QUESTIONS!

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These are questions that are asked on PWinsider.com so i'll be posting these up when i get the chance just to add some spice to this forum





Was Jake The Snake Roberts really the first to use the DDT?

There have been arguments about whether Roberts really invented the move or not. I can say with certainty that I saw Adrian Adonis do a variation of the move (with Adonis falling back with his legs on either side of an opponent, instead of both legs on the same side) before I ever heard of Jake Roberts. That said, I think Roberts deserves all the credit for popularizing the move.

I was wondering are there any plans to do the Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan match in the near future or do you see them waiting till Wrestlemainia 23 in Detroit?
If (and that is a big IF) at this point, WWE can put together a Steve Austin vs. Hulk Hogan match, the company would be insane to have it take place anywhere other than at Wrestlemania.

Without the brand extension, do you think Cena would have been a WWE champ or even main event material?
Yes, I do. It's obvious WWE had big plans for Cena even before the split. I think, with few exceptions, anyone who has main evented for the Raw brand would have become a main eventer even without the split. It just may have taken longer in some cases.

Speaking of the brand extension, from a wrestling point of view do you think it can be considered as a success? And from a financial point of view?
As a result of the brand extension, WWE is running more live events and more PPV events and bringing in more revenue as a result. So, I would say that yes, it is a success from a financial point of view. From a quality point of view, I personally don't feel it is a success, as we have way too many "throwaway" PPV events now that don't seem to really matter in the long run.

Finally, do you think you'll still be answering questions about the brand extension in the year 2017????
I hope I am, because that means I will still be doing this eleven years from now, and believe me, there are worse jobs in the world to have!

 

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some more



Answered on 7/28

What was the final Summerslam 2005 buyrate number and how does it compare to other PPV buyrates in recent years?
The final buyrate for Summerslam 2005 was a 1.3. By comparison, the Great American Bash the month before did a 0.58. Survivor Series a few months later only did a 0.94. Summerslam was the second highest buyrate of 2005 for WWE, behind Wrestlemania, which did a 2.46 buyrate.

I am sure you have probably answered this question before, but I was wondering who do you think will be the first person to beat Samoa Joe in one on one competition in TNA?
Before I answer your question, let me tell you who should NOT be the first person: Jeff Jarrett, Sting, Scott Steiner, Kevin Nash or anyone over the age of 35. TNA has done a good job of protecting Joe's "undefeated" status, and it would be insane to have anyone beat him that wouldn't get a monumental rub off of the win. AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Rhino or Senshi would be perfectly acceptable people, in my opinion, to get the first win over Joe. If I was booking, I would have Rhino get it, but that being said, I am not thrilled with the way TNA has just thrown together their current Rhino-Joe program with no real reason behind it.

Do you believe Stone Cold Steve Austin will ever wrestle again?
Absolutely. At some point, the right match and the right amount (as in $$$) will come up, and Steve Austin will return to give someone a stunner or two.

Hey, isn't the guy the beat the crap out of Undertaker the big guy that couldn't speak English from "The Longest Yard"?

Yes, the Great Khali did appear in the Adam Sandler version of "The Longest Yard", which also featured Kevin Nash, Steve Austin, Bill Goldberg and Bob Sapp. He is listed in the credits as Dalip Singh.

Who was the young wrestler whose name wasn't announced who Chris Masters defeated on the 4/3 edition of Raw?
The person Chris Masters destroyed in short order was independent worker Eric Priest.

 

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also this





Answered on 7/27

I noticed during the HBK and Hogan match at Summerslam last year that the Coach said Hogan stands for everything negative about the business and talks about his massive ego. Was the Coach being told to say this to play into the heat between HBK and Hogan backstage or do you think maybe the Coach did a little shoot on Hogan? Or am I reading into this too much and the Coach was just playing the heel announcer?
You're reading a bit much into it. Coach was simply playing his role as a heel announcer, and bringing up the things that Michaels had mentioned during his vignettes leading up to the match.

So with WWE announcing the purchase of WCCW library, does this affect the World Class Documentary DVD to be released on 6/15?
Not at all, as the deal for the DVD was completed well before Kevin Von Erich sold the library to WWE. As an aside, I highly recommend checking out the DVD at http://www.rightherepictures.com/.

So here's an interesting scenario for you that I think would bring surefire interest to the New ECW - bringing back Brock Lesnar and making Angle and Lesnar the heel duo that dominates the first year or 2 of the brand until the eventual turn and another blockbuster Angle / Lesnar series. Bring back him at One Stand Night for the open challenge and go from there.. have you guys heard any knew of talks with Lesnar? If money heals all wounds, could they ever reconcile and work together again? I'd pay.
There haven't been any new talks between WWE and Brock Lesnar lately, although with Lesnar's relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling at an end, it wouldn't shock me if the two sides talk again. Money definitely talks, and at some point, I could see Lesnar back int he fold. While I like the idea of Lesnar vs. Angle again (and if Lesnar returns, I would say it is a certainty), I don't see Lesnar and Angle as a tag team on the ECW brand.

After watching The Rise and Fall of ECW, I noticed that Tazz said that only 3-4 people graduated from the House of Pain wrestling school. Do you know who those people were?
As far as I know, the only graduates of the "House Of Hardcore" ECW school were Chris Chetti, Roadkill, Danny Doring and Tom Marquez .

Where's Ivory these days?Ivory, who now works under her real name of Lisa Moretti, has been making infrequent appearances on independent shows since being released by WWE one year ago. While I don't know of any official site for her, there is an fan site devoted to her at http://www.happy-hysterical.net/purplefusions

 

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and some more






I would like to know why the WWF(E) never pushed a huge main-event with Flair-Hogan? They started to when Flair (Wooooooo) brought the 'WCW belt' to WWF(E), but it seemed to just be shelved that same night when Flair challenged Randy Savage. Also why was Flair so quick to jump back to WCW? Flair did have a house show feud with Hulk Hogan but WWF didn't feel it was drawing and went another direction with Flair on television. Flair left WWF as he had a verbal agreement with Vince McMahon that if he was ever going to be moved out of the main events, he could give his notice and leave. WCW made Flair a big offer as he was being phased down the cards, so Flair gave notice and was released, after putting over Mr. Perfect on the way out of the company.

I was just reading about Sting's New TNA DVD which I can't wait to see. Since WWE owns his footage is there any chance of TNA being able to acquire the footage to put on the DVD or would there ever be any chance of WWE making A DVD of Sting's career with his matches? I know I along with many other fans would love to see it.
There is no chance of WCW footage being on the DVD. WWE could easily put out their own DVD, but given that Steve Borden owns the Sting name, they would need to come to an agreement over how the DVD would be titled and marketed.

I'm in my 3rd decade as a wrestling fan, and hands down, my favorite wrestler is without a shadow of a doubt - The Great Muta. I've seen him wrestle for a number of organizations over the years, but never the WWE/F. My question is, has he ever, in any form, worked for Vince McMahon? And, if not, well... how come?
Once Muta became a star in Japan, there was no reason for him to work Stateside with the exception of the few WCW runs he did in association with New Japan, or his one appearance in Ring of Honor.

I'm curious to know to what degree the wrestlers keep their personas 'on', say, backstage, would other wrestlers greet the Undertaker as 'Mark' or would they call him 'Taker'?
He's called Taker backstage. Most of those in the business prefer to go by their professional names, even when leaving phone messages on voicemails. Very rarely due they use their real names while on the road in reference to each other, especially when fans are around.

Although not likely, if the WWE decides to give the Undertaker his inevitable HOF induction BEFORE he retires, how do you think they will handle his induction (due to his gimmick)

This is a when, not an if, but I believe that they will acknowledge the character and Taker will be himself when he accepts.

 

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Answered on 7/29

What has been happening to Smackdown lately? It is off the air in the Salt Lake City station that has been carrying it. Is this happening in other areas as well?
Yes, several UPN affiliates have dropped Smackdown, along with other UPN programming. With the announcement of the CW Network starting this Fall, it was revealed that the network (a combination of UPN and WB) would be taking over the WB affiliates, and while it will be picked up on some UPN channels, other affiliates were basically told they would be losing the programming in the Fall. Rather than waiting for their programming to be pulled, some channels decided to dump the UPN shows and switch to a new format now.

Do you see Chris Benoit coming back as a heel after his injury? Smackdown lost two of it's top 3 heels in Randy Orton and JBL, and Chris Benoit would be a good choice to be a heel champion.
I suppose it is possible, although when Benoit makes his initial return, he's going to have to do something pretty heelish to overcome the babyface pop that he will get just from returning. Looking at Smackdown right now, there is Booker T, Fit Finlay and Ken Kennedy as heels, and Batista, Mysterio, and Undertaker as faces, so I think Benoit could come back on either side. Personally, I would keep Benoit a face and feud him with Finlay and William Regal.

I have seen you mention several times that Undertaker is very protective of his character and gimmick. Why was he completely out of character during the A&E biography of Mick Foley? Was it just a nod to how much respect he has for Mick?
Honestly, I think it was more a matter of lucky timing. When that special was done, Undertaker was doing his "American Badass" gimmick and was more open about things, as evidenced by the "This Is My Yard" home video, where he showed people his home and openly talked with his wife.

You can often see, that the referee stops to count to 3, when somebody from the outside comes in the ring and attacks the wrestler, who tries to pin his opponent. Why is the 3-count stopped when the shoulders of the beaten man are still on the mat?
Because the booker doesn't want the opponent to be pinned. Honestly, I've often been annoyed by that as well, especially when the person making the run-in hasn't even made physical contact with the wrestler, yet the referee stops the count.

At ONS when Eugene came out I thought we would witness a remake of the Borne/Doink the clown angle. Personally I would have love to see it because I think Nick D, is a great wrestler/performer put in a terrible gimmick. Do you think it would have work with the ECW hardcore fans and with the casual fans?
Actually, I think it would work, and more importantly, I believe this is something WWE needs to do. The Eugene character (which I was never fond of to begin with), has become ridiculously stale and for the sake of Nick Dinsmore, I hope they ditch it and repackage him in a new persona.

 

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I'm just wondering if you know of any people who are "inside the business" who play WWE.com's Fantasy Game. Like does anyone from PWInsider play the game or anyone with an unfair advantage?
I can't speak for anyone else in the business, but none of us at PWInsider.com play the game. Our own Steven Fernandez sent word that in the past, references have been made to the fact that Michael Cole, Matt Striker, Droz and possibly Todd Grisham playing WWE.com Fantasy.

Either I'm missing News or just nothing has been mentioned as of late... But what's the deal with Eric Bischoff?... I know he does other projects and what have you, but is there any time period as to when we could see him again??? Also, do you guys know what "E" is up to these days?
I don't expect Eric Bischoff back in an on-camera role anytime soon, but his book Controversy Creates Cash, detailing his side of the Monday Night Wars will be out this October so I would expect he'll be involved with promoting it.

Do you know if Tugboat/Typhoon/Shockmaster is still wrestling, as I haven't spotted his name on any cards since about 1999? Do you think he could ever become part of WWE's legends program, as he did participate in some memorable moments during the Hulkamania era?
I haven't heard of Fred Ottman doing any recent appearances beyond an autograph signing at a convention in New Jersey a few months back, but wouldn't be shocked to see him signed for the WWE Legends deal, specifically for action figures.

I was wondering if you could shed some light on Mike Bucci (aka Simon Dean), in terms of his background? I saw him in some audience shots during Bret Hart's HOF speech, and the guy seemed to be having the time of his life, laughing at the stories - it seems like he loves the business. A follow-up question is do you think he is TOO good at the Simon Dean character (in that it won't get dropped since he does it so well)? Even with some of the dopey sketches he's been in, the guy still makes me chuckle with his facial expressions. Bucci is from New Jersey originally and trained under Iron Mike Sharpe. He broke in working Northeastern independents and debuted in ECW in 1996 as part of Raven's nest under his original ring name "Super Nova." He remained with ECW until it shut down in 2001 and signed a year later with WWE under a developmental deal. He worked for a long time in Ohio Valley Wrestling before being brought up as Simon Dean. I do agree he's really good at the character, to the point its hard to think of him as Nova anymore.

