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PWINSIDER Q&A: UNDERTAKER'S EXIT FROM WWE, HOGAN'S CELEBRITY WRESTLING, WWE SCRIPTING, NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS & MORE

My questions concerns the scripts for WWE. How far do they think ahead for the matches and scenarios in the ring?

They really don't have more than a rough estimate of ideas a month or two in advance, but hard scripts are rarely completed until right before a particular broadcast.

First of all, great site, keep up the geat work! I have a question regarding dark matches-I can understand why dark matches before the main show aren't televised,they're usually meant to test new up and comer talent, but a lot of times,after a Smackdown! broadcast, for instance, there are dark matches which feature main event talents such as Batista, Edge, Undertaker, etc.  Why aren't these televised? I don't see the point in having a match with main event talents that won't appear on TV anyway. Thank you for your time.

They are matches designed to send the live crowd home happy that also double as a match that can be advertised well in advance of the taping to help draw the crowd.

Are the celebrities scheduled to take part in Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling such as former pop star Tiffany, star of Bewitched Erin Murphy and former Detriot Pistons center Dennis Rodman actually going to wrestle? Actually wrestle inside a real wrestling ring? Is this show going to be something like celebrity boxing?

That is the idea.  In the case of Rodman, he's wrestled several WCW matches and at least one Australian tour, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise.  In any event, yes, they are going to "train" and "wrestle", although how legitimate any of that training and wrestling is, we'll have to see when the show debuts on CMT this Fall.

Last years PPV was known as Vengeance: Night of Champions, this year it is just Night of Champions. Is the name change to not include Vengeance somehow a result of the Benoit tragedy as we are coming up on the 1 year date of the tragedy? 

I don't think the Benoit tragedy has anything to do with the situation.  WWE simply decided to go with a different name for the show that was befitting the theme they want for the evening, with title matches and old champions being showcased.

So, what is next for the Undertaker?  It seems to me that him being banished was just a storyline, maybe due to injury or other reasons.  And, being that he lost to the Edge Clan, it sort of reminds me of the McMahon Helmsley regime that Taker came back to fight as the badass persona.  So, my question is, assuming it was just a storyline, when do you think he'll be back and could he be changing his persona again?  Keep up the great site!

As we reported in the PWInsider.com Elite audio section the day afer Undertaker's loss to Edge, this was a storyline decision dictated by Undertaker's latest sabbatical to rest and heal nagging injuries.  I've heard both Summerslam and/or Survivor Series as rough estimates for when he would return, but in any event, he's not done with the company and he's not retired, as evidenced by Taker going on the Australian tour that is about to kick off.

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