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PWINSIDER Q&A: HULK HOGAN'S MEMPHIS SHOW, THE FUTURE OF RING OF HONOR, DUSTIN RHODES & MORE

My question is what do you see for the future of ROH? When I first started watching ROH it was filled with wrestlers I'd never previously heard of having red hot matches for a crowd that loved every minute of it. Promos, storyline & character all seemed to take a back seat & the emphasis was put on the in-ring product. In the recent past the product developed to the point where it boasted several big name / big game wrestlers on its roster. With all the recent departures has the company been hurt to the point where the product might never be as strong again, or can they do what they did in the first place & bring in 'undiscovered' talent to put on hot matches, fire up the live crowd & release DVDs wreslting fans want to see?

I think ROH's future is that it's always going to be exactly what you described, a place where all the emphasis is on the in-ring product. Since they are a small company giving hungry talents a chance to basically go all out in the ring, there is always going to be talent that is picked off and signed elsewhere because working for ROH at this point is like having a impressive degree on your resume - it gives you attention. Since ROH doesn't have contracts, it will likely see a continuing cycle where names come in, are built into "stars" of sort and over time, will depart. Thus far, this hasn't hurt the company, because I remember when Paul London departed several years ago, personally feeling ROH was going to be in trouble because he was their top babyface, but others like Samoa Joe quickly stepped up. Now, as the TNA talents leave, names like Roderick Strong, Takeshi Morishima, KENTA, and Bryan Danielson have stepped up. In time, those names will leave as well, but until the day comes where ROH is no longer cultivating new names, I think they will be fine. They have their DVD and merchandise arm to help prop them up and more often then not, the live shows are doing decent business. If they are selling out NYC without announcing any matches, they are doing something right.

After reading a recent question about Dustin Runnells' Seven chracter in WCW, it made me think about a storyline he had in WWE. They had him come out on Raw, denouce the Goldust character with him then buring the Goldust outfit, and go on to play a religious character with the line he's coming, making it to believe he was refering to god, only to turn out it was to have the Goldust character return in his feud with Val Venis and Terri. The question is, when they had Dustin denounce Goldust, was it originally planned to work out that he brings the character back, or did they do it because he wasn't getting over as himself?

That character was designed to spoof those who were coming out hard against WWE's product at the time, much like the RTC was a response to the Parents Television Council attacking WWE advertisers.

Are there any plans to release the Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Wight Memphis show on DVD?

As I reported yesterday, VH-1 and Memphis Wrestling both independently filmed the entire event. There are no announced plans, yet, to release it to the retail market, but it's a possibility for down the line.