Ask 411 Wrestling 03.08.06: HBK, Christian, Warrior, More

Posted by Gavin Napier on 03.08.2006

A short run this week, with questions on Bret-Shawn, the greatest sports entertainer of all time, and some more tidbits.

So here's the thing. I've been gone a while. I had to move, I had to get the internet hooked up, along with my other utilities. I've been putting in overtime at work, and things just haven't been conducive to getting a column in. And you know what? They may not be conducive to doing a weekly column. But we're going to find out. And it won't take long. If I can't do this every week, then I'm not going to do it. But if I go down, I'm going to go down swinging. Question time. There's not many of them this week, but that's okay. Back on track next week. We hope.


Leading off, Christopher Swanson.


Has Shawn Michaels changed his stance on the montreal incident at all since his turn to christianity? I just read in an interview with Bret Hart that was posted on 411wrestling on march 1st from the sun i believe it was, that Shawn said some pretty wrong things to Bret....like when he said "i just want you to know i wouldnt do the same for you" or something like that. So anyway, has Shawn ever said anything in an interview about feeling bad, sorry or regretful at least a little now or not? Thanks.

I haven't heard anything publicly, either. In fact, the only thing I HAVE heard was from the WWE Confidential series where Shawn said that he was sorry things unfolded the way that they did, but that he'd probably do it again if necessary. And he did consider it necessary. But we're going to talk about Bret and Shawn a little later in the column, so stay tuned for a larger exposition from yours truly on the subject above.

The Yucaman didn't succumb to WWF/E brainwiping techniques.


I remember GTV segments in WWE with the hidden cameras in the late 90's, early 2000's. Did they ever reveal who was behind GTV, or for that matter, what was the point of the whole angle? While I'm at it, what was the point of the whole Goldust/RVD at WWF No Way Out 2002, if any?

The point of the angle was, originally, to have a creepy stalker/voyeur type guy in the back. It was obviously supposed to be Goldust, as the original installment was actually "GD-TV". They never officially revealed the source of the tapes, they just kind of let it die off and used it as a way to get a camera places that it wouldn't make sense to have a camera. As for RVD and Goldust, it was just a quick thing to make use of Goldust who had returned at the Royal Rumble, and give RVD a rub against a name WWF fans would remember. RVD was getting more and more popular and they didn't have a lot for him to do, so it was a short program with Goldust. And the matches weren't bad.

Ryan Ro is interested in economics.


Here's my question. We keep hearing about Mark Henry and Big Show's ten year contracts...and particularly how Mark Henry is the worst signing ever. So...Why doesn't the E just let him go? They let go tons of other wrestlers under contract. What prevents them from cutting their losses on a guy like Mark Henry? Why do some wrestlers get released no sweat and others stay no matter how bad?

The obvious answer here is that they're protected from within. See Road Warrior Animal and his brother Johnny Ace for the best example of this right now. The next option is that the guys that matter in WWE simply want to see them succeed, even if they're absolute crap. See Heidenreich and Chris Masters for this scenario. And finally, it's too expensive to release them. At a million dollars per year, Mark Henry would cost a fortune to buy out of his contract, even at 70 cents on the dollar. It's also possible that Henry won't LET them buy him out.

Daniel Smith gets into ancient history on me.


Back in the days of Saturday night WCW I remember Gordon Solie talking about a gym accident involving Bob Armstrong. I know he had major facial recronstruction and never looked the same again. I seem to remember Gordon saying that Ted Dibiase had something to do with the accident. It wasnt to long after Bob Armstrong came back that Ted went on to become the Million Dollar Man in the wwf. Can u tell me anything about this incident?

Armstrong legitimately had an accident in the gym that saw his face severely damaged by falling weights. He did indeed have reconstructive facial surgery and wore the mask as part of the angle. The booking team decided to then blame the act on their top heel, Ted Dibiase, because Ted was feuding with rising star Brad Armstrong...Bullet Bob's son. It added heat the feud and Bob and Ted did indeed have a strap match to kind of blow off the feud. It was quick, but they wrapped things up before Ted left.

Faust goes from little to big.


with Christian winning the TNA Title, is he the first former cruiser/lightweight champion to win a world heavyweight title?

X Division star (and best worker in the game today) AJ Styles has been NWA World Heavyweight Champion, as has Ron "The Truth" Killings. Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero were both parts of the J-Cup Tournaments in Japan, which were exclusive to "junior heavyweights". It's a rare feat, but it's been done a handful of times before.

Mat Croft is all about destrucity.


I was recently watching the Ultimate Warrior DVD and noticed that when they were talking about his 1996 firing they showed adverts for the cards he was missing.On the cards it was advertised that UW was the champion facing Vader. I dont remember him having the title at this time. Did he win it or was it something that was planned but fell through based on Jim Hellwigs general insanity. Hope you can help with this because its messing with my head.

It was either planned and didn't go through because of the insanity that you mentioned, or it was one of those "false" advertisements that they throw out there from time to time to make people think that something is going to happen. That's where the little "card subject to change" thing comes in at. Either way, I think we can all be thankful for a 1996 Warrior vs. 1996 Vader match never happening.

Michael Werner thinks too much. This is PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.


Why in the world does the WWE try to get us to buy into a storyline where one wrestler puts something on the line and the other wrestler doesn't??? The recent smackdown! angle where Rey has agreed to wrestle Randy for Rey's Wrestlmania title match that he won at the Royal Rumble makes no frickin' sense. Randy, at least as of now, has not had to put anything on the line. Who bets with their friends on anything and says: "i'll bet that the Steelers win the superbowl, if they don't, i'll give you $100, if they don't, you owe me nothing..." it just makes no sense. another example of stupid storylines, if you ask me.

In theory, Rey was fighting for the right to shut Randy Orton up about Eddy Guerrero. I'm not sure how that works, but Orton had a motive, he had a goal, and he used underhanded tactics to get there. Rey, being a babyface, needs no other motives than doing the right thing. It's a basic principle of wrestling. If the feud should escalate, then the two could have a nice "stipulation" mach where if Randy loses, he gets his head shaved, or gets injected with a vial of his father's Hepatitis. Does it make sense? No. But professional wrestling requires a suspension of disbelief to a certain extent. Of course, there's always TNA. AJ vs. Daniels vs. Samoa Joe is the best feud in wrestling in years. Watch it if you need a dose of reality and great wrestling.

MF is in charge of rabies vaccinations.


So here's something that has been bugging me for a looooong time. Sometimes when a wrestler receives a good shot to the head, they spit out a white substance when selling. Shawn Michaels does this a lot. What is this, spit? It looks too solid to be spit, maybe gum? Have you ever noticed this?

To the best of my knowledge, this actually started with Harley Race. He'd spray spit into the air every time Ric Flair chopped him. Triple H does it quite a bit as well, most noticably against The Big Show. It's a nice technique to be used sparingly, because it makes you think "wow...he got drilled." But when it's overdone by a handful of guys on the roster, like most things in wrestling it loses its effect. But to directly answr your question, it is indeed spit.

Roadwarriorkev must be a young'un.


Watching the recent Simon Dean/Gymini situation took my memory back to another whistle-blowing cornerman, The Coach. No, not Jonathan Coachman but Mr Perfect's cornerman in the early 90s. I was wondering, who was this man and did he ever have a previous or future in the business?

The Coach was the one and only "Golden Greek" John Tolos. Tolos was a legend in the 60's and 70's, particularly on the West Coast where he had a classic feud with the one and only Classie Freddie Blassie. John Tolos also spent some time in Hollywood, filling in for stunts and taking up background space. A great heel early in the modern era of professional wrestling. Look him up and grab any tapes you can find of him and Blassie. Brutal stuff.

Manu Bumb can count to ten.


Why do referees stop counting (whether its a count-out, or a count-down) when the other wrestler approaches the ropes? If they get to 7, then get distracted, they start over. is there any logic behind that? any ties to real sports rules?

Theoretically, approaching the ropes "breaks the count" because it does not allow the other opponent a fair chance to get into the ring. The closest thing to a "real" sports rule would be in boxing, where a referee will interrupt his count on a fallen opponent if a boxer leaves his neutral corner. Even so, the timekeeper keeps counting right along.

Galen Tom is recruiting opponents for Trish Stratus.


Is the WOW (Women of Wrestling) still active? I thought Riot was talented enough in the ring (especially with her corkscrew elbow drop) and on the mic for the WWE to be interested in her. Do you have any information what has she been up to?


Women of Wrestling didn't last long at all. It made it through about six months of regular promotions and then came apart. There's just not much of a market over here for women's wrestling. I never saw any of the stuff they put on, but Riot has fallen off the map. I can't find a real name for her, an employment history before or after WOW, or much of anything at all. If anybody can locate her, let me know. Assuming this column makes it another week, I'll update everyone.

Connor O'Boyle made me work on this question.


I remember watching an old promo of raven during the Flock days.early 98 i think it was. Before his match dont know who againsthe cut a promo and at the end he said sumthing like"i know your watching snakeman". he did this a few times if i remember correctly. what was it all about. was it a shoot comment on jake roberts or part of an angle.though i dont remember jake being a part of WCW aorund that time.

The ONLY guess I would be able to make about this is regarding Jake Robert's shoot interview with RF Video. He made a comment about other people's DDT's and said that the only thing that Raven did wrong was not swinging his leg. Other than knowing that Jake had commented on the form of his DDT, I wouldn't even know where to BEGIN guessing at this one. If anybody has anything CONCRETE...and please let me stress that because I don't need more guesses...please let me know.

Casey Johnson comes to us from the old folk's home.


Do you know who the oldest world champion ever is? What about the oldest to win the title? (These may be different people if the oldest to hold the title held it until he was older than the oldest to win the title. Does that make any sense?)

Crystal clear. Vince McMahon was 54 years old when he beat Triple H for the WWF Heavyweight Championship. From what I can gather, he's both the oldest to win it, and the oldest to hold it, though I'm sure someone will correct me and proceed to call me an idiot even though I dug around on the internet for over an hour looking for the answer to this.

Ben asks about the renaming of a move.


You know how Taz(z), back when he was in ECW, would rename suplexes (suplecies?) as he made them his own? The exploder suplex became the T-bone Tazplex, I think the ocean cyclone suplex became the wheelbarrow Tazplex, stuff like that. Now, I'd swear that back in the day, I saw the move that we now know as the northern lights suplex, but it was called a Russian suplex. I have a (possibly false) memory of Taz's version being the first time I'd heard it called "northern lights." So it boils down to this: Is/was there ever a "Russian suplex"? Is it the same move as a northern lights suplex? Could Taz have been responsible for the renaming?

There IS a Russian Suplex, and it's NOT the same as the Northern Lights. Northern Lights is a non-release bridging belly to belly suplex. Russian Suplex is a spinoff of the German Suplex. It's basically an overhead release belly to back suplex. It usually gets thrown in with German Suplexes when people are calling moves because it's easier just to call it a "release German suplex" than it is to learn the real name. Then again, we're talking about fake combat moves that would kill a man if you tried it legit. So there you have it, mi amigo.

Patrick Gruden thinks he can handle The Truth.


My question is in regards to Ron "The Truth" Killings. Why did he have such a short run in the (then) WWF? He was paired with The Road Dog for a brief while, then vanished. Did they have nothing for him to do, or did he somehow have a conflict with the E?

They just didn't think that he'd be marketable. God knows why, considering some of the swill they've thrown at us, but the fact that he's small (by pro wrestling standards), black, and talented probably had a lot to do with it. Vince likes big guys, has never had a black World Champion, and you can't have lower card guys showing up the big guys in the ring. See also: cruiserweights. Either way, I'm happy that he was given a chance to show off in TNA. He's more suited to "The Truth" than to K Kwik anyway.

Martin settles his disputes like a MAN.


Do you feel that The Rock is the greatest sports entertainer to grace a wrestling ring? In my opinion he is but I'm sure there are arguements for others like Hogan & Austin. Lets look at the body of work. Austin and The Rock helped put wrestling back into mainstream media in the late 90s. The promo skills speak for themself . The in ring work, although far from steamboat, was solid. The guy sold his ass (can I say that in this column?) off and jobbed to everyone numerous times. It may be unheard of for someone to take so many ass kickings and still stay strong at the top of the roster. The thing that "The People's Champ" has that no else does is that he covers the term "sports entertainer" completely. He has a strong athletic background, The U, he's been a wwf/e champion, and he's been a leading man in hollywood on more then one occassion and holds his own at the box office. Now if someone wants to argue this with me they can meet my by the old oak tree after school to settle our differences.


The Rock is on the short list of guys that can be entered into that argument. Other guys? Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Steve Austin naturally. But, let me throw another name into the mix that's often overlooked - Billy Graham. Not the preacher, the "Superstar". He was borrowed from liberally by Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Jesse Ventura, and Scott Steiner, just to name a few. His promos, his in-ring ability, and his celebrity status in the 1970's was proportionate to anyone else in the business now or then. I won't say that Rock is the greatest. I won't say that any of them are the greatest. I will say, though, that The Rock is definitely high on the list and you won't find me arguing against him being called the best ever for very long.

Justin D. probably has lightbulbs going off in his head right now.


Why didn't Bret Hart ever sue Vince McMahon, or the WWF/E, for what happened in Montreal?

Because it's all a work. Hear me? ALL A WORK. I've said it before, and now it's being borne out. The WHOLE MONTREAL SCANDAL WAS/IS A WORK. And your payoff? Bret Hart screwing someone over at Wrestlemania. He didn't sue anyone because he was in on it. And THAT is why HBK has never apologized, because there's nothing to apologize for. It would be like Kane apologizing to The Undertaker for murdering their parents or something. Same thing.

Maria K Hardy inquires about two mystery men.


I was watching the 2nd Annual Survivor Series and there was a team called the Conquistadors. Who were they and what happened to them?

The Conquistadors were Jose Estrada Sr. and Jose Luis Rivera. Estrada did quite a bit of work in Puerto Rico and wrestled as recently as 2005 against Carlos Colon in a Legends Match for the WWC Bruiser Brody Memorial Show. Jose Luis Rivera debuted in the sport in 1984, and to the best of my knowledge, did job work for his entire career in various places. Both are retired.

Greg asks about disappearing and reappearing titles.



I was around during the Monday Night Wars and a diehard WWE loyalist, so I must've seen this, but I'll be damned if I remember what happened. We all know that Medusa/Blayze dumped the WWF Women's title on an infamous episode of Nitro. But after that hit, how was the Women's title re-introduced in the WWE? I see in the 411 title history that the next champ after Alundra was Jaqueline, so how did that come to pass? Was there a tournament? Battle royale? Did Jackie just show up with a belt one day and declare herself champ a la Tazz and the FTW belt? Actually, that last one would've been pretty damn funny. But I digress. What happened?

At some point, the higher ups figured that having Sable vs. Jacqueline would be a fine substitute for a tournament to determine a new women's champion. Jacqueline won, essentially winning a match for a vacant title.

Here comes Bryan Jones with a question about the racism!


If Bill Watts was the racist people said he was....how did Ron Simmons become world champion under his watch?

Well see, here's the thing. Ron Simmons won the title and was promptly the third match on the card. Did he main event? No. He pretty much curtain jerked pay per views and stuff like that and was treated like crap. But I don't really feel sorry for him because he was still making more cash in a year that I will in the next five years. While the allegations are somewhat unfounded, Bill Watts obviously didn't believe in equality for everyone.

Steve asks about a legendary angle.


Most everyone agrees that the Black Scorpion idea from 1990 WCW was a horrible concept. My question is- was Ric Flair supposed to be revealed as the Scorpion all along, or was he put in there when the booker's original plan went up in smoke? I always felt that having Flair as the Scorpion was kind of a cop-out, storyline-wise.

There was no original intention for the payoff. The closest I've heard to having an actual plan was that Al Perez was going to be the Scorpion, only to back out when he found out that he'd have to job to Sting. That's right folks, AL PEREZ got PISSED when he found out that he'd be jobbing to Sting. Brilliant. Flair was plugged in somewhere along the way, and honestly...I liked the angle.

Rules? You need rules? One question at a time. Send your mail to [e-mail] or you don't get your questions answered. I'm well aware that the link sends you to a hotmail address. Don't use that. I'm not even checking that mail anymore. They're working on fixing this profile. So please, please, PLEASE use [e-mail]. Everything else we'll play by ear. See you in seven.