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PWINSIDER Q & A: EDGE'S RETURN, AUSTIN/ADAMLE, WRESTLERS AS TOUGH GUYS, LUCHA COVERAGE AND MORE

Does the WWF/E and TNA have any meetings with their wrestlers (especially the wrestlers that are champions!!) about how to behave outside in the public eye and not go into bars and get into fights?  I bring this up because of what happened to Scott Hall since he got put on youtube looking really bad and probably lost any chance of resurrecting his wrestling career and doing any more autograph sessions to help him make a living. Does wrestling today still have that same attitude that Bill Watts, Verne Gagne and Harley Race had where if you got in a fight outside the ring, you better win or else you were fired for disgracing the wrestling business for getting yourself in a bad situation and then getting beat up by a fan or stranger that could have been prevented if that wrestler just used some common sense??

It's a topic that is definitely covered in WWE.  The company cares about the image of its workers and how they project themselves outside of the ring.  It's why they have implemented dress codes and watched guys who tend to party too hard.  They want their "entertainers" to come across as professionals.  As for your second question, that mindset isn't really around today.  After the business admitted that it was a work, selling the illusion stopped being important. 

If the Texas Rattlesnake Stone Cold Steve Austin is asked by Mike Adamle to referee a match at Cyber Sunday wouldn't it make sense to stay true to Austin's character to have him refuse to do it and put the Stone Cold Stunner on Adamle, which would pop the crowd. That could set up Michaels as the ref for Jericho vs. Batista.

Your scenario makes sense.  Austin has always been an anti-authority character so it doesn't make much sense for him to comply with a request from someone in WWE management.

I have just recently started watching Lucha Libre (CMLL and AAA) and was wondering do ya'll do an article on their shows like you do for the other wrestling organizations? Since I don't speak a word of Spanish it's hard to know what the storyline backdrops are. 

We cover Lucha on our sister site, www.pwinsiderxtra.com.  With the amount of content that we cover here on PWInsider.com, we just don't have the space for groups with smaller interest to our core readership.  Also, since none of us speak Spanish here at the site, we can't really follow the storylines either.

Any word yet on a return date for Edge and what kind of storyline he will be involved in upon his return? Smackdown is just not the same without him.

All I know for sure is that he is ready to go.  There is a lot of talk that they may be holding back his return while Christian Cage decides if he is coming back to WWE (which many believe is already a done deal).  In any event, Edge is ready to return when they call his name. 

Since there appears to be no end to the brand extension, and WWE holds their annual draft, what do you think about WWE bringing in some young talent from the independents/ developmental territories. It could be used much the same way as a conventional sports draft. They could bring up a few guys that they have their eyes on, give them a few matches in the weeks leading up to the draft and build them up a bit, nothing too over the top, but just add to the typical reshuffling of talent we get every year.

I don't think it will happen because they just don't do business that way.  To them, the draft is a way to shake up the rosters, and by that I mean moving people that the fans know around.  They aren't exactly known for pushing young, unknown guys very hard and bringing them in with no intention of pushing them would do more harm than good.  My fear in doing that is for every Evan Bourne, there will be 20 guys who get the "we wish you the best in your future endeavors" message a few weeks after they start.

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