Hey there. I read somewhere (maybe here) that Frankie Kazarian left WWE because he refused to cut his hair as WWE has told him to. But now I see him in TNA, and he's cut his hair! Am I misinformed or what?
You aren't misinformed. Kazarian was requested to cut his hair by WWE and when he decided he wasn't comfortable with that, asked for a release and was granted it. Later on, he did cut his hair, possibly in hopes of getting the WWE gig back. In the end, he signed with TNA.

 

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Answered on 7/31

It astonishes me how a company as big as WWE with the resources it has, routinely makes ridiculous errors on its own website while you, Buck & Mike, etc, never give accidental spoilers, never have to retract stories and never have to pull things for legal reasons. It's nothing short of embarrassing. The errors are so bad and so common, it's almost as if it's a spoof site at times. Of course, it's not WWE's fault. It's internet dorks, virgins, etc. In other words, the paying consumer. Why would they want to listen to them anyway? It begs the question, why don't they pay the same attention to their own site that they do to yours?
This question was sent to me as a rhetorical one but it actually makes a bit of sense to answer considering all of the problems that WWE.com has had lately . Yes, WWE has a vast amount of resources and one would think that with all of that money at their disposal, they would pay to make sure that their web product was of top quality. The problem at WWE.com is that they don't spend that money on the editorial end of the site the way that they should and they have no checks and balances in place to make sure that these kinds of things don't happen. They hire younger people to write their stories, some with knowledge of the wrestling business - some not, and they put them on the site in a position to give away storylines and make the company look bad, which often happens. The problem, as I see it, as there needs to be a copy editor that is in charge of the whole site. That person should be notified every time a story, bio, house show listing or whatever is ready to go live on the site and then read it to make sure that it is something the company wants posted. Then, he or she could make the piece live for the public to see. WWE may see this as an unnecessary expense, but their website is their face on the internet and represents them. That is worth one more salary. Hell, I wish we could afford to pay someone for that role here because I hate any typo we have on the site.

One thing about the announcing in WWE has bothered me for awhile now. Whenever a heel wrestler "cheats" (uses the ropes for leverage, grabs their opponent's tights, low blows, etc.) the babyface announcer screams bloody murder (and in J.R.'s case he'll still be yelling about it on the next week's show). But when a babyface wrestler (Ric Flair, Carlito, the late Eddie Guerrero) "cheats" by doing the EXACT SAME THING, the babyface announcer not only has no problem with it, but they seem to be amused by it or say that it's to be expected. The best is how when Eddie Guerrero was a heel, they'd scream about how he couldn't win a match without cheating and he was such a terrible person, but when he was a face the announcers would laugh and cheer for the exact same behavior and say "Of course Eddie cheated, he lies, cheats, and steals, what did you expect?" Do the powers-that-be not realize how ridiculously hypocritical this is? Do they also not realize that when a face needs to cheat to win a match, it makes them look less impressive and makes it look like the heel got screwed?
That is just the Vince McMahon vision of wrestling. I completely agree with you that it doesn't make any logical sense.

In your opinion, does Matt Hardy have any chance of salvaging his career at this point? It's obvious that WWE is still punishing him over the Edge/Lita incident and that he is never going to get a fair go, especially considering how weak the Smackdown roster currently is. Considering his treatment over the past year, is he now permanently damaged goods or would a move to say TNA resurrect him? And if so, why doesn't he just ask for a release already?You know, I can't sit here and say that anyone has sabotaged Hardy's career other than himself. Yes, he got a raw deal when his girlfriend slept with his friend. He chose to go public and say the things he said, which was his right. But then, he was brought back. He was given a live mic and cut one of the worst promos ever done. That buried him more than anything else. After that, he just got Edge and Lita over more and they moved him down the card.

Then, maybe he would have gotten push due to the problems with talent on Smackdown except he turned up having a health issue. His website said it was remnants of a staph infection. I heard a different story. All I know is that WWE didn't job out Bobby Lashley, Great Khali and Super Crazy when they had health issues, at the same time. Something is fishy there.

As for asking for a release, where would he go? Before he went back to WWE, a number of TNA sources told me that Hardy had agreed to come in and work for them. They were counting on him coming in and he was going to get a big push. Then, he went to WWE instead. It's fair to say that he ticked off a lot of people in TNA who felt he was unprofessional at that time. Whether he was or not is a matter of opinion I guess but I think that he made a big mistake. Now, TNA wouldn't want him. Why would they? Even if he hadn't led them to believe he was coming in before, only to go to WWE instead, he is a guy that hasn't been pushed at all on WWE and is basically a jobber now. They can't bring him in to their company and push an opening match job guy as a star. So, the way I see it, unless he wants to go and work the indies, he is stuck in WWE. He made his bed so he really can't complain about how hard the mattress is.

I had a thought the other day: Do you think that one of the reasons some fans (myself included) have rebelled against Cena is because he is slowly becoming HHH-like in terms of the WWE Championship? What I mean is, a ton of people hated HHH for so long because he would not leave the world title picture.
Cena is a top guy. Top guys dominate the title picture. It's just the way it is. I think the main reason male fans (and make no mistake, that is the vast majority of the Cena haters) have railed against Cena is that they felt he got pushed too far, too fast. I think they feel that he wasn't deserving of a top tier push and they hold that against him now, even though he has improved. I think that initial dislike for him has carried over to today.

For many different reasons I have given up on the WWE. I don't buy ROH DVDs so my only wrestling now is TNA, which I have no problem with since I consider it far superior to anything put on TV by Vince. My worry is the low ratings they seem to be getting. I was wondering what your opinion was on the future of TNA and if you think they have staying power. If not, what should they be doing differently?
TNA and Spike TV have a good relationship right now so don't worry about them losing their TV spot. Their ratings are a result of them being a start up company in the eyes of many, and also a byproduct of the fact that WWE has turned off a lot of former fans that no longer follow the business since WCW was purchased by the E and ECW went out of business in 2001. I personally would love to see TNA truly differentiate itself from the WWE way of presenting their show. I really believe that an "old school" style promotion, that cut back on the entertainment and put on more realistic angles and more wrestling, could find an audience. I think TNA's one problem right now is that at times they seem too much like WWE and they will never beat them in that arena. But, they feel they need established names to get exposure. Personally, I would also like to see them push Samoa Joe harder. He's a break out star that could be a new face to carry their company. They should let him try.

 

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Answered on 7/29

I know there is no official word if the WWE plans on keeping the DX angle around this time, but what do you think the odds are they may have HHH turn on Shawn Michaels at Vengeance and turn him heel again?
I don't see it happening. While it is probably inevitable that Michaels and HHH will go at it again at some point, I think it would be far more interesting to see a babyface Triple H and Shawn Michaels in singles programs with Edge, Randy Orton and Umaga.

I have seen it mentioned a few times on various websites that people inside the WWE want to see ECW fail. Who are these people and why would they want to see it fail?
There were definitely people within WWE production who wanted (and some still want) ECW to fail, and in many cases it was for a very basic reason. Producing two hours of live television and two hours of live-to-tape television every week from arenas across North America is incredibly taxing (not to mention weeks when there is a three hour PPV as well), so the idea of adding a third hour of live television to the production schedule was not something a lot of overworked people were in favor of. There were also people, mostly those who are not fond of Paul Heyman, who didn't want to see ECW "rise from the dead".

With DX back do you think HHH & HBK will get a run as Tag Team Champions?

I doubt it. If it was going to happen, I think we would have seen the title switch already.

Is there some kind of sad feeling between Tazz and Michael Cole, now, that they are separated? How did they handle the situation? And what's the feeling about JBL as replacement?
Word going around was that Tazz and Michael Cole were all too happy to be split up, as the former friends reportedly have not been getting along for several months. As for handling the situation, both acted as professionals throughout the whole switch. The feeling in WWE management is that JBL will evolve into the role as color commentator, and that his "star power" will help Smackdown. However, almost everyone who saw Simon Dean's tryout with Cole felt he was far superior to JBL at the announce table.

Do you believe the only reason TNA signed up Christy Hemme is because she was an ex-WWE employee. I mean, looking at the way they have used it, it just seems like they had no plans for her, and just snatched her so they could make the claim, 'we've got another former WWE star'.
I'm sure no one in TNA would admit it, but that obviously was a major factor in hiring her. While she does have a great, enthusiastic personality, and obviously looks fantastic, the fact that TNA was able to hire someone who had been prominently featured on WWE television for over a year was the primary reason in hiring her.

 

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Answered on 7/31

Earlier this week there was a question about how the wrestlers address each other backstage. My question is, how does that work with upper management (aka the McMahons). Does everyone call Vince "Mr. McMahon" or are there exceptions for those who can call him by his first name (I would think Triple H, HBK, Taker)? Same thing for the other McMahons? Do they call Stephanie "Mrs. Lévesque"?
For the most part, the workers call them Vince, Stephanie, etc. Some of the newer people are sometimes doe-eyed, but once you work there for a while, it's casual. Mr. McMahon is a character. Vince is the guy that they work for.

I heard WWE Survivor series is returning back to Montreal next year in 2007. My question is I keep hearing rumors that Bret Hart is considering a match with Shawn Michaels at the show. Is it true?
You really, really need to stop listening to those voices in your head! When they say things like this, try to turn the conversation to current events or sports or even The Food Network. Bret, who had a stroke a few years ago don't forget, is on the record as saying he would never exploit what happened in 1997 for money. He detest Shawn Michaels and never would work him. He has also said that his stroke has made it so, in his late forties, he won't wrestle again. I am sure you (and the rest of us) will hear a lot more "rumors" on this subject as the show gets closer. I for one just can't wait. So, what's cooking on The Food Network anyway?

What is "X-Pac-like heat"? What did he ever do to have people dislike him so much. I think his work is good and gets over well. Why all the hate on him?

X Pac heat is when a talent elicits a "you don't make me hate you as a heel, you make me want you to get off my TV screen" kind of reaction. I agree that back in the day he was a good, and often great, worker. I think when he rubbed people the wrong way was when he got in the nWo. He was a little guy acting like a tough guy and trying to be cool, and most people didn't buy it.

Do you think it would very hilarious for DX do a spoof of the James Gang for comedy relief? Can you imagine Triple H coming out in those tight shorts that the James Gang be wearing? I would die laughing, wouldn't you?
I could think of a lot of things that would be hilarious and a lot of ways to die, but this wouldn't fall into either category. Questions like this make me wonder what's in the drinking water in parts of the country it really does.

Now that Matt Hardy is out for a while do you think that the WWE will let him or go or do you think he will return with his brother Jeff?
On my other Q and A today, I talked about where I see Hardy's career. It's sad to say, but I think the only chance he has of getting over in WWE again would be if they reformed the Hardy Boys. WWE was looking at the possibility of doing it a few months ago, if they felt Jeff could be counted on. Whether they will now is anyone's guess. All I can say is that when your best shot at a push relies on Jeff Hardy, who often doesn't even want to be involved in wrestling, well that isn't a great position to be in.

 

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8/1/2006


Is Stone Cold done? He came back for a few weeks, got injured, and disappeared. Does WWE have any plans to bring him back? And what's taking them so long to do so?
Steve Austin is under contract to WWE's Feature Film division and recently filmed a starring role in their forthcoming movie "The Condemned" in Australia. As they get closer to releasing the film, I would expect Austin to return to regular appearances for the company, although not wrestling.

Where is Goldberg? Does he not want to come back, or does the WWE not want him back? I can't imagine a star of his caliber and still in his physical prime remaining a free agent despite WWE and TNA both signing new talent.

Goldberg recently returned to PPV as an announcer for the WFA Mixed Martial Arts promotion. He and his wife had their first child a few months back and he's been focusing on his acting career. He's had conversations with TNA in the past but thus far has not come to an agreement. The word is he's hoping for a big money deal where SpikeTV would pump some of the money in. He wasn't happy with his WWE run so I expect if and when he pops up in TNA, it's to try and help them against WWE, but he's not going to come cheap.

