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
MTR - ORANGE

From: The Hitman
During the Royal Rumble match in 1999 (I think), Road Dogg uses a strange method by hanging onto the bottom rope for all of the match ("like a slug" as JR says). Do you know why considering he obviously wasn't going to win? Could it be due to his rumoured drug habit?

Anything's possible, but I would hope that instead of the drug habit, that move can be chalked up to some good psychology and the Roadie's part. I mean since you can only lose by going over the top rope, if you stayed on the ground and held on to the bottom rope for long periods of time, isn't that smart strategy?

From: Phil
Hakushi (Real Name: Jinsei Sinzaki) went back to Michinoku Pro Wrestling in Japan after his WWF tenure. He still wrestles today and his one of Japan's most popular names. Shinzaki haven't slowed down one bit with the years and is still the same high flying wrestler that he was.

There you go, Raj. Thanks for the info.

From: Thomas
Ludvig Borga is now a heavyweight boxer, but not a very good one. In his last fight, he got knocked clean out. He is now bigger than butterbean, he is slower than a week in the jail.(You can sometimes see him on Eurosport, a sports channel in Europe)

Now that I found absolutely hilarious. Slower than a week in jail! I love it. And to think that guy used to be ripped.

From: cooldude
I wont suck up to you guys just to get my question posted....I just wanted to know if there is a titontron in the house shows...and if there is, what does it look like?

I don't think so, no. There's probably just a standard aisle like they had in the old days, but I'm sure the WWF spruces it up a little and does some cool things with the lighting.

From: matt
in your archive you have the first royal rumble being in 1989. my question is how about the one in 1988, where hacksaw jim Duggan wins the rumble by eliminating, The one man gang, also on this show hulk hogan andre the giant 2 was signed and dino bravo becomes the worlds strongest man with a little help from jesse ventura. i have the tape if you dont belive me but this diffently happened.

I'll take your word for it. Actually, I have a tape of the '88 Rumble too, but I got it after I had reached its slot in the Flashbacks, and I didn't want to break up the nice flow I have going, so I decided not to do a Flashback for it for the time being. If you have the tape too though, then you should know that it was shown on the USA Network and not Pay Per View. Since the title of the section is PPV Flashbacks, I didn't really "forget" to add it at all, now did I? And for the record I never said the '89 Rumble was the first ever. In fact if you read the Royal Rumble 1989 Flashback, you'll see that in the first sentence I mention it as the first Rumble on PPV and even allude to the '88 Rumble on USA. For those curious, perhaps I will add the '88 Rumble to the Flashback section at some point, but don't expect it in the near future.

From: BH30010
how tall is giant gonzalez and how much does he weigh?

His wrestling height and weight was 8'0 and over 400 pounds, but in reality he's about seven and a half feet tall and probably somewhere in the three hundred pounds range.

From: Matt
Hey Kayfabe! I do agree with you about the Undertaker's "old" gimmick being cartoonish. But when I say "old" I mean the time frame when Paul Bearer was his manager and he carried the earn...blah...blah...blah... But I feel that the last incarnation of the Undertaker gimmick was just the opposite. By the "last" incaranation I mean the Satanic-like Undertaker. This version was pure genius in my mind. He had the perfect gimmick for a heel. Anybody who has any association with evil and the devil is usually disliked, so naturally it would seem only right that the fans boo him. And boo they did. I also feel that this character was more dark and innovative then the Undertaker of say 1996. The satanic gimmick just seemed a lot more believable to me. And Vince McMahon also cut a great promo on how the 'Taker is thinking this persona he is portraying is real. That promo really gave some credibility to the satanic-'Taker gimmick. Although, at this point I dont despise the American Badass gimmick but i would love to see him bring back the evil-heel character. I'm probably going to get a lot of heat from the readers saying, "This guy is a Satanist and Cultist!" But I am none of the former. Hope this gets posted. Thanks!

I agree that it was more realistic, but the whole Ministry angle still wasn't completely in the realm of realistic and I think the WWF did all they wanted to do with that gimmick. The whole time Taker used that gimmick the WWF as a whole had this sort of "dark feel" to it as a result, and while that's a cool way to go for a few months, it shouldn't last forever. And it hasn't.

On a sidenote, I remember the Vince promo you mentioned and I can recall him refering to Taker by his real name, the first time anyone had ever done so on WWF TV. It was at that point that I knew the Undertaker of old was gone forever, and that the character as a whole wouldn't be around a whole hell of a lot longer. The writing was on the wall because at that point they had exposed him as a character and as a gimmick, something they'd never come close to admitting before. Now part of that was the fact that they were promoting "Attitude" and exposing the business in certain areas somewhat, but a part of that was also the beginning of the end for the only thing the Undertaker character had been to that point. When you look at the Undertaker of ten years ago, and the Undertaker character of today they are two entirely different characters, but the reason it's worked so well is because the character has evolved steadily for years. Even the 1993 Taker was very different from the 1996 Undertaker. And the 1997 Taker was different from the 1999 one. By mid 1999 the Undertaker had even started to talk like a "bad ass" redneck and wear biker gear despite still being the "Dead Man". When he returned from an injury in May 2000 as "The American Badass" it was just the final step of the evolution process for the character, and not a complete switch. That's why The Undertaker has continued to be so successful.

