Ask 411 Wrestling 06.11.08: Challengers, Fallen Angels, Wildfires & More!

It’s time to Ask 411 Wrestling! I’m Steve Cook, and I hope you’re having a great week. There’s lots of business to get to, so let’s cut right to the chase.

Comments, Corrections & Other “C” Words

“2. Who would win: Beth Phoenix or Amazon Kong.

So yeah.. I think she could take “Amazon” Kong. – Jamal

Somebody asked about Beth Phoenix vs Awesome Kong before. I’m guessing you’ve seen Beth’s double backbreaker on Melina and Mickie at Judgement Day by now.
Kong would bulldoze Beth in a legit fight IMO, but Beth’s strength is ridiculous all the same. I’m guessing she might be able to shift more poundage than Kong in the weights room, much like Chyna could at her peak, but neither of them would be able to push Kong around. It’s a bit like comparing, say, Andre the Giant to Lex Luger or even John Cena. – Nick

I’m still leaning towards Kong, but I’m not saying she’d demolish Phoenix, who grows a little bit on me every time I see her. Thought she was overrated at first, but I’m starting to get it.

I know Jericho, Lance Storm and probably other Canadian wrestlers would
often come back to Canada when they were hurt to get the injury looked
after for free. You cna pretty much guarantee that any wrestler who goes
to James Andrews is being looked after by the company, dude ain’t cheap.
Plus, I wouldn’t say he minds the publicity. – 411’s Chris Landsell

Hey, just a few quick feedback comments when it comes to wrestlers who debuted and won the title. Carlito’s first match had him winning the US title from John Cena. Also, Mike Awesome (RIP) won the Hardcore Title in his first night with WWE when he defeated Rhyno. Finally if it counts, Essa Rios’s first match under that gimmick had him winning the Light Heavyweight title from Gillberg. He had wrestled with WWE for a while before that though, including facing TAKA at ‘Mania. – Jimmy

You forgot Perry Saturn’s TV title win upon his debut in WCW in November 1997. They made a huge deal about it being his first match for the promotion. – Dan Ellis

Got one more guy who won a title on debut, and not just any title, but
the world championship. Who else but the Orange Goblin himself when he
debuted in WCW in 1994. – Joe Blow

I wouldn’t count Essa, but the rest of those sound good. Can’t believe I forgot the Hogan one. *smacks head*

Big fan of the site, so keep up the good work and all. Just noticed a question in Ask 411 about the international commentary on WWE, and I can provide a fair bit of insight into this – I’m from the UK, but I’ve spent the last 8 months in and around mainland Europe, mostly France and Spain.

Hope that info helps you answer that question! – Matt

Thanks for the information, Mike! I’m not a Spanish expert (I took French in high school), but I’m pretty sure that Latino Spanish is different from the Spanish spoken in Spain, much like how French spoken in France is different from the French you would hear in Quebec or Africa or other regions of the world.

While we’re on the topic of Shawn Michaels’ (possibly lazy) eyes, let me point out something that bothers me about Shawn Michaels’ matches. A few years ago I noticed that whenever there is the opportunity to do so, Shawn Michaels checks himself out on the TitanTron. Since then I’ve watched many matches that go back to when the TitanTron first appeared and he’s been doing it the whole time.
It is most noticeable when he gets someone in the corner nearest the ramp and they film from the ramp side of the ring. He will very visibly look up the ramp to the TitanTron to get a glimpse of himself. I suppose it could be kayfabe-explained as though he were looking to see if anyone was running in to interfere, but that’s not plausible enough for it not to irk me.

I don’t have a question; I just thought I would rant. – Eric

How bout HBK’s eyes possibly being injured by the Jeritron 6000 HD this week? That just might answer the question about his eyes. 🙂

I wanted to thank you for printing my question regarding the Undertaker’s tatoo. I did not put it in the original comment, but the reason I am not a Michelle McCool fan is that she always looks stiff in the ring. She reminds me of Stacy Keibler in a lot of ways – the talent was there, but there was always something missing when she actually stepped in the ring.

