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PWINSIDER Q & A: RETURNING HHH, RETIRING WRESTLERS, WASTING UMAGA, ANGRY FANS, DECLINING SMACKDOWN AND MORE

Do you think that this McMahon-Lashley feud has served to destroy Umaga's image as an unstoppable monster? Since WM 23 they have been going 3 on 1 and looking weak and last night Lashley disposed of Umaga and destroyed the three of them with no problem. If Umaga was the monster of six months ago this would have been implausible. He was beating two men at a time like a dangerous machine. I'm wondering what will become of Umaga after this feud finally ends, with no Alejandro and no monster persona. Your thoughts?

Yes, I do.  I think the feud has been extremely detrimental to Umaga.  He was a guy who was seen as a true monster heel and now he just seems like a midcarder.  They really dropped the ball with the booking of him.  Creative deserves to take the heat on this one.

My question is about Triple H and his physique upon his pending return to the ring in the next couple of months. After his first quadriceps tear a few years ago, he came back looking twice as big as before and was really in the best shape of his life. Then last year after his feud with Batista, he took a couple of months off as his character had become slightly stale and needed to stay off of RAW for a bit. Now at that point, he had noticably "let himself go" slightly and gained quite a bit of weight but you could still see that under the puppy fat, the huge physique was still there. A week or two before his his return, many news sites had reported that he was looking even more "puffier" as he had been spending less time in the gym and more time backstage, learning more about the business side of the WWE. Once he did return, the reports were proven to be true as he did look really out of shape. So much so that I couldn't help but chuckle to myself when seeing him for the first time in 2 months.

First off, HHH wasn't on the road much until recently, so those reports were skewed.  Secondly, when he returned from his last quad tear yes he was jacked but his worked suffered big time.  He was slow and plodding and not the fluid worker he had been before he was hurt.  I know that he was aware of how the extra size affected him the last time I would think he won't make the same mistake again since having good matches is important to him.  

Personally, I have no problem with him not being as jacked as he used to be.  He is in his late 30s for God's sake!  He, like Edge, has established his character to the point where he doesn't need a huge physique to get noticed (well, he also has being a McMahon now on his side).  He doesn't need to be THAT big again.

Why are wrestling fans so angry at this time? Is it, because they get so much inside info on the internet and they don't know, what they really want, because they read so much criticism? 

Fans are angry about a shoddy product for a few reasons.  The first one is that they are passionate and love the business.  They want to see it do well and be what it can and should be.  When they see people in creative doing a poor job, it makes them angry.  Also, many of the angry fans have followed the product for a while and know that WWE today is dropping the ball a lot.  If you are a newer fan, who didn't see the great product of the late 90s and early 2000s, you don't have any idea how good it used to be and thus how today's shows pale in comparison.  It's a matter of perspective that I am guessing you don't have.  If you did, I don't see how you couldn't see how today's product is far worse than it used to be.  With a few minor changes and putting an ego or two in check, it could be that good again.  That fact that it isn't frustrates people.

Why does it seem that the wrestlers who don't announce their retirements actually stay away longer than those that do announce their retirements? Rock never retired, Austin never retired, etc. Mick Foley announced his retirement and been back several times, Terry Funk has announced his retirement and returned several times. Is this just a few high profile cases masking the truth, or is there some quirk in wrestling that makes people who publicly retire come back more often than those that don't?

I think the people like Foley and Funk announce it because they mean it at the time, then change their minds.  It's a person's right to change their mind.  I think in most cases, the people mean it when they say it and then with nothing else to do or with a big money offer, they reconsider.  I think the people like Rock and Austin who don't make any official announcement realize that it serves them better to keep in contact with a large fan base to bring to their new projects (at least in theory) so they don't see the point in alienating them or closing a door.

I recently read that Smackdown was listed as a "show on the decline". I know Vince will never let Smackdown be the #1 show, but since Edge is champion... do you think he could be able to make promos that never leave people's minds like the Attitude Era used to do? Now, I know the Attitude Era was completely different, but Edge can make promos that are incredible and can raise the ratings. Thinking back, he did have the live sex celebration back on RAW which had a great TV Ratings. I feel like he can elevate the show if given the green light to do so. After all, this is the Rated R Era. Do you think this is possible and will happen?

Honestly, I would welcome anything that goes outside of the staid WWE cookie cutter formula, whether it worked or not.  I would love to see more outside the box stuff tried on all WWE programming.  Smackdown is hampered a bit by being on broadcast TV, but they still could change things up a bit and if they did it well, I think the fans would respond to it.

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