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PWINSIDER Q & A: STEPH AND TRIPLE H, TNA'S AUDIENCE, PUSHING SANTINO, PROMOTIONS IN THE EAST AND MORE

I've been watching a few of my DVD's as of late and couldn't help but notice something, it seems as if most, if not all, of the major promotions ran out of the east coast with little coming from the west coast. I know there were a few promoters out west but it seems professional wrestling really grew out of the east. I was wondering if there was a reason for this or maybe it just hadn't spread as quickly out west?

The reason, quite simply, is the denseness of the population in the east.  A worker who lives in New Jersey can get anywhere from Massachusetts to Virginia to Western PA in a  five hour drive.  That makes it easier for promoters to book guys and makes it easier for talents to find work, so you see more indies around here.  A large chunk of the population lives along the northeastern seaboard in a relatively small amount of land. Out west, the cities are farther away, making travel a much bigger factor and making running a promotion more costly.

Do you think the WWE is missing out on a big time heel with Santino Marella? I know they've given him his own segment on WWE.com & pretty much give him some interview time every week (which is more than what most will get), however, the second they put him into the ring he gets squashed. In my mind, He's hands down one of the most entertaining figures in the WWE right now and someone who knows exactly how to get under the skin of the audience. If the WWE actually gave him some bigger wins & put him back into a title race don't you think the WWE would greatly benefit from another strong heel? I know people think he's a terrible in-ring worker, however, I remember seeing a video of him during his time in OVW and he looked like a great judo-esk kind of fighter. So, all in all, Do you think the WWE is under-using Santino as much as I do?

At this point in time, no I don't.  He's not a great in-ring worker so he would get exposed quickly if he were given a bigger push.  If he improves, I could see it happening down the road perhaps but for now, he's been great in his comedy role and if they tried to push him as more than that and he looked weak, it could kill what he has going at the moment.

With TNA Impact's ratings slowly growing even though the booking is not always great, I wonder who are these new fans who are tuning in. Are they casual fans or are they the "smart" fans? I keep reading how many of the "smart" fans would like the product, but should TNA management cater to them only? 

When the rating rises a tenth of a point or two, it's not a huge swing and it falls within Nielsen's standard for error.  TNA has been in the 1.0-1.2 range so, it's not like a huge influx of viewers have tuned in.  If the number continues to grow, then it will become an issue.  If it does, it will validate TNA's creative process.  TNA (like WWE) should be interested in getting ANY new fans to tune in.  I think it's a mistake to both cater to smart fans and alienate them.  I think having a balanced, well-written and worked product is the best way to go.

Okay, so WWE has revealed on their website that Stephanie McMahon is pregnant. What they haven't revealed is who the father is. Curious, no?

They did, they just called Triple H by his real name.  The word we have gotten is that while the company doesn't really hide that the two are married, they don't go out of their way to mention it all the time either.

WWE released a compilation DVD on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin this week and it features the match between him and Triple H at Survivor Series 2000. Chris Benoit played a role in getting the action from inside of the arena to the parking lot. When these segments occur, the Survivor Series logo is suddenly shown and the match skips to the part without Benoit. This happens twice during the match on the DVD.

Is WWE being childish or what? When "Naked Gun" airs on TV, O.J. Simpson's parts aren't edited out.

Childish?  I don't see it that way at all.  They are simply divorcing themselves from Chris Benoit due to the heinous crimes that he committed.  I don't blame them a bit, especially when you consider all of the bad publicity and scrutiny that came their way after Benoit did what he did.  It's a lot harder to cut a guy out of a movie that's been out of years than it is to take Benoit out of footage that WWE controls.  And, I would bet that if the producers of Naked Gun had their way, they would get rid of the OJ scenes.

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