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It has always been believed that HHH and Stephanie would take over the WWE when Vince McMahon is no longer around. But if Vince used NXT to test and groom HHH for the future but now no longer thinks his vision is right for WWE as a whole (as seen with the new NXT 2.0 vision), would Vince not leave the keys to WWE for HHH when he is no longer around anymore? Who would Vince leave the actual product to (assuming Stephanie would continue on the branding and corporate strategy side of the business?
Once Vince hired Nick Khan to run things, it was made pretty clear that HHH and Stephanie weren’t waiting in the wings. With the way that he dismantled NXT, it’s even clearer that is not the plan right now. I can’t honestly say what the plan is if Vince passes. At first, Khan would probably be in charge. After that, I am not sure. If Vince’s stock goes to the family, they should be able to make the call then. But a lot can happen between then and now, such as a sale.
Who is the bigger Hollywood star right now, The Rock or Batista? Not in terms of net worth because The Rock has his own production company, but in terms of roles and drawing power. The Rock is a huge name on its own, but his major roles were in the Fast & Furious franchise, and now Young Rock. Batista never had a leading role, but is part of the Marvel universe, and has roles in higher profile movies and franchises like James Bond and Dune.
The bigger star is the one who gets the lead roles. That is The Rock.
How did you come up with the name of your newsletter? I have heard conflicting stories.
Yes, a friend of mine told me that there is a story out there that the name Lariat was suggested to me. That is not the case. At the time, I was covering Japanese wrestling (as well as Lucha and ECW) for a newsletter called Chairshots, run by Barry Rose. Barry decided he was going to shut down. At the same time, I had decided it was time for me to start my own newsletter. Barry basically passed the torch to me in the last issue, telling people I was starting up a new newsletter. I named it The Wrestling Lariat in honor Stan Hansen, who was my favorite wrestler at the time and who I covered in All Japan. When he hit you with that Lariat, you stayed hit. That is how the name came to be, I did it to honor Stan.
AEW’s roster size is often a topic of discussion. I asked you in the past if you felt the roster was too large and at the time you said no. A lot of people feel performers get lost in the shuffle and relegated to Dark and Elevation. One I agree with and I’m perplexed by is Jay Lethal. Considering I don’t watch Dark or Elevation I almost forgot he signed with AEW. Meanwhile Daniel Garcia and 2.0 get a ton of TV time. My question is, are you still ok with AEW’s roster size considering there’s only 3 hours of TV time?
When I answer, I am not talking about the financial implications, that is a decision for Tony Khan to make. From a TV standpoint, yes I am still fine with it. I want to see Jay Lethal too, and we will. He kind of fell into their laps with ROH releasing all of the talents that they did. I am sure they will put him to good use in due time. I like that we don’t get every talent on every show every week. It keeps them fresher. I like three hours of TV for the week. It beats three hours of Raw in one night to me.
It’s safe to say NXT UK is another HHH project so why hasn’t that yet to decimated by “them”?
First, I am worried that it will be, believe me. It’s easily the best thing WWE does right now. With that said, it’s not on TV in the US every week. It didn’t “lose” the war to AEW. I am hoping that the uniqueness of the brand and its situation will keep it out of their crosshairs but you never know. Sadly.
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