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| RajahWWF.Com Mailbag -By Aree, MTR, Pete and Rajah |
1. Please try your best to check to see that your question(s) have not been answered on any other sections of the page, including past mailbags (archives below).2. Send a legibly written question or comment to mailbag@rajahwwf.com. Please try to keep it short (one question per person per edition).
3. ALL email sent to the address above may potentially be included in the Mailbag. If you do not want your question publically posted for everyone to see, this section is not for you.
4. If a name is included, we will post it along with the email. If you do not want your name published, do indicate this in your email.
5. Remember, it is impossible that every email we receive get posted in the mailbag. Only the best and most popular questions/comments will likely make it on.
6. Also remember, that questions will be answered by either MTR, Aree, Rajah or Pete so any personal remarks should be addressed accordingly. The following color scheme will be used:
7. If you have any additions or corrections to the answers we provide, please send that it in and we will probably issue a clarification in the next edition.
Rajah - GREEN
Pete - YELLOW
MTR - PURPLE
Aree Jones - PINK
Hello to all. I would like to if any one could tell me the turning point in which wrestling storylines changed from great to just god awful. I remember a time when you didn't need to use corpses to create storylines. I remember a time when "feuds" created a storyline in itself and kept the fans gasping for more. For example, when Macho Man hit Ricky Steamboat in the throat with the timekeeper's bell-remember how nuts the crowd was when George Steele waived his arm and out of nowhere, Steamboat came flying down the aisle? Sting vs. Ric Flair? Or when the Fabulous Freebirds were attacking Steve Simpson and all 87 Von Erichs came down to the ring-that was pandemonium at its finest. Isn't it a shame that a true wrestling fan can remember feuds that happened 10-15 years ago, but cannot remember current feuds? Is it that creative writers (or the lack thereof), care more about the dollar vs. what will keep the fans coming. Or could it be that managers aren't used anymore? Bobby Hennan was one to always keep a feud going, along with his hilarious color commentating-calling Tito Santana, "Chico" Santana...or calling someone a "Ham an' egger." Is it possible that wrestlers nowadays do not like to help other wrestlers get their time in the spotlight also? I am just a little confused about the current state of wrestling storylines and so-called feuds, I guess. Thank you for your time, and take care.
Ah, a time before corpses were present in story lines… the good old days.
You’re talking about a completely different product, a totally different industry and a major league different demographic of viewers than what we see today. For better or worse, things have changed. I can’t say that I personally love everything about the industry these days, but you either change with the product or you rent tapes at the Blockbuster and live in the past. I do a little of both. The bottom line is that the product is never going to be what it once was. The days of Ricky Steamboat, the Fabulous Freebirds and Bobby Heenan are gone. The viewers who loved that type of wrestling have either moved on or are busy renting tapes from the Blockbuster. The majority of viewers these days are from the why-bother generation and unless they have their weekly dose of sex, violence and the American way, they switch off and go play some mindless video games. The WWE writers created the monster that is their fan base and unless they keep topping themselves with more outrageous stunts, more nudity, more violence and more "Holy Shit" chanting moments, fans are going to stop watching. The interesting thing is that you can only top yourself for so long before you hit a brick wall and there’s nothing else you can do. Maybe the WWE are at that brick wall now and are in the process of frantically trying to find a way through. On a final note, don’t be so sure that wrestlers of the past were all sunshine and light when it came to putting other wrestlers over. Egos are egos, not matter what generation we’re talking about.
From: Keith Leong
Dear Rajah, Is it just me or has the World Heavyweight Title replaced the WWE Title as the most prestigious singles title in the Federation ?. The former has just absorbed the Intercontinenal Title, which in turn unified the European and old WCW US Title. The World Title at this point has 3 belts under it. Is this an indication of how we should grade this belts, or rather just a result of Triple H's politics?
Triple H gets blamed for everything. I’m sure in addition to sabotaging the careers of mid card wrestlers he is also to blame for global warming and deforestation in the Amazon. I don’t think that the amalgamation of belts that have gone into the construction of a new title picture is indicative of how the belts should be viewed. Very few viewers are aware of the integration of the various belts over the years and simply hear "World Title" and take it at face value. Back to Triple H, I think people overestimate his influence backstage. I agree that as one of the biggest stars of the company he has a lot to say about his own storylines and feuds and maybe even a little input in the direction of the company overall. But I sincerely doubt that he makes decisions about which belts should be absorbed and who should get them. Vince McMahon runs the WWE. Vince McMahon is backed by a team who makes the big decisions, with the final approval always being given to Vinnie Mac. If you ask me, I think more should be said about JR’s influence backstage. I’d be willing to go as far as to say that if JR doesn’t like you, your career is dead in the water.
From: pgv
Hi guys, I really like this site and this is one of my favorite features. My question is, if you were in charge of the Tough Enough show what changes would you make ? I would have less listening in on phone calls and have less of an emphasis on who is falling in love with who. Basically, I would concentrate more on the in-ring activity and maybe go into certain areas that we haven't seen on the show such as talking to them booking (i'm not sure if they even cover that privately) and ring psychology (i'm still not sure exactly what means). I would appreciate your opinions on this.
