Ask 411 Wrestling 01.16.08: Piper's Aversion to Losing, Joe vs. Morishima, Owen in WCW and More!

Posted by Steve Cook on 01.16.2008

Including lots and lots of Hall of Fame questions and my favorite luchador!



It's time to Ask 411 Wrestling! I'm Steve Cook, and I hope you're having a better week than Peyton Manning. Not only does he throw for 400 yards and still lose to the Chargers, but his baby brother makes it to the NFC Championship Game? That's gotta sting.

Lots and lots of new questions make it into the column this week. There are 75 currently sitting in the in-box, so if you just sent something in yesterday…it's gonna be awhile. Just saying.

I've noticed some of the other columnists incorporating the comments into their columns, which makes me wonder if I should do the same thing. There are usually lots of interesting tidbits down there, but so far my lazy ass is content to let people scroll to the bottom and read them for themselves. Should I pick out some of the better comments and include them in the feedback section? I think I already know the answer to this, but I'm a man of the people and I like to be guided along. Of course, so do you…if you didn't, would you be reading a wrestling question & answer column? Probably not. Anyway, this column's already over 8,700 words, so there's no reason for me to drone on up here…

Comments, Corrections & Other "C" Words

Please retract the news of the Savage DVD release date I sent last week. This week's Observer states that Vince has cancelled it likely due to the bad blood between them.
Apparently Kevin Dunn had released a list of 2008 releases to distributors without Vince's permission. – Will

Whoops! Note to other readers: please don't send me any more questions about Savage & Vince. My head will surely explode if I see that question many more times.

As for why announcers used to announce the name twice - my roommate is a old school boxing fan and has heard it was necessary back in the day. Old arenas and sound systems weren't designed as well as they are today, so they would announce the fighters hometown, record and full name, but by the time they got to the name there might be a lot of feed back in the arena. So they would pause and then say the last name again so everyone knew which fight was going on. Once the design of the arena acoustics and the quality of the sound systems improved they could say everything clearly once and not have to repeat. – Strohl

I have the magazine and this jobber named Mistico is some magician looking douchebag. Apparently he only had a few matches. Hilarious stuff. – 411's Ramon Arnada

Don't know if this one counts, While not technically in-ring, I think he died a week later in hospital or something, but I'm pretty sure Khali inadvertently killed a guy. I can't remember his name at the moment. – Chad

We have covered this in the column before…

However, while he was training to become a wrestler at the APW training facility in California, he was unfortunately involved in the death of a fellow trainee, Brian Ong. Ong was on the receiving end of a flapjack from Khali and suffered a concussion. APW's trainers allowed him to continue training after he shook the cobwebs out a bit, he then took another flapjack from Khali and suffered another severe concussion which led to his death. Ong's family won a wrongful death lawsuit against APW and was awarded 1.3 million dollars. APW was found to not have done enough to prevent Ong from suffering the fatal injury. While Khali was the person doing the move to Ong, it is believed that the death had more to do with the way Ong took the move and the negligence of the APW training staff that allowed Ong to continue in the ring after suffering the first concussion.

Here in Puerto Rico, the IWA experienced two in-ring deaths: Víctor The Bodyguard and Mephisto Lepanto. Both of them died of heart attacks after finishing tag team matches. – Ariel

As far as the List of wrestlers who have died in the ring, I do believe Chris Candido died from a staph infection resulting from a broken leg he got at one of TNA's dumb ppv's where all the matches were cage matches. But I'm sure youve got everal emails reminding you of this. – cactusdjt

I hate to be technical about these kinds of things, but Candido's staph infection did not take place in the ring. He appeared on the Impact tapings after the Lockdown PPV where he was injured, then he flew home and ended up dying there. It's certainly one of the more tragic stories in wrestling history.

Kikutaro appeared as Triple Kiku, the HHH parody, at the 3rd NOSAWA BOM-BA-YE comedy show, produced by All Japan wrestler NOSAWA in June 2006. He faced All Japan's then-champion Satoshi Kojima, falling in 7 minutes to an elbow drop.
He did Kiku Angle last July, facing parodies of Brock Lesnar and Josh Barnett in the 4th NOSAWA show, winning after a failed F-5.

He uses lots of Flair mannerisms as "normal" Kikutaro, though I don't remember him doing Naitch in same manner – Chen

re: people in wwe who were in RoH

you forgot about matt striker.

and technically, super-crazy wrestled on their first dvd, but it was against Eddie for another company's IC championship, and I dont know if he did anything after that.

oh yeah, matt hardy was also there. I guess that begs the question, what do you consider as criteria for being "in" RoH? lengthy feuds? notable contributions? – Manu Bumb

I forgot about Matt Striker, and I also forgot about Tank Toland, who went from WWE to ROH. Super Crazy only appeared on the first ROH show, and I guess you could count Eddie & Matt as guys who went from WWE to ROH back to WWE along with Jamie Gibson/Noble. I didn't think of Matt because by the time he appeared for ROH, he was already back with WWE. He had signed to appear in ROH before returning to WWE, but by the time those dates came up, he was a WWE Superstar once again. Oh, and Joey Mercury was in ROH before he went to OVW & then WWE. I don't think I mentioned him last time because he's not with either company now.

Questions!

I remember vaguely that Sabu was wrestling a match in WCW back in the day and Eric Bischoff was doing color and Sabu did a moonsault and
Bischoff called it an Arabian Facebuster. Anyone remember this or am I
just nuts? I swear it happened but I don't remember what show it was on. – Scott

I believe that happened on one of the episodes of Monday Nitro that Sabu appeared on…this would have been in September or October of 1995. I have a vague memory of that as well…maybe Sabu landed on the guy's face, but it's more likely that Bischoff heard that Sabu finished matches with an Arabian Facebuster and didn't actually know what the move was, so he used the name for the first thing he saw that could have been it.

Oscar has a question and a rant for a previous questioner…

Another long time reader, the usual introduction to your typical question.

I noticed a few wrestlers from the RAW era missing last Monday. Big Show and Randy Savage are the ones I wonder about the most. What happened to them? More specifically, what is the cause of the so-called-heat between the boss and the macho man?

Savage vs. Vince has been discussed many times in this column since you sent your questions, so I'll assume you read it at some point. As for Big Show, rumor has it that he'll be returning to WWE very soon, and he's down to about 440 lbs. He will also reassume his slave name of "Big Show". That's referring to a promo he cut while building up the match he had with Hulk Hogan on an independent show in Memphis where he claimed that Big Show was his slave name. I'm explaining it now to avoid later questions.

In a quick response to one of your readers, I think you missed the point he was making. I am a Pastor, getting my PhD and working full time. Being a theologian myself I can tell you that when it comes to evangelism the preacher has to take that 'evangelism' approach to his sermon. When it comes time to 'evangelize' the preacher may chose to talk about the end of times. After all, by definition, evangelism is about saving souls from Armageddon (not the PPV). The "END OF TIMES" is clearly marked in the Bible and several things are listed as "SIGNS" that the end is near.

What has the world come to? Have you ever heard this statement outside the realm of a sermon? That is an expression of disbelief when encountering the harsh reality of the world we live in. That said, the Benoit Tragedy goes to show the world we live in is a wicked one and that is a sign that the end is near. Wrestling specific; Austin 3:16 is a sign. RVD 4:20 is a sign (NOT wrestling signs guys), Undertaker crucifying Austin and sacrifices are signs. Why did the preacher choose to use wrestling as an example? It's common to choose something thats already frowned upon. Wrestling, ladies and gentleman, is already looked down upon as a joke by the media and your friends. The church is no different. Sure wrestling is fake, but the message the preacher was trying to make is that even in a fake world, the reality of the wicked world kicks in and the Benoit Tragedy is a sign of just how bad we are. That is a testimony of the end of times as defined in the Bible itself.

I think we could have used some saving from the PPV. Not to mention the movie. As for your commentary, I have no actual comment because I'm trying to play all sides. No matter who ends up being right about this religious stuff, I want to be with the winners.

Nick has two questions…

Question 1

I remember when I was younger, watching a pay per view on tape but I can't remember what it was and maybe you can tell me. The arena they were in, I seem to remember everything, like the carpets and everything being a tint of goldish and another thing I remember from this was the Blue Blazer running in on a match. I know its not much information but I was wondering if you could research and see what you can find for me. Thanks.

I have no idea what you mean with the "tint of goldfish" business, but I can tell you which PPVs the Blue Blazer appeared on in his second WWF run…none that I could find. The only PPV I have record of him appearing on is WrestleMania V. Donald Trump does resemble a goldfish.

Question 2.

I recall a promo with the ultimate Warrior during his fued with papa shango and he was wearing a jacket for the interview. Was there a reason for this jacket? It seems very odd for him to just randomly wear a jacket during an interview. I did remember that during the actual interview, he started having this black stuff drip down from his hairline so i wasn'ts ure if that had something to do with it. Thanks. – Nick

The jacket was just for effect so when the black "ooze" dripped down from his face onto the jacket, the audience would be all like "ooooooh, it ruined Warrior's pretty white jacket". Jim Cornette applied this same principle when he wore his white jacket on WCW Saturday Night to get busted open by Paul E. Dangerously, and Jimmy Jacobs had the same idea when he let the Briscoes bleed all over his white jacket on the ROH Man Up PPV.

Ive been watching wrestling 15 years and it's always puzzled me why the majority, (or at least more than the national average) of wrestlers have long hair. The only reason I can think is that historically, it helped them to talk in the ring without the fans at ringside and at home noticing. Any ideas? – Yoxall

One of the main reasons is exactly as you say, so they can talk without it being too obvious. Another reason is that long hair has long been considered a symbol of strength, all the way back to the days of Samson. Plus, some people just look better with long hair.

Tony has two questions…

what does sonjay dutt do with the money he collects from fans.

He probably buys presents for So Cal Val. OOOOOOOOOOH YEAHHHHHHH! Either that or he picks up the tab at the bar when he goes out with other wrestlers after the show. At least, that's what he should do. Be a man, Sonjay!

when i first started watching tna they were still on their weekley ppv's and i came in when they were giving aj a big push he was teaming with sting against jarret and luger it seemed like all the x-division guys were getting a big push then tna gets their tv deal and they forget about the wrestlers that kept their company alive like amazing red Lo-Ki (senshi) even matt bentley what ever his name was then is this thanks to russo? why fix something that isnt broken?

To be fair, TNA started neglecting the X Division wrestlers long before they ended up on Spike TV. The fact of the matter is that television executives think that you have to have big name stars on shows in order for them to draw ratings. You can't pin it all on Russo, in fact I would argue that AJ would probably be doing less than he is now in TNA if it wasn't for Vinnie Ru. The decision to push name talent over smaller guys was definitely a group decision.

I think it isn't as bad as you make it out to be. AJ is still a Tag Team Champion and gets a lot of airtime every week, even if he's shown in a more humorous light than he was before.

Hi Steve. I really enjoy your column, I find it interesting, informative and I look forward to reading it each week. I have a question. Why is it that if WWE can use the old gold WWF logo from the 80's and early/mid 90's can they not use the old scratch logo? The new scratch logo is kind of similar but is distinctly different. Also why is it that they have to block out the wrestlers saying the F in "WWF"? Surely enough time has passed for them to use it again? WWE is a distinct and unique brand. I don't know anyone who calls it WWF anymore. I'd be interested to know what your take on this is. – Rob

I wouldn't say the scratch logos are distinctly different. Part of it got chopped off, and that's how they made their new logo. I was pretty disappointed by that because I was hoping they would come up with something new and exciting. I'm surprised they haven't by now because they've been using a scratch logo since 1998. That's forever in wrestling. The only people who still refer to WWE as "WWF" are misinformed sportswriters trying to make lame jokes in their columns or on talk shows. WWE still has to block it out on their footage because that was the terms of the lawsuit.

I was born in the very early 80's and grew up with my Dad renting me the Coliseum Video WWF Volume collection. My video store had # 1- 20. I distinctly remember one of the early editions featured a Fijian Strap Match between Piper and Snuka where Snuka cleanly pinned Piper with a 2nd rope Crossbody. It wasn't till the internet when I heard about Piper never jobbed or "rarely" jobbed, and yet I distinctly remember this one match where he laid down for Snuka. That actually leads me to a question. If I am correct about the Snuka job, then why didn't Piper ever lay down for Hogan? That would be like someone doing a job to X-Pac but refusing to job to Triple H. – Dan from Brooklyn

Here's how Piper explains the situation in his book "In the Pit with Piper":

The night of the event, I was in Madison Square Garden and I asked to take a dive for Hogan, and I said no. This started a time in my career when I wouldn't take dives, wouldn't let anyone pin my shoulders, etc., but I had my reasons. I had worked too damn hard for too long to get where I was, and I wasn't about to take a fall for anyone. Don't get me wrong-I had no problem with losing to the guy, but not by pinfall. I knew that if Hogan had pinned me that night, it would be the end for me. Hogan would just move on to the next heel of the month, and where would that leave me? I wasn't some flash in the pan, so I wasn't about to let that happen.

This is in reference to the "War to Settle the Score", which took place in January 1985. Piper's feud with Snuka took place in 1984, so he hadn't reached the point where he wouldn't do jobs yet.

My favorite reader hailing from the Philippines, Maria, chimes in with six questions this week!

1. some people were claiming john cena's rapper gimmick is not original. who then is the first wrestler to don a rapper gimmick?

The first wrestler that used the rapping gimmick in a major promotion was P.N. News, who was active in WCW in 1991. The Rapmaster, as his twelve fans knew him as, was pretty lame, but I've been known to use his "Yo baby yo baby yo" catchphrase at bars while making my move. It doesn't get as much of a response as you'd expect.

2. after i read that joanie laurer officially changed her name to chyna, is she currently employed with a wrestling promotion?

Joanie is not currently involved in the wrestling business. She is currently appearing on the VH1 show "Celebrity Rehab"…that should tell you what she's been up to lately.

3. do you see chyna in tna to do an anti-mcmahon shoot?

Chyna was scheduled to make an appearance on a TNA PPV back in 2002, but did not show up. I don't think they'd rule out doing business with her, but if they do they probably wouldn't let her go into business for herself and "shoot" on the McMahons, Triple H and anybody else who did her wrong.

4. what is the worst thing you've heard about scott hall?