The WWE used to have the best Women’s Division – remember Jazz, Molly Holly, Victoria(when she was crazy), Jaqueline, Sable, Lita and of course Trish Stratus(greatest Women’s Champion ever)! The division has really fallen short. I have very high hopes for Natalya Neidhart(in her blood from BOTH sides) and love Mickie James and Victoria. Beth Phoenix is Chyna (very) lite – don’t care for her at all. Candace Michelle has potential – if she can go 2 months w/o an injury. Bless Maria’s heart – she tries so hard, but she will never be a credible contender. I caught a little of WWE(F) classics on MSG and they used to have a Women’s Tag Team Championship!! I thought that was so neat – maybe time to revive it?
Again – thanks for printing my ? . – Robyn Garner

There’s so many things I could say about Michelle being stiff. I don’t know about a women’s tag team title in WWE, but I think one in TNA could get over pretty well. They could put the straps on the Beautiful People and give the Knockouts that don’t have a chance against Kong something to do. It has potential from where I sit.

Matt Hardy was “fired” for exactly three months. I think
they ACTUALLY told him he’d be gone for 90 days, but they’d
“fire” him to make it seem legitimate and add heat to the
feud. I mean, I bought it. – 411’s Elmo Machete

Elmo, please tell me you’re not one of those conspiracy theorists. I don’t know why some people think that every single thing that’s ever happened in the wrestling biz has to be a total work. Besides, Lita’s not with the company anymore and has no reason to keep secrets. If that whole thing was a work, the secret would be out by now.

Regarding Owen in the HOF: I think I remember from the Bret Hart shoot
interview that Owen’s widow (Martha?) wants nothing to do with the
WWF/E after that incident. Bret also said something about Vince
promising him rights to his and Owen’s footage as peace offering …
so, I am guessing, without footage or Martha’s blessing, Owen may
never be in the HOF.

BTW — “The painful truth is that he really was nothing more
than a solid midcarder, which might be keeping him out more than
anything” — I wholeheartedly disagree with this, but
nevertheless, this didn’t stop Rocky’s dad from being inducted. – Ted

I should have corrected the flightless bird in one portion of his commentary…being a career mid-carder won’t keep you out of the HOF. At one point there were far more mid-carders than main eventers in Vince’s HOF. I think it’s become more even with more high-profile inductions in recent years, but I don’t think place on the care has anything to do with it. Owen was a mid-carder for most of his career, but he had a nice little run as a top challenger in the mid-90s and always seemed to be portrayed as a guy who could give anybody problems.

RE: Owen Hart…

the whole Matt/Edge/Lita thing was a work from the beginning, and a
brilliant one, especially since there were 2 questions about it this
week. – Darth Mortis

From what I’ve heard about him, Owen would feel more honored by that tribute than any wrestling hall of fame induction.

RE: Randy’s first title win.

I think one of the main reasons Owen won’t get in the Hall of Fame,
is that he died doing a stunt at a PPV event. The WWE would have to
mention that during the HOF presentation, and I’m pretty sure to this
day, that it’s something they are deeply ashamed of, regardless if
they are responsible or not. – Flyboy

RE: WCW Blood Botch

The best part was Nash trying to slide underneath the dripping blood
so an observant director could cut to a shot of just his head covered
in blood and disguise the botch. Since it was the piss-poor WCW crew
directing the show, they had a wide shot the entire time and revealed
the mistake for the whole world to see. You could tell when Nash
walked back he was pissed. – JeremyL

Can CP Munk please become a staple of this column??!! – Daniel

Some 6-man fun with the Munker! There is not much CP Munk footage on the Internet, but I like the idea. I’ll see what I can do.

Please get rid of that stupid penguin bit. You seem like a cool guy
and you’re column is good but as soon as I see you start that penguin
crap I immediately skip right over that question, despite that I may
be interested in the answer. – Guest

Penguin *bgca says:
HA
Penguin *bgca says:
I bring the goodness
Samoa Steve says:
see, that’s what I’m saying
Samoa Steve says:
what some people fail to realize is that my ask 411 columns answer far more questions that those who came before me
Samoa Steve says:
I’m only one man, so I need some help sometimes
Penguin *bgca says:
And who better to help than a friendly flightless fowl?
Samoa Steve says:
damn right
Samoa Steve says:
besides, you’re much more popular than me with females and forumers
Samoa Steve says:
I gotta reach all the demographics here
Penguin *bgca says:
this guest guy just doesn’t know what he’s talking about
Samoa Steve says:
I gotta agree with that

Penguin stays. He’s my Internet homie and I’m invited to his wedding…at least until Mrs. Penguin finds out.

Questions!

Bill starts us off with three questions, and there’s another one from him I’ll address at a later date.

1. How many different wrestlers challenged for the
Heavyweight Championship belt in 1997? 2007?

1997: Goldust, Undertaker, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Vader, Hunter Hearst Helmsly, Psycho Sid, Bret Hart, Mankind, Farooq, The Sultan, Owen Hart, Crush, British Bulldog, Ken Shamrock, The Patriot, Jerry Lawler, Brooklyn Brawler (18)

I wasn’t sure which heavyweight title you were hoping for, so I did both Raw & Smackdown’s. No ECW, sorry.

2007: Raw: Umaga, Edge, Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels, Shane McMahon, Great Khali, Dan Rodman, Booker T, Mick Foley, Bobby Lashley, Shawn Spears, Carlito, Santino Marella, Jeff Hardy, Triple H, Chris Jericho (16)

You’ll note that John Cena is not on the list. That’s because he held the title from January until October, and then got injured and didn’t get to challenge for the title. Poor guy.

Smackdown: Finlay, Mr. Kennedy, Booker T, Undertaker, MVP, Batista, Mark Henry, Edge, Chris Benoit, Ric Flair, Kane, Great Khali, Rey Mysterio (13)

No, I’m not counting people in championship battle royals.

2. Has there ever been a wrestler legitimately knocked
out during a match and unable to continue? And Bart
Gunn doesn’t count.

Well, plenty of wrestlers have been knocked out during matches. Mankind was knocked out during the Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker, and recently I saw a match from 2005 where Roderick Strong temporarily knocked out Bryan Danielson. But in every instance that I’ve seen, the wrestler was eventually able to continue, unless it was in the plans that they weren’t supposed to continue. I’ve heard some funny stories in shoot interviews about in-ring knockouts, like the time Sandman got knocked out slipping on a watermelon on the outside, and then Raven had to pick him up, take his hand with the Singapore cane in it and hit all of his flunkies and himself with it while trying to make it look like Sandman did it. And apparently it got over. Speaking of Sandman, there’s the infamous match where Cactus Jack hit him with a skillet and knocked him out. Unfortunately, Sandman continued the match despite being out on his feet and it ended up being horrendous. It’s on the Foley Hits & Misses DVD.

3. Are there any current WWE wrestlers that don’t have
a named finishing move?

Me and the Penguin came up with Colin Delaney, Bam Neely and the Edgeheads. Cody Rhodes is not listed as having a signature move on WWE’s website. I don’t believe either member of Cryme Tyme has a named finishing move. I don’t think Armando Estrada has a named finisher. It’s tough to tell most of the time because the announcers don’t name most of the moves in commentary anymore. Also, I think all of Paul London’s finishers have been banned.

has undertaker ever botched his entrance? like, tripped, slipped, got lost toward the ring, or can’t keep a straight face?
he’s been doing that entrance for almost 20 years, he should have at least made a blunder once, no? – Jojo

I don’t believe he has. There was a malfunction with the pyro at this year’s WrestleMania, but that’s the closest thing I can think of to a “botched” entrance. He’s never tripped like Ultimo Dragon did at WM XX.

Dave Ward has two questions…

When the Rock debuted in the WWF as Rocky Maivia, they made a big deal of him being ‘the first ever third generation wrestler’. Now, I know that they actually meant it was the first time 3 generations of the same family had worked for the McMahons, but who was the true first third generation wrestler to enter the company? For example, Jeff Jarrett is a third generation star, but his predecessors never worked for the WWF so the company never mentioned it.

