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I remember you guy had an interview set up with Vince Russo when he left TNA, then he canceled when you guys wouldn't let him dictate what would and wouldn't be talked about. Last week, I saw that one of your competitors did an interview with Russo where he did let Russo dictate the terms. You couldn't ask about his roles in TNA or WCW, only about things like working for WWF in the 90s and WWE today. I found this to be irresponsible for someone that calls himself a journalist to do. If you are a host of a show like the Mayhem, where you just want to get guests and don't see yourselves as journalists, fine. But how can someone who says he is a wrestling journalist do an interview with someone and not ask the question that the readers want the answers too?
My take on this is similar to yours. If you are going to market yourself as a real wrestling reporter there is no way you can be involved with an interview like that, which is why Mike Johnson and I wanted nothing to do with Russo's desire to not "spread negativity". If someone tells you that something very, very pertinent is "off limits" then you say fine, go find someone else to let you do a press release. You sure as hell don't become party to it. A real reporter doesn't have any role in something like that because it's embarrassing and it makes you look like a total joke. Kiss your credibility goodbye. Very few people care about what Russo did back in the WWF and they sure don't care what he thinks about the product today. They care about his role in TNA and his role in helping to destroy WCW with the booking choices that he made. To me it comes down to what you owe the readers and you owe them the story, not fluff. If you are that desperate to get an interview that you will compromise your principles, that says a lot about you in my opinion.
This may be an odd question, but I was curious. Whenever you see older wrestling pictures of John Cena, especially in his "Prototype" days, he was really ripped, from being into bodybuilding. Now he is still in great shape, but his body is different now than before. So my question is, was this a conscious decision to not keep that kind of body, or is it just that he is so busy now with appearances and such, that he just isn't able to workout like he used to?
Wow, that is a loaded question. Let's just say that 10 years ago things were a lot different than they are today and having a look like Cena did then requires a lot, hmmm, what's the word.....attention.
I've been following your site for years now and I do greatly trust what you all write here, so recently on the site I've read a times that WWE was holding The Rock back promo-wise to make John Cena look better on the mic. I have ask is this true? In all of their confrontations March, I was convinced that Cena had the edge on Rock, that he was giving better promos with more intensity while The Rock was just cracking jokes. I figured Randy Orton was right last year saying how Cena was more off the cuff and Rock was just reciting his lines, and that their promos proved it. So I just want to know how true it is that Rock was being held back a bit. Granted, I'm not an elite member, and if you guys talked about it on the Elite section already, I'll do a pitch for the Elite in this letter. Readers, JOIN PwinsiderElite.com. It's ONLY 7.99 a month and you WON'T be in the dark like am (hopefully was).
Yes sir, you are in the dark because we talked about it in-depth in the Elite section. Yes, it was done by design to make Cena look better and as your question showed for some it worked. That is what they were going for.
If TNA had acquiesced to Paul Heyman, do you think we have seen Brock Lesnar make his return to pro wrestling on Impact? Who would you have liked to see him feud with? What indy talent do you think he would have been sure to bring in?
Brock came back for the money, not love of the business. If TNA couldn't pay him millions, he wouldn't have gone there even with his friend in charge. There are a lot of guys that Lesnar could feud with in TNA, obviously. I am not a "what if" kind of guy though. As for Heyman, he is very character driven so I am sure there were a lot of guys that are not known to the masses that he would have done a great job of developing.
Do you think it screws the PPV buying fans when promotions have big build ups to title matches then no title change at PPV and then the champion loses the belt on free TV?
It depends on the situation. Sometimes, it makes sense to change the title on free TV. But most times it shouldn't happen on the show after the PPV, in a rematch. TNA has been really guilty of giving away the PPV matches the following week or two on Impact and it is has hurt their buyrates. TV is the master for both them and WWE, but it doesn't mean they can't make PPVs important and profitable. They can monetize both aspects of the business.
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