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PWINSIDER Q & A: FLAIR MANAGING YOUR MONEY, BONNIE HAMMER'S INFLUENCE ON RAW, TWO HOURS OF IMPACT, FIXING ECW AND MORE

I have a suggestion for the formatting of the ECW show on which I'd like your opinion. Since the PPVs only seem to feature 1 ECW match, and it's usually an ECW title match, I think ECW on SciFi should occasionally feature a blow off to a mid card feud in the main event, and include hype throughout the show to give it a big event feel. It would be a good way to maximize the value of all their assets, rather than putting all their eggs in the title basket. Obviously the title should be the focus of most shows so it's not devalued, but maybe every 3rd or 4th episode use the above formula. Give us a reason to care about Big Daddy V vs. Boogieman or Miz vs. Balls and maybe help build a star in the process. Your thoughts?

I like the idea.  Right now, the ECW show really has no purpose or reason that fans have to watch.  Some weeks, they have very good wrestling but they just never have any good booking or anything that makes you need to watch every week.  Anything that would improve that would work for me.  As long as WWE continues to treat it as the C show, that is exactly how fans will see it.  I understand that they don't have a lot of wrestlers on the show but the original ECW was testament to the fact that if you have a good booker writing good stories, that can be overcome.

I know that it is too early to tell, but I was just wondering what your guys' thoughts are on how TNA Impact will be like with a two-hour timeslot. Some people are saying that it will be just your normal over-crammed one-hour Impact except in two hours, and some think it'll be much better paced with a revitalization of the X Division. What do you guys think?

I don't know what to say about what it will be at this point.  What I hope it will be is a forum for TNA to slow things down and give the matches and storylines more time to develop.  I think that slowing things down and letting their quality roster work would be the way to go.  The one thing they offer far more of than WWE is quality, in-ring wrestling.  They should play to that strength.  Listening to Dixie Carter's appearance on TNA Today last week, I get the impression that is what they plan to do.  I hope so because it would be the best thing for the product.

Ric Flair Finance? Seriously? I love the Nature Boy, but I don’t know if I want his financial advice. I’m assuming he’s really just a face to bring people in the door. Any ideas?

I am assuming the same thing, that he is lending his name to the project.  That is the impression I got when I asked about it.  And, I agree with you.  I wouldn't exactly seek Flair out if I were looking for financial advice.  By his own admission he has made a lot of money, but spent a lot as well.  I prefer listening to the guys that make it and then make more with it once they have it.

What is up with Bonnie Hammer and her obsession with overplayed wrestlers/characters. Sable? Seriously? If she is as ungrateful and egotistical as has been reported in the past, she doesn't deserve a spot in ECW, let alone Raw. And the McMahons are staler than John Cena and his title reign of doom. Gimme a break already, goodness. The only one I agree with is Chris Jericho. Why? Because he is actually interesting and entertaining unlike the rest of the names that have been mentioned. I understand she wants the ratings up and all, but doing WWE "Creative's" standard of "going back to the well" hasn't worked for them before, so what makes her think it will now? That's all "Creative" seems to do anymore and Raw seems to struggle to hit 4s some weeks and even 3.5s others. It amazes me that they don't realize that the problem is "Creative."

Bonnie Hammer's obsession is with one thing: Ratings!  If WWE can get them on their own, they won't hear much from her.  If they can't, she will be in their ears very frequently.  Hammer remembers the Attitude era and the great numbers WWE did back then.  She wants numbers like those now as she is battling to be the top rated basic cable network, so she says bring back the characters that drew the big numbers.  The problem is that she doesn't realize that those characters are old and/or stale now.  You can't totally blame her though since she's not a wrestling promoter.  She's a TV programmer that wants viewers and she knew that way back when, those people drew them.  

There are discussions going on these days about changing the styles in pro wrestling (less chair shots for example) after the Chris Benoit tragedy. But, would banning certain moves like a top rope headbutt be the beginning of the end in pro wrestling? I mean, not everybody is meant to be in wrestling because of the physical and mental abuse over the years. I'm certainly not a fan of chair shots and also not liked that ECW using them so much, but should Wrestling be like in the 20's with Joe Stecher vs. Earl Caddock or what? I think a company like WWE could not do so much at this time, because especially the north American audience showed, that they didn't like a more basic wrestling style for example guys like William Regal, Finlay etc. Your thoughts please!!!

That is a copout to me.  Guys have worked for years and entertained, without injuring their cohorts.  When I say worked, I mean performed and did matches where legitimate pain wasn't a prerequisite.  Look at Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels or Ric Flair.  They delivered classic bouts for years and didn't resort to doing things that really hurt their opponent.  There is no reason guys couldn't do the same today.  I agree that not everyone is meant to be a wrestler but that has nothing to do with the subject.  If the only way someone can work in the business is to take chairshots to the head, they don't belong in the ring.

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