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BRET HART STAYING ON IN WWE, THE WWE PHARMACY, WHERE DOES CHRISTIAN GO, WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE FAILURE OF ECW, AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2010-02-15 10:00:00

I’m sorry for asking you to get inside someone’s head, but how do you think Vince McMahon is rationalizing the failure of ECW to himself. Obviously, it can’t be his fault. Who’s to blame?

If I had to guess, I would bet that he would say something like, "It was a dead brand to begin with.  Only 1,500 people watched it.  It was impossible to get our great WWE fans behind a product with a minor league image".  Of course, the show did great ratings when it debuted and then Vince WWE-ized it and turned off more than half of the audience.  But, we can't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

With the recent announcement that ECW's going off the air, what do you see happening to Christian, the reigning ECW Champion? Will he go to Smackdown and have a reunion with Edge?

I don't see the reunion with Edge happening, for a few reasons.  One, Edge is a legitimate top guy and can (and should) stand on his own.  Two, for whatever reason, Vince McMahon is just not high enough on Christian to push him at the top of the card, as evidenced by the time he has spent on ECW.  I am not sure where he will end up show-wise, but I don't see him being pushed in main events.

Has WWE ever considered employing a pharmacist or striking a deal with some pharmacy? That way, any wrestler that has a prescription can get it filled with WWE's official pharmacy, and it will add another layer to their Wellness Policy, making it easier for WWE to keep track of what prescriptions wrestlers have. Maybe this would help avoid those incidents like with Mysterio last year when he failed to produce his prescription because WWE (or their representative pharmacy) will have a record of it. 

I don't believe that they have ever even considered it and honestly I don't think it would be a good idea because WWE treats their wrestlers as independent contractors.  They already have a tenuous definition of the word given the way that they do business, and telling guys where they can get their prescriptions filled while not offering them health care would seem to be a bad move to make.  Honestly, I don't see it being so difficult to provide copies of prescriptions.  Just make a copy of it before you get it filled or snap a picture of the bottle with all the info on it.

Do you believe that if Bret Hart works well with the younger talent and can show he can help them develop a little quicker, almost like Flair did with Orton and Batista but more towards the baby face direction, do you believe he will be offered a longer stay than originally contracted?

Hart can stay on with WWE as long as he wants.  He wouldn't have to do that to keep a job.  I firmly believe how long he stays in WWE is his call.  He is an asset to the company and they would find a way to make use of him if he were to decide to stay on.

Now that Vince McMahon has gotten rid of the ECW name and is going with the name NXT, do you see guys like Goldust, William Regal and Christian moving to Raw/Smackdown or do you see them being let go by the WWF/E since this looks like the NXT will focus on future wrestlers?

With the rumor being that NXT will be a show similar to The Ultimate Fighter, I could see roles for Goldust and Regal where they are the veterans that train/help the young guys.  I think Christian will end up on one of the two main shows, but Dust and Regal could be big assets on the NXT show doing many of the mentoring things that they do on ECW now, just in a different light.  If they go to one of the two main shows, I don't see a whole lot waiting for them to be honest.

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