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PWINSIDER Q & A: HOGAN VS. ROCKY AT MANIA, CREATIVE HAVING NOTHING FOR WRESTLERS, OVERUSING REF BUMPS, ECW DEBTS, KING OF THE RING AND MORE

First off, Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it that are reading this!  I hope you all have a great holiday.

This question is in regards to the massive debts that were left when ECW went out of business. I read that RVD was owed more than $100,000 and Shane Douglas was owed $48,000. What happened to these various debts when WWE bought ECW and paid Akklaim and various other parties back? Meaning, did RVD and the other boys get the money that was owed them when ECW closed its doors? 

No, they did not.  When a company goes bankrupt, people who are owned money make a claim and then when the assets of the company are turned over to the court, people get paid on a priority basis depending on what they were owed out of those assets and how much money there is to pay them with.  WWE bought the remaining ECW assets and were a creditor as well.  If memory serves, they paid about a half million dollars for the assets, which meant that millions were lost.  Most of the people that were owed money got either very little or nothing from the court.

What is your feeling on the "ref bump?" This is a move that only seemed to happen in a really important match or during a vastly heated feud. Now it seems to be used at least once per card on WWE televised shows. My question is do you feel there is a more effective way for creative to get the same idea across without using the "ref bump" so much? 

I definitely think it's overdone and it's a booking crutch for people who aren't creative enough to come up with a better story.  Even having a manager distract the ref is better than a bump.  I have always said that if the matches are booked well, winning and losing don't matter all that much.  And, when the business is booked really well, guys can do clean jobs and come out stronger from the process.  It's just up to the bookers and agents (excuse me "producers") to do their jobs.

With the Wrestlemania DVD Set and the upcoming Royal Rumble set, and assuming they'll eventually put out box sets for Survivor Series and Summerslam, what do you think the odds are of a King Of The Ring box set? I mean, there's so much history in those events, and there's exactly ten of them (if you don't count the pre-1993, non-PPV events) if that counts for anything. 

I think it has a good chance of happening somewhere down the road.

Next question, Hogan - Austin isn't going to happen at WrestleMania. Hogan - Big Show may not happen due to Show's injuries and whether TNA make him an offer. What are the chances of Hogan doing an exhibition match with Sylvester Stallone as a tribute to Rocky/ Thunderlips? I know it would be a stinker but Sly would have the Rocky VI DVD to push and both Vince and Hulkster would love the mainstream publicity. If it happened, where on the WrestleMania card do you think it would be? 

You know, it's not a bad idea.  Both guys are really old and Hogan shouldn't really be working as a top level star any more, so I like the idea of him not working with a current guy.  I would put it on at the start of the second hour giving it some respect but not overshadowing the real workers.  Of course, I think Stallone would be insane to do it.  He ain't Kevin Federline.  He doesn't need to make an ass of himself in the ring to get publicity so I doubt he would do it.

Every time I read about some wrestler or diva being sent home by WWE "Creative" (quotes intended) two questions always pop into my head and I was wondering if maybe you can provide me with some answers. First of all, when a situation like this arises, doesn't it mean that "Creative" isn't doing its job properly? Secondly, what does other talent think when something like occurs, especially the guy who's saddled with a really lame gimmick but has to stick with it even though he'd rather be home? 

I think it usually does mean exactly that.  If the guy or girl didn't have the talent to be on the main roster, in theory at least, they wouldn't be there.  So if they are talented enough to be on one of the brands, they should be able to work on TV in a role that the booking team comes up with for them.  If the booking team can't, they are failing at their job.

At this point, most people would just rather have some gimmick and be on TV than be home waiting to get released.

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