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PWINSIDER Q & A: BATISTA, BRET HART, AN ECW REUNION IN TNA, RAVEN'S FUTURE AND MORE

Didn't Batista win a "battle for brand supremacy" match at Wrestlemania? How come neither Cole nor Coach mentioned that afterwards? Were they told not to gloat about it on Smackdown?

I have not heard anything of the kind where the announcers are concerned.  I think the more logical answer is that the angle was a one-match thing at WrestleMania, not something that was going to continue on.

My question is about Raven. He has claimed in the past that he turned down a job from WWE to be an announcer/part of the creative team and instead, jumped to TNA. Now  that TNA doesn’t even use him, is there any chance he’ll take WWE up on that offer (if it’s still on the table)? Also, is he even still under contract to TNA?

He left TNA in March and shortly thereafter posted on his website that he will be opening a wrestling school, with himself and Johnny Swinger as trainers. The school will be in Georgia with May 6 announced as the opening date.  I would think that at this point, since he's in his mid-forties, if WWE offered him a position he would surely consider it.  I don't know how much interest they have though.  He was in the company about five years ago and they let him go.  He had given some booking ideas back then and they weren't overly well received.  I don't know that his vision of the business, which is kind of out there at times, fits in with what the company does.

This is me just wishful thinking here, but how awesome would it be to see Paul E. Heyman return to pro-wrestling as a manager and form an old school ECW stable in TNA with RVD, Sabu, Rhino, Team 3D and maybe even Raven (He can still take semi-sick bumps). All TNA would have to do would be convince Paul to come back to pro-wrestling strictly to get back at Vince with a hefty contract, sign Sabu to a decent contract and have him and Paul try to talk RVD to come along for the ride too with even a better contract. That leaves us with Raven, and we all know he's still taking bookings. Headed by RVD, this could possibly go down as one of the best stables ever created. It could have an "nWo" feel to it, but in an old school, hardcore ECW way. A true stable (which wrestling really doesn't have right now) would consist of some of the greatest ECW wrestlers ever to perform for Paul E. Heyman. Who knows what would happen if this wishful thinking ever came true, but I could guarantee one thing that this wacky idea would do, and that is iMPACT! would be getting higher ratings then 1.0 , 1.1 , & 1.2. What do you think about this fantasy scenario? 

I think it's wishful thinking on your part.  One, the real ECW died in 2001.  That is over 7 years ago.  That is a long time out of the spotlight.  Also, some old ECW fans came back when WWE revived the brand and were quickly turned off by the product.  Even if this scenario happened in TNA, it would have to be done perfectly to keep those fans tuning in.  Two, you would have to get all of those guys to sign, and in the case of Heyman and RVD it would take a good chunk of money, if they would even do it to begin with.  Three, I don't know that all of those involved would even want to go back in time like that.  Four, it would have to be booked properly to get over and I don't know if that is possible.  Five, even if it all worked out, I don't see it spiking TNA's ratings.  When TNA was on Spike, it did largely the same ratings that TNA is doing now.  Plus, it's not like the nWo where it's a real invasion.  It would be a "wayback machine" invasion.  So, I just think too much is working against it.

I’ve been reading excerpts from Bret Hart’s book on various websites, and my question is, what do you think it would take for Bret Hart to come to terms with and let  go of Survivor Series ’97? It seems (and I admit I haven’t read the entire book) that much of the animosity he held for Vince McMahon and the WWF/E over the incident  hasn’t been resolved, but just shifted towards Shawn Michaels and Triple H (both of whom he arguably wanted to blame all along). Do you think he’ll ever let it go?

Let it go?  Well, that is all relative.  I think to some degree it will bug him for the rest of his life, but he is much better now with it than he was years ago.  I think that his stroke and his wife have helped him move on and see things in a better perspective.  I don't think he is anywhere near as bad with it as he used to be where the incident is concerned.  But, his place in the business and his reputation were always very important to him, so I don't think he will ever completely close the book on it.

Do you think/know of wrestlers who were around back then who were sympathetic towards Bret then, but now view his  continued reaction towards the incident somewhat negatively? I admit as a fan, I’m in that boat.

Most of the people I talk with in the business understood how Bret felt when it happened but over time thought he held on to it for too long.  It's fair to say that at least some people in the business agree with you.

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