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PWINSIDER Q & A: WWE PUSHING FANS AWAY, DID VINCE GET THE TNA HOUSE SHOW CANCELED ON SATURDAY, THE

As always, great site and I am 100% satisfied to be an elite member. My question for you guys is this. I am and always have been a wrestling fan, but to be honest, I rarely watch the WWE anymore because creative is so bad. I usually just come here and read results, and find out what is going on. Do you think there are more fans like me that are so turned off by WWE lately that all they do is read your site to find out what is going on and barely watch the product anymore?

I know there are a lot of fans like you because I hear from them every day.  In fact, I just got the following email as I was typing this column:

Hi Dave. 

If it wasn't for your site I wouldn't even pay attention to wrestling. WWE is awful. Yikes they got talent but no direction. Maybe they should treat it like a real sport where matches mean something. 

Thanks Dave for the site and all the hard work you guys do. The audio shows are great, with the humor. I like when you guys go off topic. 

John, Elite from day one

WWE creative, or lack thereof, has led to apathy in a lot of people and it's gratifying to me how many of them tell me that even though they don't watch much WWE programming anymore, they still check the site daily.  We appreciate that more than we can tell you.  People want to like WWE, but the company seems to want to do everything in its power to alienate at least part of the audience.  It makes no sense to me.

My question for you is regarding Palmer Cannon, I know that he quit after some hazing from JBL (and the fact he didn't have tough enough skin for that makes me wonder how he would have faired as a heel) but what were the intentions that WWE had of using his character?  Was his role going to remain as the 'network executive' or was there a storyline being developed to bring him into the ring?

First off, from what I was told from a lot of people, the hazing that JBL did on that tour was so bad that Cannon flew himself home to get away from it.  While some in the locker room (mostly older guys) feel that it's OK for veterans to abuse younger guys in childish and bullying fashion, more and more workers I speak to tell me that the behavior is just so stupid and passé that it should be stopped by the company.  Cannon was tough enough to take bumps, and that is what is important.  It's not about not having tough enough skin.  It's about a guy in JBL who picks out and rides people he perceives as weak because he knows that they won't come back up against him.  It's not like he was was doing that stuff to Brock Lesnar.  I have talked to a number of people in the locker room that have told me that JBL is very careful in who he targets.  That says a lot to me.  If JBL were to pick on someone he thought would actually fight back that would be one thing, but he doesn't.  WWE is a publicly traded company and they really should watch what their employees do while they are on their time.  

The plan was to eventually have Cannon be an in-ring character as he has wrestled in the past.  Obviously, it never happened.

Since Panda Energy is the majority owner of TNA, what would happen if they decided to cut their losses and no longer want any part of TNA? Or does the company have enough money that it's not an issue? I'd assume if they didn't find anyone to sell the TNA brand to, that the company would completely dissolve and disappear? What do you see happening if Panda decided this? 

If Panda decided to pull out (and I haven't heard anything that would make me think that they are even considering it), my belief is that they would try and sell the company.  If they couldn't find a buyer and they would probably just dissolve TNA and sell off the tape library.  They don't have an endless supply of money, for sure, but they have also done a good job of cutting their losses back and make the company stronger financially.  I think they have made solid strides and come a long way from the days of weekly PPVs.

After Jim Ross was "fired" by Linda in 2005, was JR really mad for real about the decision to remove him from announcing? I know at the time, JR needed to miss a few weeks for surgery, and at the same time, Vince wanted a new face for Raw. Anyways... after Joey Styles didn't work out, and in effect, McMahon crawls back to JR (hopefully Vince had to bed JR), how do you think they get along today? I would hope that JR would demand in that situation that they don't make him look bad on TV anymore, and etc.

According to a number of sources close to the situation, Ross was not at all happy with how he was dismissed by WWE when they had Linda Mac fire him in the storylines after turning on him.  Ross was cast aside after the decision was made by Vince and Stephanie McMahon that they wanted a "younger" look in the announce booth and they made a play for UFC announcer Mike Goldberg.  When that didn't pan out, since Goldberg chose to not jump to WWE, they stayed with their decision to remove Ross and humiliated him on TV in the process.  From what I heard from a lot of people, Ross did not like the manner he was taken off of TV, especially considering the fact that he was facing a serious health situation that could have turned out to be cancer.

While he was away from TV, Ross was still working for McMahon as something similar to a consultant.  I don't know what their relationship is like but I have heard in the past that Ross, like most people in WWE, realizes that Vince is Vince and if they want to work there, they have to accept that.  I don't know if he has made any demands where storylines are concerned but I also know that at this point he could very well walk away now if they ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do.

Even though WWE denied involvement in the cancellation of the TNA show in Hartford CT., What are the chances that they did have a small involvement in the cancellation.  With TNA's recent popularity and with all that they got going for them right now it would seem obvious that the WWE didn't want anything to do with TNA coming onto their home turf. 

I think it makes for a nice theory but I have a very hard time believing that anyone in a position of power in WWE would concern themselves with getting a house show that was set to draw less than 1,000 fans canceled.  That sounds much more like something an indy promoter would do to me.  In fact, indy promoters do that stuff all the time.  I just can't see Vince McMahon or Kevin Dunn worried about that kind of stuff, especially while a huge tour of Europe is going on.

Now, that isn't to say that TNA won't be able to use this as a rallying cry on TV.  I fully expect them to and it could make for some interesting TV.  Perception is often more valuable than the truth.

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