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DID BAD BOOKING SINK KAIRI SANE?, TED DIBIASE JR., WWE RELEASES, IS FAN BEHAVIOR WORSE TODAY AND MORE

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS TO MIKE FOR THE PWINSIDER Q&A BY CLICKING HERE.

With this last batch of releases, should we be worried about WWE's finances under TKO? Didn't WWE make more money last year than UFC? Why are they cutting costs like this?

They want to make the TKO books look as strong as possible in future quarters.   It's about making shareholders happy.  If they can cut down costs, it helps to do so.  That doesn't make it great for those who are getting released or having their deals reduced, but TKO is going for the bigger picture and whatever will make them most efficient from a bookkeeping standpoint.

Is there a possibility that more cuts will be made this week as previous cuts they’ve been a few days with the first day being the major one?

I think it's pretty obvious there could be more at any time.

Is that it for the Ted DiBiase Jr. case?

Yes.  He was found not guilty, so he can't be charged again for the same crimes.  It's possible they go after him in civil court to try and recoup the money he made, but I don't know that will be the case.  He's free to move on with his life.

Was Kairi Sane booked into an uncomfortable corner where rebuilding her creatively was beyond the skills of the booking team??

I don't think she was booked into a corner at all.  She was going to be the one pulled between loyalties to two sides, which could have been compelling.  She wasn't let go for bad creative and she didn't ask for a release.  It was a cost-cutting move.

There's so much talk about fan behavior these days.  Has it gotten worse or has it always been this bad?

There were always fans who were a little "off" or would go too far, but I think that's would be the case in any public event.  I have friends who were at a book signing for actor Jet Li this week in New Jersey and despite there being numerous security there, fans still tried to surround him as he entered his car after the signing, swarming Li.  It's not just a wrestling issue and there's always been occurrences of bad behavior.  I remember going to shows in the 80s with my parents where fans were drunk or over the top in how they yelled at or reacted to talents.  I remember watching a fan in ECW trying to grab a chair out of Shane Douglas' hands when he grabbed it, only to have Shane shove the chair into the fan's face and shatter his glasses, saying, "Who told you you get to book my match, motherf***er?"  I remember a fan inciting The Bruise Brothers so bad that they kicked a guard rail at him.  There were always fans who pushed the envelope but I think in today's era of social media, where there's a 24/7 cycle, it allows fans who might be potentially unstable to be pushed over the edge, since there's no way for them to disengage.  I also think the advent of cell phone cameras allows a lot of the behavior to be captured and seen regularly, sort of like Disney Parks probably always had incidents but now every single one is filmed by someone and pops up on social media.  So, I think there's more now but there's also more being documented.  It's not like every person who acts out can then go home to the obscurity of Perth Amboy or wherever they live.  They often end up documented and it lives forever online.

I knew Hogan wasn't the first one to bodyslam Andre, but I was surprised to see that Andre had been slammed so many times in his early days. Was the slam's later scarcity due to Vince/Andre wanting to protect the myth? Or maybe Andre become more reluctant to physically take the the move as he got older? Maybe both?

It was a few factors, including the fact that he and WWF were on a national stage.  If Harley Race slammed him in Missouri in the 1970s, who was going to see it beyond those in the building?  WWF was a different animal and they were protecting him for the long-term.  That (and the idea Hogan and Andre had never fought, which wasn't the case even in the WWF) was about building to that momentous Wrestlemania 3 moment, nothing more.  Andre had been protected for the audience so when they went with the spot, it resonated.

Addendum from previous Q&A - Scott Rogers sent word there is also a Bronko Nagurski Museum in Minnesota.  For details, visit www.bronkonagurski.com/museum.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS TO MIKE FOR THE PWINSIDER Q&A BY CLICKING HERE.

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