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SUBMIT YOUR QUESTIONS TO MIKE FOR THE PWINSIDER Q&A BY CLICKING HERE.
I saw the article about the back and forth between AJ Styles and the indy wrestler over whether Styles' son should be helping to set up at indy shows he was booked on and wondered what you thought?
I keep getting asked about this in email. I see both sides. All I know is all the back and forth is about to put Avery Styles under a microscope regarding every single thing he now does in the ring, before the show, backstage, at the hotel, etc. and not sure that's fair to any 19 year old kid, much less someone trying to follow in AJ Styles' shoes. Now, if it was me and I was asked, I'd have pitched in, but it wasn't and I don't walk in his shoes, so no judgment here. I do think Ben Bishop made excellent points in a video someone sent me. No one truly wants to set up a ring or an arena - if they are offering to help, in many instances, they are trying to get in the good graces of a promoter to try and get remembered and booked (which in my opinion is good business for a talent) while Avery already had the booking. He didn't need to ingratiate himself. Now, there are going to be some upset Avery is (in their eyes) jumping the line or "not paying dues", but even if that's true,
I am sure that was said about every second generation talent from Bret Hart to Erik Watts to Terry Funk. Sooner or later, they will all have to perform and stand on their own feet and will succeed or fail of their own accord. Being AJ's son doesn't mean a thing if he can't get over on his own one day, but he's 19 and only a few matches in, so it's way to early for anyone to give him the Gladiator style thumbs up or down. For the record, I haven't seen one complete match yet, so I have zero opinion on his work or potential.
Now, should Avery Styles have shown humility and jumped in, especially if asked? I can see that argument especially if it's coming from Arik Cannon who's worked the indy scene for a long and has his own promotion - I totally understand where he's coming from (and I don't think asking someone to help is a bad thing, because if you are asking, chances are you're trying to get everything together so you can open the doors for your paying fans), but again, let's remember that kid is 19. Like everyone else in life, Avery is probably going to make mistakes at times, will make them again and unfortunately for him, he's doing it in a world where they will be magnified for the entire universe to see in real time.
What advice would you give to everyone involved?
Perhaps Twitter wasn't the place to have this conversation.
Why are there so many more house shows? I thought they were a thing of the past?
I think TKO realized what anyone with common sense knows - house shows are important in keeping talents mentally and physically ready for their job, make money when promoted right and are where younger talents need to be so they can improve.
It's well known Kevin Owens is boys with The Young Bucks. Now, he's in a program with CM Punk. Problems on the horizon?
I don't think so. One never knows, but I don't think anyone making the level of money Owens and Punk make at ths point are going to ruin it for themselves. Plus, I don't think Owens fought for 15 months to get back to the ring just to get into a fight with someone - I would think he's thankful just to be able to perform again, and he should be, the same way Punk should be happy he's at that level of success today. I just don't see it happening.
Why isn't Rey Mysterio's daughter Aalyah Mysterio?
She might be. They just haven't assigned her a ring name yet, especially since, you know, she hasn't even made an in-ring debut. Patience!
OK, the questions regarding the dumbest things you've seen at pro wrestling have cracked me up. What were the most disgusting?
Throwing out rude things yelled by fans (which is a by-product of pro wrestling inviting fans to jeer and give crap to talents they don't like), three things come to mind.
A - Fans who touch blood, whether they think it's fake or not.
B - There was a mother and her son who were disrespectful at an ECW event in NYC that had a ten bell count salute to Rick Rude. They were so loud and disrespectful that Paul Heyman, The Dudleys and more came out, ripped them apart on the microphone and then forced them to take a refund before ejecting them. You can see the footage here. I don't know how someone could be more disgusting than that, except...
C - Years ago at an ECW show in Philadelphia at Drexel Hill University, Beulah McGuillicuty was working ringside during a Tommy Dreamer & Cactus Jack vs. Raven & Stevie Richards match. A fan reached over the railing and flipped Beulah's skirt up as she walked past. Even for ECW, this was over the top and security removed him from the show. When the show was over, the fan was still arguing with security that it was wrong he was ejected. If something like that happened today, the fan absolutely would have been arrested, and with good reason. It would be considered sexual assault.
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