From: charlotte
hi rajah, i know every one says this but i love your sight. i have one question for u, since tori was reveald as ravens nijah girl where has she gone?

She's been busy alongside Jacqueline, Tazz, and Al Snow training hopeful wrestlers for the MTV/WWF venture, Tough Enough.

From: Mike
First off let me say your site is the best out there Rajah. I visit several times a day while I am at work.

I have 2 questions, first I have heard Kayfabe say that his name is in refrence to something to do with wrestling. What does Kayfabe mean?

Second is The insurrextion PPV that is being held in England. Why is it only shown over there and never shown in the states?

Surefire way #1 to guarantee that you not be included in the Mailbag is to start off with "I have (x) questions..." but since I already addressed the first one and they're quickies, I figured I'd be a nice guy and sneak this in anyway. The Insurrextion PPV is just a way to give back to the UK fans. The WWF only makes it there twice a year, and when they do they don't want it to be for a lousy house show, so they make sure the event counts and make a UK only PPV out of it. At the same time, they don't want it to interfere with their regular monthly PPV's in the US. Nothing major usually happens on the UK PPV's, but it is a nice gesture towards the British fans.

From: Stryfe
Hey all ya,

I've noticed Raven getting more... Psychological.. with his promo's lately. WWF has been playing him off of wild men like GMS, and streight men like Steve Blackman (Prime Example - RAW 4/23/2K1). He did interviews like this in ECW and WCW, and I wondered what you thought of it? IMHO, it adds a very cool dimension to what has so-far-been a flat character for the former Johnny Polo in the WWF, but playing him off of characters like GMS and Blackman makes him seem over thier heads, and makes them seem stupid (Although Blackman's quote of "I donno what they're talking about, I do'nt even eat Bagels" is gold. :-) . What are your opinions?

Yeah, Raven has always been a strange bird. Get it? Strange bird? Raven? See, a raven is a... ah, nevermind. I don't think it makes it seem like Raven is over the heads of others; just that he's on his own strange little level which is what's probably supposed to be coming across anyway. In Grandmaster's case, he's supposed to be a jive-sepaking white boy from Tennessee, and Blackman has always been a serious guy. Raven is clearly different than that, but not necessarily superior.

From: Chuck
Greetings, Thank you for all the invaluable information and Wrestling history lessons. My question has nothing to do with either valuable information or history. Is there a WWF blooper tape, a compilation of goof ups etc.? Thanks, Chuck B

In the early 90's Coliseum released a tape called "Bloopers, Bleeps and Bodyslams" (or something to that effect), but it's at least seven years old, I doubt you can find it anywhere, and if you did it probably wouldn't be worth the trouble. That tape was a regular Coliseum one with watered down matches but the theme (instead of Sean Mooney in a Star Trek takeoff or Golf with Mean Gene Okerlund and Bobbby "The Brain" Heenan) happened to be assorted "bloopers". It probably featured various screw ups by announcers and a few staged bits with some of the wrestlers.

From: Josh
Hey Rajah, i noticed in your news and rumors section you have been mentioning that you'd like to see Kurt Angle turn face. Right after you posted that i noticed him talking to Edge and Christian and making fun of Regal (it's true, it's true!),i think it was on raw and again probably a week later he was basically ignoring Regal while thinkin about his ankle lock. Also he does have that semi-new intense/crazy attitude, which fans could go for a lot more than the "good boy" personality. Do you think this could be built into anything? Kurt is by far my favorite wrestler, sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that he won states in my state of Pennsylvania, but you have to admit he is pretty damn funny and similar to what you said, i think all he'd have to do is get the crowd with him by makin fun of a heel. I would love for him to turn face and i just agree with you that right now would be the perfect time, so i'm wondering if you agree they could be setting it up for him to change, and have you heard anything recently about it? Also, please tell me Paul Heyman is not going to be the permanant announcer alongside JR, he sucks!

I think an Angle face turn could definitely work, and I'd love to see an Angle/Regal feud develop in the next month or so. I've already commented about Paul in a previous question.

From: THEHAWK
Hey. After HHH wont the IC title recently, I wondered if there had ever been a wrestler in the past that had won the IC title after holding the World title. I can't recall that ever happening before. Thanks.

Pedro Morales won the IC Title back in the early 80's after being a WWF Heavyweight Champion in the 70's. Triple H is the second former WWF Champ to "step back down" to the IC Championship.

