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PWINSIDER Q&A: WHERE TO FIND THE BEST MATCHES OF 2006, STATE OF THE WWE WOMEN'S DIVISION, THE HIGHLANDERS & MORE

What match do you think has been the best match of 2006? There really hasn't been a stand out match like last year's Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels.

In my opinion, the best in-ring wrestling this year been in Ring of Honor. The highlight match of the year (thus far) was last March's six man featuring Do Fixer of Dragon Kid, Genki Horiguchi, & Ryo Saito vs. Blood Generation of CIMA, Nauki Doi, & Masato Yoshinoha, which featured some of the most cutting edge, incredible tag moves, near falls, and high spots that were perfectly blended into what I called at a time a "wrestling orgasm." There have been a number of standout ROH matches since including the ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death, Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness from Great Britain, and KENTA vs. Danielson in New York City. For more information on these bouts, visit www.ROHWrestling.com. There have been very good bouts in WWE and TNA this year, but from an in-ring standpoint, the only place that has come close to anything the level of Michaels vs. Angle has been the aforementioned ROH bouts.

What's happened to The Highlanders? Has their push ended?

They were on Raw two weeks ago, getting destroyed by Kane, but they are still with WWE. They likely weren't used this week since the TV was taped as part of a Supershow, so there was no need to bring in talents that usually would work Heat.

I was witness to a question on a forum concerning D'Amore. The suggestion was he wrestled at least one dark match for the WWE and possibly for WCW. I stayed out not knowing the answer. But this has drawn out my curiosity. Care to shed some light?

Not only has he worked for those companies, but he was often trying to break into ECW at different points as well. D'Amore was wrestling for a number of years independently out of the Michigan area, which included numerous tryouts for different companies. Eventually, he started promoting Border City Wrestling and began training a number of stars that have risen to prominence, including Chris Sabin, Petey Williams, and Alex Shelley, among others.

I can't remember if I've read the answer to this question already, so I'll ask anyway. How much does WWE pay Hulk Hogan to wrestle the one or two matches a year?

Of course. Hulk doesn't do anything for free, brother!

If Maria becomes the next WWE Women's champion, what will that say about the current state of the Women's division?

It would say that WWE decided to put the belt on a female that was over with the crowd that doesn't have a wrestling background. It would hardly be the first time, because that division is about the eye candy, not the athleticism of the women, although some of them have surpassed that in the past, such as Lita and Trish Stratus. If you are looking for something more then that in the Women's division, though, you might want to look towards the SHIMMER promotion or Japan, because that's not where WWE wants the Divas to be in their synergy. That said, Maria does a great job in her role and I wouldn't see her getting the belt as insulting.

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