I hate to pile on Scott Hall because his story is so tragic. He could have been one of the greatest performers in wrestling history if not for his demons…he reminds me a lot of Jake Roberts in that way. I think the worst thing about Hall, or anybody else who can't control their problems, is the effect they have on other people, especially their family. Mike Mooneyham had a story about the effect Hall had on his son, Cody…

The situation escalated last month, said Ms. Hall, when Cody was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric unit of an Orlando hospital under the state's Baker Act, which allows for the temporary committal of those who pose a physical threat to themselves or others. The boy told officials there that he felt threatened by his father, who has had primary residential custody of the children over the past year.
Ms. Hall said she had taken her son to the doctor earlier for what was believed to be a strep throat. She said it was soon diagnosed, however, that the problems were much deeper.
"He would be sick every time he came home. He was throwing up, crying and very weepy. He said he was sick of his life. Toward the end he said he wanted to kill himself, and he begged me to get him out of there. Then it all started coming out."
After suffering a panic attack, Cody was taken to the emergency room and checked into the hospital's behavioral center. After being held five days at the hospital, Cody was released to voluntary status when he willingly signed a paper stating that he would rather be in the hospital than at home with his father.
According to medical reports, Cody has suffered from a major depressive disorder. The sixth-grader has missed six weeks of school and has lost 13 pounds since October.
Cody refused to speak with his father during a mandated family meeting during his second week at the hospital, Ms. Hall said. Instead, doctors asked the boy to write a letter to Hall. The three-page note indicated that he was fearful of returning to his father's home, citing Hall's alcohol use and even threatening suicide if forced to return.
"The lady brought the letter to Scott and told him he needed to read it," said Ms. Hall. "Scott, of course, said he didn't believe the letter. He thought that I made him write it, even though I wasn't in the room. They had to rip Cody's fingers off the side of the door because he was holding on so tightly. Two people had to literally pull him into the room. He sat with his head down and wouldn't even look at his father. Scott wouldn't validate any of his feelings, and told him that he would just have to deal with it. Scott just doesn't want to get it through his head."
Cody has now been in the hospital for three weeks, and a guardian ad litem has been called in to determine where the children need to be.
The situation has left Dana Hall, a woman with whom Hall has shared an on-again, off-again relationship for the past 12 years, searching for answers. "It's so bad that his son would rather be in a hospital than with him," said Ms. Hall, who was married to the wrestler twice and divorced for the final time in July 2001. "Cody's also fed up with the drinking and the whole thing."

I'm all for personal freedom, but when it starts affecting your loved ones, you need to take a step back and realize what you're doing to them.

5. who is your fave luchadore?

Out of all the luchadores I've seen, my favorite would have to be La Parka. I just really love the skeleton costume, the dancing, and the steel chair usage. Now, AAA has a fake La Parka that they started using when the original La Parka left for WCW & Konnan's Promo Azteca…he's ok, but the original is #1 in my book.

6. now that age of the fall is the new roh tag team champs, are they the first stable to don the EMO gimmick? or there was someone else who did it?

They are the first group of wrestlers to do the emo gimmick…I wouldn't say they were the first emo people in wrestling, but they are probably the first that would embrace the label. Kane & Matt Hardy were both pretty damn emo when they were getting their hearts broken by Lita. Hell, one could argue that Kane's character has been emo ever since the fire that Undertaker set that killed their parents. He shut himself off from the world because he thought he was scarred, but the scars were emotional. Eventually Kane emerged from his emo shell and became the deranged sociopath that we know and love today, but sometimes he goes back into his shell, and it took forever for him to take off that damn mask that hid his emotions. Kane would fit right in with Jimmy Jacobs & company. As commenter Derek pointed out, Jacobs & Tyler Black also competed as an emo group in the short-lived Wrestling Society X under the name D.I.F.H. (Do It For Her). I don't think we ever found out who "Her" was.

I'm a big ROH fan and generally understand and appreciate the booking. The one big exception to this understanding was Morishima's first match in which he lost to Samoa Joe who was leaving the company a few weeks later. Morishima would go on to win the World Title off Homicide one night later and have a dominant run until his recent loss of the title.

I don't understand why you would book a monster Champ to loose his first match against outgoing talent. If you wanted to give the nod to Joe for work done and not have him job on the outs, why not just skip the Joe/Morishima match altogether? Was the PPV deal not on the sights at the time and Gabe thought he'd have a Joe/Morishima rematch where Morishima went over? Any ideas? – Laszlo

From the way Joe's departure from ROH was handled, I have the impression that they did not know that Joe was going to have to leave so soon. They probably planned on Joe & Morishima having a series of matches, and Joe putting the young upstart over on his way out. It may look illogical right now…but if Joe should end up returning to ROH when his TNA deal expires (hey, it could happen if ROH's momentum keeps going upward and TNA remains stagnant), it would be natural to resume that rivalry. All in all, I don't think it did much to hurt the fat kid, and he regained his momentum the next night when he squashed Homicide for the title.

heres a question Steve, were the hell can I find Wrestlemania 4 on the net, im having a lot of trouble finding it – Joel

I'm putting this one out to the readers because I don't download wrestling on the Internet. Seriously! Not my thing.

Conor O'Boyle has four questions for us…

In your opinon,what would say is the best shoot interview out there and the worst?Plus which one were you surprised about how good it was and most dissapointed with a shoot interveiw?

I've been checking out a lot of the ROH Straight Shootin' Series interviews lately…my current favorite has to be the Jim Cornette & Percy Pringle shoot interview. Personally, I like the ones that are freaking hilarious and provide interesting information…and bury some people along the way. Cornette is always good on a shoot interview, and Pringle had a lot of interesting things to talk about. Good stuff. Honorable mention goes to the first Raven/Sandman shoot, the first Cornette/Heenan shoot, the ridiculously long one Cornette did with RF, and any New Jack interview.