Well, I have to dispute your claim of Jarrett as a third-generation wrestler…his father Jerry wrestled, and his grandmother was a well-known ticket seller and became a partner in her son’s wrestling promotion, but that’s only two generations of actual wrestlers. Anywho, while Rocky was not the first third-generation wrestler (Dave Taylor is the oldest I could find record of), he was the first to compete in the WWF that I could find.

Also, for a question with no factual answer – many are worried that Triple H will overtake Ric Flair as the man with the most World Title reigns, but do you think it would be the same were it someone else snapping at his heels? To use the Rock again, he had 9 reigns before his retirement from wrestling, so by now he could conceivably have overtaken Flair.

I don’t think it matters who it is, anybody approaching Ric Flair’s 16 World title reigns will get a lot of heat from certain portions of the fanbase. Whether it’s Triple H or John Cena, or had it been the Rock, Steve Austin or Jeff Jarrett, anybody getting that many title reigns won’t be very popular with the die-hards. Maybe somebody will come along and the fans will accept them as the new “greatest of all time”, but until then it’s nothing personal. Does Triple H get a little extra heat because he’s in the McMahon family? Maybe, but it’s not like Flair was never the booker during any of his title reigns. I think anybody who gets close to 16 is going to get a lot of backlash from the Interweb.

Jason has two questions…

1. when The Ultimate Warrior beat Hulk Hogan at WM6 how come the WWF at that time WWF how come the WWF never let them have a Rematch for the Belt?

That was supposed to be the official passing of the torch. They didn’t want to run an extensive program between Hogan & Warrior because they would have had to turn one of them heel and they didn’t want to do that. You can’t run fan favorite vs. fan favorite for too long before you have to turn one of them, or else the fans will turn on one of them.

2. when Sting turned Heel in WCW and joined the NWO then when he turned Face again and started fueding with the NWO how come it took so long for Sting and Hogan to finally have a match at Starrcade 97?

They wanted to have their biggest possible match on their biggest show of the year. And that was the right thing to do for business, because Starrcade 1997 drew a monstrous buyrate based mostly on Hogan vs. Sting. It was great in theory, but ended up being horrible in execution for reasons we’ve previously discussed. Also, your question is flawed because Sting did not turn heel and join the New World Order in 1996, that was a fake Sting.

Eric has three questions and I also hope to answer another one from him next week.

Russo is known as the main writer of WWE until late 99 and Stephanie McMahon has been known as the main writer since late 2000 (?). Since the in between time is known as the WWE’s best era, who was the main writer from late 99 thru mid 00? Was it Vince on a lucky streak, Pat Patterson, Steph, or was Brian Gewertz around back then?

We have discussed this in the past, as recently as 07.25.07…

The head writer between the Russo & Stephanie eras was Chris Kreski, who had previously written for shows like Remote Control, Beavis & Butthead & The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. One main thing that separated Kreski from those who had previously written for WWE was his use of storyboards. He had the history of each character written out so they would be able to write storylines that wouldn’t contradict previous events, and possibly even play off of them. They also helped him keep track of what people were doing at the time and who could use something to do. Of course, this didn’t make sense to most within WWE, and the practice was not continued when Stephanie took over. His storylines did have continuity and were widely praised, and he also had the benefit of having an insanely deep roster of talent to work with. Kreski left WWE in 2002, sadly he died of cancer on May 9, 2005 at the age of 42..

Speaking of Russo, the one constant thing that’s been said about him is “he was good in WWF because McMahon was keeping him grounded”. Well, I guess after all they’ve been thru they wouldnt want to work together again, but what if Russo went back to WWE? He’d have Vince and others around to tone down his wacky shit and maybe he’d *gasp* have to come up with something new!

At this point Vince McMahon is probably the last person that you would expect to tone down “wacky shit”. Have you watched the shows lately? Russo’s not going to be back in WWE, they tried bringing him in during early 2002 but the very idea of having him around rubbed too many people the wrong way. He left WWE again when he was demoted a couple of days into his tenure.

Do you think if CM Punk had not debuted in New York, he’d be as over as he was/is? If he debuted almost anywhere else (certainly in an arena), he wouldn’t have had that huge pop nor the crowd going nuts for him and he’d be just another wrestler. I bet Harry Smith would have a better chance if his first match was in England (and he wasn’t made a huge jobber).

