By mid-2000 WCW and Hulk Hogan were both in something of a strange position.
The company itself was struggling badly, and Head Writer Vince Russo wasn’t winning many friends backstage. With the promotion desperately in need of a reset, Russo booked himself as an on-screen figure and created a storyline that pitted a number of younger stars known as the New Blood against the company’s veterans.
One star who found himself part of the New Blood was Billy Kidman. This eventually saw the former Cruiserweight Champion engage in a rivalry with Hulk Hogan. However, it seems that Hogan wasn’t happy with the decision.
In a previously unreleased interview on the Bubba the Love Sponge Show recorded 24 hours after Bash At The Beach, Hogan opened fire on Kidman.
At Bash At The Beach tension between Vince Russo and Hogan hit a new high. On the show, Jeff Jarrett laid down so Hogan could pin him to win the World Title under orders from Russo. Hogan eventually did, pinning him with one foot before grabbing a microphone and blasting Russo and the company.
Russo responded by calling Hogan a “piece of sh*t.” Hogan didn’t appear in WCW again.
In the interview where Hogan gives his side of the chaos, he went off on a tangent about working with Kidman. Hogan said that Kidman should never have been given the spot opposite him.
“We know that’s a rib. Kidman can’t go through Sting, Goldberg, and Jarrett. I’m just sticking it up Russo’s ass. Kidman never should have had the spot with Hogan anyway. If Russo would have been right, then he would have went with Kidman all the way. It was such a fu*cking joke and all I did was get respect and sympathy from the fans because, ‘Here’s Hogan and all he’s been through. He won’t work with the young guys and every week he’s getting beat by Kidman. We got respect for that son of bitch.’ That’s all that did.”
While discussing how the situation with Jarrett played out on screen, Hogan threw in one more jab at Kidman, commenting that trying to get a crowd reaction while working with him was like “pulling teeth.”
“Two to three times, Jarrett doesn’t get in the ring. I think he’s working the crowd and we’re going to tear the place down. I got them right in the palm of my hand. When you have them like that, you can fart in the ring and the place will go crazy. Not like pulling teeth with Billy Kidman where you have to work your ass off and there’s no reaction.”
Hulk Hogan Tried To Fight Vince Russo Backstage
Once the segment in the ring was done, an irate Hogan waited backstage for Russo to come through the curtain as he wanted to “kill him.” During the interview, Hogan revealed that he went to the ring that night expecting trouble, so took three “gimmicks” — revealed to be blades — with him in case anything happened.
H/t to Fightful