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PWINSIDER Q & A: MAD BOOKER, TNA GUYS WORKING WWE GUYS, LAME MORRISON, UNPROTECTED CHAIRSHOTS, BAD WWE ANNOUNCER MADE GOOD AND MORE

I was just reading the results from King Booker’s PWA show in Pasadena, TX and noticed that a TNA contracted performer wrestled a WWE contracted performer when AJ Styles defeated Joey Matthews. What I wanted to know is if TNA or WWE has ever had any problems with their contracted talent wrestling each other outside of their own promotions? I just found it weird to see that AJ would be fighting on a indy show run by a WWE performer.

What it comes down to is that if either side wants control, they will have to pay for it.  Booker has asked WWE to sponsor his territory and have a working agreement.  They instead decided to go with the Florida group instead, after initially sending Booker talent for his early shows.  So, Booker decided to use TNA talent instead.  Actually, the territory was a big bone of contention with Booker when he was negotiating a new contract with WWE.  He wanted his promotion to be part of his deal but WWE balked.  As we reported on the Elite site last week, when Booker was suspended last week, reportedly for 60 days, we heard numerous stories that he was so angry and disgusted with the entire situation that he told WWE officials that he was quitting the company.  He told other people that he would be away for two months.  So, we will have a better idea on where he stands by November.

In the case of guys like AJ Styles, TNA hasn't paid for their exclusive house show rights so they don't have a lot of say in how they are booked.  With that said, I don't think they care if their guys are booked to win.

I was watching the video package of John Hennigan / Blaze / Spade / Superstar / Nitro / Morrison on the September 4th edition of ECW and I was astounded by how dull and monotonous his promos were as ECW champion. I hadn’t seen the promos until then, because I had become so bored after his first promo as "John Morrison", I vowed to turn off the TV whenever he started talking from that point on. I am so glad CM Punk is champion now so I don’t have to see any John Morrison promos for about a month. My question is as follows: 1) Is John Hennigan the most lame and inept public speaker imaginable, and if not… 2) Is the John Morrison character some sort of inside joke to have the most boring and least passionate promos the world has ever seen? Is it some kind of “rib”? The guy is a good wrestler, but WWE should never let him talk again unless he can put some fire into his promos. I swear I can hear TVs turning off around the world whenever he opens his mouth!

Your answers:

1) No, he's not.  He has just been given an incredibly lame gimmick to perform and horrible promos to read.  He has a lot more charisma than he is showing in his really weak current character.  Creative should be embarrassed for sending him out there with so little to work with. 

2) No, it's not a joke (at least not an intentional one).  It's a character that ECW head of creative Dave Lagana thinks is working.  He's wrong.

With the news of Chris Benoit's brain damage, do you think we'll be seeing less to no more unprotected chair shots to the head, and other pointless brain rattling maneuvers? I'm hoping this revelation isn't lost in the current focus on steroids (that, ironically, was started by the Benoit tragedy).

Looking at the ridiculous press release that WWE sent out last week, acting as if there was little correlation to Benoit's brain damage and his actions, you would think they don't put much stock in it.  When you look at the way that Triple H creamed Umaga on last week's Raw, it would sure seem like they don't think chairshots are a problem.  And, when a young guy like Chris Nowinski has his career snuffed out due to concussions and the company doesn't even consider changing their practices, it leads me to believe that they will continue doing business as usual, which I have said for years now is a mistake.  Yes, chairshots to the head are cool to watch but they are really harmful and that should make them extinct.  Wrestling is supposed to be a performance art, not the demolition derby.

When Tag Team Wrestling was big, One team that I thought never got their due and should have been NWA or WWF/E World Tag Team Champions were The Powers Of Pain (Warlord and The Barbarian). I mean, they had the same amount of wrestling ability as The Road Warriors and Demolition. They were strong, worked well as a tag team and had the look of being champions. The Road Warriors were NWA,WWF and AWA World Tag Team Champions. Demolition were 3x WWF World Tag Team Champions and the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in WWF/E History. What did these two teams have that The Powers Of Pain did not have? What do you think?

That's easy, The Warriors were the first of their kind, were pushed perfectly as monsters and had charisma.  Demolition, while a total rip off of the Warriors, had the WWF promotional machine behind them to get them over, plus a cool theme song.  Powers of Pain, by the time they came along, just came across as rip offs and didn't have much charisma.  

Who was Todd Pettengill? Was he as bad as announcing as some people say he was?

Yeah, he was a pretty bad announcer back for the WWF years ago but he was just doing what Vince McMahon wanted him to do.  But, after leaving WWE he has had a pretty successful career in radio.  You can find out more on him at this link.

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