PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

 
 

WILL WWE USE LESNAR TO SCREW PUNK, WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE IN MONTREAL, GETTING OUT OF A CONTRACT AND MORE

By 2/4/2015 9:59 AM on 2015-02-01 13:42:32

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A by clicking here.

At the recent Monday Night Wars' debate between Bischoff and Pritchard, moderator Chris Jericho was asked if he would have screwed Bret Hart if he was in Shawn Michael's position at Survivor Series 1997. He unequivocally said yes, citing the fact that Bret wasn't his boss who paid the bills and that he was "old school." He said that he would only have an issue with a screw job if they asked him to screw a best friend (wasn't Jericho a trainee at the Hart dungeon?).  Regardless, my question is broader. Bret Hart said in his book that he and other old school guys would never screw their mat brother at the behest of the promoter. However, Jericho also cited that he was "old school" when justifying a screw job (in addition to financial pressure of not disobeying a boss). Who do you think is more correct on the "old school" mentality on this issue? Do you think a majority  of wrestlers would support Bret or Chris on this issue?

I don’t think there is a consensus. I do know that many of the people I talked to at the time felt Bret was being unreasonable, that the time honored tradition was to do the job on their way out of the territory. They also felt that his not wanting to lose in Canada was ridiculous since it was a worked business and wins and losses are predetermined, not achieved. But to be fair, that was at a time when talents having creative control was a new thing, and Bret had it. He felt he could use it, and Vince McMahon did agree to give it to him. So if I were Michaels, I would have had to have done it too since I would have had to continue working there for Vince. I wouldn’t have done it would the smile on my face that Shawn did it with, but I would have had to think of my family. And not for nothing, a lot of old school guys have screwed their brothers over the years. It’s why wrestlers have never been able to unionize.

With WWE obviously holding grudge against Punk could you see them make it so that Brock would keep the title long enough to beat Punk's reign length, hence screw him and minimize his legacy?

I may have answered differently before they had Dolph Ziggler take a shot at Punk a few weeks back. Now, if Brock wants to stay with WWE, it wouldn’t shock me at all.

We all know that Taker may (should?) have still at least two "logical" matches left : against Sting and a rematch against Lesnar. I read that the plan this year may lead to a match against Wyatt (so none of the two above) : could  WWE do a stipulation match with "the winner faces the Undertaker at Wrestlemania"? It would be a strong and nice way to launch Wrestlemania season + a legit motivation especially for young hungry wrestlers + a nice tribute to a living legend who surely deserves so.

Given he doesn’t have a logical opponent right now, running an 8 man tournament with the winner getting Taker isn’t a bad idea.

After listening to the C M Punk Podcast, made me wonder something.  As he said more than one that he was an independent contractor and the contract he signed wasn't worth the paper it was written on, if a wrestler gets tired of the grind of the road and the business and just doesn't care to get the remainder of the money of the contract, what is stopping him/her from just walking out of the WWE saying "keep the money, I have had enough, I am out of here.  See you in court if needed" knowing he/she can point to the Punk and Del Rio situations to go do something else (IE MMA)? Do you think this might wake Vince up enough to see what, if anything, can be done concerning the "independent contractor" title or anything to make the contract. at least on HIS end, more ironclad?

Nothing. It is not even that a guy is a contractor. Even if he was an employee, he could retire (as long as he realized he couldn’t wrestle anywhere else). If WWE took him to court, which would be a big mistake in my opinion, all he would have to say is my body is banged up and I can’t do it any more, which would be really bad pub for WWE.

I certainly see Health Slater as an underrated talent in the company, he seems to have the charisma within him and I can see him as a good worker. Do you think he should at least have a fair push to a solid mid card position?

I haven’t seen enough from him to know yet. He hasn’t really been given the chance. I wouldn’t mind finding out, but I could say that for a lot of the guys on the roster.

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q&A by clicking here.

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!