I'm trying to think of a bad one right now…one I didn't get much enjoyment out of was Abdullah the Butcher's shoot with RF. You can see why he didn't talk much.

The most surprisingly good one I've seen would probably be Lance Storm's. Not that I'm surprised that Lance could give a good shoot interview, I just didn't know if his career had been long enough to have enough interesting stories to cover three hours.

The most disappointing one I've seen was ROH's shoot with Tom Pritchard. I was hoping for all sorts of interesting inside information and trash talk, but it seemed like Pritchard wasn't trying to say anything that would keep him from getting rehired by WWE.

1.Do you have any idea when Randy Savage's last match for the WWE was?I know his last PPV match was at WM10 against crush but is was that his actual last match with the company?

According to History of WWE, Savage's last WWF match took place on September 13, 1994 in Rockstock, Germany. He teamed with Bret Hart in a winning effort over Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart.

2.Did Bret Hart and Marty Janeatty (sorry but spelling) ever have a 1on1 match?If so do you have any details on any of thier matches and were they any good?

I don't remember ever seeing them in a singles match, and I couldn't find record of one on the Internet. If they did face each other, I invite someone to volunteer that information.

3.What was with Owen Hart being a jobber in WCW around 92?I mean I thought he was with the WWE at the time.Also did WCW just bring him in as a jobber and had no other plans for him?

I wouldn't really consider Owen as a jobber during his WCW run in March-April 1991. All the records I could find show him being victorious, albeit in opening matches over less than stellar competition. He didn't stick around long enough to get anywhere, but I sure wouldn't have minded seeing those matches where he teamed with Brian Pillman.

Tasty Rus (I'll take his word for it) chimes in with two questions…

Hey Mr.Cookenburgschmitzubishi,
great article as always, here is a combination of questions, one old, one new, for you to chew on.

1) The Old:

Bret Hart, notoriously known as The Hitman, always had his last name announced by Finkel as more of a little yelp, which I always thought took away some of his intensity (seriously, go back and listen to him being announced, instead of Harrrrrrrrrt you get a little yelp that sounds like "hirt") but I'm straying here. The real question is why his Hitman name was never explained, as from what I have seen of him (a fair amount) and even on his DVD release they don't go into much detail other than the fact that he stole it from a boxer named Herns. Why was it never brought up, or was it and I just can't remember? Was he given money to take people out? Did he ever engage in any mafia skits? I personally think that "Iceman" would have been better than Hitman and would have fit his demeanour more so, although I can't imagine Stone Cold VS Iceman getting as much of a draw as it did with both wrestlers having frosty monikers.

Sadly, there were no mafia skits and no real explanation as to why Bret Hart was the "Hitman" on television. I have no beef with the nickname though…it sounded cool and that was all that mattered to me when I was a young lad watching him wrestle.

2) The New:

Now that the Impact Script is doing the rounds I have noticed something interesting; in an interview or company conference call earlier this year/late last, TNA stated (and I think it may have been Jarrett or Carter defending him) that Russo only booked 5% of Impact at most (this was in response to the FI-RE RU-SSO chants that came up earlier that week). Yet it is amazing to me that almost every segment on the leaked Impact script has Russo noted as the producer. What gives? I thought that Tenay, West and Abyss 'The Tack Man' had jumped on board creative, but from the run sheet it just looks like Russo is flying solo with a pinch of help from Disco Inferno..?

Cheers in advance for the help with these questions, and I wish you and everyone at 411 a merry x-mas and happy new year!

It looks bad, but just because Russo produces the segments doesn't mean he's solely responsible for writing them. He just has the most experience out of anybody on the staff as far as producing segments goes, so they choose to use him in that role. Tenay & West are busy working on the announcing, and Abyss has to focus on his wrestling, so they wouldn't have time to be the on-site producer. Russo may be the guy telling the wrestlers how to do their stuff, but he's not the only guy coming up with the ideas.

My boy from the Carolinas John has three questions…

COOKLYN COOKLYN, nah I'll cut the chatter and get to what matters........FINALLY.......The Carolina King has returned to Ask 411 in pursuit of Knowledge. I have 3 questions: when was the last time a Southpaw Pro Wrestler held a World Title?

Honestly, I'm having a hard time thinking of one. I don't really notice which hand wrestlers use to punch, so there are none I can think of at the moment.

2: Why does AAA(on Galavision) seem to have such bad wrestling? I mean I tried to watch one of the 3 hour shows that come on Weekends and, I've seen more talent in Indy Backyard Matches. I mean their are some bright spots, it is basically, Half- Old X-Division, Half Indy Wrestling.

Lucha Libre is an acquired taste, for sure. A lot of people don't understand it, and it took awhile for me to get into it at first. It might not have the "work rate" that Internet fans love to see, but luchadores aren't performing for those fans anyway. What they do is what Mexican children want to see, and what their parents want to see as well. And yes, the X Division has taken a lot from lucha libre.

