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PWINSIDER Q & A: WHY BATISTA LOST THE TITLE, WWE ROYALTIES, MATT HARDY'S RING STYLE, ORTON'S INK AND MORE

I just read the large list of wrestlers in the new Raw vs. Smackdown game, my question is I know that wrestlers have a deal where they get money from merchandise sales, but how do they do that on a videogame? Also what about wrestlers that are no longer with the company and not under a legends contract?

In most cases, WWE determines what the rate is for people to be compensated on merchandising deals.  There is no set formula that the talent can use to determine what they are owed from the company.  Payouts are done at WWE's discretion.  As for people who leave the company, WWE continues to pay them their royalties after they have gone.  It's not unusual for people to get checks a year or so after they have left WWE due to it taking that long for PPV checks to come in and also due to how merchandise sells over the time after they left. 

My question is about Matt Hardy's in ring style. He mostly looks pretty limber and athletic in the ring but rarely bends his knees which almost looks like he's on stilts. I know he's had knee issues. Is Matt Hardy wrestling hurt?

There's an old saying that if you have been in the ring for any length of time, you are always wrestling hurt.  I haven't noticed any change in the way Matt works and haven't heard about any kind of serious knee issue with him.

Has Randy Orton gotten a whole lot more tattoos than the last time he was on TV? Or have I just never noticed them all before? 

I have noticed the same thing upon his return.  He definitely has more ink now than he did before he was injured.

In the cage match between Jericho and Batista, there were a few times, once in particular, that Batista could have just hopped out of the cage. But he didn't. And that seemed so obvious to me, I know it wasn't just me that noticed it. But my question is, due to that, why do you think that they took the belt from Batista? I have my thoughts, but you are usually closer to the truth than me.

I think that they took the title off of him to put it back on a heel so that both Batista and John Cena can chase it, and thus start issues between the two that very well may lead to a match at WrestleMania.

I have two questions about two WWF/E Hall Of Famers. "Polish Power" Ivan Putski and "Chief" Jay Strongbow were two of the most popular wrestlers in the WWF/E in the 1970's and early 1980's. Both men were former WWF/E World Tag Team Champions(Strongbow was a 4 time tag team champion). I have heard a lot of people say that Bob Backlund was a bland WWF/E World Heavyweight Champion that did not draw interest (I don't agree with them). Why didn't Vince McMahon Sr. give Putski or Strongbow a chance at being WWF/E World Heavyweight Champion during Graham's title reign?

There are a few reasons for that.  For one thing, the WWF Title didn't change hands anywhere near as often then as it does now.  With longer title reigns there were fewer chances for guys to get a run at the belt.  Also, neither man was considered a top, top guy.  Chief Jay was well into his forties at that time and was more of a mid-card talent.  Putski had a large body but was pretty short and not super charismatic.

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