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PWINSIDER Q & A: YOKOZUNA, FLAIR IN WWF, PUNK-BURKE = THE ROCK, WWE GETTING EMMYS AND MORE

How would you rate Yokozuna as a worker back in his day? He seemed like a pretty good big man to me, and I remember when he died, Bret Hart writing about how safe he was and never hurting him despite throwing all that weight around.

Yoko was an amazing worker given his size and weight.  I would rate him very highly for his body type.  He was quick, agile and always in control.  The Banzai Drop could have literally killed people if he wasn't the worker he was.  It's a shame he passed so soon. 

What do you think of a red neck type tag-team of Jamie Noble (like with Nidia) and Jimmy Wang Yang (current), other than tag-teams being unimportant? I like both of their characters when they let them talk and both can definitely wrestle.

They both can wrestle, for sure.  I have no problem with them teaming up.  They certainly can have good matches and that is about all you can ask for with the tag belts nowadays.

I was watching the Four Horsemen DVD and a few people commented they thought Ric Flair's initial WWE run was not as successful as they had hoped for and that they suspect Vince ruined him on purpose because he was successful on his own. I know he did that to people like Dusty Rhodes and Harley Race and more recently Booker T, but I don't think Vince ruined Ric Flair in 1991 nor do I think his run then was as unsuccessful as Bischoff and JJ Dillon claimed. He did win the title twice then and was pushed as a top guy. Plus, he wasn't given some stupid gimmicky crap like Dusty and Harley, he was allowed to be who he always was, which is the biggest compliment Vince could give somebody. I think Vince was a Ric Flair fan, because I know from the McMahon DVD that he admired a guy named Dr. Jerry Graham in his youth who sounded very similar to Ric. How do you guys feel about his initial WWE run?

All things considered, I think Flair got a decent run during his time in the WWF.  Like you said, he did hold the belt and he did work some great matches.  He didn't have to wear polka dots or a crown.  And given that he was the face of the competition at the time he jumped to Vince, he definitely could have been buried, plus he was already in his forties at the time.  So, I would call it a solid run for Flair.

A quick question about current situation of C M Punk and Elijah Burke. If I am right, wasn’t the same situation back in late 90s with Farooq [Ron Simmons] (leader of Nation of Domination) and Rocky “The Rock” Maivia? I am surprised that none of you old school guys picked this up and never mentioned in your TV Show thoughts or Reports Articles.

With my memory, you expect me to pick up on things?  HA!  Seriously, there are some similarities in the angle.  As I remember it, Rocky's rise was different though, as it was a more slowly developing program, where he was part of the group and "gained power" while Punk was a coveted free agent that the leader recruited.  So, they are similar but not the same.

Now don’t laugh, but has WWE ever won or been nominated for any Emmy’s or TV awards? Possibly for makeup, costumes, production, or direction?

I can't ever remember that happening.  Even though Raw is usually the highest rated show on cable each week, Hollywood tends to look down their nose at it and the wrestling business on the whole.  So, I wouldn't count on any Emmy nominations in the future, much to the McMahons'/Levesques' dismay.

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