Hulk Hogan may have been written off TNA television in the worst way possible

Earlier today, my comrade Sean Rueter brought you spoilers for next week's episode of TNA Impact, which features acting General Manager Hulk Hogan making his final decision on the ultimatum given to him by promotion President Dixie Carter on last night's episode. In short, he is asked to choose whether he's on Team Dixie or not.

SPOILER ALERT

Hulk, naturally, chooses Team Hogan.

The angle, as Sean described it, featured a meltdown from Carter that he said was "not good". That's being incredibly nice about it. Downright pathetic is more like it.

According to reports from the building, Dixie quite literally got down on her hands and knees to grab at Hogan's leg while he was going to leave, begging him to stay. This, of course, is the brilliant angle the creative powers that be came up with as a way to write "The Hulkster" off television due to his contract expiring on Oct. 1.

So the last image of Hogan in TNA may forever be Dixie Carter holding his pants leg while maniacally trying to get him not to abandon ship.

It's an awful look. Sure, you could argue it's just storyline but in the unreality era -- or the reality era, whatever the hell you want to call it -- everything hits close to home. This doesn't feel like a TV angle so much as fans getting a chance to peek behind the curtain at something everyone assumed was happening anyway.

As the Wrestling Observer points out, it's entirely possible Hogan has already signed a new deal and it's being kept quiet, or at least verbal agreements are in place for his return. At the same time, the financial situation within the company is still dire, and Hogan's contract was bigger than anyone else on the roster. And while he adds a certain measure of name value, that hasn't translated to any measurable affect on the bottom line.

If the thought is that it never will, re-signing him would be an obvious mistake.

Either way, writing him off television in this way serves only to make TNA look as second rate as the organization has always been, especially when it's entirely possible, if unlikely, that Hulkamania could be running wild straight to New Orleans for a big date at WrestleMania XXX.

Stay tuned.