PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

PWINSIDER Q&A: HORSEMEN COUNTRY, LIFE ON THE ROAD, KURT ANGLE AND MORE

Answered: 4/20

What geographical area of the U.S. is really considered "Horsemen Country?" WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! (Sorry, I just had to do that)

Technically, anywhere Jim Crockett Promotions ran during the 1980's heyday of the Four Horsemen could be considered "Horsemen Country" or "Flair Country", but the term is usually reserved for the Carolinas. 

I am curious as to your thoughts on Rob Van Dam's WWE career. I have heard many complaints regarding his lack of a decent push but it seems to me that he had a pretty good run as far as titles held, getting over with the fans, etc.

Given Rob Van Dam's outspokenness and the fact that WWE never gave him a sustained main event push, I think he had a pretty good run with the company.  Essentially, his popularity forced WWE to feature him more than they probably ever figured they would.  I think the majority of complaints come from the line of thinking that "If Rob Van Dam got over this much without a sustained push, imagine if WWE had actually focused on him more". 

I remember two awful characters from the end of WCW, The Maestro and Kwee Wee. Who played them and where was each angle supposed to go? I believe both wrestlers had female managers, if so who were they?

Kwee Wee was Alan Funk, who was managed in WCW by Sharmell, who later married Booker T and is working for TNA.  Funk has also done Bruce, an effeminate gimmick not unlike Kwee Wee, for TNA, and has also done a Hulk Hogan gimmick as the "Funkster".  The Maestro was managed by Alicia Webb, then known as Symphony, and later known as Ryan Shamrock.  The Maestro has his own website at http://www.thestro.com.

I was watching TNA in recent weeks and I've noticed two things: One, Kurt Angle does not carry the IWGP title out to the ring or backstage any longer. Did he either lose the title recently or he just chooses not to wear it on television anymore? And two, Angle keeps referring to himself as an 11-time World Champion. Well, my math does not add up to that many title reigns. I can recall Angle having a total of 4 WWE title reigns, 1 WCW Title reign during the Invasion story angle, winning the World Title on the SmackDown brand once Batista was stripped of it due to injury, and winning both the NWA title as well as the later renamed TNA title during his current run so that adds up to 9 (including the IWGP) World titles. Where are the other 2 title reigns coming from? 

On February 17th of this year, Angle lost to IWGP Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, unifying that belt with the IWGP belt Angle held (which was not recognized by New Japan Pro Wrestling as being the "real" belt, long story). As for Angle's claims of being an 11-Time World Champion, I think he is counting tag titles.  So it would be 1 IWGP, 2 TNA World Titles, 1 TNA World Tag Team Title, 1 WCW World Title, 1 WWE Tag Team Title, 4 WWF/E Titles and 1 World Heavyweight Title.  

I've always wondered what it is like to be on the road as a wrestler in WWE. Can you take us through a typical week in the life of a performer? What are their travel arrangements (car rentals, hotels, meals, etc.). Do they travel and stay together to save money? Do they book all of that on their own? How do they stay in shape and find ways to workout and eat healthy? Do they party and go to bars while on the road like they did in the 80's? I assume there are cliques and guys tend to hang with their friends. 

There's no set pattern here, because wrestlers are individuals and are all different, however, I will try to give you a typical rundown.  For a normal weekend loop, a wrestler will be flown out of his home area Friday or Saturday morning to wherever the first show of the weekend is going to be held.  WWE plays for the plane ticket.  The wrestler then rents a car and drives to the building for the show.  Some wrestlers drive on their own, while others group together in order to save money and split the driving time. The car rental is a wrestler expense.  After wrestling that night, some wrestlers go to a hotel in the area, some drive overnight to the next town before finding a hotel, and some will drive half the distance and stay somewhere, then drive the rest.  It all depends on the length of the drive and personal preference.  The hotel is also a wrestler expense, and some will split rooms, while others prefer to have their own.  Also, some wrestlers will stay at nicer hotels because they would rather pay more for the added amenities, while others will go with cheaper places to save money. This is the pattern all weekend until after the television tapings.  Then the wrestler is flown back home from wherever the loop ends.  Because of the "four day on, three day off" schedule, some wrestlers work out less while on the road, but most make it a point to find gyms in whatever town they are in.  A lot of wrestler's have "travel passes" with major chains so they can visit them across the country.  Eating healthy is also an issue, although as several wrestlers have pointed out to me, it isn't the problem it once was, since a lot of chain restaurants are now open later and offering healthier alternatives on their menus. As for other activities on the road, it all depends on the person.  Some will go to a bar and drink, others will go back to their hotel rooms and surf the net.  I've known wrestlers that like to kill time during the day by visiting malls or going to see movies.  It all depends on the person. 

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q&A by clicking here.

We also have a new Q and A up today on PWInsiderXtra.com. If you are an Elite member of the new site, you can read it by clicking here.

If you are not an Elite member, you can read it by clicking here.

If you would like to become an Elite member to one or both of the sites, you can do so by clicking here.

For PWInsider.com Elite members who are not members of PWInsiderXtra, all Q&A's are archived in the Elite Newsletter every Sunday.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet