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PWINSIDER Q & A: WWE'S POOR PPVS, KING BOOKER'S FUTURE, XPW VS. ECW, STUPIDEST QUESTION EVER AND MORE

Okay, what is going on with WWE PPVs? The last three were mediocre or below mediocre, and one of them was one of the big four (SummerSlam). Too much of it is paint by numbers and predictable. Why are these PPVs like this?

Man, I wish I had a good answer for this question, I really do.  There is just no excuse for the dreck that WWE has been selling of late, for forty hard-earned dollars no less.  The main reason that the PPVs are the way they are is that creative is largely doing a poor job of booking entertaining feuds and finishes while the matches themselves have been lackluster.  Sometimes, the way a match is laid out can affect its quality.  Other times, the workers just don't go above and beyond to deliver a memorable bout or the just don't have the talent to do so.  Add it all together and WWE has a perfect storm of bad happening right now on their PPV shows and frankly everyone involved should be ashamed and embarrassed by their work.  What makes matters worse is that ever since WrestleMania, the trend is down for buys so you would think it would be a priority for the company to fix, especially when they have already raised the price about as high as they can.  They have been fleecing their most loyal fans to make up for the loss of those who no longer buy the shows and they do nothing to reward them.  It's downright sickening. 

What ever happened to Bryan "Wrath" Clark? From what I remember, he had quite awesome agility for a 6'7 300 pounder.  Also, what happened to Brian Lee? 

Clark worked briefly in WWE in late 2001 with the late Brian Adams, reforming their former WCW tag team Kronik.  They got in largely because Adams was a good friend of Undertaker's.  The two had a match with Undertaker and Kane at the Unforgiven PPV that was so bad that the two were released shortly thereafter.  They went to All Japan for a year and then the team broke up.  I remember hearing that Clark had neck and back problems and I believe he is retired now.  As for Brian Lee, I haven't heard his name in years, since his run in TNA.  My guess is he is back in Tennessee doing God knows what!

With indications that King Booker may not be long either for WWE or as an active wrestler, what do you think about the idea of him joining TNA as a permanent color commentator? Booker has certainly shown some capacity for the role in guest shots at the WWE's announcing tables. And quite frankly, two hours of the Mike and Don show every week could be too much for any fan to take.

First off, I am not convinced Booker's in-ring career is done.  I think he was just mad at being suspended by WWE when he may or may not have "quit".  I take things said in a moment of passion with a grain of salt.

If he were to leave WWE, I think he would rather wrestle for TNA than commentate.  I am not saying that he wouldn't be a good color man, but I think he still has juice left as a worker and there is more money to be made in the ring than behind the mic.  Also, I have no problem with Don West as a color guy, if they calm things down and don't have he and Mike Tenay scream so much.  Their volume is so loud a lot of the time that it has the opposite effect than they intend.  An occasional scream means a lot more than a continual one.  When they just call the action normally, they are a good duo. 

I just bought the XPW "After The Fall DVD" and I was wandering what the beef was between ECW and XPW? 

XPW was an LA based indy company that was started by porn mogul Rob Black.  Black wanted to work with ECW but it didn't materialize.  So, he started his own company and tried to market it like ECW, going so far as to sign any former ECW talent that he could and patterning his business after ECW.  There were a lot of challenges made by XPW that were ignored by ECW.  But, it became more than an annoying situation when it came to a bizarre head after ECW announced a PPV for Los Angeles.  XPW said that LA was their "home turf" and vowed to mess with the show.  It may have been posturing but the day of the show, a number of their talents sat ringside at the PPV and they made comments all night, trying to get on camera.  It was a cheap stunt since it's considered really tacky to try and get yourself over at someone else's show.  After a while, there was an incident involving Francine.  Francine said one of the XPW people grabbed her.  They said she made it up.  Either way, ECW wrestlers came out from the back and brawled with the XPW guys in a shoot, during the PPV.  The ECW guys ran the XPW guys out of the building and that was pretty much the end of the "feud".  So, to answer your question, the beef came from unrequited love that ECW didn't feel for XPW.  XPW was like the little brother who got mad that big bro wouldn't let him play and then threw a tantrum.

What is, in your opinion, the stupidest question that you have ever been asked?

It was when this girl I picked up at a bar and spent part of the night with in Las Vegas asked me if I was going to call her as I was sneaking out the door while I thought she was sleeping.  She was an all day sucker, that one (and I mean like the lollipop, get your mind out of the gutter).

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