I was wondering if you guys think that Undertaker will write an autobiography someday. I really think it would be incredible to hear from one of the greatest draws of all time, and the one who's been around the WWE for the longest time.
I could see him doing it, but because he is so protective of his aura and character, I couldn't see him even entertaining the thoughts until he knew he was 100% finished with his in-ring career.

Also, I am thinking about getting into Ring of Honor, since everything I hear about them is good. Are there any places to get their DVDs in the UK or is the ROHWrestling.com website the only option?
You can order them at http://www.ROHWrestling.com. They do ship overseas and their DVDs (which are legitimate encoded DVDs, not DVRs) are Region 0, which means they will work in any DVD players. I don't think you'll get a better amount of wrestling for your dollar (or pound, in your case) than ROH's DVDs.

I've heard that the Rock has said he wouldn't be interested in doing a program with Shawn Michaels and some others who apparently rubbed him the wrong way during his time in WWE. My questions are, what was it that Michaels did to upset the Rock, and who else was a part of that?
There are several factors. One, Rock was close with Bret Hart during that period just prior to the Montreal Screwjob. Secondly, at that point, Rock and HHH were both working their way up the card and the feeling was that Michaels, with his political power, often tried to push HHH past Rock and had things not worked out differently, could have cut Rock's momentum out from under him. Remember that this was the period where he was Rocky Maivia and had just turned heel, so he was still trying to find his niche as a performer. As time went on and he grew past the business, Rock hasn't forgotten that era. Now, Rock wrestling Michaels would give Michaels a big positive but remembering the past and how he was treated during that period, Rock has shunned the idea.

 

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8/1/2006


You answered a question last week about an annoyance of yours (run-ins during a pin attempt). That annoys me too, and I have another annoyance question. An inverted atomic drop seems like it would have the same effect as a mule kick, but it is never mentioned a "low blow." Is there a reason this is not considered a dirty move?

The idea is that the cationic drop focuses on the tailbone.

Why is it WWE doesn't acknowledge their house shows on their televised programming? On Saturday Night's Main Event, JBL stated it was Batista's first match since his injury in January, but Batista was actually back in June doing house shows. Is this just a matter of WWE preserving kayfabe or is their another reason behind this?

There are times WWE doesn't even remember or acknowledge old TV or PPV occurrences, so to expect the company to keep the continuity of house shows is asking the impossible. If it doesn't take place on television, it doesn't really count in the scheme of things, with the exception of a few things that are done specifically as catalysts for storylines, such as a title change, etc.

Do you know if there are plans for an Eddie Guerrero memorial event? I don't know of WWE ever running such an event for the deceased, but its highly probably that Ring of Honor may hold such an event due to Eddie Guerrero's involvement early on in the company.

I haven't heard of any officially sanctioned Memorial shows and to be honest, unless someone like Les Thatcher (who ran the Pillman events) was on board, I'd be concerned they were using the name as a gimmick to raise money for the promoters, as opposed to the family.

Do you see any hope for the future of the women's division in the event of Trish Stratus leaving?

Whether Trish leaves or not, it's always going to be what it is now, because that's what WWE wants it to be..eye candy.

 

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Answered on 7/30 for 8/2

How come RVD is suspended and Sabu isn't if they were in the same incident?

RVD was caught with marijuana and five pills that were on WWE's list of substances in their Wellness Policy. He violated the policy and was suspended. Sabu was caught with an unused piece of paraphernalia and some pills that help remove fatty tissue from a man's chest. They weren't in violation of the policy so he wasn't suspended, but was fined.

John Cena has lost the WWE Championship, and the fans still boo the guy. The guy has wrestled a lot better and isn't going to turn heel. Do you think the boo birds and the hate will ever stop?
There are a lot of parallels with The Rock and John Cena. Fans hated The Rock, in large part because he was pushed down our throats early in his career when he wasn't a good worker. I think that happened with Cena too. The Rock became a good worker and Cena is getting better but I think a major reason that Rock won people over was that he was so good in his promos that he made people laugh. It's hard to hate a guy that makes you laugh. Cena plays a more serious character, so the love hasn't come to him as quickly from the males in the audience that detest him. I think that if he keeps improving in the ring, he should at least to be able to get begrudging respect out of them.

Maybe I missed it but I don't recall reading an birth announcement for Shane McMahon's children. Was there?
No, they never did what they did for Triple H and Stephanie's daughter on Raw, but they did acknowledge Shane's first son in the WrestleMania "Generations" video. That was very cool.

My question is why does WWE hire back guys like Test after they go on these rampages about how the company and everything within sucks only to be let back in and not letting other deserved, overlooked talent have a spot?

They hire them back for one of two reasons. Either Vince tells Johnny Ace to go out and get big guys (like Test) or they feel that they have a money program in mind for a specific talent (like Matt Hardy). Plus, Vince has shown over the years that in many cases he won't let personal grudges get in the way of doing something that he thinks will draw money.

I recently heard that WWE plans to disband the Spirit Squad. Shouldn't they do this gradually so that none of the guys (particularly Mitch & Nicky) get lost in the shuffle?
Well, I don't think they should do it at all, but they have booked them so poorly against DX I guess it doesn't really matter now. I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and he had a good idea of mixing guys in and out of the group. I like that idea. The gimmick, which I hated at first, started to get over before the DX program killed its momentum. I still don't understand why WWE put a bullet in it the way that they did.

 

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Answered on 7/30 for 8/2

Now that Edge has regained the WWE championship and the raw ratings have remained relatively constant, what are your opinions of him as a champion??

I like him in the role. I never thought they should have taken the belt off of him to begin with. He's a fresh new talent on top and has done a great job so far with the title.

I was flipping channels and saw "Dog the Bounty Hunter". Now I've heard he's a friend of Hulk Hogan's, and I was wondering, was the character the Disciple, back in the NWO/WCW days, patterned after Dog, or is it just a coincidence?
Disciple, who was played by Ed "Brutus Beefcake" Leslie, was patterned after himself, since at the time the joke in the business was he got the jobs he did because he was a close friend of Hogan's.

I was wondering, who owns the UWF (Bill Watts') tape library? I have heard one report saying Watts' wife owns it, but others saying WWE got it when they bought out WCW.
Watts' ex-wife still owns it. WWE would love to get their hands on it.

