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Ask 411 Wrestling 05.11.11: Jobbing Monsters, Chokeslamming Giants, Staying Positive, More

May 11, 2011 | Posted by Mathew Sforcina

Hello one and all, this is Ask 411 Wrestling, and I am the guy who writes this for the moment, Mathew Sforcina! I’m getting back into the groove here in Ask 411, and that might lead to some kinks as I rediscover the skills and mental capacity to do this.

In other words, my Google-Fu might be a bit rusty, so bear with me. And also, this week the fact and opinion questions will be mixed since it’s mostly opinion. So you have been warned.

Anyway, you might not noticed that 411 is back in the podcast game. You can find the list rightchere, and rest assured I am in the process of arranging for my dulcet tones to infect be heard on not just the Tom Tom Club but 411’s official Podcast. I remember the one I did with Larry and the Wife about the 2008 Rumble, that was cool.

I’ve been here a while, huh?

And in all my days, this is still the best bloody banner on the site.

ALERT!

I have finally given in, and joined the rest of the human race, and got me one of these new fangled Twitter accounts, specifically to follow Zack Ryder and then others. This is Me On Twitter~! So go follow me and get my once-a-month pithy comment on pop-culture and/or wrestling without having to wade through thousands of Mafia Wars requests.

DO IT!

And follow all these as well.

http://www.twitter.com/411mania
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Backtalking

Not really anything to discuss, at least nothing important. I’m not about to sit here and explain what asses milk is or anything.

Although if I’m being more negative, it’s not intentional, it’s perhaps just a case of the questions being more negatively aligned maybe. I dunno, I’ll try and stay positive for a bit.

Your Turn, Smart Guy…

What am I? I’m a title, currently active, in which the longest reign in history was nearly a year, the shortest nearly a month. Only one man has held me twice, one of which was part of a somewhat famous unique situation involving the number 3. 64 people competed in a tournament to win me, and I’ve only had one case of someone being subbed in due to injury. The current reign is the second shortest in history, and one title change occurred due to someone being signed to WWE, I am what?

Luke got it right (mostly).

What am I?
– Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas

I’m a title, currently active, in which the longest reign in history was nearly a year,
-Gran Akuma and Icarus, Nov 06 to Oct 07

the shortest nearly a month.
– Super Smash Bros, Sep-Oct 08

Only one man has held me twice,
– Claudio

one of which was part of a somewhat famous unique situation involving the number 3.
– Not entirely sure. You need to win three straight matches to get a shot and BDK got to count eliminating two teams in a 4-team elimination match as two points.

64 people competed in a tournament to win me,
-32 team tag world grand prix 2006

and I’ve only had one case of someone being subbed in due to injury.
– Chuck Taylor replaced Gran Akuma in the match where FIST lost to Incoherence

The current reign is the second shortest in history,
– Jigsaw and Quack, since December

and one title change occurred due to someone being signed to WWE,
– Claudio, again, when KOW lost in 2006 to FIST.

The ‘number 3′ thing was when the Kings Of Wrestling held the first and only Indy Wrestling Tag Team Triple crown of these, the ROH and CZW tag titles at the same time. So there you go.

Who am I? I once helped someone win their debut match on Raw against John Cena. I beat two different men to win my 2 big league singles titles, but I lost it back to the same two men. I wrestled someone the same night they cashed in MITB, and I’m dead. Who am I?

Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?/My Damn Opinion

Yes, well it seems I’m in a giving in mood. First Twitter, now I finally got rid of the red squiggle under that word. Happy now World? What do you want me to do next, get an Iphone?

Actually, Angry Birds does look cool…

NO! BAD MATHEW!

Anyway, onto questions. David talks booking an end to streaks.

Hi Mat,

I had a think about ‘unstoppable monsters’ due to Kharma’s debut at the recent WWE PPV, and realised it appears the hardest thing for a booking committee to do is to book their first loss.

It seems hardest to undo once a wrestler has been around for a while, and are believed to be ‘unstoppable’. The end of Goldberg’s ‘Streak’ was criticised a lot, Samoa Joe’s first loss to Kurt Angle was criticised a lot, and a lot of people didn’t like the idea of Vladimir Kozlov having a ‘Streak’ at all (but complained when HBK beat him ‘easily’ to win a fight with the Undertaker at WM25).

