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The "Hulkamania" tour of Australia (which has been met with mixed reviews) has begun to wind down, with the final leg of the tour taking place this weekend in Sydney. The former Mr. Kennedy (Ken Anderson) was referred to some as being "out of shape," several of the matches from those in attendance have been called "bad," & ticket sales gave been strong…but not was initially expected. However, the tour received immense mainstream media attention (including TMZ.com) last week, with some even thinking that Hogan being bloodied at his pre-event press conference was real. Jimmy, who has spent time with "The Hulkster" during his return to the WWE leading into WrestleMania X-8 weighed in on his opinions on the build-up to "Hulkamania" & if it has delivered so far. "First of all the apparent "shoot" press conferences between Flair & Hogan…that was a little stroke of brilliance on their parts. We know it was storyline, and neither Hogan or Flair needs to explain." He went onto say, "I did say a few weeks ago that nobody cared. Now 7-8,000 people, anyone would say that is a large & healthy audience. I was at both of those venues, and those places are huge. However, 7-8,000 people is terrific. He is Hulk Hogan, he is going to attract a crowd. He is Ric Flair, and he is going to attract a crowd. However, are we talking about tarping the house? Are we talking two-for-one tickets? Are we talking about discounted tickets? I did see some reports that some of the tickets were very highly-discounted. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good-sized crowd, but how much money did they make." On a prior installment of "Noonan Speaks" prior to Hulk heading to "the land down under," Jimmy referred to Hogan as "the Anna Nicole Smith of wrestling." This quote received major buzz amongst wrestling journalists & fans alike, and Jimmy wished to clarify his statement & offer an updated/corrected version of how he sees Hogan’s picture right now heading into the end of the year. "After some thought, I want to apologize about that, and that it was unfair. What I should have said was that if he keeps up his current behavior & antics, he will become ‘the Anna Nicole Smith of wrestling,’ but as far as him being that now…that was unfair."
