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WAS LESNAR A BUST AS A WWE INVESTMENT, BRISCOE'S TWITTER, BATISTA AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2013-05-09 10:00:36

My friends and I were recently discussing the great entrances in pro wrestling history and I thought back to the NWO days when Hollywood Hogan would come out to Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. Do you know whose decision it was to choose this song for the Hulkster to come out to? Was it Bischoff? Hogan himself? Thinking back to that time, the crowds were just so much more electric and this entrance was often uproarious.

I believe it was a Hulk Hogan idea and WCW was willing to pay for the rights to the song.

Seeing Bruno Samartino get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in Madison Square Garden gave me goosebumps. Such an awesome moment for me and my father, who watched him wrestle Pedro Morales at Shea Stadium in 1972. Is there any chance of WWE and Bruno Samartino collaborating on a documentary? I think if it's done right, particularly if WWE Studios does it, WWE Studios could enter into the documentary into a festival like Sundance or Tribeca Film Festival. What do you guys think about that?

There is actually a documentary on Sammartino's life completed and waiting to be distributed. You can find details at www.BrunoSammartino.info. WWE was not involved, but that doesn't mean they can't purchase it to distribute it.

As a big MMA fan, it was pretty awesome to see Brock Lesnar come back to WWE, however, I don't believe his comeback has been worth all of the trouble. His matches, in my opinion, have been awesome, but the build for them have been a little lackluster and would probably be horrible if he wasn't paired with Heyman. I get that they treat and present him as a star and he comes off as a star, but couldn't they do that with a new talent? Has resigning him paid off for WWE?

I disagree completely. I think they've done a great job with Brock, but obviously the best thing thus far in his run was his first angles and match with John Cena. I think the company has made him seem like a major attraction and I've personally enjoyed most of the angles he's been involved in.

Jay Briscoe's Twitter comments: work or shoot? How do you feel about the situation?

I don't see how Briscoe commenting on gay marriage can draw anyone any money. They were his own personal comments. As far my own feelings - we live in a world where not everyone is equal. Everyone should be. As we try to get to that equality, there are going to be people who disagree with it for their own reasons. I don't think everyone's beliefs should be forced on anyone else.

Briscoe has every right to how he feels.  This is the United States and people are certainly allowed to feel however they feel.  That's only fair.  Now, whether he, as the champion representing a company owned by a major corporation should be making those statements publicly - that is another matter altogether.  Just as Briscoe has the right to voice his opinions,  everyone who hears how he feels has a right to agree or disagree with them and the right to support or not support Briscoe financially.

As someone with gay friends, I personally deeply disagree with what Jay wrote but if, as he later stated, his problem was the idea of anyone but his family teaching his children about the issue, well, I see his point. We live in a world where kids today have to deal with a much more complicated, hyper-violent, sexualized world than the one that I personally grew up in. I think parents should have a big part in how the realities of that world are thrust upon their children.

All that said, the idea of threatening violence on anyone in a public forum - that's a pretty stupid idea no matter who you are or what your public level of awareness is. That's the type of statement that can only come back to haunt you down the line.

Having met and interviewed Jay countless times, my gut feeling is he chose his words extremely poorly, both with his statement and his apology, and is better off leaving his private opinions private. 

Now considering that as far as I know he's still following his MMA career and doing a couple of movies in the future, how likely are we to seeing a Batista return this year? Is this all just coincidence or have you heard anything about him coming back any time soon?

Batista is starring in a new Marvel Studios film and will be concentrating on that right now. There's been no discussion of him returning to WWE that we've heard.

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