PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

PWINSIDER Q & A: HHH AND TAKER, SHAWN MICHAELS AT MANIA, SHOULD BE CHAMPS, WHAT CAN TNA DO AND MORE

Many times in the past I have seen questions regarding whether HHH and Undertaker got along, and usually the answer was in the form of they are on different shows and probably is best kept that way. Now they are on Smackdown together, and the question is-is the locker room big enough for these two? What a lesson for the young wrestlers if Taker and HHH are the leaders, but do you think politics can get in the way? 

In the past that has been the case.  It's my opinion now though that both men have gotten older, the political situation isn't as polarized as it used to be.  For one thing, there aren't as many top talents as their were years ago.  That often caused divisions since powerful people tend to do that.  Plus, HHH is now part of the McMahon family.  With H being a McMahon, his position is secure to a degree that it never was before.  He also has to take the long term health of the company into consideration now since he will be running it with his wife and brother-in-law one day.  I see HHH being very amenable with Taker and don't see any issues arising, especially at this late point in Taker's career.

Does HHH being on SD maybe put a hold on a possible Undertaker/Shawn Michaels match at Wrestlemania 25?

At this point, I don't know what either of those guys will be doing at Mania.  I don't think anyone in creative does either.  Things will probably start to take shape later in the year.

Back in the late 80's early 90's you could count the number of former WWF Champions on the roster on one hand. Now it seems like everybody has been world champion at least once. (15 currently on the WWE Roster, not counting Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, or Vince, 20 if you include the ECW Title). So my question is this. Who do you think from the late 80's early 90's WWF would have been a world champion if the WWF had more frequent title changes or a brand extension back in the day?

The first names that popped into my head were Ted DiBiase, Rick Rude and Curt Hennig.  They all could have been World Champs (and I don't count Hennig's run in the AWA since it was dying at the time).  There are probably others but those were the first three that came to mind. 

I saw the moments of WCW when the people believed that Sting was a member of the NWO, then, the real Sting appeared in the War Games, and the false Sting was discovered.  I saw when Scott Hall and Nash came to Nitro. Everybody was watching Nitros all those weeks because of The Outsiders, so see what's going to happen.  Why can't TNA do something like that, a little surprise with RVD, some shocking, etc.  Is it Vince Russo or Dutch Mantell fault?

First off, keep this in mind.  WCW was dying on the vine when Hall and Nash's contracts expired.  While they were top guys in the WWF at the time, neither WCW or the WWF was doing great business.  Not by a long shot, so the WWF thought that they were expendable, especially since most consider Nash's run as WWF Champion a failure.  WCW offered them big money and the WWF let them go.  WCW had done that in the past and never came close to generating the buzz that The Outsiders and the nWo did, even counting bringing in Hulk Hogan.  So it's not like every time a company makes that kind of move it works.  Often, it doesn't.  With that said, the timing AND the angle worked out perfectly for WCW, it was a perfect storm.  The problem for TNA is that it takes two to tango.  Rob Van Dam isn't looking to work and it's not like the company hasn't signed big WWE names when they became available (Christian, Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, etc).  So, I don't think you are being fair there.  Now, if you have issues with how talent is used, those are valid criticisms but I don't think it's fair to say that TNA doesn't try to bring in the best talent that they can.  They have shown that they do just that regularly.

In a recent Q&A, there was a question where the person said he KNEW that there were at least two Ultimate Warriors, and it made me think that that theory has been around for years. Do you think Kerry Von Erich's WWF run as the Texas Tornado is the reason for this, since he and the Warrior had similar builds and looks, as well as similar ring attire?

What I think is that black tar heroin just seems to get more and more powerful by the day.

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

 

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