by Wayne K. Wilkins

Created on: November 01, 2009

On October 27, 2009, the very foundations of the world of professional wrestling were shook as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling made the biggest announcement to affect professional wrestling in almost a decade as they signed the most iconic and legendary wrestler of all time to a contract, "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan. The announcement comes just weeks before Hogan is due to make his in-ring return in a series of matches against "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in his first ever tour of Australia in the midst of promoting his brand new book about his life.

Hulk Hogan's TNA signing potentially opens countless new doors to success for TNA Wrestling. Hulk Hogan became famous in the 1980's for putting the world of televised wrestling on the map as he took the World Wrestling Federation by storm. Hogan continued to make history in the 1990's as he made World Championship Wrestling the most popular and most watched wrestling program on television as he lead the New World Order into battle against the WWF in the epic Monday Night Wars. As the 2000's rolled on, Hogan remained in the spotlight and became the WWE World Champion in 2002.

Now, in October 2009, Hulk Hogan made history once again as he once again sets on a quest to bring the legacy of "Hulkamania" to the new generation in the coming 2010 year as he aims to lead TNA Wrestling into the global battle against the World Wrestling Entertainment. Hulk Hogan is once again aiming to breathe some competition into the world of professional wrestling and bring TNA Wrestling to the top of the wrestling world alongside his business partner, former WCW president Eric Bischoff.

Hogan's TNA signing was kept a secret and only top members of the promotion were notified by text message only 15 minutes before TNA's ground breaking press conference with Dixie Carter and Hulk Hogan. The press conference was broadcast on the Thursday, 29 October edition of TNA Impact which gave TNA one of their biggest ratings of all time, a 1.3 rating, which is huge given the fact that TNA was going head to head with the World Series, one of the biggest sporting events of the year, and the fact that Hogan did not actually appear in person. If Hogan's signing can give such a huge ratings boost just like that, it will arguably prove to be a sign of things to come when Hogan actually starts appearing on TNA programming without any events hindering TNA's ratings.

Needless to say, Hulk Hogan has once again shattered the every foundations of professional wrestling. The world of wrestling has long been anticipating a war between the WWE and TNA wrestling but TNA have always been a step behind. With the acquisition of Hulk Hogan and more groundbreaking announcements expected to come soon, professional wrestling fans of the current generation of wrestling programming could once again be witnessing the eve of a brand new ratings war. Could the Monday Night War between WWE and TNA Wrestling be right around the corner in 2010 following the signing of "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan to TNA Wrestling.

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