Warlord Praises Hulk Hogan, Dorian Roldán Reveals AAA’s Plans For Potential Live Shows
Warlord faced Hulk Hogan several times in the ring, and he recently analyzed how The Hulkster changed the wrestling industry for big men.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On facing Hogan in the ring: “When you step in the ring with Hogan, and when he rips that shirt off, I’m the one who’s got the goddamn goosebumps all over me. Everything just goes black for a second. It’s like, ‘Wow, I’m in with the biggest name ever in professional wrestling.’ It’s the coolest thing in the world to feel.”
On the notion that Hogan wasn’t welcoming backstage: “He was very nice to everybody. He was just one of the boys back there, you know? I always respected him and he always respected me, and that meant a lot to me. He changed the business for a big man. No one had ever seen a big man crawl to the knees and sell the way he did. He actually got sympathy [from the crowds] as a big man.”
On Hogan’s ability to entertain fans with his formula: “The people knew what Hulk was going to do [with the comeback routine] but they didn’t care. They loved it anyway.”
During a recent appearance on “The Business of the Business” podcast, General Director of Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide Dorian Roldán discussed the company’s plans to find a streaming platform in the United States, possible live events in the country, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On their streaming plans in the US: “There’s a lot of points in that conversation. At the end of the day, it could be a transaction… FITE [is] in my option the most important and the most relevant. The numbers that we have done with FITE are really impressive, at least in a standpoint of view from Mexico, and we are super happy working with them. But as you know also, the most important thing for us is to have more eyeballs, and it’s not easy. It’s not an easy challenge that we have in America. We were having discussions for almost a year and a half with people from Univision. At the end, we weren’t in a position to close a deal with them. So right now, we are looking for new opportunities. We are having conversations with a couple of [unclear] in the US. We are also having conversations… it’s a little of the dilemma of the chicken and the egg. What is going first? To create more eyeballs, we have digital in order to close a better deal with our regular network. So we are in that dilemma. We are having conversations to create something like a docuseries or something like that, that can give much more engagement to the American audience. We are also having with a couple of possibilities in looking to put our content in the US. We are also having conversations about best channel to be in America. So in terms of options, there’s a lot of things that you can do or even just go create a fanbase, giving your product for free in platforms like Twitch or YouTube. So I think we are going to take a decision in the second semester of this year. The beginning of the year, we have been really busy with the Mexican market. There’s a lot of things happening here in Mexico. We need to focus also really well in the American market, but I think that is going to happen in 2024.”
On AAA’s specials with Estrella TV: “We’re having also discussions with Estrella. With Estrella, it’s just the stand-alone of TripleManias, nothing more than that. 2023 has been a really challenging year in terms of content. Everybody’s cutting expenses in the content area. But the sports at the same time are giving much more value to the TV rights. So we are in that state that are not so big to have a multi-million dollar deal, and we are not so small to be so desperate to close a deal of pennies. So we are going to take the best option for the company, and we hope to have something for real at least in the second semester or next year.”
On potential live shows in the US: “US has been a difficult market for AAA. There’s a lot of potential over there, but we haven’t been knowing how to take that potential of the brand in terms of live touring. We produced a show in December in Phoenix. In terms of attendance, in terms of the quality of the show, was really, really good. Everybody was happy. But in terms of economics, [it] wasn’t as expected for us. So basically what we are looking for, and that’s the kind of conversation that we’re having right now, we need a partner, and we need a partner in America who knows how to run live events for the Mexican market. So there are not so many companies that do this in America. There are just a couple of them that are super successful. So we are having conversations with them to know if there’s a possibility to run some kind of beta shows in certain markets to know the potential about it. It’s also again the chicken and the egg dilemma. What goes first, a TV show to get a network that can get eyeballs to the property, or to launch our live event and our touring of… I don’t know how many cities. So we are working on that. It’s always on our radar, but we have been there. It hasn’t been as successful as we’re worth. But we will try. We will try and try until we have success over there.”
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