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PWINSIDER Q & A: WHY IS EDGE SO GOOD, PUNK AS A HEEL, CREATIVE QUESTIONS, LIFE AFTER THE RING FOR JERICHO AND MORE

I was wondering if the creative teams of Raw and Smack Down are completely different. Why in the last few weeks have they been doing such a good job on Smack Down and such a crappy on Raw? Are they both supervised by Stephanie or is it that she doesn't pay attention to Smackdown?

First off, while Stephanie is the supervisor of WWE creative, Vince McMahon is the true head.  Everything runs through him.  His main priority is making Raw in his image.  Whether that is good or bad, you decide.  Because of that, Raw is the show that most reflects Vince's vision of the business.  The head writer for Raw is Brian Gewirtz.  He has been in WWE long enough to know what Vince wants and he gives it to him.  Michael Hayes is the head of Smackdown and Vince isn't anywhere near as hands-on with that brand as his with his baby (Raw) so Hayes can book the kind of shows that he does on Fridays.  Me, I wish Vince would pay less attention to Raw too.

Question/Rant for you. What the heck is Vince and WWE creative doing to Raw. Been a huge fan of WWE since in the mid to late 90s, saw them at their best with the Attitude Era, and stuck with them since then, but lately I've been DVRing Raw, and selectively watching it the next day. It used to never be like that, I used to look forward to Monday nights every week, now, it's a second, to third thought. Why is WWE feeling the need to dumb down their product. I'm sick of Vince talking about a PG style show, sure, that's fine, but since when does a PG rating mean a dumb story (Lakers/Nuggets match, really?)? Wasn't it the same PG style that almost ended WWE in the mid 90s? Why try do something that didn't work before, and ignore and distance themselves from a style that clearly worked, meaning the Attitude era? I just seems really dumb to me as to why the WWE wouldn't want the same success they had before, sure they don't have a Austin, or Rock right now, but they have hard workers, which if teamed up with the right storyline, could be really good. I'm really trying to get into the current WWE product, but I just find myself caring less and less as the weeks go by.

I don't have any quality answers to your questions but I couldn't agree more with what you said.  Vince's current vision of Raw may appeal to some people but more often than not of late the show has been really boring to me.  It's also driving some older fans away.  I can't believe that is what he is setting out to do.

After the way Punk won the World title from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules, do you see a heel turn on the horizon?

Having seen Punk work as a heel before coming to WWE, if they do so and let him really run with it, he could be great.  The only problem that I see right now is that Hardy's contract situation is up in the air and you need to have babyfaces on the show, especially with Edge and Chris Jericho established as heels.  I would like to see them just push Punk as a tweener, who does what he has to do to keep the belt around his waist.  To me, the belt should always be the most important thing and doing what it takes to keep it makes perfect sense. 

Do you think Edge is so good and such a good all round wrestler because unlike people like John Cena and Batista he has been through everything in WWE, from being on the lower card working his way up in a tag team then breaking off and becoming a top face then heel, he has had too work a lot harder than Cena and Lunchbox so is this the real reason he is so much better than them?

Honesty, no I don't.  I think Edge is that good because he is just a really talented guy that has a strong all around aptitude for the business.  I see Cena and Batista as being far more limited than Edge.  No matter what either man did, they would never be the in-ring worker than Edge is.  Plus, both of them came up through the developmental system so it's not like they walked in and were handed a top spot.  They worked for it.

I’ve been reading that Jericho has had a strong hand in steering the creative end of his feuds with both Michaels and Mysterio, two of the most compelling feuds WWE has presented in a while. Do you think there’s any chance that when Jericho decides to hang up the tights again he might take a seat with creative? If he wants to be our savior, that would be the way to do it

Here's the problem.  It's one thing to gain some influence with Vince on your program, it's quite another to influence his overall vision of the business.  Being part of the actual creative team is no picnic and it's a 7 day a week job with long hours.  Plus, the pay is a big step down from being a wrestler.  He has made a lot of money in career and should be able to take it easy if he wants to when his days in the ring are over.  I don't know that he would want to go from that to a crazy, consuming job like creative.  Now, I could see him working as a producer, but creative is another animal altogether. 

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