Hulk Hogan suggested the destination for A.J. Styles's current heel run in TNA could be a match against Hogan. Callers during today's Bubba the Love Sponge with Hogan and Eric Bischoff suggested Hogan vs. Flair, which Hogan said would be a possibility along with Styles.
When asked by a caller who Hogan would like to wrestle on the current TNA roster, Hogan said, "Depends on how full of himself A.J. Styles gets. He's on the fast track to take it over."
Hogan and Bischoff also evaluated members of the TNA roster with in-depth reviews of how they perceive the current talent. Bubba first quoted Bischoff from a production meeting that Bischoff said about the young talent, "We can win with what we got here."
-- Jay Lethal. Hogan was in "wish list" mode talking about bringing in Randy Savage. "I would love to have Randy (Savage) come in and manage his illegitimate son, Machismo," Hogan said. Hogan then did a Savage voice impersonation and set up a hypothetical storyline about Savage not having protection down in New Orleans one tour.
-- Sting. Hogan and Bischoff addressed a report of Sting no-showing the Genesis PPV on Sunday due to a personal issue with his family. Hogan said he understands some personal issues are life-and-death, but they need everyone in TNA "dialed in" to what they're doing and making TNA a priority so they can compete with WWE.
"Sting's a great talent. I wish he'd have come up North (to WWE) to get that side of the business. Love him to death," Hogan said. "My problem is now that we're trying to do this big picture. I understand how big picture it is for the wrestling business - Sting had life and death personal issue - but from business side, it totally screws us up. If at any time that happens, I got a personal issue, now we have to switch gears on who we use. You can't build the world around them."
Bischoff added: "Everybody has got to make a commitment. It's easy to say we want TNA to be #1, but if you're not willing to put TNA as a priority above almost every situation, then it's probably not going to work out."
-- Desmond Wolfe. Bischoff said he's very high on him. Hogan said they want to make him a James Bond-type character complete with the new valet they added to his act.
"I like his character. He's got a good look. I am pretty high on him," Bischoff said. Hogan then added: "I watched him last night and he killed it last night. There's not really a 'but,' but the girl has the James Bond thing going on. Desmond's on point, but something's got to be dialed in."
-- The Pope. "He's one of my favorite characters," Bischoff said. Hogan said he's tired of seeing him get beat in the ring. "We're going to give him life after death," Hogan said.
-- Abyss. "I hate to say it, but he's my favorite wrestler of all. He's perfect. He's my next John Cena," Hogan said. Bischoff said he's a real pro, committed to what he does, and he's a larger than life character. "He's magic. It's a matter of time," Bischoff said.
-- Lacey Von Erich. One of Bubba's co-hosts suggested Lacey knows how to work in the ring and Hogan laughed before stopping the conversation. "You don't know anything about what we do. She doesn't even know how to lock up," Hogan said.
Bischoff interjected: "She came to Australia with us and she's one of the boys, so now we can make all that work. We can teach her how to work and she has a great personality."
