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).

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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

From: Ryan Woodrow
Hi all, Regarding the question about who makes wrestling belts, they are all made by a guy named Joe Marshall. His website is http://www.beltster.com. Unfortunately his site his being completely redone so there is really nothing there of interest. The WWF's old belt maker is former wrestler Reggie Park. His site is http://www.midwestwrestling.com/Beltentrance.htm. Reggie Park is affiliated with NWA midwest and makes belts for lots of independent federations. My personal opinion is that Reggie Park's belts are far superior.

Thank you for the information. As Ryan pointed out, the Joe Marshall link is pretty much useless at this point but he does appear to sell replica belts for anyone who is interested in purchasing one. The Reggie Park site is much more interesting. It was Park who designed my favorite belts of all time - the WWF Intercontinental Belt on white leather and the WWF "Winged" Championship Belt. Park doesn't seem to sell replica belts, although there is a link on the site to belt auctions on ebay. It might be kinda neat to own a replica belt, but really.what am I supposed to say when someone says "Aree, why do you have a wrestling championship belt on your wall?" There's no good answer to that question.

From: Matt
Hey Raj and company, this is the only site i visit and I've been watching wrestling for 14 years, that means u guys kick ass. I got a couple good ones for all you. First off, who was the patriot? It must have been someone pretty talented considering he fought Bret Hart for the world title at IYH:Ground Zero. The patriot also used Kurt Angles current music. Also, why did Undertaker wear that bone mask for a period? I've heard all kinds of possibilities and WWF played it as a Mable Leg drop that caused it, hoped you would know? Finally, Why would WWF EVER get rid of the IC title? There has to be some sort of something planned down the road for it, (maybe a trade between shows?) But without that strap, not only does it spit in the face of every great that ever worked his way through the ranks from tag champ to IC champ to World champ, but it seriously hurts the chances of these guys that they want us to think are the next World Title contenders.

The Patriot, whose name was actually Del Wilkes, was an ex-football player and an uncomplicated wrestler who was in the right place at the right time. Bret Hart had declared war on everything American and the WWF pushed The Patriot to main event status to combat Hart's evil Canadianism. However, the feud was cut short when The Patriot was forced to retire due to an arm injury. I read somewhere that he sold his gimmick to someone else who now wrestles in the independents under "The Patriot" name.

The Undertaker wore the "bone mask" in 1995 after Mable supposedly crushed some bones in his face with a leg drop. He wore the mask until the 1996 Royal Rumble when Bret Hart pulled it off in the middle of a match. Of course, it was all a work and the Undertaker's face wasn't messed up or anything.

Finally, I have no idea what WWE is thinking by ditching the IC title. The Intercontinental Title is the World Title for mid carders. With that gone, what are they all aiming for? Maybe the plan is to make the Cruiserweight Title span both brands at some point.

And don't think I didn't notice that was three questions and not one!

From: Larry Powell
The Rock gets ripped a lot by net fans for his limited moves, as well as his desire to be a Hollywood actor. If he decides to leave wrestling for good, what do you suppose his legacy will be compared to other all-time wrestling greats?

The Rock's Legacy Item: charisma. The Rock is perhaps the most charismatic wrestler the industry has ever seen. His ability to turn a crowd of thousands on and up is nothing short of incredible. The only man who even comes close to The Rock in terms of sheer charisma is Shawn Michaels. The Rock will be remembered for his amazing mic work, looking good in the ring and his ability to blow the roof off an arena. He should also be remembered as the first WWF champion with African American heritage. I doubt he's going to be leaving wrestling any time soon as the WWE have him locked into a long term contract and are currently making a great deal of money off of him.

From: Benjamin Steinke
Whaaazzzaappeniiiing? Love the site, but I'm a wee disgruntled about something. Way back in the day in the World Wrestling FEDERATION, they used to have a straight entrance pathway to the ring, and I really used to love seeing the superstars walk that long path through the audience. It used to send shivers down my spine. Now, World Wrestling ENTERTAINMENT used sloping RAMPS for wrestler entrances. What made them decide to change the way the superstars entered the arena?

I've thought about this before, and I think the main reason is the Titantron. Before that, the WWF didn't have a stage or a ramp. The In Your House PPV's showed the wrestlers walking out of the house set and straight to the ring. After the Titantron was invented, the screen needed to be elevated so a stage was necessary. And if you have a stage, you need a ramp. Another factor was that a high stage and ramp is easier for to shoot from a camera viewpoint, easier for the fans in the arena to see and a hell of a lot more impressive from a visual standpoint. Plus, the pyro used these days is a lot more sophisticated and you really can't have that kind of thing going off close to fans. I also have to wonder whether the WWE have increased security since the carefree days of the 80's and early 90's. Back in the day fans could line the quite narrow entrance pathway and easily reach out and touch the wrestlers. These days you practically need a ten foot pole unless you're directly ringside. In short, I guess it was just a whole bunch of things that added up to make a stage and ramp a better idea for all concerned. As an aside, the change to the stage and ramp occurred before the change from WWF to WWE took place.

From: Brian Wodele
Do you think that today's WWE could produce a successful cartoon involving wrestlers, much like the old Hulk Hogan cartoon? Would it be a realistic venture in today's pro wrestling? I just wanted to get your thoughts on it. Thanks for the great site.

I remember the old Hulk Hogan Rock 'n' Wrestling cartoons. You can actually buy those cartoons on tape now. Interesting fact: Hulk Hogan's voice in the cartoon was provided by Brad Garrett who plays Robert Verone in "Everybody Loves Raymond". Anyway, I don't think the WWE will ever venture into the cartoon business again because these days the WWE's target demographic is the 15 - 25 age group. In the 1980's and early 90's they were aiming a lot more at children and as such their merchandise and programming was child focused. Icecreams are an example of WWF child focused products of a different wrestling era. A few years back in Chicago I walked past an icecream vendor who was selling WWF Shawn Michaels icecreams. As tempting as it was to lick Shawn Michaels and have him melt in my mouth, I somehow managed to resist. The point is that the WWE aim their merchandise at an older audience these days and cartoons and icecreams just don't fit the demographic.

From: Robert Gacula
hi, I was wondering why don't they show SMACKDOWN! here in Hawaii anymore? it's been a while since I've watched. did they change channel?

According to upn.com, Smackdown airs in Honolulu on KFVE-TV Channel 5. If they aren't showing it then you're probably shit out of luck. UPN is a fairly small network and rely on a lot of affiliate channels to pick up their shows. Consequently, the smaller television markets often miss out on Smackdown. If that makes you sad, think of the people in Australia who: 1. Do not have ANY non-cable wrestling programming. In a country where less than 10% of the population has cable TV, this makes access to wrestling programming difficult. 2. No longer get Smackdown on cable. 3. Get PPV's live, but due to the time difference the PPV airs on a Monday morning at around 11am.

However, kudos to the Australians who only pay around US$10 for a pay per view.

From: VADDERZ
Dear Rajah/Pete/MTR/Aree - whoever answers this. I don't understand what the WWE is doing to Jeff Hardy. He is one of the most popular people on RAW, he gets huge pops when he comes out and his extreme gimmick plays well with the fans. However, midcard seems to be his destiny. Just as he won the European championship I thought this would be the start of the push and then he lost it (in a v. good unification match) to RVD. What is the point? I was hoping for him to get a solid reign as the Intercontinental champion but now there is no such title - this destroyed the point of the midcard division. Not only, but now he is back in the tag team division, with Buh Buh Dudley - what's going to happen to his singles career? Not only, but I noticed that his last win was about a month ago - against Rico. The one before that came from a count out win over the Big Show. They just keep on making him lose. Why not use his extreme popularity and go back to him doing all the special matches - ladder, hardcore, cage etc. where he can show off his high-flying? I read on your site that he was late for shows and people say he lost his passion. Is this period some sort of punishment for his earlier behaviour? And do you believe he has a greater achievement than high-midcard in the future? Thanks for clearing this up.

This won't make me popular, but I don't think Jeff Hardy has the total package. He can certainly perform high flying stunts and high risk moves, but I don't think he has the mic skills, the charisma and the in ring psychology to really hit the big time. In many ways he's still a very young and inexperienced performer. He and Matt together were much better because the two of them could perform stunts and play off each other and Lita and the deficiencies in their abilities weren't as noticeable. I think reports of them being "extremely popular" are a little overrated. Sure, girls scream for them but the WWE don't aim their product at teenage girls so that doesn't mean much. I agree that Matt and Jeff's talents are best showcased in "special matches" and I think they should re-form as a tag team and stick to the high flying moves and TLC matches. I don't know anything about Jeff being late to shows but I do know that he's usually suffering from some sort of injury, which isn't a good thing. Bottom line: Jeff Hardy high midcarder? Not any time soon, if ever.

From: JMS
I'm just wondering if people watch wrestling because they like it, or because if they don't like it they know they can bitch and moan about to everyone online? If this is the case I am going to start watching "EveryBody Loves Raymond" and when I don't like something about the show I will create a web page so I can bitch!!!! ?

Well, okay. I'm not sure what Everbody Loves Raymond has to do with anything, but this is the show's second mention in this mailbag so whatever I guess. The on line wrestling community is an interesting entity. The wrestling industry tends to treat us with the kind of disdain that is usually reserved for drunken frat boys. That is, we're not very interesting, talk a lot of shit, are usually inaccurate and like to cause trouble for no apparent reason. I personally have a problem with people who do nothing but complain about the state of wrestling today. If you don't like it and don't have any constructive criticism, turn your television off and shut the hell up. There's nothing wrong with expressing an opinion, but no one likes a whiner.

From: David
hey, i was just wondering whether hbk was really injured after summerslam or not. thanks,

Nope. Shawn Michaels came out of the match at Summerslam 2002 in surprisingly good health. There is no way he would have agreed to wrestle at Survivor Series unless he was feeling pretty damn good. However, if you're referring to Summerslam 1998 then yes, Shawn Michaels really was injured after his casket match with the Undertaker. His back was already in pretty bad shape and he finished it off by falling awkwardly into the casket. Just wondering, but what's the difference between a casket and a coffin? Why don't they call it a "Coffin Match"?

Continue on to Part 2

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