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PWINSIDER Q & A: VINCE'S LEGACY, TAKER'S STREAK, HOGAN, FORGOTTEN CREATIVE AND MORE

After he has passed from the scene, how will Vince McMahon be remembered most by wrestling journalists, historians, and fans – as a visionary genius who created a promotional phenomenon, brought wrestling to mainstream audiences and coliseums, and introduced larger-than-life pop culture characters; or as an egotistical, self-interested businessman who initiated the dismantling of the territory system, betrayed kayfabe, disavowed professional wrestling in favor of “sports entertainment”, and considered unimportant what the fans wanted if it didn’t agree with his vision?

I think he will be remembered as both because both are accurate assessments of the man.  Early in his career, he showed a lot of guts and foresight in taking the business national.  But, I think if he hadn't have done it, someone else would have since the world was changing with cable TV and PPV and reaching a national audience was now an option.  Everyone talks about the success of WrestleMania, but if the Hogan-Lauper-MTV connection didn't happen, the show would probably have bombed and the WWF would have probably gone under.  After Mania, he rode the momentum for years and made a lot of money.  He also rode the wave too long and by the early to mid-nineties, the product, booked his way, wasn't very good.  Then WCW came along and started beating the WWF.  With Vince's way not working, he finally listened to others and booked outside the box, leading WWE to its greatest period ever.  Vince will get credit for that but I always wondered if the period would have ever happened had Vince not dropped into second place.  Historically, he has liked doing things his way, much as he is doing them now, and it took an extreme situation for him to change things up.  So, I think both of your assessments of Vince are true.

With all the questions about who should get the honor of beating Undertaker at WM, wouldn't you agree that nobody should? He's the one man to almost never use his power backstage for his benefit. He put over Khali for crying out loud! He should get to take this streak into retirement. Your thoughts?

Yes, I do agree with you.  I think that at this point the streak has taken on a life of its own and it's a tribute to Taker and all he has accomplished in WWE.  I also agree that he has never been a guy that has lobbied for titles and he has helped younger/newer talent.  So, I would like to see him win at Mania and keep the streak alive. 

I had a question about reader feedback to PPV's... How come I have submitted feedback a bunch of times to TNA PPVs and most recently the Royal Rumble and it seems like they never get posted? This is like the 4th time in a row, is it even worth it the time to write up my review? Only once was my feedback posted. Do you get so much that you don't post them all or is it not getting to you for some reason, or what?

We print all the feedback that we get provided that it's spellchecked and grammatically solid.  But, we have found that since we have switched servers a few months ago, for some reason some email that gets sent to us never makes it here.  So, I have set up a new email address for submitting feedback.  It's showfeedback@pwinsider.com.  This should eliminate it getting lost in cyberspace.  If your feedback doesn't get posted in the future, please email me directly and let me know.

Don't you think it is a huge mistake for the WWE to have Hogan take on Khali at Wrestlemania? I mean come on Khali isn't exactly a technical wrestler and with Hogan's age he can't move like he used to. Don't you think this match will exploit how old and broken down Hogan is? At this point shouldn't they have Hogan wrestle someone who can help carry him to a decent match? 

A mistake?  Nah, not really.  I really don't think, at this point in his life, anyone is going to carry Hogan to a decent match.  He's older and his body is not in great shape physically so the reason to have a match with him is to play off of the past and have him deliver the familiar bout that his fans know and love.  I think that if they choose to put him one-on-one with Khali, he can have that match.  I mean look back at some of the stiffs that Hogan has wrestled in the past, like Zeus for example.  They weren't good bouts and were never about top quality work.  They were about giving the people what they wanted.  He can do that with Khali.

Didn't Cryme Tyme win a Tag Team Title shot at NYR 07? Is WWE going to  ignore that? 

Yes, they sure did.  When they announced the tag team turmoil match at the PPV that night, they said that the winner would get a "future tag title shot".  Since then, they haven't said a word.  So far, WWE has ignored it but maybe they will address it down the line.  You never know what WWE creative will do.

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