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PWINSIDER Q&A: ECW, SHAWN MICHAELS, FEMALE REFEREES, RIC FLAIR AND MORE

Answered on 9/13

Since ECW only has a few wrestler's on it's show, I was wondering is there any chance of bring up more wrestlers from either OVW or Florida to ECW and using the show as their AAA show (using a baseball reference) to get them ready for Raw and Smackdown? Could the reason why WWE doesn't do this is because it's a TV show and would WWE consider doing this if Sci-Fi decides not to renew the TV contract at the end of the year?

To work backwards through your question, if there is no TV show, then there is no ECW.  ECW doesn't have their own live events anyway, so if the TV show were to be canned, then I imagine WWE would ditch the brand and just go back to Raw and Smackdown.  As for bringing up talent to fill out the ECW roster, I think that would be a great idea.  Certainly, there are guys in OVW or Florida that are ready to get "a shot" and ECW would be a good place to put them. 

How's Scott Hall these days? I know the he recently wrestled Carlito in Puerto Rico and was wondering if the match was good and if he plans to work for TNA or WWE. 

From the footage I've seen of his match with Carlito, Hall looked fine, although obviously older and a bit heavier than most fans remember him.  I don't think he looked incredible in what little I saw, but certainly there are veterans that look a lot worse right now.  However, I have heard of no plans for him to come to TNA or WWE.  I also haven't heard of any interest from either company in bringing him back. 

When is Shawn Michaels coming back? Will he be back before Mania?

WWE is hopeful that Michaels will be ready to return in the Fall, although I haven't heard an exact date.  He is definitely expected to be back well before Wrestlemania. 

In one of your recent question and answer sessions a fan asked if TNA having a female ref would boost things up a bit. Am I mistaken or didn’t the WWE have a female ref years ago, she was tall and thin with medium length blonde hair.

Yes, WWE did have a female referee in the 80's named Rita Marie.  Her real name was Rita Chatterton and in 1992 she appeared on television for an interview with Geraldo Rivera in which she claimed Vince McMahon sexually propositioned and attacked her in 1986.  However, it should be noted that no charges were ever filed or pressed against McMahon.  

With Ric Flair hinting that he will be retiring at WM wouldn’t it be a good idea to start building a program for him instead of just setting a final match?? Possibly Steamboat and Piper vs. Dusty and Ric, now that would be a great send off.

I don't know what scenario WWE would go with (your idea is as good as any), but I do agree that if Flair is going to retire at Wrestlemania (and that is still an "if" right now), they absolutely should build up a storyline for it, and get the most out of it.  There are a lot of fans that will pay money for tickets and PPV events to see Flair's "final matches" leading to Wrestlemania. 

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