rajah.com Mailbag
-By Kayfabe and Rajah

Alright, I have re-opened the Mailbag section with the help of two individuals, Kayfabe and Grandpa. Hopefully, it will work out better this time, as the above individuals will handle the great BULK of the emails.

Here are the steps to take if you like your question answered in the Mailbag section:

1. Please check to see that your question(s) have not been answered on any other sections of the page. Take great note of the FAQ Part I and FAQ Part II as well as the mailbag archives at the bottom of the page. .
2. Send a legibly written question or comment to mailbag@rajah.com. Please limit yourself to only one question per person per email. This allows us to update the mailbag more frequently.
3. ALL email sent there may potentially be included in the Mailbag. If you do not want your response posted, do NOT send it there!
4. If a name is included, I will post it along with the email. If you do not want your name published, do NOT write it!
5. Remember, it is impossible that every email I receive get posted on this page. Only the best and most popular questions/comments will likely make it on.
6. Also remember, that questions will be answered by either Kayfabe or Rajah, so any personal remarks should be addressed accordingly. The following color scheme will be used:

Rajah - GREEN
Kayfabe - YELLOW


From: TheDevel
Hey there, long time reader, first time writer.

OK, in the new Eminem video, "The Real Slim Shady," there's a scene with an actor and actress playing Pam and Tommy Lee. And I swear that the actress playing Pam is Sable, I mean Rena Mero. Do you know anything about that?


No, I think I can safely say that Rena/Sable is NOT in the new Eminem video.


From: Clutch
Just how will it be before stone sold Steve Austin wwill wrestle again?


Rumor had it that Austin would be back in action around Summerslam but now speculation is that the injury might take longer to heal than originally thought, and the Rattlesnake might be out of action all the way until the beginning of next year. As of this writing, that is still unconfirmed, but it pretty much guarantees us that we won't be seeing him for at least another few months and then some.


From: Nick L.
Why was the match at WM3 so good? the one with Savage and Steamboat, you mentioned little parts of it in the last mailbag, but I want to hear a little detail.


If you have to ask the question of why Savage/Steamboat was so good, odds are you've never seen it. I spoke about it in the Wrestlemania Mailbag and really there's nothing more to say. The two had a heated feud leading up to their Silverdome showdown and when the time came they didn't dissapoint. To give a play by play of the match wouldn't serve it justice; you'd have to see the tape just to be able to comprehend the experience. They wrestled the best match of a stellar show and capped off their lengthy feud in a huge way. The 93,000 in attendance were really into the match and the competitors began to feed off the energy. To this day it is considered by most everyone to be one of the very best matches of all time.


From: Josh
Dear Rajah, I am puzzled as to how WCW is going to boost their ratings? I agree they have talent but come on. These guys they are marketing are old (to be blunt about it). The WWF has premiere superstars. It is ridiculous as to how WCW has went about trying to get guys that are old enough to be my grandfather and try to keep them in their "Prime." I agree when Hogan and Flair were in the WWF they were in their prime. Well, Hogan anyway. When Eric Bischoff made the comments on how The Rock and Triple H have not had the experience that Hogan and the other "Main Eventers" have (and I use that term lightly) it only goes to show that WCW is doomed to fail once again. Although I do believe that this Monday on Nitro will be one to remember for WCW I have to believe that the ratings will be better only because all of the News and Rumors sites on the net is almost basically promoting it. Don't get me wrong I love sports entertainment as much as the next guy but I really and honestly feel that WCW is going to use this attention it is getting from all the rumors sites and their new Nitro set to try and pass off a false product. Even though it will be a flashy set and new story lines its still the same 40 to 50 to 60 yr. old Hulk Hogans, Rick Flairs, and Terry Funks that it has always been. This is just my opinion but IM sure most of your readers who are die hard WWF fans, like myself, will agree. I believe and IM sure that everyone else will too that WCW needs new talent in the form of a Vampiro or The Wall. Those guys such as that need a big push or else the rasslin' business in Turnerland will fail. I would really appreciate it if you would post this and see what kind of feed back you would receive. Email me with your thoughts. Thanks.


In all fairness to WCW, they are slowly but surely trying to improve their product. It was only a matter of time before we saw the company try a "Young vs. Old" angle and now they've finally launched that. Hogan seems to be willing to put over some younger wrestlers, as is Flair. With Jeff Jarrett backing the company as World Champion (hopefully for a long time to come) and mainstays such as Sting and DDP enjoying a lot of success, I think WCW is at least making a better effort than they were before. But make no mistake about it, it will be a long time before WCW can even begin to get close enough to contend with the WWF in the ratings wars.


From: Weakner
Hey what's up guys. I was all but through with the mailbag until you gave me a shout-out in the last one. Maybe you guys really do care...you whores. Anyways, if Kayfabe gets to be Lucas, can I be "The Coach"? I nominate Rajah to be "Pat Patterson". After all, he always cries at weddings.

