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PWINSIDER Q & A: RETURNING STAR FOR MANIA, THEME SONGS, THE ATTITUDE ERA, JR AND TAZZ, PUNK-PEPSI AND MORE

Hypothetically, if Vince could get one of these matches for WM25 (but only one), which would he want most/which would be the biggest draw: Hogan-Austin, HBK-Rock, or Cena-Rock?

At this point in time, I think Hogan is played out and doesn't mean that much to buyrates any more.  Plus, if I were Vince, I wouldn't want the nightmare of having to book to the egos of Austin and Hogan. Rock is a major star that could bring in a lot more buys.  That means that I pick one of the latter bouts.  I will go with Rock vs. Cena because no one will boo Rock.  Cena would definitely get booed here.  The nice thing about Rock is he would probably have no problem doing a job if he came back either, unlike Hogan or Austin.

WWE thinks we don't have a good memory so they use Jamie Noble's old (Nidia) theme for Jack Swagger. Is this something that is discussed with the talent?

If you are high up the card, you have input in your theme.  If you are a new guy, you basically take what the company gives you.

Without ECW to steal ideas from, would WWE have adjusted itself into the Attitude era?

It took two things for WWE to get into that great era.  One, WCW had to pull ahead of them and kick their butts in the ratings and buyrates, which they did.  WWE was a mess back in 1996-7.  They were a distant number two and were getting their ass handed to them on a weekly basis.  Had that not happened, Vince probably would have never agreed to look for ways to change his product to something that was not his vision (as the company's frustrating inaction in the face of declining ratings today shows).  Only after he hit bottom was Vince open to ideas outside of what he liked to book, which created the scenario you outlined.  Maybe someone would have come up with good ideas if Vince Russo hadn't watched ECW so religiously.  I can't honestly say one way or the other.

What is Jim Ross meaning with the running gag-like references in his blogs regarding Tazz as the World's Angriest Man, etc.?

A lot of people have said that about Tazz over the years, so Ross is just playing off of his persona.  I think Ross is just joking around with his new partner.

Why would WWE need to airbrush CM Punk's Pepsi tattoo when advertising him? I understand that WWE doesn't own the rights, but it's not something WWE meant to do. CM Punk did it on his own, before he signed with WWE, and is something Punk did on his personal self rather than to exploit Pepsi. So why would WWE be liable for that?

Any product that WWE markets, they are responsible for.  Just because Punk got the ink before he came to WWE doesn't mean that they can market him/it with impunity.  If Pepsi doesn't give them the rights to use his likeness with the tat in a magazine or videogame (or if they have a deal with Coca Cola), then WWE will have to airbrush the tat off.  

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