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THE CURIOUS SITUATION OF TNA'S RIC FLAIR APPEARING AT THE WWE HALL OF FAME, THE THINKING BEHIND THE CHARACTER OF BRODUS CLAY, WHAT WILL MAKE WWE CHANGE ITS DIRECTION AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2012-01-22 09:12:25
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I see the Four Horsemen are now going to be the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame. With Ric Flair working for TNA now, will he be allowed to accept his ring or will WWE not allow him.

WWE is fine with Flair appearing and getting a ring, which Flair has already said he will be doing.  The question now is how TNA will react to it.

What in the hell are they doing with Brodus Clay? We’ve all seen the weekly vignettes portraying this guy as a total monster on both Raw and Smackdown as well as the constant name dropping for the past three months, and I get the “Funkasaurus,” complete with dancers and an Adidas track suit. What gives?

WWE creative (read Vince McMahon) decided that this was the best way to debut Clay.  There are two ways to look at it.  Yes, it does limit what they can do with him, for sure, as they set the bar at "Rikishi level" for him, ensuring he can only go so far up the card.  The other side would be that the gimmick will be popular with at least a chunk of the audience and get over somewhat.  If you are Clay, and you look around and see that WWE has done a really bad job of establishing new characters, maybe you decide your position isn't so bad after all.

Do you believe that Raven could and would return to WWE in some capacity?

Given that he is in his late 40s, I don't see any real value in bringing him back as a wrestler.  That leaves a backstage position.  I don't see him fitting into the creative process and he doesn't seem "corporate" enough to work as a producer or trainer to me.  I think the odds of him being offered a position are pretty low.

With the Four Horsemen being inducted into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame, are Arn and JJ Dillon still working backstage for WWE and what is the current relationship like between WWE and Ric Flair? I am assuming that Flair is no longer under contract at all with TNA. 

Arn works for WWE as a producer.  Dillon doesn't work for the company any longer.  Last I heard he was working for the Department of Corrections in Delaware.  Flair still has a great relationship with HHH and I believe Vince McMahon as well.  Flair is still under contract to TNA which makes the HOF situation a very interesting one.

Regarding the dwindling ratings that WWE has, I realize that they are trying to present a kid-friendly product. But when do they reach a point where they realize that the parents of said kids are so sick of the watered down product that they, the parents, no longer have an interest in it, thereby eliminating the time honored tradition of parents turning their kids on to pro wrestling? My dad watched with me, I watched with my kids, my kids now think it's stupid and won't bother watching with their own kids. When does WWE see that their target audience is beyond their reach?

That is a point I have been making for a long time as well.  The business does so much better when the parent enjoys it as well as they turn their kids on to it and actually want to see the product as well.  When will WWE get to the point when they realize that?  I honestly don't know because logic says that they would have already.  So at this point I will go with "when their TV partner at NBC Universal tells them to get with it".

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