Actually, Punk would have gotten a bigger pop in Chicago. Where you make your debut can be important early on, but in the long run it’s really not all that important. It’s not like people sit at home saying “OMG listen to them cheer for that new guy! He must be good!” If the new guy sucks, they’ll notice. The difference between the two wrestlers you cite as an example isn’t where they made their debut, it’s what they did afterwards. Punk went on a big winning streak on the ECW show for a couple of months after his debut and kept getting featured in ECW’s main-event picture until he finally beat John Morrison for the ECW title. Part of it was due to the crowd response, but part of it was also because he had decent matches and didn’t embarrass himself on the microphone like a lot of the newer guys do. On the other hand, D.H. Smith made his debut on Raw, won a couple of matches and then got suspended for violating the Wellness policy. When you get suspended a couple of weeks into your tenure, that usually isn’t a good sign for your future. So ol’ D.H. went to Heat and did absolutely nothing of note for several months. That’s why he’s not over, not because he didn’t make a grand debut in the United Kingdom.

Manu has a few questions…

any idea how his (Rey Mysterio) wrestling style can be considered grueling? Lucha is more of a dance than a hardcore wrestling match. sure, he was in ECW for a while, and there was some hardcore lucha, but for the most part, his high flying style is based strongly on people catching him. When done properly, a hurricanrana isnt that bad. I’m thinking specifically of a match between rey and eddie in WCW. I believe rey jumped off the top rope, hit a hurricanrana on eddie that went straight into a pin. it was fluid and perfect.

And I’m not saying that taking bumps doesnt add up, because they do, but rey’s style doesnt seem that much more high impact than flair’s, who repeatedly got slammed off the top rope, or hogan, who performed repeated leg drops in the 80s, landing on his ass, probably sending shockwaves through his spine, or the undertaker, whose tombstone had him constantly falling straight down on his knees. yes, he had kneepads, and kneepads help A LOT, ive used them for vball, but doing it as many times as he did has to add up.

Let’s see…how can I say this delicately…Rey’s very delicate. He’s smaller than most wrestlers (duh), and generally smaller people are more likely to get hurt in physical endeavors like pro wrestling, especially when they’re up against people that are bigger. I would argue that you’re not giving Rey enough credit because he usually takes quite the pounding in his matches.

does marty jannety have an official myspace page fans can contact him through? or anything else official we can use to send him messages?

Marty has a profile, but he needs to add you as a friend before you can see it. I seem to remember it being public at one point, but he might have got too many messages from annoying people and decided to take things private. Mine remains public, and I like to mess around with it a lot. What can I say…my interests change pretty often. I’m also cute as a button.

“Could you see the character Curry Man as the TNA heavyweight champion? – Manu Bumb

Could you see the character the Fallen Angel, Christopher Daniels as the TNA heavyweight champion?

I could have, once upon a time. Specifically, after he and AJ split up their tag team and he took some time off so they could repackage him. At the time, people were thinking that could be Daniels’ big shot in the main event picture…unfortunately his new look didn’t get over and his feud with Sting that people were hoping would get him to the next level went nowhere quick. I think that killed any chance of the Fallen Angel getting to the top of the card. But…never say never. Thing is, I’m not sure they’ll bring back the Fallen Angel. It could be money if they do it properly.

Dino from the Philippines has two questions.

I saw in wikipedia on the Raw page, they had a list of previous announcers and commentators and when they did it. I seem to remember everyone on the list being an actual commentator for a regular period of time…except one…
They listed Shawn Michaels as a commentator from November 1994 until February 1995. did this actually happen? I mean for an active wrestler at that time and a rumble winner (jan 1995) how is this possible

Jerry Lawler had temporarily increased his wrestling schedule around this time, as he regularly made appearances in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in addition to his usual work in the USWA. When Lawler wasn’t able to make it to Raw tapings, Shawn filled in for him. I reckon the reason Shawn was used in this role was because they wanted a heel announcer to fill in for the heel Lawler, and Michaels was the best heel talker they had in the promotion at the time.

The undertaker debuted as Cain the Undertaker…..so….did they have any explanation as to why his brother is named KANE when he himself was CAIN…

They didn’t have to explain it because very few people remember Undertaker making his debut under that name. Yeah, I know, that’s a cop-out answer.

First time emailer, long time reader. Was wondering if you could help me out. I was a tape trader for 3 years but last year stopped due to other engagements. I used to be a member of crazymax.org but apparently they have changed security and for some reason I cant get access. Is there anyplace I could go to trade tapes again. I need current stuff and and some wwe 24/7. – Jonathan Testa

I don’t trade tapes. I can recommend my friend Mike for some great tapes, you can e-mail him at [email protected]. But other than that, you’ll have to rely on the trusted commenters at the bottom of the column. They’re fine people.

What has Wildfire Tommy Rich been up to ? And has he ever worked for wwe or ever had a tryout? Just before Hogan and Flair got big he was the top name in wrestling. – RJEVH01

Tommy still works the Southern indy circuit and recently made an appearance at the NWA 60th Anniversary show in Atlanta, GA. He and Abdullah the Butcher fought to a no-contest when they didn’t make it to the ring. Rich wrestled one match on an official WWF show, as he appeared in Madison Square Garden on February 18, 1980. He was victorious in the second match of the card over Johnny Rodz. I don’t know why Rich never came back, but the bottom line is that he didn’t. I know some of you readers probably scoffed at the reader’s statement of Rich being one of the top names in wrestling, but he was. Tommy Rich was the first major wrestling star on WTBS once it became a superstation and much of the country was exposed to Georgia Championship Wrestling. But he wasn’t the kind of star that Vince McMahon would have wanted to build around. He didn’t have much of a physique, he wasn’t the greatest worker in the world, and he had quite the Southern accent. It worked down south, and Rich made quite a living down there for many years. But he was a guy who got really hot at a really young age, and for whatever reason the rest of his career just didn’t live up to it.

Longtime fan of your column, finally have a question to ask. I recently came across the Hogan/Savage SNME match where James “Buster” Douglas was the special “enforcer” referee outside the ring (if you recall, Mike Tyson had been billed for the event, but Buster came out of nowhere to knock out Tyson and become the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World the week before . . . WWF scrambled and got Douglas to replace Tyson on the event). Anyway, in the pre-match interviews, Hogan says something to the effect of “this will probably be the last time I face Randy Savage in the ring.” I can’t figure out why he would have said that? At first I thought maybe it was a match just prior to Wrestlemania VII and Hogan was alluding to the fact that Savage was going to lose the retirement match to the Warrior, but the dates don’t check out. The SNME match was in February 1990, a full year before Wrestlemania VII in March of 1991. Any idea what Hogan meant by that comment? – Kevin B.

I’m guessing one of the stipulations behind the match was that it would be the last time that Randy Savage would receive a shot at Hulk Hogan’s WWF championship. Hogan had won the title from Savage at WM V, and Savage had been challenging Hogan off and on ever since then, which would have been a period of 10 months. 10 months is more than enough time to allow a challenger to keep receiving title shots without emerging victorious, so Hogan was saying it was Savage’s last shot at the title and then it would be time to move on to other challengers.

Rick L. has three questions…

1.) I remember reading a few things on Teddy Hart about him not following script in terms of moves with the matches. That got me to thinking curiously, and I don’t know if you’re the right guy to ask about this, but how do they lay out a wrestling script in terms of the actual matches? Do they list the moves in order of what they’re going to do? Do they just mention a few spots and let them go at it however they like? I’m just a little baffled.

This is one of those questions that really varies depending on the situation, and I’m probably the wrong guy to ask anyway. Some guys like to script all of their stuff out in advance. Some guys like to call it all in the ring…this was common in the old days but you’ll rarely ever see it now. Most fall in the in-between area, where a few high spots and the main turning points in the match are laid out, but the rest is up to them.

2.) I notice a lot of big men usually getting dumped on for not being that great workers on this site. I have to ask, who are a few good big men who can put on decent matches, at least the ones that are universally accepted? It seems like I always hear about them having to be carried in matches.

