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PWINSIDER Q&A: LONDON BACK TO ROH, VERNE GAGNE'S BATTLE WITH THE U.S. GOVERNMENT, ZEUS, LOW KI-WWE AND MORE

I seem to remember Zeus in ECW in early 1996 after his lone appearance in WCW.  Am I right?

I'm afraid you are not.  Tiny "Zeus" Lister never appeared for ECW.  Speaking of Lister, in my interview with Dysty Wolfe this week in the PWInsider.com Elite section, he tells some stories about traveling with Zeus, ribs the wrestlers played on him and jealousy towards him walking out of Hollywood into a main event WWF spot.

Just wondering, any word on whether WWE is interested in signing Low-Ki as a result of his tryout?   

There hasn't been any clear indication of whether he is going to be offered a deal at this time, or if he was offered one, if he would accept it.  One of Low Ki's goals form the day he stepped into the business was to work a New Japan Tokyo Dome show and considering he's currently holding the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship, he's pretty much a lock for an appearance on this January's Dome show. I watched the Raw 800th celebration, which was the first full wrestling show I've watched in a few years, and it got me thinking.  In seeing the flashbacks and comparing it to today, one of the main differences I noticed is that there is no longer any 'larger than life' type characters or storylines.  During the heyday we had The Rock, Austin, DX, Mankind, Golddust, The Godfather, etc.  We also had Beer trucks driven to the ring, Corvettes filled with concrete, throwing people off bridges, attacking people in a hospital, invading other companies, etc.  Granted, there were a lot of characters and storylines that didn't work, but when the rest was that good, it was easy to overlook them.  On Raw now, all the characters seem like normal people that are being handed scripts and following them exactly.  None of the storylines or segments pushed the envelope.  Do you think that this toning down of the shows is leading a lot of people to tune out and do you think that if some of the talent weren't boxed in like they are they could have more of that 'larger than life' aspect?  Is this something the current corporate structure of WWE would try or will things need to get much worse before they get better?

I don't think WWE has had fans tune out because the same creative people have been in charge since 2001 despite the continued loss of ratings.  Some of it is the toning down of shows and some of it is the lack of fresh, new, vibrant characters that have appealed beyond a pure wrestling fanbase, but the bottom line isn't the corporate structure but the fact that creative writers that have watched the programming rating drop since they took over are still at the reigns, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

After listening to your interview interview with "Uncle Eric" in the PWInsider.com Elite section.  I was wondering what was the story with the property that Verne Gagne had while running the AWA that was taken via Eminent Domain in 1991? How was Verne making money from the property?   

He wasn't making money from the property, but once the government decided it was going to claim it and pay him far less than he would have received if he sold it on the market, Verne started a legal battle to maintain the property, which he lost.  The finances of that battle, the loss of money he could have made and the emotional toll of that battle with the government all had its bearings on Gagne's ability to finance and maintain the AWA and he eventually filed for bankruptcy.  It was all inter-connected.

Will we see Paul London back in ROH now that he's been fired?

I think if London is willing to work that style, ROH would be thrilled to have him back in their ring as they really need someone new that can be tossed into the main event mix in my opinion.