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PWINSIDER Q & A: WWE'S MISSING HEELS, LAWLER AND SAVAGE, WWE CREATIVE, FILLING FOOTBALL STADIUMS AND MORE

Is it just me or does WWE have serious shortage of top level heels? JBL steps out of the booth and he's instantly a top heel on Raw. Edge is golden, MVP is rising, Orton has heat on him, Khali and Snitsky don't count because nobody wants to see them, and nobody seems to care about Umaga. I would put Santino as a top five heel in the company if you went just based on heat. I love Santino but isn't this part of the WWE's problem? They have plenty of guys on the rosters that could be good heels. Am I the only one wishing there were more "bad guys"?

Honestly, I think they have both a shortage of top heels and top faces.  I think it comes down to the way that they book their people since they make everyone so even, or worse, that no one breaks away from the pack.  For example, they have guys who should be protected, like CM Punk after he won MITB, do jobs right and left and the fans get the perception that they are not top talents.  So, no one breaks out of the pack and therefore no one is a top guy.  But, the company needs top people in the top spots so they end up later pushing guys that they didn't protect and the fans end up seeing them as just another guy.  Then, you have guys like Snitsky who no one cares for but are pushed hard and protected and it just further messes up the process.  The process is just kind of backwards right now.

If a football stadium like the GA Dome can hold 70,891 for a football game why couldn't a pro wrestling event hold that many or more with all the extra seats added to the ground level. WCW Monday Night Ntro-38,196 on 07/06/98

The answer is that the Dome could hold more fans for wrestling events.  Even with the entranceway taken into account, when you account for all the extra seating down on the field, they can definitely draw a larger crowd for wrestling shows.  The key is in whether they can actually draw those fans.  If WCW had 71,000 people buy tickets back then, they would have made sure they all would have had one.  That is what it comes down to.

I saw an episode of Memphis Classic Wrestling recently that showed Jerry Lawler have some rather unflattering words for Macho Man Randy Savage. Lawler made fun of his real name, Randy Poffo. Is there some real heat between the two? And if so, why do so many have seem to hate Mach? 

In the case of Lawler, oh yes their was heat.  It stemmed from the fact that the Poffos ran opposition to them in the Memphis market and that didn't sit very well with Lawler, as you would imagine.  So, he had nasty things to say about Savage since he was the most popular Poffo.  As for his problems with others, it would seem pretty clear that Poffo's strong personality rubs some folks the wrong way.  I remember all the stories from back in the days when he and Miss Elizabeth were in the WWF and he was ridiculously protective of her, and many said jealous of anyone who approached her.  That kind of stuff tends to make people despise you or at least not think highly of you.

What does the WWE think it's doing cutting off Raw's high profile matches?  On Smackdown, The Undertaker is stripped of the title for no reason. The WWE openly admits that its ratings are in the toilet so why do they cut off main event matches and strip Undertaker of his title? Is this supposed to increase ratings or are they trying to tank its ratings even further for some reason? I know it's asking you to explain chaos and madness but what sense does it make for the WWE to do this?

Obviously, they are not trying to tank their ratings.  To assert that is just ridiculous (even if some of the things that they are doing seem so as well).  They are doing those things because they feel that they will draw money.  So far, that has not panned out, but that is the reason that they are trying it. 

Perhaps it is my naiveté, but to be considered a contender for the belt, is it not as simple as getting a chance? For example, on Smackdown this week, they had 10 people who were former US champions, World champions, or ECW champions in matches and then a battle royal. They forgot Shelton Benjamin, a former Intercontinental Champion. He didn’t necessarily need to win, but at least being on the list would move his elevator up a flight.

It sounds like you are saying how one is booked influences how they are perceived.  If that is what you are saying, I couldn't agree more.

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