It’s not just this site, my friend. I would say that Undertaker is generally accepted as the best “big man” worker in pro wrestling history. He’s still having solid matches to this day, and it’s not just because of Edge. Andre the Giant is said to have been a really good worker in his prime, although it obviously wasn’t on display in 1987 and beyond. Big Show wasn’t too bad in his first couple of years before he got lazy. Kane has been involved in decent matches in the past. As far as the fatties go, guys like Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow, Yokozuna and Gorilla Monsoon all were capable workers in their prime. It’s all a matter of personal preference. Some like seeing the big guys slug it out, some don’t. And it just so happens that more people on the Internet fall in the latter category. I’m not a big fan of the big guys myself, but there’s a place for them on any wrestling show.

3.) Aside from Rico and Mike Adamle, are there any other “American Gladiators” fellows (either contestants, gladiators, or whatever) that have gone into pro wrestling at all?

Well, I assume you’re talking about the old American Gladiators series, not the current one on NBC that Matt Morgan is set to appear on at some point and also features that Hogan guy hosting. And apparently Wolf was a wrestler up in Canada. As far as the original series goes, I think only Rico & Adamle have a connection with pro wrestling. Oh, Larry Csonka later became an IWC personality. But that’s about it.

My question concerns Bob Holly; specifically, why did he stop using the Falcon Arrow as his finisher and start using a piledriver counter WITH MUSTARD instead? I know Holly has been injured a few times over the past few years, but I think he’d stopped using the Falcon Arrow even by then, with little to no explanation. I can’t think of anyone else in WWE who uses the Falcon Arrow, and I know that it’s a damn sight more impressive move than ‘The Alabama Slam.’ It also seems relatively safe. Any ideas? – Nick

I have no idea if this is factually correct or not, but maybe Holly saw an indy show where everybody and their kid brother used the Falcon Arrow for near-falls and thought “Hey, if those midgets can’t beat people with my move, maybe I need a new finisher”. There was a period of time in ROH and other indies where everybody was using that move. Not so much now. Also, I gotta disagree with you because the Alabama Slam looks pretty cool when he does it on the right person.

The Red Ripper has some questions for us…

I was watching some of the matches during the Raven/CM Punk fued in ROH and everytime Raven hits a high knee they call the move something like “Mr. Wrestler 2 knee lifts.” What the hell are they talking about?

Raven (and others) took the move from Mr. Wrestling 2, who was a tremendously popular masked wrestler in the Florida/Georgia area during the 1970s & 80s. I haven’t seen a Raven match in awhile, but if I remember correctly he would even lift two fingers in the air before applying the knee lift like Wrestling 2 used to do. 2 happened to be Jimmy Carter’s favorite wrestler, don’tcha know. As for other U.S. Presidents, George H.W. Bush loved Wahoo McDaniel and Bill Clinton was a big Val Venis fan.

I was cruising YouTube the other day and found two clips of Jeff Hardy hitting 450’s in WWE back in ’99. Now I know that over the years they have barred moves more and more because of the potential danger they pose, but I don’t recall them banning anything back then. Did Jeff just decide to stop using it or was there something else going on? I mean they weren’t exactly perfect and it looked like he kept driving his knees into people because he got out too far. And why is Jillian Hall allowed to do a 450? Not only is it awful looking every time but why can she do that if Paul London can’t hit a Shooting Star Press?

One would assume that if Hardy kept missing the move, he would stop using it out of common sense. Yeah, I know that the words “Jeff Hardy” and “common sense” don’t go together very often, but that’s probably what happened. If it makes you feel any better, Jillian doesn’t use the 450 very often because she doesn’t win very many matches. As for why she’s allowed and Paul London isn’t…they don’t pay attention to what the Divas do in their matches? That’s the best answer I can come up with.

John Cena uses a Fisherman Suplex with his five moves and doom but I notice that most of the time he lets go of the hooked leg right in the middle of the move. Doesn’t this kinda defeat the purpose since he should be hanging onto the leg so that he can land the suplex right into a pin attempt? Would Cena-haters say that he does it just so that he has more variety in his moves other than Suplex?

I don’t think Cena plans on finishing people off with the move, it’s a set-up move to inflict damage on the back for later on when he applies the F-U. Cena-haters would deny that he does any moves.

Reading Csonka’s 4R’s I notice that any match with Undertaker winning with the Gogoplata he says that “WRESTLER bit the condom” in reference to spitting up blood. Do they actually use condoms because I can think of a dozen better ways to go about faking that.

Condoms are surprisingly convenient among professional wrestlers. You’d be surprised!

I have a question regarding WWE Libraries. Has WWE ever released any numbers on how much they paid to buy the copyrights and film library for all of the old promotions they own, including NWA/WCW (I have heard several figures but nothing concrete), and if so for how much? – Christopher “Dork Boy” Gibbs

I don’t believe they have. I’m sorry I don’t have a more informative answer that could take up more space, but that’s just the way things go sometimes.

I enjoy your column every week. I have always wonder where the name of that ‘Hot Shot’ move when they drop the opponent on the top rope came from. The first time I can remember this being called the Hot Shot when Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert would use it. Is this really where the name came from and it has just stuck. Jim Ross still uses it today. – Steve Bishop

Indeed, Eddie Gilbert was the man who popularized the Hot Shot move and that’s who the move is named after. Jim Ross was working for Mid-South/UWF when Gilbert was there, so he is rather familiar with Eddie’s work. I should be more familiar with it myself pretty soon.

I have a couple of questions. Whatever happened to The Spoiler he seemed to me was the one who made walking the top rope famous. The second comes from this when the undertaker walks the top rope the announcers always make the comment of going old school. I only remember a couple of people doing it
The Spoiler
The Great Kubaki
The Undertaker
Maybe Ricky Steamboat. – Rick

Undertaker was trained by Spoiler, so that’s where he got the move from. As for Don “The Spoiler” Jardine, he retired from pro wrestling in 1994 after promoting some shows in Tampa for a brief period of time. He was working on a novel based on his experiences in wrestling when he died due to complications from leukemia and a heart attack on December 16, 2006.

They call the move “Old School” because he stopped doing it for awhile and then brought it back.

Quick question…..do you think that the New Orleans Superdome will ever host a Wrestlemania? The city is back up and running since Katrina, and it seems a perfect place to host the biggest wrestling show of the year. Every big event (Superbowl, NBA, ect…) that has come here both before and after the storm has said that this is the best city to host such events. Thanks! – Mike Joseph

I think it’d be a great idea. New Orleans is a great city and has a rich history of pro wrestling, but I can’t see them hosting WrestleMania anytime soon for one simple reason…Houston is hosting the event next year, and Orlando hosted it this year. Those two locations are relatively close to New Orleans, and I think they might want to run the event somewhere outside the Southern U.S. after WM 25, in order to bring it to fans that can’t make the trip down south. They also seem to have a thing for returning to previous locations of WrestleMania, which New Orleans is not. That being said, if N’awlins puts the money together and impresses Vince like Orlando did, you can’t rule it out.

I am a longtime wrestling fan but over the last few years, there is 1 thing that i can’t figure out……..what is ‘kayfabe’? I know it’s when you break character, but does it stand for anything? – Joe from Delaware

I went to Wikipedia to explain the word origin of Kayfabe…I know Wiki isn’t always the most reliable source, but this seems to make sense:

“The term “kayfabe” itself may ultimately originate from the Pig Latin form of “fake” (“ake-fay”), the phrase “be fake”, the letters in the first syllables of “character fabrication”, or possibly a non-standard Pig Latin form of “fabricate” (or fabrication) in the form of “CA(te)-FAB(ri)” (kayfabe).”

“Originally, however, within the wrestling business, maintaining “kayfabe” referred rather narrowly to the socially-enforced demand not to reveal the predetermined nature of wrestling matches and the cooperative aspects of the performances. In practice, this imperative meant that wrestlers, promoters, their families and others close to the business, were socially forbidden from talking frankly about the nature of their work to fans or the press.”

I think that pretty much sums it up. Kayfabe was a word wrestlers would use if they were talking about things and then saw somebody who wasn’t smart to their business coming up to them. I would use it in real life, but I don’t think I know anybody that would get it.