If you were running the booking committee, how would you book an ‘unstoppable monster’ to be stopped? Or would you book such a strong character to start with?

I would book something like that if the right guy or girl came along. But there’s a difference between ‘dominant’ and ‘winning streak’. When Kong came into TNA, she was booked in the same way as she is being booked now, as a giant beast, but she lost her first major shot against Gail Kim on a fluke roll up, then murdered her in the rematch to win the title. If the Bellas managed to do a switcheroo X infinty and get the fluke roll up and then Kharma ritualistic sacrifices them mid-ring to the Goddess Of Snapping Heads Off Dolls, then that’s acceptable. As would be having her DQed for excessive Diva related violence. You can have a dominant persona who loses matches cheaply.

But say you do have your winning streak and the person is a huge beast. How can you end it? Well, if the beast is a heel, you do it in stages. You have them be all unstoppable and winning all the time, and then the big face, preferably with a title, steps up and challenges them. And the face loses the match and the title.

Then the face gets a rematch. And they lose that too. Then the face makes the final pitch to the manager (All Unstoppable Monsters need mouthpieces. Unstoppable Monsters Do Not Talk.) to get one last crack at them, in a gimmick match in which the way to win is NOT a pinfall or submission. A ladder match, a cage match, LMS, something where to win does not require them to lose via normal means. The beast then loses this match, possibly via trickery and/or outsmarting them. Get the beast to KO himself through a table then climb, or get the manager to hit their own client to daze them, whatever it is, have the heel lose this gimmick match.

Then in the rematches the beast gets against the face the face keeps winning but not by pinfall/submission. This is when you run the Count outs, the DQs, have the Beast unable to contain their rage and get the face on the canvas for 3/tapping out.

But at this point, the Beast is still not pinned, not made to submit, you go from ‘Undefeated’ to ‘Never Been Pinned, Never Tapped Out, Never Will’. You then run another feud or maybe even two where he continues to not be pinned or submitted, and then finally build to a major show where they finally eat a clean loss to an up and coming face, preferably someone who jobbed to him a bit at the start, maybe even his first victim to complete the road to redemption thing.

If they are a face, ala Goldberg, then a loss can be easily done at any point via another heel monster. But if they catch on in a major way like Goldberg did, then you have them win every match until the fans begin to start to turn/lose interest, at which point you have them lose via a crooked ref and a crooked commish and powder to the face and a taser and a Mack truck and a 3 count they kicked out at 1 in. Then you have the heel who beat them running for his life for a month, Face squashes him to win it back, and then you keep going. At which point you then work out if the fans are back or not, and then book accordingly.

That’s how I’d do it.

Damien gets cut off by the news somewhat.

With recent news that John Morrison is now out for several months with neck surgury, which past WWE Star (MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Batistia, Matt or Jeff Hardy) could u see coming back and actually make an impact?

Well it’s actually a pinched nerve, which is not that serious, and he’ll be back in a couple months, so that part of the question is out. And to be honest, it’s only John Morrison, so WWE would not immediately rush to panic stations like if a car with John Cena, Randy Orton, Evan Bourne and Santino Marella went over a cliff or something. John Morrison not being available will not send the WWE running for cover.

But to answer the general gist of the question, who can I see coming back and making an impact, Batista I expect back by the end of the year, Shelton always has a place in the midcard (unless he learns how to cut a promo and make the WWE thinks he wants it at which point he’s going to the moon) and I think MVP might be back if he makes it huge in Japan. But I don’t see the WWE ever bringing back the Hardys, regardless of how much money they make off girls buying their stuff. I might well be wrong, WWE does forgive a lot, but certainly not for a couple years.

And Carlito’s not coming back either.

Oh wait, I’m trying to be positive.

Well, he might be back, if he gets a personality transplant!

Dan wants to talk Memphis.

Since Jerry Lawler has had a few moments on Raw recently and since Memphis Heat is getting some nice press, I have two questions about Memphis for you. First, the Jackie Fargo strut, did he invent it?

… See, I’m trying to read the question, and there’s two possible ways to look at it. Did Jerry Lawler invent the Strut (since he’s the first guy mentioned) or did Jackie Fargo invent it (since that would be logical). I’m going to assume it’s the second. So, did Fargo invent the Fargo Strut?

He certainly developed his unique take on it, but the idea that he invented the ‘strut’ full stop is a bit of a stretch. If anyone invented it, you’d probably say it was by default Gorgeous George, as part of his whole giant gimmick/persona. He blazed the path, and then guys like Fargo and Buddy Rodgers took parts and made them their own, so while yes they invented their own unique versions of it, they didn’t create it full stop.

Second, did Ric Flair (among others) borrow it?

Ric Flair took it more from Buddy Rodgers, but yes, others have borrowed it. Jeff Jarrett’s is sort of a hybrid of Jackie and Ric’s, but like most things in wrestling people borrow/homage/steal stuff all the time. If they are from Memphis or that area and they strut, it’s almost certainly a rip off of Jackie.

Third, What is Jerry Lawler’s biggest contribution to wrestling in your view? I can’t decide if it is the Kaufman angle, the use of music videos to introduce new talents to the territory weeks before their debut or the Tupelo, Mississippi concession stand brawl. Am I missing something else he did in his career?

I think my answer you are missing, in a sort of ‘woods for the trees’ moment. In terms of his impact on the business, the single biggest contribution he’s made is in the years of sitting next to JR calling the action on Raw, SD, PPVs and the like.

Yes, his in ring stuff is influential, and the Kaufman angle was very important, but he’s been one of the two voices of wrestling for over 10 years. Him and JR are, for better or worse, the modern day announce team of this era, and moreso that Gorilla/Bobby or Gorilla/Jesse or Solie/Anybody or Styles by himself, when WWF went into it’s most popular and influential time, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler called the action.

You can debate this, yes, but I view it as just the sheer amount of moments, time, memories with Jerry Lawler’s voice implanted over it, that adds up. But you may disagree. Please do so below in the comments section.

Kamel ‘All In’ Gamble asks again about booking, focusing on Ryan’s discussion about how to turn Cena heel which you can see here

Good column. I enjoyed reading your discussion about turning Cena–though I agree it’s hardly necessary right now, that did seem a good way to do it.

That got me thinking, though…and I’m honestly not that frequent a wrestling watcher, so forgive me if the answer is obvious…but: Is there any way to do a heel character is wrestling who doesn’t cheat? Someone who is a bad guy not because he’s a cheater, but because, say, after the match he cripples the opponent, or because he otherwise does evil things, but as far as competing goes, he’s completely honorable?

It just seems like that common cinematic villain type, the honorable villain, is utterly missing from wrestling. I’m not sure if it’s because of the rise of characters like Stone Cold, who on some level was a villain the fans cheered, but when I was watching wrestling frequently a few years back, it seemed like the only way they could get someone over as a heel was by having them be a weak, cheating coward.

I guess some of it might be from the fact that wrestling, representing a “sport,” doesn’t really have a lot of evil things to do in it other than cheat. In a samurai film or something, you can have a character be evil because he’s out for world domination or out to summon an evil from beyond time and space or something, and have him still fight honorably. But can you have an honorable villain in sports fiction?

I’ve tried thinking of scenarios myself, but anything I’ve managed to come up with would probably lead to the fans cheering him because he was cool, or would be unsustainable because it requires angles you can’t do too often (“crippling” extremely popular babyfaces).

It’s an interesting question. As you say, there is a problem with making a guy honourable but ‘evil’, in that if someone is honourable in Wrestling, they tend to get cheered. The thing is that it’s a major part of being a heel in wrestling, is that you cheat. That’s how the fans know you’re the bad guy. You can be the most generic guy in history, you put your feet on the ropes once, you pull someone’s hair, then you’re the bad guy, boo! I mean, if you don’t do that, then you end up with heatless heels and that’s not good, if you’re a heel and you don’t cheat, really you’re not doing your job…

You do have the insane heels who don’t so much cheat as not understand the concept of rules, but then you end up back to them ‘cheating’, they just don’t understand that you can’t hit people with chairs. You do have heels who don’t actually wrestle and might not cheat, like The Master from the Dungeon Of Doom, but that’s kinda pushing it, to go to mastermind managers who never get to the ring.

That said, there are times when a heel is a heel and doesn’t cheat, but they are rare, being hard to set up and even harder to pull off (and often not attempted). The initial idea of Mohammad Hassan for instance, would have seen him booed out of the building even if he’d wrestled a catch as catch can classic every time he entered the ring. You can be a heel and be opportunistic, when Edge cashed in MITB all those times he wasn’t cheating, just taking the chance that opened itself, he didn’t HAVE to cheat, even though he would later on.

And of course, there are those times when the fans decide to hate you when you’re meant to be a face, but then that’s again a failure on your part to play your role right.

But can you have an honourable villain in wrestling? A heel who doesn’t cheat? Yes, it just needs one HELL of a gimmick to pull it off long term. For one match, ‘I want the title’ works for making a face work heel since he’s taking advantage of an injury. But full time… It’s hard.

But of course, there’s always the heels who win through sheer brute force, ala The Road Warriors/Demolition and the like. If you do that, you don’t have to cheat. But you won’t be heel for long…

Turkey Creek Johnson asks about everyone’s favourite big guy move.

Who used the chokeslam first?

The first man to use something similar to the chokeslam was Hiroshi Wajima, a former Sumo star who turned to Pro Wrestling in order to pay the bills in the 80’s. He had famed power in his left arm as a sumo guy, that was his trademark, tossing people about with his left arm, so he used something similar, called the Golden Arm Bomber/Nodawa Drop. I couldn’t find a video of him doing one, but it looked like this.

Although his arm would be higher up.

But the man who pretty much invented the chokeslam as we know it today (or, as it was called at the time, the Nodowa Otoshi or Neck Hanging Arm Bomber, was Akira Taue.

When when was it first debuted?

Wajima debuted 4/13/86, and used the Nodawa Drop from the start. Akira Taue debuted 2nd of Jan 1988, but used a Samoan Drop in his debut.

So some point after that, he started using it. Exact date I can’t give you, but soon after that I’m sure.

When was the first time Undertaker used it?

The earliest time I can find a record of him using it is October 1st, 1992, but I’m sure he used it prior to that point, let me look.

*puts on waiting music*

Well maybe not. It may well be a case that since Sid was using the chokeslam at this point, Taker waited until Sid was gone and he was a face until he began to use it. So there you go.

Dave had similar questions (and might have been the original sender…), except he also asked who Taker first chokeslamed. He chokeslammed Kamala on Oct 1st, 1992.

You know, with the influx of endings for Botchamania, I should think up some. Let’s see, endings, endings…

How about Lonely Island’s Jack Sparrow, the last bit, with Paul Burchill, Eugene, Ms Hancock and Razor Ramon in place of the characters?

No?

Ok… How about that scene in End Of Days when Gabriel Byrne walks out of the fire unharmed, with Vince going ‘That’s Gotta Be Kane!’?

No?

Fine, fine. Here’s your damn Botchamania…


Eh, I’m just upset that I used to be the cool guy and now Maffew’s off hobnobbing with CHIKARA guys and being all cool and popular without me… Although if he puts in a good word for me that’d be awesome!

Bill has some questions about WWE and their independent contractors.

Hey Ryan… Big fan…

…

I have two questions. #1. Now that WWE is trying to get the “Wrestling” out…and they transfer into more of a “Entertainment” company, I was wondering if this will affect the wrestlers being “Independent Contractors” Will this mean that WWE will have to treat the wrestlers as ACTUAL employees?

God no. If WWE has gotten away this far with it, a mere name change (especially one that’s not really changing the wrestling part of the company as it is branching sections off into little independent businesses) isn’t going to stop him. Yes, if he was stupid enough to take it far enough that SAG could come in and claim the WWE guys as in the SAG jurisdiction then Vince would be in trouble, but he’s not going to get it that far, and again, Vince isn’t getting rid of WWE, he’s just trying to turn the other things the company does apart from wrestling into businesses on their own.

Since that sounded like an Anti-McMahon question (and I guess it was) Ill try a pro-McMahon question. Hasn’t Vince been paying a “Independent Contractor” who never made it to the big time but was, sometime ago, diagnosed with a brain tumor while working for OVW ? I heard this one time and always wondered if its true, cause if it is Vince is cool in my book.

He did for a while. Matt Cappotelli was one of the two winners of Tough Enough III, along with the man now known as John Morrison.

After winning the contest, both men went down to OVW for training, the two winners feuding, with Matt forming a tag team with Johnny Jeter, The Thrill Seekers, a hot young high flying team. The two of them then double pinned Brent Albright, the then OVW Heavyweight Champion, and thus were both #1 Contender. Matt gave his shot up since in-between the two shows Matt broke his leg in a tag team match they had. Jeter then won the title by cheating, turning heel. This happened the following week.

So the two began to feud, and once Matt was back on his feet, he got a match against Jeter, winning the OVW Title November 9th, 2005. But then early in 2006, in a match, Matt took a bad chair shot from Chris Cage (not Christian, another one). And got a concussion. He went to the hospital and got checked out, when he found out he had a brain tumor, and ended up forfeiting the title in a touching moment no longer online, dammit.

After this, the WWE kept him on the payroll as he went into chemo and fought the thing, most of it being removed after surgery, but still not 100%. He was eventually released Jan 4th, 2009, which was impressive regardless. He’s now managing a gym in Kentucky, and seems unlikely to make a comeback any time soon.

Also is Droz still employed with WWE?

Thanks again 🙂

He was still with the company, doing monthly PPV pick columns on wwe.com up until early last year, when they stopped. I can’t find any record of what he’s done since then, but given that if WWE released him there’d be a minor uproar of people complaining that they are firing a cripple, it’s safe to say he’s still there doing something.

Lady Shini has two questions.

1. When is the WWE going to do PPV outside North America. The last one was probably Summerslam in England. UFC has PPVs outside North America once in a while. It would be a good thing for the WWE with the bad economy. At one point, the euro was as strong compared to the dollar.

Yes, but Vince is much more paranoid about spoilers ruining things. So the only way now he’ll have a PPV outside of North America is A) in South America since the time zone is the same, but that would need a South American country pitching a major deal for it, although it would be cool, imagine a Wrestlemania crossed with Carnaval… Or B) if the time zones matched up enough to make it plausible to do it live, in that if they could swing it so that they could hold it live in Australia at Midday Monday, then maybe they’d do it, since WWE doesn’t want to change the time or day of their PPVS at all. But a major problem now is that unlike UFC, which only needs the octagon, some cards and whatever equipment is in the building, WWE now has this vastly huge set that they use for every show which they can’t exactly ship around willy-nilly. So there’s already a strike against the idea there, that it’ll look different, and different is bad.

But WWE will never do a tape delayed PPV again… Unless they get really desperate and the US market totally dies.

2. Watching TNA impact is bland. One reason is the impact zone. It’s boring to watch it every week. I know they don’t have “WWE money,”but how long do you think it’s time for them to try expanding and going on the road. Raw was like that for the first few years with smaller venues until they started to expand.

As soon as someone wakes up and realises that the Impact Zone is actively hurting their bottom line. They should be on the road now, as you say, working smaller venues, but new ones all the time, so you don’t get a bunch of whiny, overindulged people who don’t pay and shit on anything they don’t like.

Nothing against them personally, you understand, just that TNA needs to leave that Impact Zone as soon as they can and not look back. Ah, but then a bunch of the guys will be unhappy since the central location is what they like…

But yes, I agree with your basic point, although honestly, the venue’s not the only problem. Just A problem.

Joshua is up next.

Hey man, here’s a question for ya. What do you believe were the original plans for Lex Luger had he not jumped ship to WCW? Was there a planned fued with the Bulldog or do you think it would have lead to Luger turning heel too and both going after Diesel? If I recall, Summerslam, Luger’s last show he was coming to the ring to help Diesel, but Diesel closelined him out of the ring. I don’t remember if Shawn had turned face yet, but maybe a Diesel/HBK vs. Bulldog/Luger fued?

Nah, I think they were clearly going to go to Luger/Mabel since he ran in and cost Mabel the WWF title, so they would have transitioned Mabel to Luger. And dear god would those matches have sucked.

Eventually I’m sure they would have gone to Smith/Luger, but given the actions at Summerslam, a short Diesel/Luger V Mabel/Mo into Luger V Mabel seems the most likely first steps.

Your King of the Ring winners
Don Muraco^, Harley Race*, Randy Savage*, Ted Dibiase*, Tito Santana, Bret Hart (91), Bret Hart (93), Owen Hart*, Mable*, Steve Ausin*, Triple H*, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn*, Kurt Angle*, Edge, Brock Lesner*, Booker T*, William Regal*, Sheamus*

*Heel, ^Not Sure

Out of 19 KotR winners, 13 were heels when they won it (Maybe 14, not sure about Muraco). Why do the bookers favor Heels so much in these tournaments?

Muraco was a heel, and feuding with Steamboat at the time.

Anyway, heels tend to win because since the tournament doesn’t actually give you anything, no title shots or anything (outside Brock’s win), if it’s to be of any use, you have to hype it. And heels are better at hyping things than faces. And the timing of it, after PPV came in, was good since it was a couple months later to Summerslam, so if they caught on fire, they could have a major match at Summerslam a short while later.

But basically it comes down to heels being able to do more with it, heels being able to win easier (since they can get byes and easy matches, thus making the faces look better for fighting bigger odds), and faces winning most of the big matches elsewhere. This was a way to elevate a heel easily and quickly. And it worked, sometimes.

John has a few questions.

Hey! Long time reader, love the articles, look out for ’em each week. I have three Hart related questions.

1. I understand the whole Montreal situation, how and why and when and…obviously where it went down. I’m 99.9% certian on everything about that night and the fall out. There is one thing that I have to ask though. What was so important about Earl Hebner? Why did he have such a major role? Surely if Vince was down at ringside, and it was Vince that indeed shouted “Ring the ****king bell” to the timekeaper anyway, why was it so important to have Hebner in on the whole thing? Vince had the power to stop the match anyway, and he did, so why the whole thing with Hebner?

You’re looking at it with the benefit of hindsight and, more importantly, as someone who has accepted the screwjob as an acceptable finish possible way to end a match. If someone rings the BLEEPing bell, you understand what’s going on. But at the time, that was unheard of. No-one had ever seen it, and more importantly, it wasn’t meant to be noticed.

The hope was that the fans just accepted that Bret tapped out and moved on. The fact that they didn’t they knew right away, and probably expected, but the hope was that, like with the Wendi screwjob, most fans would accept the WWF’s version and only a few hardcore fans would know the truth. So Hebner had to be in on it so that it looked like Bret had given up. Vince wasn’t so much giving an order as hurrying it along. If Hebner had stood there confused, it would have been obvious that something screwy had gone on. That wasn’t the goal. But then when it was clear people woulnd’t swallow the line, Vince went with it, and the rest is history.

2. What was the immediate Internet reaction to Owen’s death? I’ve been reading alot on this recently and I’ve even found a few eyewitness reports on various forums, but do you have any reccolection on what the online reaction was? Also, I know theres no real footage of Owen falling from the top of the rafters and into the ring, but while sifting through the internet I found at least 6 or 7 instances of people claiming that a 2-3 second clip exists of the last 10ft of Owen’s fall. Apparently the camera is positioned outside of the ring, right beside the turnbuckle. According to these people the footage was really grainy, and started making the rounds on the internet the day after. Now normally I am the first to dismiss any claims that a clear shot of Owen falling exists, butthsi kinda sounded like it had some legitimate grounds to it, especially as it was a handfull of people across different forums, with strikingly similar descriptions of this one video, not just one idiot spaming up a thread on a single forum. Do you think this is yet more internet myth or do you believe it may be likely/true, or maybe have some recollection of hearing about this clip yourself?

I’ve never heard of that footage, and I doubt that it exists, in that back then video phones didn’t exist so it’s not fan footage and if it was WWF video it wouldn’t be grainy. I seriously doubt it’s legit, especially that if it was, it would be put up on dailymotion every day.

As for what the net was like in 1999 after Owen died, I sadly wasn’t really into the IWC at the time, I was just barely getting to grips with the new tech at that stage. I was reading Rajah for Tara’s sake… But from memory, the camps were basically ‘FUCK VINCE’, ‘FUCK WWF’, a small group of ‘Whatever’ and most people were just in shock and remembering the good times. But I’m happy to be corrected by any old timers here.

I’ll end on a lighter note!

3. I know a lot of wrestlers had long, wet/gelled back hair, X-Pac, Mr. Perfect, Razor Ramon and Undertaker to namea few. MY question is who was the first? I was watching a really early Bret Hart match, just after he joined the WWF in 84, and even then, he had wet hair when he wrestled. For the time I thought this was different/pioneering almost, back the, long haired wrestlers either had mullets, or just didnt bother using water/gel etc. So, was Bret Hart the first big name wrestler to adapt this look?

Thank you :)!!!

Nah, a Japanese woman did it first.

Seriously though, he is pretty much the first guy I can think of who did that on a major scale. No-one else before him I know of had long dark wet hair. Readers?

Jacky goes over old ground, so I’ll be quick.

Hello, Mathew,

I have some questions regarding that “90-day-no-compete-clause”:

– In the wrestling business, which companies also apply that kind of restriction (e.g. TNA)? Is that clause also common outside North America?

TNA I believe does have a similar thing in place, given the delay in Christian’s return after he left TNA, but it’s pretty much only them, if that. And I’m not aware of anyone outside of them having it.

– Former WWE superstars must wait for 90 days in order to go to TNA, but they’re allowed to work at some smaller organizations. What’s the detail of the deal?

Can’t appear for anyone on TV, can’t appear on DVD during the 90 days.

– Does the clause apply on both “firing” and “resignation”? How about “contract expired”?

Yes, it applies to both Firing and Resignation. Contract Expiration… Not sure. It’s an added agreement onto contracts, so old ones might not include it, newer ones might, but I would be surprised if the average one didn’t include it.

– What are the overall feelings/opinions from people in the wrestling business about the clause?

Some people hate it with a passion, most just view it as part of the deal now, you accept it when you sign on the dotted line. But it’s not like anyone actually likes it…

– When did WWE actually start that policy?

At some point during the Monday Night War, after Luger jumped ship being the point when the issue became important. But it wasn’t standard until much later, since some guys did continue to jump ship later on. But by the time WCW died, it had become the norm.

Edwin asks about two guys at WMXII.

Why wasn’t Razor Ramon or the 123 Kid on the WrestleMania XII Card? Were they nursing an injury or was it that they had no place for them?

Razor was meant to be on the show, the Piper/Goldust ‘match’ was meant to be Razor/Goldust after months of build up but he ‘got injured’/flaked out so they had to sub in Piper.

123 Kid was just a case of not enough time available given the Iron Man match took up so much. When a match has to go that long, you gotta leave guys off. And 123 Kid was one.

Scott has two questions on everyone’s favourite Brit.

Hey Matt,

I actually have two questions pertaining to William Regal:

1. I was just wondering what you think the chances are of WWE possibly doing a DVD release on William Regal’s career? I think it would be an interesting release and appropriate seeing as how he announced his retirement for sometime this year. He had an impressive background growing up from what I’ve read. The only thing I can see hurting him is his past problems with substance abuse. Despite that type of brutal honesty actually making for compelling releases in the past with Jake the Snake’s DVD in 2005 and Curt Hennig’s in 2008, I could see that as something they wouldn’t want to tackle in a PG environment. They pretty much covered a lot of that in his book anyway so I think the DVD should be more “career” focused similar to Bret Hart’s release in ’05 or Jericho’s “Breaking The Code” last year. Regal has had an impressive run in WWE for well over a decade now as a multi-time IC Champion, European Champion, Tag Champion, King of the Ring, Commisioner and General Manager.

I can see them easily doing one, albeit low key, since Regal’s not that big a name at the moment. But I’m sure they could easily find enough good stuff to make a decent PPV, and will later in the year. I hope. But the chances are good, I believe.

2. This actually brings me to my second question which is do you see them giving Regal a big sendoff or something a long the lines of a “Batista” or “JBL” I quit scenario? I would like to see him get an appropriate sendoff seeing as how he won’t be propelled from the upper mid card come his final match. I think it would be safe to assume that ship sailed in ’08 after receiving his second strike on the wellness policy, which was a shame. Nonetheless he’s still obviously well respected among his peers and superiors so I hope it would be something solid. Unless he remains with the company in a “behind the scenes role” and they just remove him from TV quietly i.e. Dean Malenko, Billy Kidman and Jaimie Noble.

I don’t see Regal getting a big huge send off, given that while he’s respected as hell backstage there’s not that big huge fanbase love that warrants a public goodbye. Thaqt said, I don’t think Regal would be leaving anyway, he’ll retire and move into a road agent, or a trainer, or even perhaps an announcer, depending on how things go. But I’m fairly sure that Regal loves WWE and Wrestling too much to leave, and WWE likes and respects him enough to want to keep him, so he’ll be around.

And on that cheery note, I bid you goodbye for now! I hope you have just a super week, filled with sunshine and lollypops and gumdrops and what have you!

That positive enough for you, you whiny little-(MESSAGE REDUCTED)

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Mathew Sforcina

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