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Good morning. Watching Daniel Bryan's retirement speech and seeing all the superstars and personalities come out on stage to show respect to the man i could not help but notice one thing missing...Brock Lesnar. I know he stated in the past that he is not a people's person and in fact prefers to keep to himself when backstage but not being there for Daniel Bryan was very disrespectful in my humble opinion. Did you hear of anything being said backstage about this and what is your take on it?
I asked around after receiving this question and was told it was not a case of Lesnar disrespecting Bryan Danielson - it was a case of his travel already being locked in and Lesnar having left after his segments to fly immediately home.
Considering Randy Orton was given a bad discharge from the military, do you think there was any concern about the reaction he'd receive while performing for the soldiers?
No. Anyone who was over in the Middle East performing for the servicemen and women were appreciated more then I could ever convey. I doubt it was ever even a consideration.
Was Stan Hansen ever supposed to come to WWF after he filmed "No Holds Barred" scenes?
I've never, ever heard that he was. I think it's one of those stories that sprung out of rumors, not anything that was legitimately going to happen. Hansen was making a great living at the time working for Giant Baba and was extremely loyal to All Japan Pro Wrestling at the time.
Had an interesting thought about the problems with the modern WWE product - it's something I noticed while watching back some old RAWs from 2000 (probably the best ever year). The issue isn't just with the writing, it's the DIRECTING. Back then, guys had a lot more freedom to move around, deliver lines with a good pace and walk away from shot, helping to keep a natural flow and realism to the segments. These days, they have to hit their mark, stand and stare in a certain direction, hold the pose, while we cut between close-ups etc. I understand first-hand the desire to frame everything neatly (I work in local TV as a presenter and producer) but it really does kill the energy while making it more difficult for the wrestlers to find a natural rhythm with what they're saying - even if the lines are good. So I think they really need to loosen up in this area. Thoughts?
You bring up an interesting point to be sure. Several years ago, I interviewed Magnum TA and he noted that wrestling could likely never return to the grittier, real feel that it carried in the NWA and other promotions because so much of the show is laid out in advance for production purposes. It would be nice if WWE was able to let talents have a little more leeway but when you have millions of dollars in TV time on the line every week, it's just not going to happen for anyone but the most trusted veteran talents.
Do you notice that Byron Saxton is somewhat of a chew toy among the WWE Commentators?
He is, but no moreso than Michael Cole was back in the day, or a lot of other babyface announcers. Saxton is earning his stripes and this is just part of his role at the moment.
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