ANYWAYS, I wrote to address something that damnit, needed to be addressed! The Mailbag was saddled with like 20 letters dissing WM 2000. I thought WM 2000 was great. Am I the only one? I mean, let's go down the laundry list, shall we?

The Hardcore Battle Royale: One of the funniest matches I ever seen. And definitely entertaining.

Godfather/D'Lo vs. Bull and Bossman: .......Every card is allowed to have a few duds.

T & A vs. HeadCheese: The only reason this match wasnt great was because the crowd wasnt into it at all. The action was good however. So blame Anaheim.

Dudleyz vs. Hardyz vs. Edge/Christian: A great match. Besides the fact that Edge and Christian laid down in it for like 10 minutes, it had some awesome action.

Kane/Rikishi vs. Road Dogg/X-Pac: Well, this was a crowd pleaser basically. People wanted to see Kane, they wanted to see Rikishi. And most importantly, they wanted to see these two kick some ass. So they got it. It's not like they advertised this to be a great anyway.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho: Another great match. It was only bad for one reason: they screwed an american hero!

Too Cool/Chyna vs. The Radicalz: This was an awesome match which surprisingly, Chyna held her own in. An excellent match by six great athletes.

Triple H vs. Big Show vs. Rocky vs. Mick Foley: I think a four way match, by definition, isnt going to be great, but all four men put on a damn good show. It kept my interest.

So what if there were too many tag matches? The WWF has got such a huge roster right now, that this is becoming commonplace. It's just the way things are heading. Most people just didnt like WM because it changed too much from the past. But that's a good thing. Do we really want the WWF to stay the same forever? That would get boring. It was fitting for Triple H to win the belt, because let's face it, he's the only one who deserved it. I think that's what the WM main event is really about....not the face winning, but the man most deserving. It just has turned out in most cases it was the face....but this year, the man most deserving was definitely Triple H. Testify!

Hey what's up guys. I was all but through with the mailbag until you gave me a shout-out in the last one. Maybe you guys really do care...you whores. Anyways, if Kayfabe gets to be Lucas, can I be "The Coach"? I nominate Rajah to be "Pat Patterson". After all, he always cries at weddings.

ANYWAYS, I wrote to address something that damnit, needed to be addressed! The Mailbag was saddled with like 20 letters dissing WM 2000. I thought WM 2000 was great. Am I the only one? I mean, let's go down the laundry list, shall we?

The Hardcore Battle Royale: One of the funniest matches I ever seen. And definitely entertaining.

Godfather/D'Lo vs. Bull and Bossman: .......Every card is allowed to have a few duds.

T & A vs. HeadCheese: The only reason this match wasnt great was because the crowd wasnt into it at all. The action was good however. So blame Anaheim.

Dudleyz vs. Hardyz vs. Edge/Christian: A great match. Besides the fact that Edge and Christian laid down in it for like 10 minutes, it had some awesome action.

Kane/Rikishi vs. Road Dogg/X-Pac: Well, this was a crowd pleaser basically. People wanted to see Kane, they wanted to see Rikishi. And most importantly, they wanted to see these two kick some ass. So they got it. It's not like they advertised this to be a great anyway.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho: Another great match. It was only bad for one reason: they screwed an american hero!

Too Cool/Chyna vs. The Radicalz: This was an awesome match which surprisingly, Chyna held her own in. An excellent match by six great athletes.

Triple H vs. Big Show vs. Rocky vs. Mick Foley: I think a four way match, by definition, isnt going to be great, but all four men put on a damn good show. It kept my interest.

So what if there were too many tag matches? The WWF has got such a huge roster right now, that this is becoming commonplace. It's just the way things are heading. Most people just didnt like WM because it changed too much from the past. But that's a good thing. Do we really want the WWF to stay the same forever? That would get boring. It was fitting for Triple H to win the belt, because let's face it, he's the only one who deserved it. I think that's what the WM main event is really about....not the face winning, but the man most deserving. It just has turned out in most cases it was the face....but this year, the man most deserving was definitely Triple H. Testify!

WM was a great PPV. Why cant people see that? Kayfabe, what is wrong with people today? Too much saccerine, I guess.

The Master of Tumbleweedology,
Weakner


Geez, Weak, and you rag on me for long drawn out writing samples. But yes, I do agree with you. I think Wrestlemania was an excellent show and I still don't believe how many people whined about it; but then I've already commented on that, so let's move on.


From: Jamie
hi i have somethimg to say 1 of all christians real mane is jason reso and thats not d-low browns name

tjank you jamie


OK, terrific.


From: Trumptn
When the Smackdown tapings were going on, and Austin "blew up" the DX bus...the spoilers said that it took a few takes to get it right. Also, i have read in the spoilers that sometimes on Smackdown some wrestlers do promos twice or re-do a move during a match... What happens if something big like the "blowing up" of the DX bus would have been attempted on Raw or a PPV where things are live? Would there have been 5-10 minutes of nothing? How do things not get messed up on live Raw or PPV?


Well let me put it this way: There's a reason they did that on Smackdown. You also might remember X-Pac hitting Kane with a fireball earlier this year. Was it on Raw? No, Smackdown. Hell, even going back to last year, I believe that when Triple H (dressed as Goldust) hit Kane with a fireball leading up to Wrestlemania XV, that they did that on a taped Raw. The point is this: You'll always see those types of risky stunts done on taped TV shows so that the WWF does not run into the problem that you just hypothesized.


From: Todd
Great job with the mailbag but there is this thing that has been bugging me. Whatever happened to the "Techno Team 2000" or something like that. Their names were like Ted and Travis or something i know that they began with T's. I remember for a while they were gettting a slight push and then they just disappeared. Where are they now?


Travis and Troy, Techno Team 2000. They were around in the WWF for a few months in the mid 90's and then disappeared for good. Can't say this was too disappointing, but to be honest with you I have no clue what became of the team. If anybody has any information on the team be sure to send it in.


From: Peter
Hi Rajah, I know this sounds ridiculous but I was wondering whether Chyna is a man or otherwise. My friend and I had an argument. He told me that Chyna is a man and he is willing to place a million dollar bet for that. I, on the other hand, argued that Chyna is a woman. He told me to prove it and I was dumbstruck! I mean come on! If I were to say that she is a woman only because she has "those", then it would be more of making a fool of myself rather than defending my claims. So Rajah, please tell me what gender Chyna is.


Chyna is of course a woman. So go tell your friend he's an idiot.


From: Sean
I just thought I'd let you know that the photogrpher at KOTR '93 was Harvey Whippleman.

P.S. That Kurt guy has got to be the most paranoid motherf*cker in the world.


Yes, several of you e-mailed me to point out that Harvey was the photographer at King Of The Ring; I already knew that. In the last mailbag I was talking about how at the time I was disappointed that the WWF never did anything with the angle or the storyline. I wasn't concerned with the identity of the actual man. I was waiting for Hogan to go after the character but of course that never happened as the Hulkster left the WWF shortly thereafter never to return.


From: Codeman
Did anyone notice on Smackdown when the McMahons/HHH, Steph, and Tori went their seperate ways to look for Austin, something happened? HHH already had an arm around Steph, but as he was leaving, he put his arm around Tori? Then, Tori put her arm around HHH? I hope that X-pac wasn't watching because it looks like HHH took his girlfriend. I read on some of your colums that "HHH is a good person because he loves his wife" but he seems like more of a "player" to me. Don't ya think so?


Hey, he's young, he's had the gold, he's making the money. Who could blame him? I'm sure if roles were reversed and X-Pac was the Champion he'd be going after Stephanie...


From: mdw
We finally have one of my favorite features on any wrestling website, the mailbag, back in action. Keep up the good work with it.

Why does Rajah knock on Vince Russo so much? The man is a GOD!!!!!! He made the WWF what it is today and everyone has to admit that he has put on some outstanding shows since being reinstated in WCW.


Vince Russo is far from a god. Yes he helped turn around the WWF but I would hardly say he is the man who made it what it is today. For one thing he's the one that took it to the point where fans of today an no longer stomach any wrestling match over four minutes long. I know television matches aren't going to be overly long when eight matches and two main promos have to be fit in between two hours of television, but Russo's "get-in get-out" theory was ridiculous. There was a point in 1999 that literally just about every match on Raw would have a run-in and/or a No Contest finish. I mean he couldn't even book a clean finish! And who could forget his genius pre-Wrestlemania XV booking in which he built up Hardcore and Intercontinental Title Matches for two months and then switched them up and botched them two weeks before the big day. Sometimes a swerve is good, but not when it's more stupid than surprising. Granted Russo had some good ideas and currently looks to be getting WCW on the right track, but the way he did some things would just make you scratch your head. I will tell you this much though: I respect the way he made it into the business.


From: Bilal
Yello Kay..

Ive been an ardent fan of the WWF for the last ummm 10 years or so. probably more. One question that has been bugging me though. The Austin vs Bret Hart match (i forget which PPV it was) was excellent. But was the extensive bleeding and austin blacking out a work or did austin really black out??? and if so, then was Bret Hart supposed to release the sharpshooter earlier and didnt because he was pissed at Vince, or was it all a work?? did austin accidentally blade himself too much?

The reason why I say this is because that match really MADE austin and the fans Popped for him bigtime after that. If it was a work then this means that Vince already KNEW of the potential of austin and just wanted to see how the crowd reacts. Just want ure opinion on this..


The Wrestlemania XIII finish was a complete work and it's true that the match was used as somewhat of a gauge to base fan reaction. The crowd was split and the announcers kept putting over Austin. Later when Bret began "whining" and Shawn Michaels denounced him, he had pretty much become a full fledged heel. Prior to the event Austin 3:16 had been growing rapidly as everyone took a liking to the supposed bad guy. This was just the beginning of the explosion as Austin was thrust into the spotlight and solidfied as a fan favorite. During the match itself Austin did blade, and though he did indeed lose a lot of blood, the finish went as planned. The crowd felt that Bret had went too far and most of them (not me) began cheering for Austin. The "double switch" was highly successfully, geniously booked, and was really the only bright spot of a lackluster show.


From: TJ
i was reading in one of the mailbag questions that someone wanted to know how to get close to superstars. i found a great way. suck up to the full time po lice that act as part time security the security that the arena hires only does it part time, and part timers are usually pricks. I was at the Brian Pillman show at the Cincinnati gardens back in 1998. the way that that place is set up, the walkway from the garage to the locker room goes right through the hallway where the concession area is. me and a friend sucked up to people with backstage passes, and stood next to the locker room for a while. when the security found out, they threatened to throw us out a bunch of times. I didn't want to be thrown out, so i hung around and talked to the Cincinnati police. i think i even helped setup the guard rail during intermission. we sat and talked to him, and while we did that a lot of the wrestlers walked right past us. some were not very happy with us standing there, but oh well. i remember Steve blackman and mick foley came out to shake hands and talk. steve even gave his autograph to us. the funniest thing was other people tried to stand around like us and the police got rude with them, and then they came back to talk to us. we got some great pics. i am sure this works better at house shows than it does televised events. thought u might like to know.


Now that's some quality advice.


From: Philip
In your last mailbag someone asked what special area HHH would have if each wrestler had their own unique area. For HHH you said MSG, because it's the top arena and HHH is the top wrestler. But you forgot to mention what happened to HHH at MSG a few years ago. Even if it is overblown, it does play a part in HHH's wrestling career, which makes the choice even more ironic.

My thought for WM2K was that there were too many people per match. Not a single one on one match, except the cat fight which involved five people in some capacity.

OK, my question. Why wasn't there a light heavyweight match between Malenko and Rios at WM? The match where Malenko won the title was one of the best I have ever seen, yet no one talks about it. I know it's strange to consider a TV match one of the best ever, and that night will be known for Vince returning and Mae Young being driven off the stage through a table instead of any match, but that match was better than almost anything I have seen. If you don't have it on tape, order it from Mike Hardy (not a plug) and watch it. I am serious, it was incredible, and a rematch at WM would have been fantastic, because then they would be given a greater amount of time to put on a match, and it would have been nothing short of spectacular. So why did the WWF want a bunch of tag matches and such? Get some one on one matches, and give them the time for a real match, on PPV's and TV. Put the sport back in sports entertainment.

Sors salutis,
Philip


One, not many people would have cared. Sadly. Two, not enough time. Wrestlemania ran three and a half hours as it was and they just did not have the chance to add an extra match. Three, how could they justify giving Essa Rios a singles match but not wrestlers like Kane, X-Pac and Rikishi? Four, the six man tag would then have been reduced to a tag match with Too Cool which means there would have been no Chyna to oppose Eddie Guerrero. This match foreshadowed her future alliance with Eddie and gave birth to A) A role for Chyna, B) An outlet for Eddie to express himself, get mic time, and develop his character, C) A good home for the European Title, D) the current Radicals angle, and E) the potential for a future European PPV Title Match featuring your boy, Essa Rios. How's that for reasoning?


From: Rob
Its great to see the mailbag back, I really don't know what all the fuss is about, WM 2000 was pretty good. For all the people that say it was the worst PPV they have ever seen, well they can't have seen many PPV's!!!

I don't know what these people were doing in 1996 and 1997 but some of those PPV's were much, much, much worse. eg. Ground Zero or Beware of the Dog!! Ok It's WrestleMania and it should have been better but it beat WM13 hands down.

I suppose people in the U.S have a right to be mad because of all the money they spent on it, but with me living in the UK, I get them all free!! I have to pay not one penny!


Can't argue with that.


From: Alex
Great site you guys! Do you know where the heck Typhoon is and Earthquake too they were a good team.


Earthquake, John Tenta, came back a couple of years ago as Golga, but was then released and hasn't turned up in anywhere of note since. After leaving the WWF in 1993, Typhoon, Fred Ottman, went to WCW and became infamous for his affable Shockmaster miscue. Since then his career has gone down the tubes and he has dwindled away into obscurity.


Continue on to Part 3


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