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PWINSIDER Q & A: UNFAIR TO WWE CREATIVE, WRITERS' SALARIES, REY MYSTERIO, TERRY FUNK, AND MORE

I have a simple question. I only started watching wrestling 6 years ago, so by the time I saw Rey Mysterio wrestle, he was already slowing down (some) and the style had changed. When he debuted in the US, was he really that much better in the ring than everyone else? 

Better is relative but what he was compared to everyone else was different.  He was a flyer like the US had never seen before, with amazing precision on his moves and an almost tiny physique.  He was smaller then and that made him even faster and more of a blur to watch in the ring.  He was truly an amazing worker.  Since then, injuries, extra size and WWE's style of work have all slowed him down from where he once was.

Do you ever see WWE putting out a Terry Funk DVD I would love to see a  full retrospect on his career.

I think we should and hope that at some point WWE will do it.  Funk has meant so much to the business that his story should be told.  The one thing that could work against him is that not much of his body of work took place in WWF/WWE rings but hopefully that won't factor into a decision.  Even if it does, at some point they will need to look to different people to do DVDs for as they run through their home grown acts and Funk would be a logical choice for a project.

I personally believe that WWE Creative gets too much blame from fans and sites like this one for the product not reaching a more mainstream audience. Whereas I believe they deserve part of the blame, I think the real reason is that wrestling (overall) currently lacks the wrestler or wrestlers that transcend the sport and reach mainstream popularity. Even when Val Venis was getting his you-know-what cut off, or Vince McMahon revealed himself to be the higher power, or Mae Young gave birth to a hand, mainstream audiences tuned in, mostly because they wanted to see The Rock or Stone Cold. And although WWE tries to push them as such, I think the consensus outside the company would be that, no matter how they’re pushed or what gimmicks they’re given, wrestlers like John Cena, Edge, Randy Orton, etc. are never going to be the type of wrestlers that attract the mainstream audience (at least in the way Hogan, Rock, and Stone Cold did). So essentially, I think the bigger problem with the WWE is lack of mainstream superstars than anything creatively, because they’ve almost always had questionable and downright bad storylines throughout their history, even at the peak of their success. Thoughts?

While I think that you make a point about today's top talent not ranking up there with that of 10 years ago, I also feel that you are being too kind to creative.  Go back and watch those old shows again.  Why did The Rock become The Rock?  How did Austin leave The Ringmaster behind?  Simple, they were given the chance to connect with the fans via how they were booked but more importantly through the ability to communicate and interact with the crowd.  Now, things are just too overly scripted.  You don't get to see as much of the worker's personality.  Instead, you get to see the personality that creative is trying to script for them, and that comes through.  It hurts the workers.  Back in the Chris Kreski era, the shows were just tighter and laid out much, much better.  They were written for a more intelligent audience by a smarter writing team.

Also, one of the major jobs of creative is to cover up the workers' weaknesses.  They need to put them into positions to succeed.  Instead, they far too often put them in positions to fail, so they deserve all of the blame that they get.

Please tell me how much do WWE writers make? What is their usual starting salary? Are they entitled to company benefits? What is their traveling schedules like? 

The assistants usually start around $30,000 a year and it goes up from there.  A guy like Brian Gewirtz can make six figures.  Yes, they get company benefits like health insurance, 401K, etc.  For the most part, they go to all the TV tapings and PPVs.  They make occasional trips down to developmental to scout talent.  And, they put in a lot of time leading up to the shows via meetings, conference calls, writing and re-writes.  It's a job you really need to love to do because you don't get much of a life outside of work.

What happened to Scott D'Amore?  Is he still active in wrestling?

Yes, he still works backstage as an agent for TNA.

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