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PWINSIDER Q & A: PREDICTABLE BOOKING, LEANING ON BAD RULES, GOOD/BAD ANGLES, WWE IRON MAN MATCHES AND MORE

I've been a wrestling fan for a long time. I've seen some terrible angles and I've seen some terrific angles. In your opinion, what has been the best angle that has/hasn't gotten over and what is the worst angle that has/hasn't gotten over?

I have gotten this question a few times.  It's just too hard for me to say.  There has been so much good stuff, and just as much bad, that it's impossible to anoint what is the best and worst for me.  I mean, is The Shockmaster's debut worse than Katie Vick or Mae Young giving birth to a hand?  Is the Steve Austin/Bret Hart double-turn better than when they put the flag on the Cowboy?  It's just too hard to say for me.

Is it me or can you tell who's gonna win the main event of a PPV beforehand? For example, the last show before a PPV, it always seems like the person that is going to win the match gets beaten down by the opposition. I'm almost afraid that Randy is going to win Sunday night and Flair is going to lose because of the actions this past week. Make any sense to you or am I just reading into it too much?

If you are asking if WWE booking has gotten way too predictable, you won't get any argument from me.  I am a big fan of good booking that keeps you wondering.  I just wished that we saw more of it.

Could you please explain what is the process behind giving a character to a wrestler? 

Basically, creative looks at the talents that they have (most of the time in developmental) and if they have any first impressions of the person, they go with that.  They ask the worker to offer up suggestions for their characters, but I am hearing less and less of those being listened to and/or taken seriously.  Creative does talk with the talent and if they see something in their personality that they can incorporate into a character they do.  Once they figure out a character for a person, they pretty much lay out what their look will be, what kind of outfit they will wear etc.  If the person has a finisher (and will need one), and it doesn't infringe on anyone else, they can usually use it.  If not, they are told to come up with something else.  WWE is pretty controlling as to what goes into the characters.

I've noticed they've changed when they declare a DQ from outside interference making contact with an opponent to it being enough for that outside person to enter the ring. Similarly the ref use to wait for the use of a foreign (and/or international) object before calling for the bell and now they do so as soon as he sees you bring it into the ring. So, while they are updating such things, how about borrowing the old AWA rules about titles changing hands on intentional DQs and countouts? Especially if they're gonna let the champion pick and choose when he's willing to defend the belt. Heck, make it official that getting DQ'd under any circumstances as champion doesn't count as a title defense and enforce the 30 day rule. To me, Orton (as a character) has abused the rule about titles not changing hands on a DQ and thus he's ruined it for everyone.

Here's the problem with that.  Everything that Orton is "doing" is being done because creative is choosing for him to do that.  He isn't doing it on his own.  They like having the booking crutches that it provides them so whether we would like to see them make the changes or not doesn't matter.  They like having things as they are now to use when they see fit.

I was wondering if you guys think there will be another 60 Minute Iron Man match in WWE in the near future?

Those kinds of matches are really hard to pull off.  You need to have special workers to even consider doing them and there aren't a lot of those guys around in WWE any more.  Honestly, how many of the top WWE guys do you want to see try do a match like that at this point?  Plus they dominate a show time-wise, which keeps guys from getting on the PPV and making a bonus.  So while I would never say never, I don't think WWE has any plans to do one of these bouts any time soon.

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