From: b_boyz2000
I think that the WWF should hire Bobby "The Brain" Hennan and replace him with Paul Heyman. Because to me The Brain & The King made the WWF fun with the lines that said. Don't get me wrong but J.R. calls the matches but those two makes it better. Do you agree.

With nothing against Heyman, yes, I think Heenan would be a perfect fit in the WWF. He and JR worked with each other breifly in the WWF in 1993 and they were excellent together.

From: PFitty
Ive always pondered if the Ultimate Warrior is coming back to WWF/WCW? Any hints or Rumors.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the Warrior will never be back with either.

From: don
whats up raj, kayfabe and vegas. 1st of all all i wanna say is rajah.com is without a doubt the best wrestling site on the net. as for my question; i heard a long time ago that macho man and elizabeth were/are married and elizabeth is also the daughter of george the animal steele. but, i checked out your wrestlers relations page and it said nothing of it. is what i heard true or just some bs rumor????

I believe Savage and Elizabeth were married in 1985, but got divorced in 1992. Neither is of any relation to George Steele, but they were involved in an angle with each other in 1986 which is probably where that ridiculous rumor stemmed from.

From: AKut
Hola to the three amigos that has graced me with their wrestling knowledge: I know I'm a little belated on all the Wrestlemania questions and whatnot, but I wanted to know something; do any of you know why in all of Wrestlemania XIII advertisments it was referred to as 13 and not the original Roman numeral way which was used? It probably was just a marketing scheme, it being "13" and all, but just wanted to know if ya had an answer.... Plus I'm looking forward to next year's Wrestlemania X-8(???)

I think they were just trying to mix it up, since 13 is a superstitiuos number and that particular year The Undertaker was heavily featured. I don't think next years' Wrestlemania will be called X-8. I hope they go back to the roman numerals, but maybe they'll switch it up each year. Maybe next year will be Wrestlemania XVIII, then the next will be Wrestlemania 19, then Wrestlemania Twenty. There's a million different ways to write each one, but I hope that for the big 20 they go back to plain old Wrestlemania XX.

From: Tim
Hey, This question is for Pete. As good as the tag team division is and as cool as E & C and the Hardy's are why oh why don't any tag teams wear identical tights/clothes/uniforms like the good ol' days? Remember when the British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, the Brain Busters and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers all used to switch in and out when the refs back was turned? That was the coolest and dammit, they should do that again. I guess it's pretty old school, but hey, I liked it.

First off, as you kind of implied, the business has evolved, and people don't expect everyone to dress alike just because they're on the same team. Also, in this day and age, individuality is important. Besides that, lots of teams like Headcheese, T & A, etc. are only with each other for so long. Now that I think about it though, it's not so bad. The Acolytes and Too Cool both wear identical attire. And the rest, like the Dudleyz, Hardyz, Edge & Christian and Kaientai all wear very similar stuff, so it's not like their appearances are nothing like one another.

From: Paul
Hey Rajah,I visit ur website all the time and I have to say it is much more interesting that the actual official WWF website,in the WWF obviously I know there is the Superstars,Jakked/Metal,Heat,Raw and Smackdown programmes but then there is the 'House Show' programme,my question is this;where and when on T.V. does it get shown?,I am from Scotland and 'HEAT' get shown on ch4 while all others get shown on cable etc but it does not show the 'House Show' programme,you see I'm a really big WWF fan so I would be extremely grateful if you could tell me.

Ur's sincerly Paul,
NO#1 WWF FAN

The reason you've never seen them on TV is because house shows aren't television shows. In between TV tapings, the WWF tours just like they always have. They usually have two or three house shows per weekend. The events are never intended to air on television.

From: BlueBlazer88
In the last edition of the mailbag somebody asked if Sting ever wrestled in the WWF, you of course said no. But than you said that he was the Shawn Michaels of the WCW. I dont think its fair to see that. Shawn had been stuck in the Rockers tag team since 1986, and was so desperate to move on, he actually gave the WWF his notice, and planned to go to Memphis to prove to the WWF that he could carry the load as a major heel and than move on to the WCW. WWF talked him into staying, gave him his well deserved opportunity to shine. You make it seem like Shawn Michaels was loyal to the WWF but it took some negotiations to keep him in the WWF.

The bottom line is he stayed in the WWF for his entire career, and Sting stayed in WCW for his. Of all the major stars of the 80's and 90's all except them at one time or another wrestled with the other promotion. Flair, Austin, Bret, Undertaker, Foley, Rhodes, Anderson, Savage, Hogan, Sid, Warrior, Nash, Hall, Piper, Steamboat, Road Warriors, the Steiners, etc. all wrestled with both companies. Go on down the line and no two names like Shawn and Sting stand out as ones that ultimately never jumped ship. That's the comparison I was making and nothing more.

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