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HEEL CHEATING TO WIN, WHERE'S AKSANA, OTUNGA AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2016-07-08 10:00:00

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Any idea where the old WCW Wargames cage is?

I would assume that WWE either has it in their warehouse somewhere or they chose to discard of it.  It would have been included in the assets of WCW when they purchased it in 2001.

I've noticed complaints about WWE heels having to cheat to win such as AJ Styles over John Cena and Seth Rollins not getting clean wins. Why is anyone surprised? For all of Vince McMahon's claims of doing movies etc., he's held to the traditional heel vs face formula except during the Attitude era. And it's not like there aren't cheating heels in other promotions. Jay Lethal has gotten help from Truth Martini. The Addiction jhas won matches cheating. Johnny Mundo beat Fenix on Lucha Underground with a belt shot. Besides, I would argue it's just as bad to have heels burry faces who are supposed to be challengers by having them submit cleanly (IE: Del Rio as champion using the cross arm breaker, Rusev getting clean tapout jobs with the camel clutch, err Accolade.) So why the problem with heels doing what heels have done for years?

I don't have an issue with it, but there are times where letting the heel get the win after a really great competitive match only makes sense because the chicanery at the end just cheapens what the audience was already emotionally invested in.  AJ Styles vs. John Cena was a good example of such a thing in my mind. 

Had a question regarding wrestling shirts.  Been looking at prowrestlingtees.com shirts and a lot of the designs look amazing.  I look at a lot of WWE shirts and the creativity is not there.  Lots of shirts are just some font on a black shirt and they cost over $20 + shipping. Only Cena has a few decent ones the rest look like anyone with beginner design knowledge can make it themselves. What's your opinion on them?

I think it all depends on what you consider creative.  That sort of thing is subjective.  I think it's important to remember that most of the merchandise WWE is looking to release are aimed at kids and families.  I do see your point and would love to see WWE take some risks with the shirts, especially after the artwork of Rob Schamberger certainly brought a cooler dimension to some of their merchandise releases.

I noticed David Otunga filling in for the suspended Jerry Lawler on Smackdown. Can you explain his history with wwe? After the Nexus broke apart, I know he received time off for his wife's family murder trial, but I never really remember him coming back and wrestling again. He had the wwe look and a good heel harvard gimmick too. Over the last few months, I've seen him on pre shows, but not much else. What is his status/relationship with the company?

Otunga is signed to the company and as you noted, appears regularly on the Raw Pre-Show on the WWE Network and has been doing announcing on Superstars of late.  He does still wrestle on occasion, but not often.  It appears the company is just going to use him as more of an announcer and talking head sort of role, which given how well spoken he is, makes sense.

 Whatever happened to former WWE women wrestling star Aksana?

I am told she is working in management of a personal training company in Florida.   With the exception of a few convention appearances, I don't believe she is actively doing anything in wrestling.

I was wondering how you felt about Vince Russo taking shots at you on recent podcast appearances in retaliation for what you wrote about him going to Pop TV to get a job?  He's still on the "Mike Johnson cost me a job" kick.

I didn't know about what he said and he has a right to say anything he wants, regardless of whether it is factually accurate.  Considering I didn't write that story on PWInsider.com, I would say that Vince, once again, does show he can't get his facts straight.   This will be the last time I answer any Q&A questions about Vince.  He wants attention.  I am not going to give it to him.

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