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PWINSIDER Q&A: WWE DOING STEROID ANGLES, RIC FLAIR ANNOUNCING HIS RETIREMENT AT HALL OF FAME, WWE'S INDUSTRY NEWS, HEYMAN & MORE

Hey guys. Do the ratings you guys post each week for RAW, Smackdown, ECW and TNA reflect Canadian viewing at all? I'm thinking they don't, but I could be wrong. If not ... do you have any idea how each show is doing up north? I'm also curious how RAW has done since moving from TSN to The Score up here two years ago. 

The ratings do not reflect the Canadian viewers.  I've heard the Raw ratings have dropped somewhat with the move to the Score, but not drastically.  We don't receive regular weekly details on the ratings up North at this juncture.

Knowing that Vince McMahon like to garner attention via controversial angles but often do so with tasteless, homophobic, misogynistic angles like Katie Vick or Chuck and Billy or even some of the Vicky Guerrero stuff do you think the WWE might ever try the following: an angle where a wrestler just cannot seem to get the big win or get ahead in the business...so he turns to steroids. I understand that it hits way too close to home BUT, it would certainly garner attention by blurring the lines between story and real life ‹ and also give them an opportunity to show the clear downsides of steroid use. Is this the type of "worthwhile" controversy that the WWE would ever go near?

Nothing would surprise me.  This was the company that pushed Muhammad Hassan as a major league heel to the point they played off the beheadings and bombings to the point the character was banned by the UPN Network.  I don't see the company doing it anytime soon, but considering they've had so many angles that the average viewer realizes is in bad taste under the guise of "dramatic storylines", I could see them doing something along the lines you discussed, while being completely unaware that it would be mocking their own Wellness Policy.

What do you guys think about the Heyman Hustle?

I can only speak for myself, but I am entertained by it, partially because Heyman is a good talker and partially because he's running around in my hometown showing off some of the zany characters I see whenever I walk through Midtown Manhattan.  I think those who don't see it that way may it lost on them, because I have gotten some emails questioning exactly what it's supposed to be - which is a video blog designed to make celebrities look ordinary and make the average joe seem more than ordinary by "peeling back the curtains" so to speak.  I also got a kick out of the cameos, especially Jesse Ventura.  My gut feeling is Heyman is doing the series online in hopes of garnering some sort of interest from a TV network to bring the concept to cable or syndication.  Can he do that?  We'll see.

I just went to the WWE website homepage and was in awe when I clicked on a section entitled "Industry News" and saw a link that said 'TNA Impact results'. Thinking it was a joke, I clicked it and sure enough, it had the results from the past week!  Could this mean WWE and TNA are building a bridge or looking maybe for a talent exchange or what?

It has nothing to do with a relationship between the companies and everything to do with WWE trying to build a destination point for wrestling fans to get their news so they "don't have to" come to places like PWInsider.com.

I just seen the Shawn Michaels segment on RAW where he announced that Ric Flair was be in the 2008 Hall of Fame. Now...wouldn't it have been a smart idea for Ric Flair to come out and speak and break kayfabe and announce his retirement. I don't see an emotional build up for his final match at Wrestlemania when it is all storyline. Wouldn't it have been smart to get a better build up for his final match at this point?

As I wrote yesterday, I don't expect Mania to really be his final match.  The only issue I see with your suggestion is that Flair, to this day, hates the idea that kayfabe has broken down and has a real issue with professing the inside of the business publicly.

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