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PWINSIDER Q&A: WHY RIC FLAIR'S FIRST WWF RUN ENDED SO ABRUPTLY, MEMORABLE WWE TV MOMENTS, WHO'S BEHIND THE TNA KNOCKOUTS DIVISION & MORE

What do the Raw Superstars do during the Smackdown/Ecw tapings? Are they
backstage or somewhere doing a house show?

Unless they are specifically booked to appear on the Smackdown taping, the Raw talent are either home or traveling home.  Their weekly road schedule ends with the Monday taping usually, so they aren't required to be at the tapings.

I recently read that Bryan Danielson worked a dark match for WWE and I was wondering if you guys had heard anything about Danielson signing with WWE. Also, do you think it would benefit him in the foreseeable future if he does eventually decide to sign with them? I realize ROH isn't as successful and probably won't ever be as the WWE, but quite frankly Dragon is one of the best technical wrestlers in the world today, and I don't give the WWE enough credit to use a top talent like him the right way. Thank you for your time.

Danielson hasn't signed (and for all we know, hasn't been offered) a WWE deal, so he's still with Ring of Honor.  As far as signing with WWE being beneficial for Danielson, it absolutely would be from a financial standpoint.  He's not going to make more money anywhere than he would wrestling full-time for World Wrestling Entertainment.  From an artistic standpoint, Danielson's in-ring style would likely be changed, so if he ended up in WWE, I wouldn't expect the type of classics he puts on regularly for ROH and other companies.  Still, for a performer who has killed himself putting on great matches for over six years, he certainly deserves a larger spotlight, easier in-ring style and spotlight.  Personally, I'd hate to see him leave ROH as I love the body of work he has put together there, but everyone moves on at some point.  We'll have to see if and when that happens for Danielson.

I have been most impressed with TNA's Knockouts and their matches. The women have really done an outstanding job especially Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, The Beautiful People and Roxxi Laveaux. I know that Fit Finley has been in charge of WWE's women's division.  Who is in charge of TNA's Knockouts deserving of credit for their sudden success?

Dutch Mantel and Scott D'Amore work with TNA's Knockouts most prominently.

Hey there. Love the site.... Here's my question. Why was Ric Flair's first run in WWF at the time so short? I've heard once that it  was cause if he wasn't going to always be booked as a main eventer then that he didn't want to stay. Is that true? Or is there another reason? I believe if Ric had stayed around, he would had great matches with those that at the  time where coming up in  the business like Shawn Michaels, Diesel or Razor  Ramon. Can you fill me in?

Ric Flair and Vince McMahon had a verbal agreement that if Flair wasn't going to be used in a main event position and had an offer to go elsewhere, he would be released from his contract.  McMahon respected Flair and his legacy enough to give him that promise.  In early 1993, Flair was going to be moved down towards a mid-card position following runs with Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan and received an offer to return to WCW from Bill Watts.  Flair asked for the release and McMahon stayed true to his word, giving Flair an unconditional release after he worked a few weeks of TV and house shows putting over Curt Hennig and Randy Savage. 

When was the last time you saw something really "must-see" or shocking happened on WWE programming that someone who hasn't followed the product in a few years would have to see.  The only things I can think of are Flair's retirement after Wrestlemania, the DX skit mocking Vince and Shane, and Matt Hardy jumping the rail a few years ago now.  I know you can't just do this stuff every week, but the real greatness on shows seems so far and in between.

The most recent case would be the Ric Flair farewell and the reunion of the greatest Four Horsemen combination that night.  I think the Vince McMahon limo explosion was certainly one of those moments, because immediately after it happened, my phones went insane with people who claimed they "don't watch anymore" wanting to know what the hell they just saw  The follow-up was another story.  I also think the Joey Styles "shoot" where he quit WWE and ripped on sports-entertainment was also one of those forgotten great moments that made fans sit up and take notice. 

 

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