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PWINSIDER Q & A: PAUL HEYMAN BOOK, USA PUSHING WWE, THE UNKNOWN WRESTLER, THE INJURY BUG AND MORE

Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Undertaker, Mr. Kennedy, Edge and Bobby Lashley have all been sidelined with injuries this year. Is WWE taking a serious look into this and possibly figuring out solutions for this problem? I know injuries will happen, but c'mon, not like this!

WWE has been looking at the problem for a while now.  They have already banned a number of moves, have told the guys to work a more mat-based, safer style and also have cut back on the road schedule.  They have definitely had a bad run but you have to remember that wrestling is a business where guys fall to a mat for a living and injuries will happen.  Also, if you look at the list, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker are in their forties.  Triple H is in his late thirties.  And Edge is in his thirties and has been through the wars.  They went through the Attitude era where the matches were more physical, on average, than they are now and there is a lot of wear and tear on their bodies from their years of working.  Unfortunately, injuries are just a byproduct of the business itself.

Why don't we see a Paul Heyman book from WWE?  I think it would be a great read.

One major reason is that Heyman is no longer under contract to WWE so they would have to come to terms with him in order to do the book.  The other reason is that I am not sure we will ever see one is that he would actually have to want to do it.  In fact, whether he has any desire to chronicle his most interesting journey through the pro wrestling business is something I tend to doubt.  He has been everywhere and done everything but I think he would rather keep his stories to himself given the way he feels about putting the spotlight on himself but I could be wrong.

Over the past few years I have had the privilege of ring announcing for some local indies. During this time I have met some legends, Bobby Heenan, Hawksaw Jim Duggan, King Kong Bundy, Barbarian, Greg The Hammer Valentine and Brutus The Barber Beefcake and new young guys Matt Stryker, Shark Boy, BJ Whitmer, Danny Daniels, and Nigel McGuinness. One thing that I have found in common with all the guys in the back is the handshake. It is a distinctly almost limp handshake. I was always raised the firm handshake way but I have noticed in wrestling, it is basically the opposite. Can you elaborate on how this started and why?

I have heard a lot of stories as to where the limp fish handshake came from over the years but the one I believe to be the truth is that when it started it was a way of differentiating who was smart to the business and who was a mark.  I have also heard people say that it's a way for guys to not get into the macho "I have a stronger grip than you" thing but I believe the first answer is the truth.  Now, it has carried over and it's still used today.  For the record, I totally agree with you.  I have always hated the old school limp wrestling handshake.  It's really annoying to me because I too believe in a firm handshake.

I've been reading the spoilers for the July 31 SmackDown taping and there's a lot of talk about The Unknown Wrestler who defeated Chavo in the dark match. Could it be Paul Burchill, who's been rumored to return soon? It would be wonderful to see a talent like Burchill get a solid singles push! What do you think?

It was actually Johnny The Bull Stamboli, but I agree with you.  It would be nice for Burchill to get a push.  Based off of what I have seen of him, he has a lot of potential and WWE can use all of the fresh blood that they can get right now.

With the Raw rating as low as it was, could you see USA moving Raw to another night so it won't be demolished by ESPN Monday Night Football?

At this point, no.  Monday has been established as "wrestling night" and one of the worst things that you can do is confuse the viewer by changing nights.  Programs almost always lose viewers when they do that.  Monday Night Football comes along every year and takes its chunk of the wrestling audience so it's not a new phenomenon or problem for the company to deal with.  What I can see USA doing is push WWE to improve their often moribund creative process to make Raw more appealing to the many fans who used to watch it but no longer do.  USA has already made a number of suggestions to WWE to spruce up Raw so it's up to WWE to get their ratings up on their own before USA starts offering their own ideas more forcefully.

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