Why do you think there as so few amateur wrestlers that do the transition to wrestling? I would love to see some more Olympic Gold medalists than Kurt Angle in wrestling, or World champions like Frank Andersson in WCW, I think the wrestlers that been in the amateur ranks are truly the best wrestlers.

In a nutshell, most amateurs don't get into pro wrestling because they like competition and don't want be entertainers. They want to compete, for real. That is why Mixed Martial Arts and UFC is a more attractive venue for them, especially when compared to the histrionics of WWE. Also, many people involved in "real" wrestling look at pro wrestling as if it's a blight on their sport.

My question is what is the deal with Harry Smith? I know he is working dark matches but when will he TV debut and what if any is the program he will come in to do?
Last I heard, he was being held off of TV until he works a program as Brooke Hogan's boyfriend on the reality (in name only) show "Hogan Knows Best".

I was wondering about all the information that you have in your "This Day in History" posts. Where do you find all of that information (especially the older stuff from the 50s)? Is there some sort of Wrestling Almanac or something that you use?


It's in what we call the "Bucktron 2000". Buck has been culling that information for years now. It's all in his personal database (and here on the site).

 

[nbpsfc]

Answered on 8/3

I can recall back when Bill Goldberg won the WCW Championship, that he also held the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. At that time, WCW officials stripped Goldberg of the U.S. title due to a rule that you could not hold both titles at the same time. My first question is, has anyone ever won the WWE Championship while holding the IC Title? My second question is, does WWE go by this rule as well, or would they allow them to hold both titles?

Yes, the Ultimate Warrior was the Intercontinental Champion at Wrestlemania VI when he defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Warrior had to vacate the Intercontinental Title as a result.

I've been a wrestling fan for over fifteen years now, and I've never seen such boring, non-skill champion as Jon Cena, so why do they STILL keep the belt on him? Honestly in my opinion WWE need a new champion Face Or Heel because Cena is boring everybody.

Obviously, this question was sent in before the title changes to Rob Van Dam and Edge, but to answer your question, WWE has a lot of faith that John Cena can continue to be a headliner for WWE, and if he can't win over the fans that boo him, WWE believes that those fans will still keep watching just to see him get beat up. I've been as harsh a critic of Cena and his in-ring skills as anyone, but I give him credit for trying to get better, and showing some more personality during the ECW angle.

How has Triple H gotten so over with the fans? For several years all I have read is how "smart" fans dislike him because of his political power and self promotion. Now he's on the verge of a face turn. What gives?

Honestly, I think it is a combination of longevity and the fact that, more often than not, Triple H has delivered good matches on the big events. Yes, there have been times when he was shoved down our throats and his push was a little overbearing, but he has given us good matches and deserves props for that.

After Mike Awesome tried to jump to WCW with the ECW belt, I thought he had a lot of heat with the ECW fans and the boys in the ECW locker room especially because of the way he went straight out the front door of the building after he dropped the belt to Taz later that week. But watching ECW One Night Stand from last year it doesn't seem like the fans were angry at Awesome and the only one that seemed mad about it was Joey Styles. And now there is talk that Awesome could be brought into the new ECW. Does Mike Awesome have heat for trying to jump ship with the ECW belt? And if not, why?

There certainly were plenty of fans that were booing Mike Awesome at ECW One Night Stand, so it wasn't like all the fans had forgotten about what he did. As for the wrestlers, I remember a lot of them being disappointed at Awesome for not "doing business properly", but over time, I can't recall anyone who really held a grudge against him. I think it is a combination of time just healing old wounds, and the fact that a lot of wrestlers, when offered such a lucrative contract by WCW, would have done the same thing.

While it's obviously not required, there have been some "amateur" (college/Olympic) wrestlers who have been some of the better workers, like Angle, Haas, Shelton Benjamin, and Brock Lesnar. Two questions, do you think the amateur background is an advantage to the radically different "pro" wrestling, and why don't we see more college wrestlers in WWE?

I definitely think having an amateur background in wrestling can help, just in terms of conditioning and mobility. Also, some of the moves can be translated into pro wrestling. One of the reasons we don't see more college wrestlers in the WWE is the long standing belief by many amateur wrestlers that pro wrestling is "fake" and that what they do is "real" and they would never taint themselves by going into pro wrestling. Obviously, Kurt Angle becoming a pro wrestler did a lot to break down that belief, since many amateur wrestlers look up to him for his accomplishments on the mat.

 

[nbpsfc]

Answered on 8/3

What ever happened to Horace Hogan and Scott Norton. I saw a match between Scott Norton and Scott Putski on a video I have and it is totally awesome, what ever a happened to Scott Putski?

Scott Norton still works for New Japan Pro Wrestling, and has also done some indy shots over the past few months. He looked absolutely huge the last time I saw him, probably the biggest he has ever been in his career. Horace Hogan was signed to a developmental deal by WWE for a while, but was released in 2002. Since then, I've seen his name sporadically on indy shows in Florida. Scott Putski still works indy dates, mostly around his home area of Texas.

With Vince taking a hands on role on Raw...any chance we might see the return of Eric Bischoff? Maybe have him come back as a face leading a group of wrestlers against Vince? I might be one of the only ones but I really enjoyed Bischoff in WWE.

Unfortunately, I haven't even heard an inkling about Bischoff returning. I have a feeling WWE is very happy with Bischoff's on-screen exit of being thrown into a garbage truck by Vince McMahon, so I would be surprised to see him return.

When did God sign a WWE contract, and how much will God make on the PPV?

God never signed the contract, and because he walked out of the match without locking up, he wasn't paid for the appearance.

I know when Harley Race, Ric Flair and other wrestlers became NWA World Heavyweight Champion, They had to put $25,000 Dollars of their own money in as collateral so they did not go to another league with the World Title. Did the NWA do the same thing to wrestlers that were going to be NWA United States Champion, World Tag Team Champion and World Television Champion? If not, WHY?

