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PWINSIDER Q&A: UNDERTAKER'S FACEMASK, AJ STYLES AS A FUTURE WWE AND TNA MAIN EVENTER, SHANE AND STEPH RETURNING TO TV, ERIC YOUNG & MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2007-12-02 10:00:17

AJ Styles is easily one of my favorite wrestlers. With all of these new people on TNA, do you think we'll ever get to see him in the main event title scene again? Also, if he were to go to WWE, do think he could main event there, or would his size hold him back? 

I think you could make a case that AJ Styles is still involved in the main event title picture.  He's working the Turning Point main event tonight.  If you mean does he have a chance to be a top singles star in TNA again, I don't see why he couldn't be.  It all depends on the creative direction, because he's obviously talented in the ring.  Styles in WWE is an interesting question.  One would assume his size would hamper him there, but Rey Mysterio has shown that talented smaller performers do get pushed.  I think it would all depend on how well he could mesh into the WWE way of doing things and if he would be politically prevented from doing what he can do well inside the ring, i.e. having his high impact style toned down.

You said that when Undertaker returned wearing the mask, that it was for protection from a legitimate injury.  But, I thought the reason for the mask was because that was the time when Brian Lee was filling in as the Undertaker, which led to the Taker vs. Taker match.  Am I remembering wrong?

You are remembering it wrong.  The Undertaker vs. Fake Undertaker build and Summerslam match in 1994 didn't feature either Undertaker wearing a mask.  The Undertaker wore the mask in 1995 after suffering an orbital bone injury, so they created a mask that played off the Phantom of the Opera to accentuate his look.

Is TNA's Eric Young being groomed as the next Crash Holly? A guy with not much upstairs, but with a heart of gold and someone with guts and determination?

I think you could make analogies between Young and Mike Lockwood's work as Crash Holly and also Nick Dinsmore's work as Eugene in WWE.  Young's persona as the loveable but paranoid babyface for TNA has been one of the better characters to follow in the last two years.

Great website, love it.  My question is, would you think by bringing Stephanie and Shane back full time would help WWE ratings ? I would like to see them take over as General managers, then create a war between them, as to who has the better show and superstars on the brand they are managing. I mean, wouldn't this spice things up a bit. What are your thoughts ?

The USA Network President Bonnie Hammer has pushed for the McMahon family strife to become part of WWE programming again, as we saw during the "Vince is dead" storyline, but I think that if we went back to feuding siblings and rival brands that it would come off as a rehash of older storylines, as opposed to something fresh.  I'm not opposed to seeing either back on TV, especially Shane who always works hard when he's involved in an in-ring situation, but It would only help things if they are used in a fresh way.

I seem to recall when Gail Kim was getting ready to debut in the WWF(E) they had matrix style promos a la Save Us 222. Am I correct or did I dream that up because of her "Trinity" look. None of my buddies seems to remember this, that's why I bet a dinner on it.

Your friends owe you a dinner.  While they didn't push the promos in a Saveus_222 mysterious way, they certainly were based on the Matrix film.  Kim's original ring look during her initial WWF run featured her wearing a trenchcoast and sunglasses similar to Carrie-Anne Moss in the Matrix trilogy.


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