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PWINSIDER Q & A: BENOIT ON THE MOVE, KEEPING CREATIVE FOCUS, BREAKING DOWN MATCHES, NEKKID ASHLEY (AGAIN) AND MORE

With talk of Chris Benoit moving to Raw after Wrestlemania, is there anyone being talked about being moved to SmackDown in exchange? Do you see Chris Benoit turning heel to feud with John Cena?

All I can say is I have heard the talk that some in WWE feel that Benoit will be moving to Raw after Mania.  As with almost everything where creative is concerned, take it with a grain of salt until it happens.  At this point, I really don't "see" anything where jumps and trades are concerned since even WWE is focusing on Mania right now.  That doesn't mean that they won't happen, but I don't think there will be much serious talk about trades and such until after Mania is in the books.

Since WWE TV has been so good since the Royal Rumble does it seem like WWE is going to keep having good TV after the Royal Rumble and before Wrestlemania and kind of going back to their old ways or do you seem them keeping their same roll they are having now after Wrestlemania? 

I don't see any reason why they can't keep having good TV after Mania ends.  All it really means is that creative has to stay focused, as they are now.  But, that doesn't mean that they will   Vince McMahon, as the real head of creative, is in a good groove right now and the direction of the storylines are guided almost completely by him, so he is the only real factor involved here.  Like you, I hope that he stays in this groove after Mania is over.

How do the matches in WWE work? If you had say MVP vs. Chris Benoit wrestling would the producers writers or whomever tell both wrestlers what they would like to see them do in the match with one of them going over? Or would they say we want Benoit to win the match and having Benoit the veteran call the match in the ring? 

For the most part, the producers will tell the guys the story of the match, the finish, how much time they have and what spots they want to see done in the bout.   It's kind of like an outline in a coloring book and the guys just talk it over and fill the rest in, then go out and do it.  I can't tell you the last time I heard of WWE guys truly calling a match in the ring, as they went.  Things are much more planned out now than they were years ago.

Why do you suppose Ashley and the WWE are acting like this is the first time she's posed for Playboy?  Anybody that desires to see her naked knows that she posed a few years ago under a different name. It's not hard to find these things on the internet. Every time I see one of her Playboy promos, I feel like my intelligence is being insulted.

It's no excuse, for sure, but if they didn't act like it was the first time that she posed, it wouldn't really draw much of a buzz.  Plus, to every WWE fan who has no idea she did it before, it's news to them.  You have to remember that a large chunk of the WWE fan base is not savvy enough to use the net for such noble purposes!  So, WWE just ignores the past and does what they think is best for their business.  I agree with you though, it's ground that has already been broken.

I know this topic has come up way way too often in this Q and A, but I was wondering about your take on things. WWE refuses to pay royalties to bands for certain songs like Enter Sandman, for Sandman's entrance. However they paid a huge royalty to Jimi Hendrix's estate for the use of Voodoo Child, every single time they used for Hulk Hogan did they not? And in my opinion, form a purely wrestling standpoint Hogan is about the least deserving of that, regardless of the pop he gets. It's not like he's working on a regular basis or selling out arenas.

I seem to remember that back when Hogan was in WCW he was the one who came up with the deal to use Hendrix's music.  My guess is that he was the one who did the same thing in WWE.  Plus, as we all have seen, a major reason why WWE didn't pay for the rights to use Enter Sandman is because they had no intention of pushing either Sandman or the old ECW style.  So, it made no sense (from their perspective) to lay out the money.

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