On the latest edition of Wrestling with History on VOC Nation, Ken Resnick talked about Hulk Hogan being conflicted about jumping ship from the AWA. Resnick also discussed business mistakes made by Verne Gagne and Hogan eventually giving Gagne an opportunity to match the WWF’s offer. Here are some highlights:
On Verne Gagne’s reaction to McMahon’s push to go national:
I remember being in some of the discussions where Vince was kind of going through the country like a blitzkrieg, if you’re facing in business what was essentially a hostile takeover attempt by Vince McMahon or the WWF, the first thing you are taught in any business school is you circle your wagons and protect your own business. Being old school and so angered by what Vince was beginning to successfully do, Vern focused in trying to get into Vince’s backyard and let markets like Chicago and Milwaukee be basically second in thought and ripe for takeover.
On business mistakes Gagne made that ultimately killed the promotion:
Vern sold the Winnipeg market and Winnipeg television to Wally Karbo, Jack Lanza, and Nick Bockwinkel. For a number of reasons, they ended up taking that television and giving that market to Vince. The late Dennis Hilgart, the promoter in Milwaukee, again a lot of it was financial, but he left Vern and he had the contacts and the agreements in Milwaukee and he went with Vince. It was a lot because Vern didn’t quite understand the corporate premise when you’re facing a hostile takeover that you circle the wagons. Vern left a lot of flanks exposed.
On whether Hulk Hogan considered staying with the AWA:
Hulk did give Vern an opportunity. He was thinking about staying. One of the big things that Vince was able to offer was a high percentage of the secondary marketing – the tee shirts and hats and everything else – and Vern didn’t want to do that. He said ‘without me, you wouldn’t be able to sell anything; I’m not giving you that.’ I remember talking with Hulk and finally I said what’s stopping you? You’ve got 2 choices: You’ve got A, or you’ve got B which is 25x what A is.
Wrestling with History drops each Wednesday on VOCnation.com and all major podcast directories. Each week, former WWF, AWA, and LPWA announcer Ken Resnick looks back in long form at a different year during the 80s and 90s in pro wrestling.
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