3: What has happened to Marcus Cor Von, Chris Masters since they were released?

Cor Von has been dealing with a family crisis that has been previously alluded to in this column. Masters has made some appearances in Japan, most notably for Antonio Inoki's Inoki Genome Federation. He has expressed interest in going to TNA, but most feel that he'll probably wind up back in WWE at some point.

L.S.C. has a crapload of WWE Hall of Fame questions…

ome hall of fame questions:

Do you think Vince would ever put someone like Antonio Inoki in the Hall?

I don't see Inoki going in because he's in tight with the NWA. Yes, I know the NWA means nothing, but it's enough of a reason to keep Inoki away from WWE and in Japan.

What about Howard Finkel?

The Fink will likely be inducted one of these years for his many contributions to the company. When that will happen is anybody's guess, I'm thinking it'll be sometime around when he retires.

How is Bob Backlund not in the Hall of Fame? He was the WWF(e) champion for a long time, a few years, I think..

Backlund was champion a total of 2,138 days, which is a very long time. Jim Ross has said that Backlund is waiting for one last run before he gets into the HOF…I think he had that in TNA last year. I reckon Backlund will be in sooner or later, he was happy to show up for the 15th Anniversary Raw show.

Also, I noticed BRUNO SAMMARTINO is not in the hall of fame either, whats up with that?

Bruno discussed this in his ROH shoot interview…basically, he doesn't want to do business with Vince McMahon. If the WWE HOF was something more than Vince's project to help him make money with DVDs and whatnot, Bruno might be interested, but he doesn't see it as anything of great importance. He has been asked, but he declined. And I respect him for that.

Tony Atlas is in, but his tag team partner, Rocky Johnson is not..thats crazy, isnt it?

Personally, I don't think either man should be in. You might get differing arguments from other people, but they wouldn't make my list.

If they go with the Ric Flair induction this year, then I think Ricky Steamboat must go in with him..dont you?

One would think so. Steamboat's definitely deserving regardless of when Flair gets in.

How is Nikolai Volkoff in, but not Jake the Snake Roberts?

They may be waiting for Jake to sober up. If that's what they're waiting for, it'll be a long time.

Why has "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase been kept out? He had one of the best gimmicks and a nice long run in the company..

Dibase was on bad terms with WWE until he returned for a brief period as an agent. He's still friendly with them, and I bet he'll get inducted pretty soon.

Do you think Randy "macho man" Savage will ever get in?

No.

Where is Mil Mascaras? He has to be in the hall of fame!

Mil Mascaras is in Mexico. Maybe one of these years they'll induct a bunch of Mexicans when they hold WrestleMania in Arena Mexico.

What about the Big Boss Man?

He wouldn't make my list, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got in one of these days.

Also, What do you think about having a Tag Team wing? They put the Samoans in already, Afa and Sika..but its not a true wrestling hall of Fame without teams like
The Road Warriors, The Von Erichs, The Fabulous Freebirds, and The Rock and Roll Express.

I'd vote for all of those choices, and I'm pretty sure that the Warriors & Freebirds will make it in someday. Some of the Von Erichs may make it in as well so Vince can sell that World Class DVD.

What about Baron Von Raschke - that guy was a main eventer in AWA for years...or Stan "the man' hansen?

I like the Baron, but he's not quite HOF material in my eyes. Hansen's borderline in my book, but I don't think he's on great terms with WWE and I don't think he really cares about it.

Carlitos dad-Carlos colon should be in as well...

Carlos still isn't in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame, which is a more accurate HOF than WWE's even though there are a lot of people out of it that should be in. Of course, it goes without saying that 411mania's is the best…what?

Vince Mcmahon is listed as a hall of famer..I assume thats Vince Sr....Vince Jr. obviously belongs in as well.

That's Vince Sr.. I imagine they'll wait until Vince Jr's ready to retire before he gets inducted.

What about womens wreslters? trish will be in one day, I hope. What about Wendy Richter, or some other women?

Trish will be in. I don't think Wendi will make it due to the circumstances involving her departure from the WWF. Basically she wanted more money and Vince didn't want to give it to her and she got screwed out of the Women's title. Good times. As far as other women getting in go…Sunny & Sable are probably the most deserving of the 90s, Lita & Chyna would be the most deserving of the 00s, and Elizabeth in the 80s, at least as far as WWE women's wrestling/managing goes. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on Chyna's induction though.

Finally, do you think King Kong Bundy deserves a spot in the hall? when I was a kid, he was a major player in wrestling.

Bundy would be a "no" vote for me. He had a long career, but most of it was spent in the indies and his peak at the top of the business didn't last all that long.

As for the hall itself..why hasnt Vince built an actual Pro wrestling Hall of fame and museum? They could have a huge building, shaped like a ring-with some of the old steel cages-the blue bars.., titles, and all sorts of wreslting gear, from Ric Flairs robes, to Hulk Hogans ridiculous amount of merchandise, to Jesse the Bodies Boas, The Undertakers Urn, The towel that Skaaland threw in when Backlund lost the title to the Iron Sheik (heck, the iron shieks pointy/curly toed boots), its really unlimited....... How cool would it be to see the little things, like the scissors used by Brutus Beefcake to cut Adrian Adonis' hair, or a collection of Masked Superstar, Rey Misterio and Mil mascaras masks for example, or for fans to get to jump around inside a real ring? There could be so many things-from Dibiases briefcase, to the ladder used by Sean and Razor in the first ladder match, to the chariots that brought wrestlers to the ring during the caesers palace Wresltemania...its really unlimited how much stuff is out there that peple would be keen on seeing...A replica of Pipers Pit, an Elimination Chamber, The Road Warriors Spiked Collars, Kamalas Spear, some of the crowns awarded to "king of the ring" winners, and so much more. They could also have a full wing, the actual "hall" with bronze statues, or identical wax replicas of all the greats...They could have old wreslters, like Jimmy Snuka or I.R.S. making random cameo appearences, and maybe even run special matches-at the hall/museum from time to time just to bring more people in....If done right, and put in the right spot (by the headquarters in Connecticut-so wrestlers who are at the main offices can stop by the hall and attract fans)--why not?

They have a traveling exhibit that goes on the road around WrestleMania time and gets displayed near the WrestleMania site. I think the main reason why they don't have a permanent HOF location is due to finances. WWE has other things they'd rather spend money on than building a Hall of Fame facility. And there's no guarantee that they'd make money off such a facility.

On another topic, I have heard several wrestlers claim to be the biggest wrestler ever..but, I think Haystacks Calhoun was the only person to top 600 pounds. Is that correct? and whatever happened to Haystacks?

Sorry to go long on this one..but, really, why not just do the Hall up right? – L.C.S.

Haystacks died in 1989 due to complications from diabetes, which also forced him to retire and confined him to a double-wide trailer late in life. He weighed in at 601 lbs., but was not the heaviest wrestler of all time. That honor would go to Happy Humphrey, who weighed in several times at over 800 lbs. He spent most of his career at the 750 pound mark, which is still more than any human being should weigh. Eventually Humphrey entered the Guinness Book of World Records for losing the most weight of any known human being, as he went from 802 to 232 pounds over a period of two years that he spent at the Medical College of Georgia's Clinical Investigation Unit.

Hi, I am hoping you can answer a question that has been rolling around in my head for a while.

A few years ago I picked a wonderful piece of 80's Wrestlecrap, "The Wrestling Album". It was released by the WWF (e) back in 85 to coincide with the Wrestlemania popularity explosion and featured a few 80's wrestling themes, some skits with the Brain and Jesse Venture and the like. On the album it promotes "Real American" as being the theme for the team of Mike Rotunda and Barry Wyndham while Hogan has the cleverly named "Hulk Hogan's Theme", which was also the theme song to the Hulk Hogan's Rock N Wrestling Cartoon.

I know that Wyndham and Rotunda worked the original Wrestlmania Card but can't remember which theme song they or Hogan used on that show. So my question is why and when did Hogan began to use "Real American" as his theme? – MF

Once the U.S. Express of Windham & Routnda broke up in late 1985, the Real American theme song was given to Hogan. This was probably because the song fit Hogan's character really well and was a bit catchier than "Hulk Hogan's Theme". Whatever the reason, the change worked really well.

One question that's been bugging me for years. On WWF Superstars & Challenge there was a wrestler who would come in and attack certain heels after they were victorious. I was young watching this, so the only thing I can remember is he would come in a blue mask with some renegade uniform. He attacked Earthquake more than once. This was happening for a while then he just disappeared.

Would you know who this is? It would clear years of trying to figure who this was. – Nicholas

That was none other than Brutus Beefcake, who was still recovering from having his face surgically repaired after a parasailing accident in 1990. He wasn't ready to come back yet, so they put him under a mask and had him randomly attack some heels for a short period of time in early 1992. The angle got dropped and Beefcake's actual return didn't happen until early 1993.

I've been a long time reader now and you have answered some of my questions so thanks. I have question about something they showed on the original ECW's promos where two guys were on a catwalk and there were tables stacked to the top of each other pretty high. So who were the two guys, what type of match was it, and where was it at? – Brandon

This was a scaffold match between Tommy Dreamer & Brian Lee that took place at the ECW Arena. The show was called "High Incident" and it was held on October 26, 1996.

Christopher has three questions…

1. What exactly was the Rhyno's beef with the WWE writers about when he was released?

If I remember correctly, it was just that he wasn't being used properly, they didn't give him enough of a push…the usual stuff.

2. I've seen some pretty bad botched moves, but what do you htink is the worst you've ever seen?

The ugliest I've seen has to be Brock Lesnar's botched shooting star press at WrestleMania XIX. Jack Evans has had some pretty bad landings, but he doesn't have 280 pounds coming down with him to make it look even worse.

3. Back when i was ridiculously obssessed with the WWE and everything wrestling. I got a hold of a book that was titled "Top 10 of wrestling" or whatever...... its been like five years since i remember having that book in my possession. but on it, it mentions the Mandible Claw and its origin. apparently it came from a wrestler back in the what wikipedia mentions as the 1at golden age of wrestling back in 1930's - 1940's. a wrestler with a "Dr. whatshisface" kinda name. the whole gimmick about him was that he was convicted of murdering his wife but was released due to lack of evidence. but everyone hated him cause he was the only suspect and everyone figured he had to have murdered her(insert Lex Luger joke here). but my question is, did the famed Mnadible Claw actually originated from this suspected convict and was his whole background true or just another lame gimmick? – Christopher

The Mandible Claw was invented by Sam Sheppard, who had been accused of killing his wife and found guilty. He spent ten years in prison before being acquitted in a new trial, which was granted because the original trial was unfair. After his release, he spent a brief time in pro wrestling under the name "The Killer" and used the "Mandibular Nerve Pinch" as his finisher. This took place in the late 1960s.

Brandon closes up shop this week with five questions…

1. I've heard many times about how HHH got punished for that Madison Square Garden incident, since Nash and Hall were gone, and no way HBK was getting punished since he was the world champion at the time, but how exactly was HHH punished, and for how long?

HHH was punished by not being allowed to win the King of the Ring tournament in 1996, and then became a jobber to the stars for some time. I would say his punishment ended in October 1996, when he won the Intercontinental Title from Rocky Miavia and began to receive a push. Honestly, it all worked out for the best, as Helmsly has obviously had a very successful career, and the guy who won the KOTR in 1996, some guy named Austin, also did very well for himself.

2. I've noticed numerous times whenever wrestlers get close to the announce table, or it seems like they are about to use the table, the announcers leave the table and grab some sort of folder/binder/papers while they are stepping away from their tables. What is that stuff?

On those sheets are notes about what's going to happen so the announcers know what's going to happen so they can talk intelligently about it. Most announcers know to prepare for their job so they don't come off like fools, and the promoters have things that they want the announcers to say, so all of that ends up on the papers that have to be moved aside when somebody gets thrown through a table

3. I was watching that Best of Raw DVD that just came out, and it got to the chapter about how The Kid (now X-Pac/Sixx-Pac) beat Razor Ramon. I remembered that from way back when I was little, and it was a shock to me then of course. But it made me wonder, The Kid was basically a jobber before that win, but what made him stand out from all the other jobbers and got the WWE to decide to give him a push? Or was him being a jobber just a storyline to help his win against Razor Ramon be bigger?

The Kid had been the talk of the indy wrestling scene for quite some time before he got into the WWF. He was one of the featured talents in the short-lived Global Wrestling Federation, which somehow got airtime on ESPN in the early 1990s. So he was known within the business and by the hardcore fans as a kid who could wrestle, but he didn't exactly have the size factor going for him. WWF decided to bring him in as an underdog, had him do a few jobs, and then he got the big win over Razor. The rest is history.

4. I remember reading (or at least I think it was reading) in Stone Cold's book that Savio Vega helped him a good bit in the WWE to become kinda big in the WWE, and he thought that Savio Vega was underrated. I don't remember much about Savio Vega from the past, only a bit to be honest. Why would Stone Cold think he was underrated? Was he a good wrestler but not getting pushed real good or what exactly?

Savio never really got pushed as a top guy…personally, I'd disagree with Austin as I never saw too much in Savio Vega. He was a decent hand but nothing to write home about. He could get a decent reaction if used in the right situation, but he was never going to be a guy you could consider a World title contender.

5. It's a touchy subject, but I have watched Survivor Series 2007, and I watched the Randy Orton/HBK match (which is an AWESOME match btw), and there was the moment that HBK got Randy in the Crippler Crossface, and surprisingly the crowd popped HUGE for that, like whenever someone gets in the Sharpshooter kinda pop. I think I heard even a little Benoit chant. And I was happy with the submission since I LOVED Benoit as a wrestler, but why would WWE allow that move to be pulled off based upon what happened with Benoit and all? Were they just trying to see how the crowd reacts to Benoit 5 months after all that happened? And with how the crowd popped huge for the submission, do you think it's a good sign that overtime, they'll acknowledge Benoit wrestled in the WWE and maybe show him on WWE 24/7 (I've heard he's being kept off there or somethin) or release a DVD of him or whatever, ya know just start showing that he was once part of the WWE roster again? Just curious how the WWE could possibly react to the crowd cheering Benoit's submission and obviously still liking him and respecting him and all as a wrestler. (I wonder how the WWE would react if the crowd had booed at that submission)

I asked our resident HBK expert, Voodoo Penguin about this, and here's what he had to say…

It's HBK, he can pull that kind of stuff when others can't. You might be reading too much into this, and it was just a section of the match to them. I highly doubt it was some scheme by Vince to gauge how acceptable Benoit was.

I agree with the Penguin whole-heartedly. Don't read too much into things. And that's all we have time for this week. Send any questions, comments, corrections or porn to [e-mail], or hit us up in the comment section right below here. Until next time, booooooohica!