PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

PWINSIDER Q&A: MASKED WRESTLERS, WHAT IF KURT ANGLE HADN'T LEFT ECW?, CRYME TYME AND MORE

Answered on 4/4

I heard Brad Armstrong was Bad Street and Hector Guerrero was Lazertron. Were there any other known wrestlers who at one point put on a mask (but didn't start off with a mask and already made a name without a mask before putting it on) and not a one time thing, but as a new character?

Plenty of times.  Hercules Hernandez wrestled under a mask as Super Invader after being established as a national name.  Owen Hart wrestled as the Blue Blazer.  Jim Neidhart was the masked Who.  Sometimes it is just a case of a wrestler wanting to take their career in a new direction, other times a promoter wants to use a wrestler and not have fans remember their past. 

How different would the booking for the ECW brand be if Kurt Angle had not left WWE and do you feel that has impacted the direction they've taken the ECW brand?

It's always tough to answer a "What If" question, but I can say that if Angle had not left WWE and had remained a part of ECW, Bobby Lashley may not have ended up getting such a monumental push.  Not having an "A List" star like Angle on the show may also be one reason (of many) that WWE has seemed less and less focused on the brand since establishing it. 

It seems like we often forget the third person in the ring, namely the ref.  Can you name some instances apart from special guest ref's, where the ref is what made the match special?

Honestly, I can't think of any instance except for one, and you know which one that is.  Took place in Montreal, 1997. 

How were the WTBS studio tapings run during the Gordon Solie and Jim Crockett eras? When were they taped, how many at a time, how did the wrestlers have enough time to go back and forth between the tapings and house shows around the country, and how were tickets distributed to the fans?

At one point, the TBS show was taped ever Saturday morning/afternoon, then later on as the house show market expanded, they moved on to taping several weeks at a time. I believe tickets were actually free to the tapings.

When is Cryme Time going to ever get a push for the tag titles or is that never going to happen.

Well, considering that the title shot they earned has been forgotten and they were passed over for the belts during this past week's tag team battle royale, things don't look good for them getting the gold anytime soon.  Still, never say never.  Then again, I think I said the same thing about the Highlanders a few months ago. 

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q&A by clicking here.

We also have a new Q and A up today on PWInsiderXtra.com. If you are an Elite member of the new site, you can read it by clicking here.

If you are not an Elite member, you can read it by clicking here.

If you are an PWInsider.com Elite member and you want to find out how to join the new site (which is bargain priced at a dollar a month or less, depending on the subscription you choose), click here.

If you would like to become an Elite member to one or both of the sites, you can do so by clicking here.

For PWInsider.com Elite members who are not members of PWInsiderXtra, all Q&A's are archived in the Elite Newsletter every Sunday.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet