Topic: Ask me anything wrestling related

Alot of Big names for the WWE Batista coming to mind have been saying that the reason they have left WWE is that they dont like the direction WWE is going? Do you feel/see the WWE going in a bad direction?

@the Shyder- I hate the term Superstar, I mean I can see why Vince wants his guys to be looked at as "better" than me (although I could probably outwork 95% of the roster and with a few of them have outworked them lol) when it comes to publicity, like the old saying goes, you need some sizzle with your steak or in this case some steak with your sizzle. You can have the greatest writers in the world backstage writing the stuff for the guys, but if they can't come across as believable then the fans won't buy it. Look at the ratings now as opposed to the mid-late 90's. Back then you had something for everyone in the ring, you had people that could work but not talk (such as Dean Malenko), people that could talk and work (Austin, Rock, Flair, Michaels, HHH, Foley, Jericho, Guerrero, Arn before his retirement, Owen, etc...), you had every type of match you could want be it scientific, hardcore, lucha, female, etc. but the thing that separates it from today is that you have to talk first, look good on a t-shirt and if you can work it's a bonus. Not that you'll be able to use it very often. If you break down the segments in the 90's a 2 hour show had about 55-70 minutes of wrestling, now you have about 15-20 minutes on a good night.

Promos are important. It's what puts butts in the seats for those undecided on whether to go to the show or not, but at the show you have to give them a reason to come back and making them pay upwards of $200 to see three matches (including the dark match) and an hour and a half of talking isn't going to do that. That's why i honestly tell people that unless they need to see the pyro and be able to say they were on live TV in the crowd, wait and go to the house show the day before or after-more wrestling at a lower price.

Tag Teams. Now that is what brought me into wrestling in the first place. The first match I ever saw was Sgt. Slaughter vs. Bob Backland in the early 80's, but the first time I ever knew that I loved wrestling was seeing the Freebirds against the Von Erichs. From them I went to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, Demolition (who honestly I liked better than the Road Warriors), the Midnight Express and all the other great tag teams of the day. I miss tag teams that are real teams. Not two guys thrown together but two guys who are only interested in being the best at tag team wrestling (the Briscoes, Beer Money and the MCMG's are great modern day examples of the kind of teams I like).

Tag Team wrestling can be the most exciting form of wrestling out there if done right. Check out the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Rock and Roll Express or even the Rockers to see that (wasn't meant just to you, but anyone who might not remember the older teams). I still say that the face in peril then hot tag gets the crowd going more than a dozen 450 Splashes in a row.

I was told it is a show. They act everything out apparently.

Why are the sneaky and devious managers phased out of wrestling? Growing up I enjoyed watching Bobby Heenan, Slick, Mr. Fuji, Jim Cornette, Harvey Wippleman, and Jimmy Hart find sneaky ways to get their wrestlers victories and championships. Modern day wrestling is just not the same with out good managers.

@Tasuki- I really don't know what direction WWE is going. They seemed to be going for a youth movement for a while there with things like Nexus but then cooled on them after their merchandise didn't sell very well. It was their own fault since they had put Cena as a member and let him keep wearing his purple shirts and hats for the kids to buy instead of having him wear the Nexus merch (even if in storyline they made him do it against his will). Then after Barrett "firing" Cena, having him show up week after week, making him the center of the show when the big news should've been The Miz of all people becoming WWE Champion.

So what do they do when they bring Cena "back"? Do they let Nexus continue to get the better of him, forcing him to let some of the other guys help him out and raising their stock in the process? Nope. They let Cena destroy Barrett at TLC so they can get CM Punk into an angle with Cena (and make no mistake, by the end of it Punk will be lucky to be in the mid card when it's all said and done) while the WWE Championship is treated the way the IC Title used to be, important but nothing to build a show around.

Really at the end of the day it's the same thing today as it was in the 80's. The entire promotion is based around one person, just with Cena in the Hogan role, but without having a heel that is credible enough to make you suspend disbelief that maybe Cena will lose this one.

It's not that I don't like Cena. Well, I don't. At all. But I hate that instead of building stars that could help them out more, they go for the safety of the top merch seller. It's like they would rather sell 100,000 Cena shirts today instead of taking a bit of time so that next month they sell 50,000 Cena shirts, 50,000 Sheamus shirts, 50,000 Miz shirts, 25,000 Kofi shirts, etc. They have seemingly forgotten that it takes time to build up a guy and want to rest on what they have with Cena. That's fine. The only problem is it's going to bite them in the ass when something happens and Cena isn't there. It's like when Hogan left in 94. They had buried so many people to keep Hogan over they almost went bankrupt trying to find someone new to build on. They were lucky that time because WCW had released Austin, but I really don't see another Austin out there right now and in the next few years, I predict that unless WWE really tries to get new people over there will b e a new #1 company (not sure who yet) with WWE just trying to get by.

@Tony Look to the indies. They still use them quite a bit. As for WWE and TNA they seem to forget what a manager was for. For the most part if you look at who had managers you'll find a lot of people who can't do very good promos and having a manager gave them someone who could condense the storylines into their promos and get people to come to the shows. It was also another person who they had to fly out to tv and PPV, so they figure that they will get people on the brand alone (Wrestling shows used to be promoted like "Dory Funk, Jr. vs. Danny Hodge" where as now it's promoted as WWE or TNA, relying on the brand as opposed to the wrestlers. It's another tactic to keep the wrestlers in check by saying they are nothing without the company), so there isn't a reason to pay someone for that.

So instead of paying the new Bobby Heenan or Jim Cornette (you didn't mention my favorite, Gary Hart lol) Johnny Ace looks through a bikini mag and finds the new girls he wants to bang and tries to hire them as "Divas" and use them as valets.

To me, managers were awesome. My top three would be Heenan, Gary Hart and Jim Cornette. LOL Who didn't love hearing about who Mama Cornette paid to work for her baby boy, Jim lol

Folks, thanks for the questions! I'm honestly having a blast answering them for you. Ask away, it doesn't matter if it might be something I was involved in or my opinions on something. I'll answer everything you ask to the best of my ability. Thanks for helping me feel like I'm giving back to the site and the business I love.

Oh and for one I forgot, There are a lot of rumors as to why Savage isn't in the HOF. The most salacious one is that he bedded a 14 year old Stephanie McMahon back in the day but my money is on the fact that he went to WCW for a bigger contract when Vince really needed someone to bridge the gap after Hogan left in 93-94.

With that said, they did release the Savage DVD not too long ago and soon they are releasing a Savage WWE Action Figure, so there is hope. If anyone belongs in the WWE HOF, it's Randy Savage.

I have a question. Do all the crazed wrestling fans know that it's all fake or are they really that naive? And if they do know, why do they care? The UFC is so much better and it's actually real.

@Z.Bone: think of wrestling as a testosterone-driven soap opera. you've got your 'good' and 'bad' guys, the fights are (mostly) scripted, the moves are done in such a way as to deal the least possible amount of damage to both opponents... it's just fun to watch, and if someone gets hurt, it's an honest-to-god accident. UFC, it's just two dudes beating the crap outta each other for reals. I've seen people IRL fighting and trying to kill one another... it just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.

granted, everyone's gonna have their own opinion on it, but that's why i watch wrestling as opposed to other fighting/sports shows or events, lol.

@Z.bone I'm pretty sure 95% of them know how wrestling works ( I won't say fake, I have a plastic knee that will argue that with you lol) but like I always say to questions like this (and I don't mean any offense nor take any for it) but did you see Terminator? Did you like it? You do know that Schwarzenegger isn't a robot from the future, right?

It's entertainment. If paying to see me pretend to get my butt kicked makes them happy and helps them live a better life, then so be it. I look at it as being the modern day worship of the gods (no i don't mean to say I'm a god) but in that we present good vs. evil stories the way in ancient times they would put on spectacles and plays telling the same stories as a way to not only entertain the citizens but as a way to honor the gods who protect them and teach a lesson.

Oh, BTW, for those interested I just got a call about an hour ago and Awesome Kong has signed with WWE. You heard it here first, a Nintendolife exclusive lol Congrats, Kia! (if she happens to read this lol) It couldn't happen to a nicer, more deserving person.

AND I QUOTE:
COLE HATERS ARE NOT ALLOWED ON NINTENDO LIFE

HOWEVER, True Cole Miners are
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh319/BigB88nj/Michael-col...

That's cool. I've honestly been wondering if people were just crazy and thought it was real, or they knew and liked it anyways. I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but I honestly can't stand to watch wrestling. Can't stand it. It's just so overly ridiculous and corny. But I guess that's what a lot of people like about it.

Now I have another question. How can you give a belt to someone and call them a champion if it was all scripted and he was planned to win? And then he is called the champion and gets to carry the belt around like he earned it. For instance, I saw some wrestler on Jimmy Fallon who had a belt and said he was the champion. And Jimmy was like, "Can you believe you're the champion?" And he was all, "I've been dreaming of this since I was a little kid." You know what I mean? It's just odd that even outside of it they act like it's real and others are supposed to play along with it. I don't know. Just seems odd to me.

@Z.bone when you become a title holder (especially the top title in the promotion) it shows that the company is putting faith in you. You become the defacto face of promotion. It's pretty much the same as if you work for say, EA and they name you executive VP of Network Affairs- it's meaningless title that means you might run system diagnostics on the spam filters but it's still a title you use. Also, when you get a belt that normally means you are making more from the gate (unless you have a per appearance fee normally you get a % of what is generated by the event- the higher on the card you are the more you usually get) and can sell more merchandise.

On top of that the WWE Title is considered the top title in all of pro wrestling (earned or otherwise) by holding that championship you are considered the top in the world at what you do. Hell, even my rinky dink title I hold right now means that I am the top of the promotion I work for and as I said before, I won't let anyone wear my belt (except kids) until I actually "lose" it in the ring. Most champions won't because even though it's not a title earned by legitimately beating someone for it you want to make it seem like a real championship and try to keep the aura of prestige around it (which is something I'm having a problem with TNA doing with their old world title belt by throwing it in the garbage so Jeff Hardy can have the new belt and having Eric Young pull it out of the trash and wearing it and calling himself the champion. WCW did that with the US title and Jim Duggan in what, 1999-2000 and it never really recovered from it) and the fact that a promotion feels you are deserving of the title, someone who can draw people and give a rub to the people you work with is a pretty big deal.

If you don't dream of becoming WWE Champion and being looked at as the top performer in the business, then you shouldn't get into it. You should always want to be the top in anything you do. Most people acknowledge that and that is why people like Jimmy Fallon "play along", they realize the dedication and talent it takes to get to that spot. It's like saying Pelosi didn't deserve respect as Speaker of the House because her party was in charge and gave her the spot. I don't like her or her party, but I'd still call her Madam Speaker because she worked her way to the spot for her party to give it to her.

Wow you just put into words what I have been feeling the WWE have been doing for months. While I do like John Cena and I dont have anything against but I am tired of him being Champ. Its like you said they are doing to him what they did to Hulk in the 80's. And there are soooo many other people that I think would make just as good Champs. I watched WWE back in the 80s and towards the beginning of the 90s. I stopped watching it than and didnt get back into watching WWE untill early 2000. Back than it seemed like they would split the top draw between The Rock and Stone Cold as well as a few others like Triple HHH. I started to get watch it again but up untill just after this years Wrestlemania I stopped again.

Anyway thanks for creating this thread its very interesting my son and I are enjoying it very much lol.

Now with the way WWE is going and with TNA an obvious second runner to WWE do you think that in anytime there might be another Monday Night Wars (I use the term even though TNA isnt on Monday Nights but you get the idea) again This time between TNA and WWE or do you think both companies are trying to co exist?

I have a question then. What happened to Triple H dang it! I know I know, Shamus took him out before the PPV, but....come on! He has been in one segment with Stephanie, and he did some charity show. Is he actually hurt?

HHH is legitimately still recovering from an injury and surgery, but is expected back eventually. Meanwhile, he's working the office-side of things which is where his future lies once his in-ring career is done.

First of all, it's my pleasure to do this and if your son has any questions he's more than welcome to ask, I try to keep my responses clean (I do occasionally use hell or damn-like just then lol) and try not to use any "graphic language" if you know what I'm talking about.

For a new Monday Night War there's a few things that have to happen first before TNA can even hope to be at the level WCW was at that time period. Last year (it feels weird saying that since the new year is less than 26 hours old lol) TNA made the mistake of thinking that since they had the big players from WCW during the MNW, that they were at that level. What they failed to do was look at what that time period special and why everything seemed to click.

For one thing Hogan, Nash, Hall and Flair were all 15 years older. They were old when the MNW occurred and they were near Social Security when they signed with TNA, that's without taking Halls well documented problems into consideration. Just that factor there should've let them realize there was no way these guys could have a long run with the ball.

Then we have to look at the real catalyst for the MNW, that being the creation of the nWo (yes it was a rehash of a Japanese angle, but really how many fans really keep up with what happens there? It was new here in America to the casual fan who only kept up with WWF and WCW and the occasional ECW episode.) You can't catch lightning in a bottle twice, so even if you buy into what TNA is saying now with Immortal and it was planned from the beginning there is no way that people would care about another Hulk Hogan heel turn and aligning himself with Bischoff to take over the company. It's a complete rehash of the nWo and to make matters worse, they have half the roster joining up with them right at the start (remember what happened when every week they added a new member to the nWo, how watered down it got with people like Horace Hogan, Norton, Bagwell, etc.?) . Even then there are ways they could've made it work by having all the non Immortal guys going against the members of Immortal, but instead they start off by having Immortal/Fortune members start fighting amongst themselves totally diminishing the roles of people not in Hogans group. (You'll see me talk about Hogan in this light a lot, basically how he feels that wherever he is Hogan should be the main story. It's something he's done since the 80's and it's cost a lot of guys a lot of money because he feels the Hulk Hogan brand is more important than anything else, regardless of how it may hurt others). To top even that off, TNA had just come off of an angle that was almost exactly the same with the Main Event Mafia.

From there we go to putting the belt on Hardy. Yes, he's popular but he's also had numerous times in court (due to continuances) from a drug arrest before he joined the company. Add to that his reckless behavior in the ring (some say while under the influence) such as attempting to hit Ken Anderson in the back with a chair but instead hitting him in the back of the head causing a major concussion and the recent video of him in a restaurant either impaired or just out of it for some reason shooting on CM Punk and it seems that TNA doesn't care about the image their champion leaves as long as he sells his anti-christ (or whatever he has on them) shirts.

To compete at a level to begin even challenging WWE for viewers the first thing they need to do is get the belt off Hardy. Get him help or get him out of the company. I have a sad feeling that before long we will wake up to the news that another young wrestler has passed on and the last thing TNA needs is for him to be champion or even with the company if or when it happens. (I don't mean this to sound cruel or insensitive but we have to face the facts that when you live life like Hardy does, you eventually pay the piper) TNA doesn't have the name recognition or money to survive that kind of publicity. I really hope Hardy gets himself some help because he is talented, loves the business and the fans love him.

Second, TNA has to get out of the Impact Zone. I understand that it's cheaper for them to do their weekly show from there, but it screams second rate. It's too small and the crowds are brought in like they are going to see the ET ride at Universal Studios and are told what to say and who to cheer for; there's no passion in the crowd and it comes through that way on tv. Different crowds that come to see wrestling add a lot to your product and also keep the workers pumped up so not only are the crowds more passionate, the workers are more passionate in the ring. Also by having Impact at different arenas you change the look of the crowds from show to show, it's a lot easier to make a half filled arena look like a sell out than to make a sold out sound stage look like an arena. It all goes back to an important adage "Perception is reality"if the audience thinks you are big time, then you are the big time.

Now the fun part Who will go, who will stay, who's on first and who comes in (I'm not going through everyone, that would take way too long):

For the Knockout division, I'd keep everyone of them. They all do good work and all of them are drop dead gorgeous. I'd bring Cheerleader Melissa and Serena Deeb in for sure and then take a few more from Shimmer (take your pick)

For the X division, I'd either drop it or go all out with it. I love Douglas Williams' old X division gimmick and would bring in someone who could work like Dean Malenko and reuse that gimmick with them, the solid grappler against the high fliers. Maybe even make them a stable as a group of traditionalists against the "Flippy Floppers" (what my grandma used to call the more agile guys like Mysterio and other high fliers lol) There are a ton of guys you can bring in that would work really cheaply for the X division. The only person I would say they need to cut is Amazing Red. He's fast, he can jump but he just doesn't have "it", he just seems like the kind of guy you'd see in a backyard fed jumping from his roof onto light bulbs. Unless they change his gimmick up and give him some new ring gear, most people won't think of him as a star but as the guy that they see asking them if they want fries with that McRib. (remember, perception is reality) Lethal should be the man when it comes to the X division title.

As for the rest of the roster, it's a shame that with all the talent they have that they can't pull over a 1.3 rating. Other than Hogan the only people I'd get rid of are the Dudleys (past their prime and don't work as singles wrestlers. Although I think once this new angle is over they will be gone anyway), Eric Young and Orlando Jordon. Oh wait, I forgot Robbie E and Cookie. (When your gimmick is to imitate a reality show, you're really not going to make an impact (no pun imtended) ) Let's see, who could they add
*MVP
*Shelton Benjamin
*Charlie Haas
*Surprise to mentioned in a bit
And many more. But let's look at what they have:
*Samoa Joe and AJ Styles- The company should be built around these two. They could be the new Flair/Sting, Hogan/Piper or Savage/Steamboat. They are both technically sound, can talk and in Joe's case have a look all their own. Either one of them should be champion on any given day with the babyface challenger trying to get the title from him (in AJ's case) or the Heel trying to cheat him out of it in Joes.

• Abyss-I'm not a big fan of his. Change his look up a bit and get away from the Kane/mankind look, bring back James Mitchell and you have your unstoppable monster.
  Kazarian- he can work either X matches or regular matches so I'd put him into more regular matches than anything and have him going after the TV title. IMO, he's good enough for gold, but not quite good enough for the main belt. Have him chase after it as a heel and maybe let him be a transitional champion but nothing too long. Also, repackage him in a Rick Martel/Rick Rude type pretty boy/tough guy.
  Now here's the surprise: Bring back Daniels as a challenger for either Styles or Joe. This guy is amazing, the fans love him, he can work any type of match you ask him and can talk. Have him as surprise challenger for the title, have him go to a draw with either AJ or Joe, then once you do that you can put on months worth of cat and mouse games between them with Daniels finally getting the World Title that so many people asked for.

This won't solve all their problems and I didn't really book it the way i normally would think it through, but I figure by following most of these steps the fans will start to see what TNA really could be. Once that starts, you start building the audience and building the audience of one builds the audience of the other. When that starts, Vince can';t ignore TNA anymore and so he starts fighting back. Then TNA fights back. When that starts, so starts the new MNW.

(I said I'd be honest, not brief lol)

Like The Shpydar said, he's still recovering and will probably be back in time for WrestleMania (hence why they went with Morrison as the #1 contender to the Miz instead of having Orton beat Miz and Sheamus becoming #1 contender) against Sheamus.

He's working in the front offices and from what I understand is now #2 in the company only behind Vince. When he first went to WWF from WCW, he said he would one day run the place, he wasn't kidding, huh?