her arrest for criminal sexual conduct with a then 16 year-old St. Paul, MN high school student when she was a teacher there.

** Here's a [http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=253581 great blog] chronicling the sad decline of the AWA.