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BALOR GOING TO MAIN ROSTER, PUNK RETURNING FOR WRESTLEMANIA MAIN EVENT, SHOULD NXT TALENTS TURN DOWN MAIN ROSTER PROMOTION AND MORE

Do you feel that Finn Balor will get the relative hot shot to the main roster by say Summerslam? Not to look at fantasy booking, but wondering how WWE would feel about him answering the US Title Open Challenge. Reminding me a bit of Cena's introduction against Angle. Lights go down, and that music and entrance hits. John making his goofy smile face gets shocked and surprised by the skill of Balor. Win, and Balor is the guy who cleanly beat Super Cena (big pop from the Cena haters). Give him his full intro and a competitive match and have him lose, he still becomes a guy the audience wants to see the next week. Your thoughts?

It's possible. Balor was one of three talents (Neville and Charlotte being the others) that were discussed as being fast-tracked to the main roster the week of Wrestlemania. I don't like the idea of bringing in Balor just to have him lose. When he comes in, they need to make a splash with him and losing out of the gate just shows he's another guy. WWE doesn't need another guy - they need new stars.

In regards to "Hot Shotting" NXT debuts, is there even a need? If they are looking to drive people to The Network, my thought is NXT is the unique piece that drives fans there. I know NXT and the PPV value is the reason I have it. With Breeze, Balor, Itami, Zayn, Owens, Samoa Joe (maybe?), Enzo/Cass, Blake/Murphy (despite their entrance), Charlotte, Bayley, etc. that is a strong strong show. If I was any of those people, unless there becomes a change to my downside guarantee to be called up, I would want to stay in NXT right now.

At the end of the day, the goal of a professional wrestler is to make as much money as possible before age and/or injury calls them out of wrestling forever. NXT is nice but no one is making six figures - if they want to make the big money, they need to be on the main roster. They should all want to go.

Finally, CM Punk. Yes I am a Punk fan. He trains hard for UFC. Win/Lose/Draw he does what he does and if Legal were to get resolved. Do you think he would ever return for that Wrestlemania Main Event (Despite saying he is done)? There are two matches I would think he would love to have at Mania. (1) Steve Austin in Dallas?!? Really. Austin wants to come back for one Money Program. The guy who sued the company, walked out, was fired on his wedding day, straight edge vs. the anti-authority, beer swilling, returning for 1 last match, Texas boy Austin? Its Money as Money can be. or (2) Probably not the main event but vs. Samoa Joe. I doubt that WWE sees the money in this, but hardcore fans would love it. WWE could reach out the ROH like they did with Bryan for content. Speak to their real friendship. One of those matches could potentially sway Punk.

I think that if CM Punk ever returns, it's going to be decades from now after the two sides have repaired their relationship in a similar fashion to the way WWE and Ultimate Warrior came to terms. That said, I don't know that they ever will. The guy's wedding day was ruined. How do you repair that? Plus, Punk has said several times that the idea of going back to wrestling is like going back to High School for him - I think mentally, he's exiled himself from the genre and he ain't coming back. He's Obi-Wan Kenobi in the desert when it comes to wrestling.

So Jeff Hardy breaks his leg in a dirt - bike accident and TNA is up the creek when it comes to their plans for taping. In other major sports it is common for teams to have hazardous activities clauses in their athlete's contracts which stipulate that the team can withhold pay if an athlete is injured while doing certain extracurricular activities (Ben Rothlesberger is contractually banned from riding motorcycles). Do wrestling companies have similar stipulations with their performers? If not, do you think that they should?

I don't believe that there is such a clause, but even if there was, I know of WWE performers who have gone skydiving on their own time before WWE TV Tapings in the past and really, Jeff Hardy was going to do whatever he wanted to do anyway. There may be a case to add such a clause, but given the dangerous nature of what wrestlers do for a living, it's almost hypocritical to place it there.

Where's Francine from ECW?

Retired, married and being a mom in New Jersey. She's made a few convention appearances over the years but beyond that, is done with the business, by her own choice.

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