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TNA 24/7, FOUR HORSEMEN, XWF AND MORE

By Buck Woodward on 2009-10-24 10:00:00

Why hasn't Steve Corino been a bigger star in at least one company other than ECW? He is an amazing promo and had a great look as well as a pretty good worker. I understand why Vince "If he's not 6'4 240 he's nothing" McMahon would not want him but what about TNA or RoH. I think he was in TNA but why has he never been a star in your guys' opinion.

Obviously, his size would probably be an issue in WWE, but the real reason Corino hasn't become a bigger star in the U.S. is because of the career path he has chosen for himself.  Following the collapse of ECW, Corino made a concerted effort to become a major part of Zero-One in Japan.  He made that company his number one priority, so it limited his U.S. appearances to independent groups and promotions like Ring Of Honor that accepted that Corino would put Japan first. 

Do you think TNA would ever consider doing their own version of WWE 24/7? They could buy out the other tape library's like Mid South, St. Louis, Central States, Memphis, Continental and combine it with theirs.

Would they consider it?  In their dreams, perhaps.  We're talking a huge investment of cash to obtain those libraries (libraries that in some cases WWE has been unable to obtain, despite their checkbook), then the costs of producing enough programming to sustain a full-time television channel.  WWE hasn't even been able to clear some major markets with their channel, despite their reputation in the marketplace.  It's just not going to happen. 

I just finished watching the Four Horsemen DVD and had two questions: a) can you give me some background on Baby Doll and what eventually happened to her, b) It seems like Tully Blanchard was a key member of the group; even after his drug use in the past, how come he never got another shot in a future incarnation of the group (I mean Paul Roma???). Did injuries also slow him down?

Baby Doll, who also worked as Nickla Roberts, was a valet in World Class and other territories before her big run in Jim Crockett Promotions working with Tully Blanchard, Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.  She also had a memorable feud with Jim Cornette, resulting in matches between the two during the 1986 Great American Bash series.  She ended up falling in love, and marrying, wrestling Sam Houston, who she was traveling with in the NWA. That relationship seemed to lead to her departure from the company, and the business, following a short stint where she worked as Larry Zbyszko's valet on the undercards after always having a more prominent place on the shows.  As for Tully Blanchard, following his drug problem, which left him unable to work for WCW and WWF, he continued to wrestle, before changing his lifestyle and going into his ventures helping people in prisons and doing religious work.  Blanchard was actually contacted about reforming the Horsemen, and was open to returning to WCW for the famous Slamboree reunion, but WCW never actually sent him a contract and Blanchard refused to have anything further to do with it, resulting in Paul Roma being brought in for the group. 

Why did the XWF fold? I recently bought the XWF lost episodes DVD and no offense to any fans, it looks a lot better than TNA and had better production. They had all the stars, even the Hulkster. Why did it fail and could it be brought back?

The XWF pretty much ceased to exist because they could never find a television outlet for their product.  They taped a set of episodes, and then shopped it around to many TV stations and at cable conventions, but no one ever picked up on it.  It should be noted that Hulk Hogan was not actually going to be a part of the TV shows, he simply wrestled on the show more or less as a favor.  I imagine it could be brought back, as I believe Jimmy Hart still has the rights to the name. 

I'm sort of able to see what most people know as the different styles of wrestling. What has be confused is what people call the "WWE Style". I sort of know what it is when I see it, but I don't know how to put it into words. How would you describe the WWE Style in comparison to the other "styles" of wrestling out there such as Lucha Libre, New Japan's Strong Style, etc.

I actually think trying to call something "WWE Style" is useless.  You might be able to pin something down to a specific era and person, like "It was a 80's WWF style Hulk Hogan match" but I can't see how you can pigeonhole something as "WWE Style" when Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels is WWE Style, but so is Kane vs. Undertaker.  I guess "WWE Style" is "sports entertainment matches designed to please the current WWE audience" but as I noted, it just seems useless. 

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