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WHY MOCKING LAWLER'S HEART ATTACK WASN'T ATTITUDE, WHY BRET DIDN'T SUE VINCE IN 1997, TAPING IMPACT AND MORE

By Dave Scherer on 2012-11-27 09:59:00

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This isn't so much a question as it is a comment: I have to agree with Paul Heyman on the 11/19 edition of Raw. When people beg for the Attitude Era and they give them just a taste and people throw their arms up and start complaining that they went too far. Or that they go just a hair "extreme" people lose their $#*%. Did I take offence to the whole Punk/Lawler/Heyman angle absolutely not, because I know that none of them would have done it if they all didn't feel comfortable doing it. People have just become too soft and fruity in this era of dare I say "wrestling." Not sure if you agree with this or not, but this is just 1 fans opinion of 30 years of watching.

The bulk of the Attitude Era stuff wasn't based on real life events.  It was over-the-top lunacy, which made it entertaining.  In the case of someone almost dying, as Lawler did, it's more cheap heat than Attitude in nature.  To make it worse, a few minutes after it happened Cole told Lawler to let's forget about it and move on, making it basically transition comedy.  Yes, a near-fatal heart attack became a punchline for a joke spot.  To me, it's not Attitude in nature.  It was just lame and classless.

 What is Jeff Jarrett's role with TNA Right now? Haven't heard anything from him I'm a while. He's the founder of TNA and he's nowhere to be found. I heard he was working with AAA but Why is he not with TNA. It's like he got kicked out of his own company.

Well, he was the founder but remember that if Dixie Carter and Panda Energy hadn't come along TNA would have gone down a few months after it started.  They took control and it became their company.  Last I heard, Jarrett still has a minority stake in it and has some management functions in the company.  It has been rumored for a while that he would be the leader of Aces and Eights, since it would make since since in the storyline he was forced to leave the company and this would be his way back in.

I see TNA has more tapings for Impact scheduled after the December PPV. Is TNA now only going forward with selected live Impacts and some taped permanently? Any plans to shoot some Impact shows around the US? They did a few last year which was great but seem to have done everyone in Orlando for around a year now?

At this point the taped Impacts coincide with the holiday schedule.  They want their workers to be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.  I respect that a lot.  They haven't announced long term plans about whether they will keep going live or not.  As long as Spike wants to do it, they will do it.  As for on the road, I don't think it will happen too often because it's very expensive to do opposed to running in Orlando.

 Going back to 1997, Bret Hart had creative control written into his contract for the last 30 days before leaving the company. He used said control to nix potential finishes. When Vince McMahon screwed Bret at survivor series and went against the planned finish, why didn't Bret sue Vince for breach of contract by violating the creative control clause? Could he have decided against the lawsuit in case Vince retaliated with assault charges for what happened backstage?

I can't speak to why he didn't but this is my take.  He would have had to have shown damages, which would have been interesting to say the least.  He would have had to have gone into court and showed how being screwed out of the Title hurt him either financially or personally.  Financially would have been impossible since he was let out of his WWE contract to sign one with WCW that was worth far more money.  So it would have come down to personally, and I really think he would have had his hands full proving that to a jury (many of whom would have the "wrestling is fake anyway" mentality).  So, instead Bret pulled a Mike Johnson and punched Vince in the face. 

Are CM Punk and John Cena at the Smackdown tapings or are they free to go home after Raw on Mondays? Just wondering if they are needed at Smackdown just in case they need them to appear.

It largely depends on their schedules and if they are needed.  Some weeks they are, some they aren't.  Since they are run really hard by the company if they can get the extra day off, WWE tries to give it to them when they can.

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