The mailbag has always been one of my favourite parts of the site too. If I was in charge of Tough Enough, the first thing I would do is dump the women. Look at the past three female winners - Nidia, Jackie and Linda. They’ve gone exactly nowhere in the WWE so far and their prospects for the future are pretty limited. I agree that it would be interesting to see the booking process and the formulation of storylines, but unless they’re main eventers of considerable influence, wrestlers have very little say in booking and storyline development so at the entry level such things aren’t important. In-ring psychology is much more important at the early stages. It refers to a sort of "mind set" that wrestlers need to have about how well they understand their characters, how they interact with other wrestlers in the ring (and out of it) and in interviews, and how they respond to and involve the crowd in their matches. I think Tough Enough focuses a lot on looking for the raw physical talent, which the WWE seem to think is the most important thing. Talent is extremely important, but men like Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior and Kevin Nash have built highly successful careers based on superior in-ring skills and mediocre wrestling talent, so who’s to say which is more important in practice? The reason that Tough Enough focuses on whom is in love with whom is because it gives the show a "real world" sort of feeling and is supposedly very interesting. I doubt Jackie would have been selected if she hadn’t got down and dirty with Pete in the hot tub. Reality TV - who needs it?
From: Matthew Ainsworth
If you go to www.wwegoldberg.com it looks like the wwe has bought the site. Nothing seems to appear, but put the cursor over the bottom rectangle, at the bottom it clearly states shortcut to wwe.com
could be a sign of their interest. the same also happened with steiner, although that says it has now been registered.
That site is not owned by WWE. Whoever bought it has made it SEEM like it's WWE-owned but if you look into it (register.com for example), you will see that it doesn't belong to WWE.
From: Jason Mackey
I have been suspicious about Kane since he returned on raw but after seeing raw a few weeks ago I noticed a sign in the crowd saying where is Glen Jacobs Kane. Now I am convinced that this is not the original kane. Could you please let me know if it is the original or an imposter.
Poor Glenn Jacobs. Everyone is suddenly convinced that the man is his own imposter! This reminds me of the old rumors that there were two "Ultimate Warriors". In fact, there was only ever one who dropped a lot of weight when he stopped taking steroids. There is only one Kane. He has lost weight, changed "costume" and his mask now reveals his mouth that gives him a slightly different look. He also speaks in a different voice than he has previously. I can’t understand when people say they’re convinced that it’s a different man. He still moves in the same way and he still wrestles in the same way. There’s no way that someone else could be a "new Kane" and perfect the movements of the old Kane and keep it a secret in an industry where there are no secrets.
From: Jvglion
With the Inter-Continental title merged with the World Title on RAW, and the weakass scripts (Ie. necrophelia, underutilization of great wrestlers, and pushes of those who are being forced down our throats), losses of key superstars (Stone Cold, and The Rock), and lack of competition, What do you feel can bring WWE out of it's dumps?
That’ll do for a start.
If I knew the answer to this, I would be working for the WWE. In a reply to someone else’s question in this mailbag, I stated that the WWE had created the "monster" that is their fan base and unless they keep providing more sex, more violence, more "holy shit" chanting moments and more outlandish stunts, their fan base is going to start moaning and complaining that the product is boring. They’ve more or less hit the glass ceiling of the "attitude" era and seem a little lost in terms of where to go now. In the past few weeks they’ve tried to introduce more drama into the storylines (for example ‘Taker’s "affair" and Kane’s murdering past) which is a start, but they’re still stuck on the attention seeking "shock tactics" that were made popular in the Vince Russo era. I suppose I should have left this question for MTR or Rajah, because I’m not in the WWE’s key demographic so what I would like to see in the product isn’t what your average 18-35 male would. However, not being in the key demographic has never stopped me from having an opinion. Firstly, I would like to see some fresh talent mixing it up with established talent on Smackdown and Raw. Secondly, bring in some drama and maybe a little controversy, but don’t cross the line into rape and murder because it’s unnecessary and detracts from the product. Thirdly, I’d dump a few of the programs. The television wrestling market is saturated. Dump Confidential and Heat and scale back on the house shows.
From: Greg Jessep
I've seen recently in tag matches a rope or string in the corner that the tag partner seems to hold on to while they aren't wrestling. What's the deal with that? Is it supposed to stop them from moving too far away from the corner or what?
Ah! The tag ropes. Just when I start to lose faith in everything that is WWE, they bring back the tag ropes. These were used for a long time in the WWF of the 80’s and early 90’s and I think you’ve hit upon the reason for them - they offered a certain sense of legitimacy to tag matches. The wrestler on the outside is supposed to hold the tag rope until he is tagged into the ring. I believe in the very old days that you could be disqualified if you let go of the rope before being tagged. When you think about it, tag ropes make good sense in a visual sense because you’ve got the guy on the outside holding onto the rope and straining to reach the outstretched hand of his partner in the ring. It means he can’t just wander along the apron and tag his partner at whatever point. It’s not really a brilliant reason for bringing the tag ropes back, but I can’t think of any other reason. Maybe someone else can?
"the hurricane"
I just wanted to say ur syte is great and if I wanted to contact Vince McMahon or someone in charge in the wwe, say for a job, a comment, or question is their some e-mail address i can sent it to or just regular mail ?? Thanks bye
I gave the WWE’s postal address, fan email address and phone number in a previous answer in this mailbag. I sincerely doubt that you would get to speak to Vince McMahon himself as I doubt he bothers himself with details from the small people. If you are interested in a job, you should keep your eyes open for advertised vacancies or contact the WWE Human Resources department. If you want to wrestle for them, you’ll need to get a try out which usually happens through certain reputable wrestling schools. I’d recommend calling the WWE if you have a question you want answered. Due to the sheer volumes of mail and email they receive, it would probably take six months for them to read an email or letter and even then, they probably don’t reply to a good 80% of their mail.
Send ALL Mailbag-related email to mailbag@rajahwwf.com.