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PWINSIDER Q & A: RIC FLAIR IN TNA, IS ORTON RIGHT, ECW IS GOOD, TOUGH GUYS AND MORE

We've seen recently the success of Lesnar and others enter the MMA foray. We've seen the interest of MMA expressed by wrestlers. We've seen wrestlers in fights outside of the ring, coming out on top, and occasionally against other athletes in various areas (Nastys vs. Shamrock, Mr Perfect vs. S Seagal, to name a couple). On the opposite side, H has said he has no interest in fighting, as he's a wrestler in an entertainment capacity. He certainly looks like he could hold his own when confronted. My question is two-fold: 1 - do wrestlers consider themselves tough guys who could hold their own, considering what they do for a living, and 2 - do you consider them tough enough to hold their own, because of their background, in spite of a possible lack of confidence in some of them, because what they do is scripted and entertainment?

It all depends on who you talk to.  I have spoken to a number of guys who say they aren't a tough guy (in a fighting sense) at all, similar to what H says.  They know they are tough, as you have to be to do a job like wrestling, but they don't think they are bad asses.  Other guys, like say your Bob Hollys and JBLs, yeah they think they are legit tough guys and truth be told in at least some cases they are.  For example, you couldn't pay me enough to mess with Scott Steiner or Brock Lesnar.  As for how tough any of them are, you never know until they are in the position to show you.

I listened to Randy Orton's audio chat that he did with The Sun.  In it, he talked about how he is being a good heel when he does boring maneuvers to make fans mad.  I think he is clueless and what he thinks is heel heat is actually "I hate your (lack of) work heat".  What do you think about that?

Well, I think Randy probably believes what he said.  I think he feels that he is getting that kind of heat when does that boring stuff.  Personally, I agree with you though.  The days of getting heat that way ended years ago.  The consumer has changed and they want to be entertained, they want everything at a faster speed.  One thing Orton also said in that piece was that he is in great shape and can work circles around anyone.  I wish we would see more of that Orton because the one that locks on the 10 minute headlocks is pretty boring to me.  Personally, I think he overrates his talents.  He's is a good, solid worker but he is not the master grappler that he thinks he is.

I agree with your recap of last night's show. ECW has become very entertaining, working around its limited roster and twisting storylines that make you want to watch the show.  Do you know who is writing the show. If I didn't know Dusty was over at FCW, I could swear he has a lot of input in it. It makes me remember the old Crockett NWA, which was always fun to watch.  On the contrary, it seems RAW is written by dopes. Since Stephanie McHemsley is on maternity leave we can't blame her. It's too idiotic even to her standards.

Last I heard, Ed Koskie has been the person making ECW a fun hour of wrestling every week.  He has been doing a great job with the program, especially when you consider the small roster he has to work with.  Koskie is a long time fan so that may have something to do with his approach to ECW. Also, it's not exactly making an impression on Vince McMahon's radar so that means the boss generally keeps his hands out of the product, which is a good thing.  I also agree that over the last few weeks, the good creative that was writing Raw after the draft has left us and their moronic alter egos are back in full force.  Lucky us.  As for Steph, don't ever assume that she doesn't have her hands in the creative process because she does.  Giving birth isn't enough to keep her away.

Since Ric Flair is no longer with WWE do you see TNA approaching him to make an appearance on Impact to celebrate his career/retirement with possible some guys breaking character (Booker T, Sting, Team 3D etc.) and just lay it out there how the feel about Flair? And if so how soon do you think they'll do it?

I would think that TNA would love to have Flair appear on their show.  Who wouldn't?  At this point in time however, I don't see it happening.  He left WWE on good terms and the only thing he could really do to tick them off is appear on TNA TV.  I think he has more respect for Triple H and Vince McMahon than to do that.  Plus, he wants to keep the door open for a return down the road so appearing for TNA would be career suicide if he were to do it.

Someone just asked about if WWE would go forward with the Sting DVD after he was done with TNA, and it had me think. Once he is finished for good with TNA, do you think WWE will try and get him to actually contribute to the DVD as well, to give his own take on his great career?

I would think that they would.  They own the footage but it would make a lot more sense to have Sting on board, for a piece of the action of course, to promote and sell it.  I could see it coming out in conjunction with a Hall of Fame induction.  That would be good synergy. 

Note: Following up a question from last week, a number of people, in talking about second generation wrestlers that came from a woman, mentioned Debbie Combs, daughter of Cora.

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