While the names are similar, there was a major difference between the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and the other belts you mentioned. The U.S., Tag Team, and Television titles were all controlled by one territory, so that area (in latter days, Jim Crockett Promotions) handled those belts. The NWA World Title was controlled by all the territories, and they all had an investment in having a strong NWA World Champion that would come to their area and draw for them. As such, they also had an interest in what happened to the title belt, so a bond had to be posted to make sure the belt didn't "disappear", which would have been embarrassing to the territories.

I have not been hearing much in terms of a draft-lottery for this year. Its almost been a tradition the last few years. Are there any plans for an upcoming lottery, and if so, who do you think will switch over?

Despite some rumors to the contrary around the time of Wrestlemania, WWE decided not to have a draft lottery this year, and decided instead to just make a few switches with little, if any, explanation.

 

[nbpsfc]

TSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS HAAAAAAAA LIKE SOME COOL SHIT HYOMIE BUT WHO WAS ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS FANS?

yeah, they send them in to pwi

 

[nbpsfc]

Answered on 8/4

I was reading about Victor Quinones and it mentioned him working with Atsushi Onita in a reincarnation of the Bruiser Brody murder angle in Puerto Rico. I was just wondering what happened in that angle.

In a rather tasteless angle in 1990, Onita went to Puerto Rico and did an angle where Jose Gonzalez, the man who stabbed Brody, would "stab" Onita. Onita had photographers take photos of the "attack" and of a bloody Onita at a hospital afterwards. There was a huge backlash to the stunt in Japan, and the message was loud and clear from the fans: Bring Gonzalez to Japan and we won't attend any FMW shows. Onita wisely backed off the angle, and instead feuded with Mr. Pogo, who was part of the attack angle. In the years since, the story has taken a lot of twists, some of which were no doubt false, but that is basically what happened.

I was wondering if Bret Hart and Eddie Guerrero ever wrestled in a singles match against each other or in a tag-team against each other?

To the best of my knowledge, they never faced off in singles or tag team competition. If anyone knows of a match between the two, please drop me an email!

Now that the WWE is re-hiring a lot of the naturally bigger wrestlers, is there any chance of Bam Bam Bigelow coming out of retirement and making a return?

Bam Bam Bigelow has been retired for about two years now, although he recently started making appearances at indy shows in Florida, most notably for American Combat Wrestling in New Port Richey. Given his current legal problems and relative inactivity, I don't see WWE looking to bring him in any time soon.

In regards to the agreement that Vince McMahon broke with World Wild Life Fund, what were the stipulations that Vince violated?

Basically, the two sides had come to an agreement in 1994 that WWF (the wrestling company) would not promote themselves with the initials "WWF" outside of North America, to avoid confusion with the Fund. As long as WWF presented themselves as "World Wrestling Federation" overseas and not simply "WWF", there wouldn't have been a problem. WWF (the wrestling company) violated the agreement, and as a result, the Fund sued WWE and won the lawsuit, forcing the name change.

Who will be the new General Manager of RAW?

For now, no one. At this point, the plan is for WWE to continue to have Vince McMahon "run" Raw at the top of the show, with Jonathan Coachman as his assistant to handle the mid-card storylines.

 

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Answered on 8/4

Why doesn't WWE have any Hell in a Cell matches where somebody flies off the cage?

Because they don't want wrestlers killing themselves? Seriously, Shawn Michaels fell of the side of the Cell in the very first HITC match, and that was a crazy bump. Then Mick Foley topped it with the most insane bump in WWE history. Since then, WWE has done a few crazy Cell bumps, although in a safer way (Rikishi off the Cell into a truck filled with hay, Foley through the Cell into a gimmicked ring) but they wisely have realized that no one can top the Foley bump, and no one should try.

I remember back at Starrcade 1996 there was a match between Dean Malenko and Ultimo Dragon. Dean was putting up the WCW Cruiserweight title and Dragon was putting up 9 titles. What titles was Ultimo Dragon holding when this match took place?

Actually Dragon was putting up eight titles, and Malenko was putting up one. Dragon was the J Crown Champion, having won all eight belts from the Great Sasuke, the man who unified all the belts in a tournament. The eight belts that made up the J Crown were the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title, NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title, WAR International Junior Heavyweight Title, British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight Title, WWF World Light Heavyweight Title (which was a New Japan belt at the time), UWA World Light Heavyweight Title, WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title, and the NWA World Welterweight Title.

I was wondering if any matches are scheduled for WM 23 and if so, what are they. Also what matches are rumored at the moment. My last question is, what is the likelihood of the rumored matches for WM 23 actually happening?

No matches are set in stone for Wrestlemania 23 at this point, although it is a safe bet that John Cena will be in one of the main events of the show. Obviously, WWE would love to finally be able to put together a Hogan vs. Austin match, but at this point it doesn't look like Austin has any inclination to do so. Given some of the talent issues WWE has been dealing with as of late, I can't see them planning this far in advance for Wrestlemania. To be honest, I'm surprised they've got Summerslam figured out!

What Wrestlemania would you rank the best and which one would you consider the most disappointing?

When I think of great Wrestlemania matches, three bouts immediately stand out to me. Austin vs. Hart at WM 13, Michaels vs. Ramon at WM 10 and Steamboat vs. Savage at WM 3. After them, Austin vs. Rock from WM 17 and Hart vs. Hart from WM 10 come in. Of those five, at this moment, I will say Austin vs. Hart was the best. As for a disappointment, well, first you have to define what a disappointment is. To me, Giant Gonzalez vs. Undertaker was a horrible match, but it wasn't a disappointment, because you never expected it to be good. For me, a disappointment would be Paul Orndorff vs. Don Muraco at WM 2 or Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock at WM 14, matches that sounded good on paper, but failed to deliver in the ring.

Do you think WWE would ever make a DVD on the career of the Fabulous Freebirds? With the impact they had on wrestling, they're obviously a big part of recent wrestling history, and they do have Michael Hayes on the payroll, and Terry Gordy's son on a development deal, to talk on it. If they would though, I'd assume they'd want to get the WCCW library first.

I would love to see a Freebirds DVD, and perhaps someday we will, but I imagine it isn't high up on the "idea list" for WWE home video at this point. I think it is a lot more likely that we will see Freebird footage on compilation releases of AWA, WCCW and other nostalgia sets.

 

[nbpsfc]

Answered on 8/5

I was watching Wrestlemania XII and noticed that after the Ironman match between Hart and Michaels, Earl Hebner goes to hand the belt to Michaels but Michaels says something to him that causes Hebner to turn back to Hart (still on the ground) and seems to try and give him the belt. Hebner then goes over to talk to Jose Lothario and finally gives Michaels the belt. Did Michaels want Hart to hand him the belt? Was that the plan? Also, after Hebner had trouble putting the belt around Michaels' waist he mouths "get out of my way" to Hebner, seemingly pissed off about something. Was there heat between the two?

I don't believe Hebner was trying to give Hart the belt, and that there was ever a plan for Hart to hand him the title. As the story goes, Michaels told Earl Hebner to tell both Jose Lothario and Bret Hart to get out of the ring, because it was "his moment" and he wanted all the attention on him as he posed with the World Title.

What is the difference between Madusa "throwing away" the WWF women's title , and Shane Douglas doing the same thing with the NWA World title to create the ECW title? Do you consider both "classless"?

You could definitely argue that their were some differences, since WWF was still an active company, and the NWA was just a shell of it's former self, with a few independent promoters trying to keep the name alive. You could also argue that while the ECW angle led to the creation of a "revolution" in wrestling, Madusa tossing the WWF belt in the trash ended up meaning very little to the wrestling industry. Whether you consider either move classless or "just business" is up to you. Personally, I thought Madusa's move was ungrateful, since WWF had pushed her hard and brought in a lot of opponents to build her up. As for Douglas, I saw his move as a more calculated business move designed to get attention for ECW, which it did.

Whets the deal about Lanny Poffo, Macho Man's cousin or something, that signed a deal with WCW and never once wrestled a match. How much did this guy make by doing nothing and why was nothing ever done about this by anyone in WCW?

First of all, Lanny is Randy Savage's brother. When Savage was negotiating his deal with WCW, he also got them to offer his brother a contract, which rumor has it was a guaranteed high five or six figure deal. WCW gave it to him, but never came up with anything to do with him, so Lanny just sat home and cashed the checks. It says a lot about WCW at the time that they had a wrestler under contract and never even bothered to have him wrestle once.

How likely is it that WWE might be bringing back ECW just to run opposite TNA and possibly split their audience? What are their chances of getting that kind of time slot?

I honestly don't think WWE every had any plans to bring back ECW to run head-to-head with TNA. If they really wanted to, they probably could have pushed for it, but why go on at 11pm when you can have 10pm and get a larger audience. However, I definitely believe that part of WWE's efforts in bringing back ECW was so there would be an "alternative brand" under their control that could take away from TNA's audience.

Does the WWE prohibit its wrestlers to run their own personal websites?

As a general rule, they don't have a problem with the wrestlers having websites. However, any wrestler that opens a site should probably use discretion when it comes to what they post on it, for obvious reasons.

 

[nbpsfc]

My question is about the Sabu and Big Show Feud and I think WWECW has done a good job with it so do you guys see a no rope barbed wire match happening between them or some other person at the ECW PPV in December because that would make a lot of people order that PPV since it is after Survivor Series and boost buyrates do you guys think that is likely choice to headline that PPV?

It's possible Sabu vs. Big Show will be a headline match for the December PPV, but it's way too early to say especially with Rob Van Dam and Kurt Angle back in the mix, plus with injuries and the Wellness Program, it's hard to predict what would headline anything. I don't see WWE doing a no ropes barbed wire match, but that's just my opinion.

What would you think if the WWE brought back Tough Enough, but with a twist, that the whole competition is 100% storyline and not realty tv. They can bring like at least 8 wrestlers from OVW, Deep South, etc, act like they are trying out for there chance of a life time to join WWE. They can put one match a night on RAW and SMACKDOWN with the winner staying and the loser going home, with the final two to fight on PPV for the contract. They can even put two WWE wrestlers as their coaches and show them training the wannabes, and showing them living in a house like most realty based shows. Your thoughts?

I loved the Tough Enough concept, especially the first season. UFC's The Ultimate Fighter has shown that the concept can be entertaining and also create legitimate stars, something that WWE never was able to do when they had TE as the precursor on MTV. I don't see WWE bringing back the concept anytime soon as the Daniel Puder deal left a bad taste in their mouths.

I was wondering if the contracts of Samoa Joe and AJ Styles are both up or almost up with TNA or did they sign a new contract? I seem to remember that Samoa Joe signed a one year contract during the summer of last year.

I believe both are currently in the middle of three year deals.

With the increased talk that ECW might eventually get its own tapings apart from SmackDown, do you think WWE will broadcast ECW from different locations each week like Raw and Smackdown? Or, would it be more convenient from a logistical standpoint to broadcast from the same location each week, like in the early days of Raw?

There has been increased talk of splitting ECW off from the Smackdown tapings and giving it its own TV taping, but nothing concrete yet. I do like the idea of taping from one location but don't expect the company will do that for the simple reason that ECW will need to be taped somewhere that the production crew can get to easily within the vicinity of Raw and Smackdown tapings.

As a fan growing up within the old Memphis territory days, I was witness to the many epic matches that Jerry"the King" Lawler had with Jackie Fargo, Jack Briscoe, Terry Funk, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Nick Bockwinkle to name a few. He was absolutely revered in the area even when he was a heel. People couldn't get enough of him. As many have said when they see him now, as more of a "character" announcer, this is not the true "King". My question is where do you think the King rates in wrestling history? and do you see him one day in the WWE Hall of Fame? He certainly was just as important to the Memphis area as Ric Flair was in the Mid-Atlantic area or Hogan in the WWF.

I think Jerry Lawler is exactly what you described, a legitimate legend who was as much of the culture of Memphis as anyone. While Memphis would have always done well because of the nature of the territory, it exploded under Lawler, who did a great job as both a heel and a babyface. While WWE uses Lawler as a character now, I don't think anyone who has ever seen a true Lawler match sees him as just that character, it's more that he's playing a different character under the same name in WWE more than anything else. I would expect the company will induct him into their Hall of Fame down the line.