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@rajah.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

From: Steve
hey rajah great site! I've only been into WWF or E for a year now and want to learn more about years gone by, I don't think I saw this in your mailbag but I'm sorry if it has been posted already. how did the ministry of darkness start? when did it turn into the corporate ministry and how? And (a more recent thing) is it just me or do heels get a bigger ovation than faces these days!!

The Ministry of Darkness consisted of 'Taker, Paul Bearer, Faarooq, Bradshaw, Mideon, