Ask 411 Wrestling 07.15.09: Planned Champions, Big Studds, and Samoan Tounges!

Posted by Mathew Sforcina on 07.15.2009

Do the Main Eventers get special treatment? Would Bret have gone back to WWE? Is Vince McMahon Racist? Are WWE Universe Bookers Stupid? Is WWE Creative Stupid? And just what the heck are Title Belts made of anyway? All this, plus I lay out a rather interesting supposed booking plan, and maybe some gifs...

Does anyone actually read this bit up here? I mean, it's clear that this is just filler, just text designed to push down the Banner of Justice down there. I gotta fill in space here, so that the banner and the ad to this text's right aren't crossing over each other. So I make up these little intros that have nothing to do with the rest of the column, just to fill in space. Most times I got something to say, but this week, I'm said out, what with the My No-Cost Thinks that caused so much interest, I'm out of stuff to say.

But at least I was able to spread that out enough. Banner Time!

Backtalking

No-Cost Thinks!: Ok, a few things to clear up from that column.

The main one is that I, Mathew Sforcina, did not make a single one of those gifs. Your praise, if you have it, belongs to all the Anonymous IWC members who tried to make their fellow IWC members laugh and/or get all hot and bothered. I, for one, appreciate their efforts. The banner is mine, obviously, but the gifs were not, and I apologize for any indication that they were mine. I did not intend that to occur, but somehow it did.

Although really, if that column taught us all anything, beyond the fact that no-one reading this is paying attention to the Mayan Calender (or rather, the Mayan Calender as interpreted by Doomsday Prophets), it is this simple fact.



Sex Sells.



In-Jokes Don't.

Not Answering: The Return! Apparently Sage was joking about being annoyed at my not answering the question.

See, this is why I instigated the Chandler System, to avoid this result. Sigh.

Still, he's been inspired to make up the site that'll list all this, so once it's done, we can all go on and have a look.

Real Wrestlers Don't Blade: They gig. That was certainly the case several years ago, but now, with the influx of wrestlers who grew up ‘smart', blading has become a used term. I was told about it, with that term used, on one of my first days training.

Vince Chewing Out Diesel: I couldn't find a reference to this incident in my sources, hence the cop out answer. But I would suspect that it was legit, in that I don't see WWF working the ‘smarts' like that, especially not at that time. Business was down, and Diesel's match was hardly spectacular. But that's without sources on that issue.

Vince Buying WCW/ECW> Chris Benoit: Ok, I can see the argument that Benoit was out of the blue, and that WCW and ECW were dying slow deaths (although ECW was still selling out venues). However, I maintain that in long term thinking, Vince buying the two biggest companies to ever compete with him within a month of each other is still the more shocking event. Maybe not at the moment it occurred, but still, in all history, it's the most shocking. But your milage may indeed vary.

Your Turn, Smart Guy…

Yes, correct, Arn Anderson was indeed the correct answer, well done most of you.

Who Am I? I've teamed with Arn, and beaten him for a title. Primarily a tag team wrestler, I've been a part of a great tag team (that went through a few iterations), and at least one truly great stable. I've had several managers, including some of the cream of the great managers, as well as some not so great. A former partner of William Regal, I am An Ungodly Number of Times Tag Champion, Who Am I?

Questions, Questions, Who's Got The Questions?

We start this week with Jesus. Well, where else would you start?

If the USA Network picked up Friday Night Smackdown! and aired it on their channel, do you think the ratings for the show would increase any and would that increase last any substantial amount of time?

A question about US ratings?

Hey Prag, you lazy bastard!* Get in here!

Let's give this a whirl:

While a ratings increase can never be guaranteed, there are a few factors to take into consideration. First off, you have to acknowledge that network ratings and cable ratings are not an exact comparison and that a lower network rating can still have more viewers than a higher cable rating. You also have to take into account how ratings are measured. A rating, in general is an estimate based on a survey of about 10,000 Nielsen homes. Now, MyNetworkTV is available in more homes than CW and about as many as USA Network, but it is missing in a number of mid-sized markets. So, if a Nielsen family is in a market that does not have MyNetworkTV, then cannot get the programming and therefore would not be part of the ratings. If in this week a large number of Nielsen families are in Montgomery, AL, that would affect the overall rating because Smackdown is not available there.

That said, being on USA helps SmackDown in a number of ways. First, USA is the number one rated channel on cable (and actually has a higher overall viewship than CW) and generally enjoy a good placement on the dial. Next, since RAW is on the network, there is some synergy in shared by advertising both brands. But USA has made it clear in the past that although they love having RAW, they do not want to become "the wrestling channel". On top of that, the WWE has a deal with MyNetworkTV that won't expire for three years, so there is no chance of them moving right now.

Just because SmackDown's ratings did not immediately change after the draft does not mean they won't. Building up and audience and bringing them back to a show take a long time and takes even more patience. SmackDown has scored ratings as high as 2.3 on MyNetworkTV, so we know that it is possible for them to at least that on a consistent basis. But the audience has been turned away by changes in the WWE's direction, the timeslot, and a plethora of other factors. Actually, SmackDown was on the downward trend well before the move. In January of 2008, SmackDown averaged a 2.8 rating. By June 2008, they averaged a 2.3 rating. In September (before the move to MyNetworkTV) they were running an average 2.4 and in October (after the move) they averaged a 2.0. By January 2009, that rating had gone back to a 2.2 average, but that is still 21% down from the year before, and not all of that was from the move. In June 2009, SmackDown averaged a 1.8 rating.

The bottom line is, SmackDown's ratings woes have less to do with the network and more to do with the programming and lost audience. How are you going to tell that audience to come back on a permanent basis when they have already moved on? Just going to USA will give an initial bump from a curiosity and advertising perspective, but after that the underlying issues are still present. The audience that was lost is gone; you have to build a new audience, and that takes considerable time no matter what station you are on.

People asked the same question about when RAW was on SpikeTV if it went back to USA. When that happened in September 2005, RAW actually initial lost some viewship before gaining it back. Yet, since August 2006 RAW has basically been trending downward with the occasional odd jumps. in May 2009, RAW had an average rating of 3.4 while in May 2005 (back on Spike) they had an average rating of 3.9. Channels do have some impact, but for the most part it programming and audience share, and the WWE has lost so much of that they are in a constant rebuilding state.

Thank you JP!

* = 411mania.com wishes to clarify that JP is in fact one of the busiest, most productive members of the 411 family in Real Life, and is in no way shape or form lazy. Also, while we do not have records on hand, 411mania.com is 100% confident that JP's mother was a saint. And finally, Mathew Sforcina is a git who thinks that just because he's bringing in hits using gifs of beautiful women dosing themselves in water he can just say whatever he likes and get away with it. 411mania.com apologies to JP for any and all hurt feelings or lost business, and Sforcina's shock therapy is going well.

Eric?

Hey love the article, good shit, etc.

I'm a huge buff on guys who were supposed to win the WWF Title but never did. Were there ever times when guys like Razor Ramon, Chris Benoit, Ken Shamrock, Lex Luger, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog were supposed to go over for the belt? I know almost all these guys would have won the strap eventually, but I'm wondering if any of these guys were booked to win it or would have won it if *insert event* hadn't happened.

Oh yeah, and I know Benoit eventually did but the WWF had him falsely win it TWICE in 2000, so that leads me to believe he was supposed to have won the title much earlier but for some reason didn't.

Well, it's entirely possible that if Wrestler X had fallen down a flight of stairs and broken both legs that any of those guys might have ended up as champ, but for specific situations were they got close…

Razor Ramon: Not to my knowledge. Razor was never booked to be WWF champion, nor was Scott Hall ever set to be WCW champion. In WWF he pretty much left before he had a chance to get the belt, and in WCW he was stuck with politics and then drugs.

Benoit: Nope. The false reigns were designed to put Benoit over without actually putting the belt on him. At no point was a title change going to stick.

Ken Shamrock: Shamrock was one of the options for getting the belt off of Bret Hart in the lead up to the Screwjob. Bret liked Shamrock, and had no problems putting him over (as witnessed by him tapping without a ref on one of the last Raw's before Survivor Series), and the idea would have been to use him as a hotshot, probably. But that's as close as he got (although if he'd stuck around AND been allowed to go back into Robo-Shamrock mode…)

Lex Luger: Gee, where do you start? Summerslam 93 and Wrestlemania X both saw Luger get close to winning the title but the booking was changed at the last moment, due to a change in plans or Luger opening his big trap. Admittedly these are the only times the booking was changed to take the belt away from him, his runs against Flair where he always came up a smidgen short was the plan all along, although his first title win was a botched affair, thanks to Flair's leaving.

Owen Hart: Sadly not, although he did have a few incidents at house shows where he ‘won' the belt, then the match was restarted and he would lose it back to Bret, which may or may not count as world title runs if you consider them separate matches or not (the wording is key. "Restarting" is different to "The old champ gets a rematch… Right now!"). But at the point where he might have gotten up there, after Montreal, Shawn didn't want to work with him, and Austin sure as hell didn't want to work with him, so he was never going to get the belt that way.

British Bulldog:…

That actually leads into our next question, from Jason…

Quick question...on the most recent Botchamania there's a clip of a poster from 96 that advertises Warrior v. Vader for the WWF Title, despite the fact that neither man held that belt in 96. Now, I know that this was probably just put on the poster in order to sell tickets, much like commercials for house shows announce title matches in advance. But it got me wondering...was there ever a time in 1996 where either Warrior or Vader were seriously being considered for a WWF Title run?

First off, any excuse to plug Botchamania, Botchamania 79 ladies and gentlemen!



Ok, that picture comes from the Warrior DVD WWE put out. The traditional/accepted answer is No, Warrior was never going to get the belt. They put that in there to make it seem like Warrior was that much more of a douchebag. But, recently, I heard an alternate theory.

Now, as with all booking plan changes and so on in the rumor mill, always take them with a grain of salt. Stories might be told to enhance a guys rep, kill another one, or just out of sheer delight in telling fibs. Or it may have some truth in it. So always read with a certain level of distrust. Especially as this goes against ‘accepted' logic. But, here goes.

Shawn Michaels in 96 was bombing as champion. Badly. So, the WWF office was desperate. It got to the point that whenever they found a guy who was over, he'd win the belt. Sid ended up as the guy, hence his winning the title. Mankind would have got it at Mind Games, but he wasn't over enough. Davey Boy would have got it at KOTR, but he wasn't over enough. Vader would have got it at Summerslam, but he wasn't over enough.

But all three of those men were the backups, after the planned Champion didn't work out and then left the company… The Ultimate Warrior.

Ok, so the idea was set to start at King Of The Ring. On that night, Shawn was to lose the belt to Davey Boy Smith. The following night on Raw, Warrior would crush Davey Boy, win the world title.

Warrior then does a run against Vader, which would involve the ad seen in the video. Warrior would defeat Vader at Summerslam. Mind Games would be feature a tag match with Warrior and Shawn vs. someone (Vader and Mankind perhaps). And in that match, Warrior would turn heel, injuring Shawn.

Warrior would then go Dark, in a rip off of the Dark Phoenix storyline from Marvel. He'd be a heel champ, leading to Shawn returning at Survivor Series to win the belt back.

Now, clearly, there is a flaw there, in that Warrior left AFTER KOTR. However, Bret discusses this in the book, in that he almost jumped to WCW instead of working with Warrior.

So that's the story.

Next up we have John, with a few questions.

Couple of questions; Great website by the way.

1. I remember a match when one of the wresters was wearing glasses and got headbutted. I think it was Mr. Hughes and JYD with the headbutt. Anyway, the glasses broke and shattered into the eye of Mr. Hughes. JYD stopped to see if he was ok, and the paramedics had to run out to check. After that Mr.Hughes became a face and went on to form a tag team with JYD. Am I remembering this correct? Did the glass actually go in his eye or was it all a work?

At first, I was sure this wasn't true, but it actually happened, in August 92. The angle set up Hughes' face turn, as he went back to being ‘Big Cat', and the team wrestled as, what else, ‘Cat & Dog'. They mostly worked against DDP and Vinnie Vegas, in fact they ONLY worked that team. The duo was short lived, as Hughes left the company and went to WWF for a short time. Alas, I could not find video of the incident, but it was just an angle.

2. Being Irish, I'm glad Finlay has got rid of Hornswaggle. He is a better heel and better with his "I love to fight" Irish attitude. Seamus O'Shaughnessy is due to be called up to Raw, and I'm sure he will be stuck with some sort of Irish stereotypical gimmick. My question is that why is it with any other nationality apart from American, the wrestler is always stuck with a stupid gimmick of his home country that usually hates America. The rest of the world's wrestlers don't all hate America you know!

Not always. Sometimes they don't hate America, just most of the wrestlers from America.



But I can't tell you why WWE loves the Anti-America angle so much. Sure, it plays well in America, but with most of their big live events and growing markets being outside the states, you'd think they'd move away from there. Anti-American gimmicks held a place in the business for many many years, but in this age of globalisation and internationalism, it's a really archaic dinosaur that should be tossed out. But this is WWE Creative after all…

3. On the WWE universe site, they have a section to send in storylines. How lazy is that! What would you say the chances are of getting a job or actually getting paid if a storyline you sent in was used?

Keep up the good work!

Well, to be fair, practically every Wrestling forum on the planet has a Creative section, or at least regular "What would you do?" threads. And reading the post from the admin, apparently he was deluged with ideas so he made the section to give the budding writers a place to do their thing, so that's somewhat understandable.

As for getting a job out of it, the chances are extremely slim. And getting paid? From wwe.com's Terms and Conditions…

By submitting any Submission, whether solicited by us or not, you are automatically granting WWE an ownership right and a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide and irrevocable right and license to sell, rent, transfer, sub-license, use, reproduce, modify, publish, translate, prepare derivative works based upon, distribute, perform, display or otherwise utilize such Submissions, in whole or in part, in any form, media or technology known or hereafter developed for any purpose, including, but not limited to, advertising and promotional purposes (collectively, "Rights").

This grant of Rights means that all Submissions will be owned by WWE and may be used by WWE for any purpose, now or in the future, without any payment to, or further authorization by, you. All Submissions, whether solicited or unsolicited, shall become and remain the property of WWE. WWE also has the right, but not the obligation, to use your name or the name of any entity owned or controlled by you in connection with the broadcast, print, online or other use or publication of your Submission. We assume no responsibility for reviewing such Submissions and we will not incur any liability as a result of any similarities between your Submissions and future WWE products or programs. In submitting a Submission to us, you represent that you have no reasonable basis to believe that the use of any such Submission by us would infringe upon the rights of any third-party.

For any non-lawyers who have wandered in this evening, basically any storyline, idea, name, move or gimmick submitted to WWE, be it on the Universe, as part of a competition, emailed, whatever, becomes their property from now until the day the sun becomes a black charred lump of coal. They own it, they can do whatever they like, and you don't get squat. So think carefully, WWE Universe posters.

Wait, would they even be reading this?

Because you can never have enough Botchamania!


Eric has a follow up on blading, and one other question.

1) Besides the obvious answers in Abdullah, New Jack and D-Von, has any other African American wrestler bladed on the regular? I noticed you don't see that very often. Even if its once in a while.

No, you don't, since for the most part it doesn't look that good. Blood on dark skin doesn't show up well, so it's not as effective visually as it would on someone with paler skin. Not to say it doesn't happen, but apart from those three, and/or guys most of the readers have never heard of from the American Indy scene, The Rock's pretty much the only other regular blader. But then again…

And a follow up to that question: Why has Vince never crowned the first black WWE Champion? It's frickin' 2009 ain't it about time? I guess It's wishful thinking cuz I'm a Shelton fan. And no, I refuse to count the Rock as he is half, nor was he ever praised as such. And the ECW title (now) I don't consider a major world title, much less the WWE title, so Lashley and Henry are out. What's the deal on that?

King Booker on Line 1.

But if you want to get technical and talk about ONLY the WWE title, it's just a matter of timing. Up until the brand split, Vince never had a guy who was black, under your definition, who was on top of his game and over enough to warrant putting the belt on him. And afterwards, the WWE title wasn't the belt Booker could go for, and Lashley left before he could be pushed to it. I certainly don't believe Vince is racist, he's just never had a black guy in the right place at the right time. And certainly, would a black man want to be crowned champion based purely on the color of his skin?

Vince above all else, wants talented, charismatic guys. He doesn't give a damm what color skin they are.

Unless their Asian, they're far too pale.



Toby has some kind words and an obscure question for me, and an easy one.

After reading the intro to the 5/20 column, it seems to me like you are or may be getting aggravated with some of the idiots who post comments. You are doing a good job, you're probably the second best person to do this since I've been reading this column, which is at least 4 years. So thanks for all your hard work, and please don't let these jerk-offs get to you.

Since I'm typing, I was wondering this for a while, and never wrote in so:
I was in Long Island, NY visiting, and turned to a local channel, wrestlers were wrestling in what looked to be a Small bingo hall, type of place. There was a guy on there that was stated by the announcer as the only wrestler alive that can connect a dropkick and land on his feet. In this match he did it at least 3 times, and it looked really cool, and allowed him to further his attack, without having to get back up from falling after hitting the dropkick....any clue who this guy was? I know I'm not giving you much to work with, but a guy doing a dropkick and landing on his feet has got to be rare, so maybe you know who I'm talking about....and if you do, what's he up to these days?

Well, without a time frame it's impossible to say. In my searches I saw Koko B Ware land on his feet after a missile dropkick, and Jack Evans can land a dropsault on his feet. But I doubt either of those are the man. A time frame might help, as might the readers.

And another one, while I'm at it....Back in the days before Raw, main-eventers only used to wrestle against jobbers, every Saturday Morning there was like 1 good match on it...with the Main-Eventers only going at in on PPVs or SNME's...so was Hulk's and Macho Man's and them guys schedule really easy back then....I know house shows were still popular, but it seemed like Hogan only fought like twice a month...am I off on this, or was it just a way lighter schedule?

Once again...keep your chin up, and Thanks for all the hard work you put into my favorite column on the web....you are the only must-read I have....and good luck in your Wrestling career, I hope you have a long and prosperous career!

Thank you for the kind words.

As for your question, Hogan and Savage would only appear on TV maybe twice a month. Hogan was only ever on any one show once per taping cycle, so as not to burn the fans there live out, and also to make you come back every week. Will he be here this week? No, darn, but next week for sure!

However, Hogan would work almost every live event, or at least at one per day, if the WWE ran more than one. During his run against Orndorff they would at times work twice a day, they'd open one show then speed across town and be the final match at another event. After all, if you're earning $10,000 a match, you'd wrestle as many as you could.

Taking a year at random, 1989, Hogan wrestled at least 148 times, some cards being incomplete or unknown. At that's with one brief spell out with a Pitched Nerve. Sure, his itinerary was easier than a jobber's, but he still worked a fair chunk of days per year. At least back then.

Dan U asks about a big guy.

Near the end of Big John Studd why he was chosen as the winner was this more of a thank you for his career or were there bigger plans for him before he had to retire? The only other appearance I can recall was being the guest referee for Wrestlemania 5. Why?

Yeah, there were plans for Studd, although they were rocky before Wrestlemania. After winning the Royal Rumble, he worked with Akeem mostly, leading up to Wrestlemania V. The idea was to build to an Andre/Studd match, as a reverse of their earlier fued at Wrestlemania I, with Studd the good guy and Andre the bad guy, and Studd on a mission to slam Andre, again, just a reverse of their earlier feud. But a few weeks before Wrestlemania, Studd was told that his matches with Akeem were so bad, if he didn't slam Akeem, he'd be let go. He did slam Akeem, so they kept him, and at WM they did the angle with him as the special ref.

Studd and Andre then began to wrestle on the tours, with the matches ending with Haku running in followed by Jim Duggan to help Andre and Studd respectively. This continued till that angle made TV, at which point they moved to tag matches, Haku/Andre V Studd/Duggan.

However, June 6th, 1989, Studd quit the WWF, without ever getting his high profile match with Andre where, presumably, he'd slam the Giant.

James wishes to know if Mr. Perfect gave Ric Flair an idea.

Hey Matt. Love the article and don't let the haters get on ya like the last couple of guys that they had writing this column. If they don't like the way you report this column then why they even reading it. Anyways, on to my question.

I was watching some classic WWF Superstars the other day and it was the finals of the Intercontinental Title tournament back in 1990 with Mr. Perfect vs. Tito Santana. Now the next week when Perfect came out to the ring with Bobby Heenan I could have swore that he was carrying the Tag Title belt and not the I-C title with him. If this was so, do you know why? Is it because Warrior still had the belt or something. I remember seeing Ric Flair doing this before when he was "The Real World's Champ" in 1991 but they did that because of the lawsuit the NWA was giving the WWF at the time so that was understandable. I don't ever remember a lawsuit at this time so was just wondering if you knew anything about this? Anyways, keep up the good work man, you're doing the best job that you can.

Yes, you're correct. Perfect won the IC title tourney on the ‘Prime Time Wrestling' broadcast of the 19th of May, 1990, and then defended his new title the following week on the 26th of May's Prime Time Wrestling.

Problem is, on that night that they filmed both shows, April 23rd, they didn't have an IC title, so they used an old Tag Team Title to substitute for the belt. See for yourself.



As for why, I really can't tell you. The design wasn't changed, all I can think of is that someone forgot to bring the belt that day, or that they couldn't find the classic one, only one of Warrior's custom color belts, and hence they chose to go with that one instead.

Dave?

I was watching Gangland on cable recently and they had a feature on an violent, anti-government prison outfit called D.M.I. (Dead Man Inc). Didn't The Undertaker use that moniker during his 2000 biker gimmick phase? If so, I'm a little shocked that Vince would align his company with such a group. Either that, or Taker was a member and the gang DMI had already disbanded by then.

You mean the one visible here?

Well, let's see. The Undertaker began his Dead Man Biker gimmick in 2000, beginning as the American Bad Ass, through to 2004, when he reverted to the Real Dead Man gimmick. During that time, he did have gear with Dead Man Inc. on it, t-shirts and such.

And this was at about the same time as DMI, this gang, formed up, DMI forming in 1998. So, there is some logic in thinking that the two are related.

However, DMI, despite their recent puff piece doco, were not well known outside of the Maryland jail system, and certainly unknown on a grand scale. Plus Taker was known as the Dead Man for years before the group formed.

So in retrospect is does look a little weird, but there's no connection whatsoever. If DMI was known at the time, they wouldn't have used the term, but there are plenty of gangs in every jail on the planet, all of them with names. Eventually, one will click with a ‘legitimate' one.

Besides, WWF owned the copyright. I somehow doubt DMI had filed the paperwork…

411mania's Own JP Truss asks after tongues.

Good to talk to you; big fan of Ask 411. I promised my readers I'd run this past you so here it goes.

I was watching Spike TV's Deadliest Warrior and according to the experts on the show when a Maori Warrior stuck their tongue at an opponent it was usually meant as an insult: basically saying that they would kill them and eat their remains. I noticed it was a regular taunt for Umaga and I was wondering if it was a usually thing for any other Samoan wrestlers.

Well, it's not really "I'm Gonna Eat You", certainly no Maori tribe were cannibals. It can mean that, but normally when the tongue is stuck out, it's during a Haka, which is normally meant to intimidate the opponent. Hence if the opponent wishes to take it to mean that, all well and good.

As for it being a Samoan thing, I don't recall many Samoan wrestlers using the gesture. There is a connect with the Samoan and Maori people (American Samoa residents tend to move to Hawaii, (Western) Samoan to New Zealand), but they are still different societies. So they aren't REALL related.

But this is something I'm not an expert on. Sadly, I don't even know that much about Australian Aboriginal culture.

Spider! *goes off to listen to They Might Be Giants for a bit.*

You're probably bored of people saying this but its true, awesome column. Anything that makes the working day pass a little easier is all good with me. Anyway my question is below:-

This maybe an odd question to ask as no one else may have noticed. But does Matt Hardy have a problem with his knees? As he doesn't move as easy as most wrestlers, its as if he has rickets. Its more noticeable now he wears tights instead of the baggy jeans he used to wear. As stupid as it sounds its always bothered me.

Cheers in advance.

Well, Matt Hardy has had to take time off in the past due to a knee injury. When he was chokeslammed to heck by Kane during the Kane/Lita wedding, that was to cover for knee surgery. And then he got fired and things got messy. And he has had some knee injuries in the past, hyper-extending both knees, ankle injuries, so on and so forth. So, like most wrestlers past a certain point, his body is slightly mangled and rebuilt over time. So yes, he may well have to move different due to his knees.

It's the ever popular Rob S.!

This question is mainly about the WWE belts, but I guess it can go for all championship belts in pro wrestling. What is the actual value of wrestling championship belts? Are they expensive to have made, and what are they made out of? Do wrestlers really have input into the design of their championship belts (ex. John Cena, Stone Cold), or is it merely designed for them by whoever makes them?

Well Cena's belt is an exception in terms of the value. I mean, there's nearly 3,500 jewels on the damm thing. I've heard $10,000 being banded about as a value. The most expensive belt ever made, to my knowledge, would be the Million Dollar Belt, which cost 40 Grand. Your average full cost, professionally made title belt probably costs between two and three thousand dollars, depending on what it is and how fancy it is. Reggie Parks starts at a bit over a grand, but the extras pile up fairly quickly. And if you want a title belt, you really should go see Reggie.

Ad over with, title belts are steel with gold or silver (or platinum) plating. These plates are then mounted on leather, with gems being inserted into the panels if required. Plus the panels can be painted or decaled as desired.

Given the rare number of times someone has had a title belt made for them, I wager that they get input into the title belt's design. But at the end of the day, it's up to the belt maker to take what the client wants and make it real, so it's a mixture of both.

G Mac asks a couple of easy questions.

Hey, quick question,

I've just finished reading Bret Harts book (amazing read) and after reading the comments about Jerry Lawyer and how everyone hated him backstage, I've been looking for footage of the match Bret had with Lawyer (at Summerslam I think) where Bret wouldn't let go the sharpshooter and the ref ended up reversing the decision. Any idea where I can find it? The book says that he had it on for real and there were also a few refs actually pushing Bret harder because they hated Lawyer too.

Ask, and ye shall receive!

Bret Hart vs Doink The Clown


It also mentions that during the early 90's if you were the WWE champ then you got limo's, first class tickets etc whilst the rest of the squad travelled economy. Is this still true? Does the Champ still get his own changing room (Bret mentioned that it came back into force once Shawn was champ again)

Thanks in advance.

No. After Austin, Triple H and Rock began to trade the belt, the Champ being by himself thing kinda went out the window. Nowadays, there's an upper band of the main event talent that are allowed to fly First Class, everyone else has to take the cheaper seats. And WWE may book the flights for you, but it comes out of the pay packet of the person involved. Remember, they are independent contractors, so they have to pay their own way…

My Damm Opinion

Rob S is back!

I have no idea if this has been asked before, but i'll go ahead and ask anyway...

What do you think would've happened with Bret Hart's wrestling career had he not gotten injured and retired when he did? Since WWF bought WCW and ECW in 2001, it's hard for me to think he would go wrestle for Vince again, especially at that time in his life. Also, if i remember correctly, Bret would not have been under contract at the time of the WCW purchase because he had signed a 3 year deal with WCW in late 1997, so he would have had no deal by that point. Do you think he would've retired in 2001 rather than go back and wrestle in the WWF? Is it possible he would've went overseas to wrestle, since there was no other major promotion in the US at the time to go to?

P.S. Is it even conceivable that Bret would've went back to the WWF? HBK wasn't wrestling at that point, but i don't know if that would be a big factor or not. I also wonder what kind of push he may have received and whom he may have feuded with.

411 is the best!

There's the old adage ‘never say never', but I really don't see Bret ever wrestling for WWE again, not after Owen. Bret would have waited his contract out, perhaps making some appearances overseas. He probably would have retired anyway just due to his age, and/or re-opened the Hart Dungeon. MAYBE taken an authority role in ROH. TNA would be a long shot.

But no, Bret would never wrestle in WWE.

Stephen gets sped ahead based on the time factor.

Im curious on Edge's injury. I am pretty much banking on Legacy taking the Tag titles away from Edge and Jericho. But after Edge's injury, how will he be able to compete in the match. I thought after the injury they would drop the titles on Raw. What do you think will happen?

Well, I stated on Friday, that Jericho should take Miz as his new partner, which I still believe. And I honestly believe that whomever Jericho picks, now that we've seen Raw this week, he'll keep the belt. Be it Miz, Dolph, whomever it is, Priceless won't win the titles.

Although I can suggest one idea for a partner that as yet I haven't seen.

Randy Orton.

The Triple Threat goes on early, Orton loses the title, then comes out and orders Priceless to lay down, and Ted disagrees, gets beaten down. Or something. But it's an interesting idea, I think.

How about you guys? Who would YOU give to Jericho?