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Is there anyone you'd like to see WWE pay tribute to who's no longer with us during Saturday Night's Main Event?
It would be nice if they did a video of highlights from the first episode, but if I had to pick one personality, I'd really like if they used Howard Finkel's voice in some capacity. He was the ring announcer for the first ever SNME and was the greatest ring announcer of all time, in my mind, so I'd like to see him honored in some way.
If you were going to produce the show, what would you want WWE to do?
I'd go back to the first episode and literally re-create the same look and feel. Have promos in front of the fans in the background like the first episode or in front of the green screen style wall like later episodes. Hang the old style banners - no digital signage. Utilize the exact same camera setup as close as possible given they've physically re-designed the Nassau Coliseum venue itself. Old school graphics and slo-mo replays. An old school style ring and turnbuckles and ring posts. Referees dressed in blue shirts and black bowties. I'd want to make it feel like this was the next show of the series in that era. No long promos in the ring like a Raw or Smackdown. I'd set up flashes that can go off during big spots like when talents come down the aisle or go off the top rope so it feels like cameras going off. I'd even let photographers shoot ringside so it feels like that era. Play Phil Collins' Take Me Home over the credits. You want it to feel like something from that era, as if it it could have just been the "next" show for the old broadcasts.
Any reason why they aren't bringing in Cyndi Lauper and Wendi Richter to be there at Saturday Night's Main Event? They were literally the first thing you saw on the first show! No Mr T?
No, I haven't heard anything in that regard. Lauper isn't touring again until February and does live in the NYC area, so to me, unless she turned it down, she's a no brainer. Wendi Richter is under a WWE Legends deal (which is likely why we never saw her do anything with Toni Storm in AEW) and would have been a fun choice as well. I wish we had seen Mr. T brought in as he's one of my favorite celebrities from that era, period. No idea why it's not happening. It could be it didn't fit into plans or he wasn't interested or they weren't. I never once heard his name bandied about.
Are you surprised the show isn't sold out?
No. WWE has run the market quite a bit of late and ticket prices for all of those shows are super high. I can see families picking one show and skipping the others. I believe the show will likely sell out with walkup as there was a lot of buzz locally about the show because of the SNME distinction. I had family members who never bring up wrestling to me who were interested in the show based on nostalgia from when we were young.
Any chance Koko B. Ware sings Piledriver?
I don't know, but I'd pop for it.
Managers were always a big part of that era, do you think we'll see Slick there?
I haven't heard of him being brought in.
Why isn't WWE using one of the legends as a guest referee for one of the main events?
Honestly, it would be a disservice to them. They shouldn't, at their age, be tasked with trying to keep up with the style and speed of today's near falls and product. I think most would stand out in that regard and hurt the flow of the bout. Better to have them sitting ringside or doing vignettes. Fans want to see their old heroes. They want to be reminded their old heroes are OLD.
Do you think Jesse Ventura will be able to recapture his old style and formula on the air?
I think we'll have to see. It's been a lot of years since Jesse did pro wrestling, but as long as he leans into what he always did, I am sure he'll be fine. I don't imagine he'd ever put himself into a situation where he exposes himself and looks bad. Ventura is a smart guy. I think as long as someone plays straight babyface play by play, Ventura will provide some color. I can't imagine he'd just go on TV without prepping himself on the stories and the characters.
Did you report Seth Rollins vs. Bronson Reed was the original main event for SNME? I saw it online but couldn't find that here.
No, we absolutely never reported that would be the main event of the show. Blatant lie if someone claimed we did.
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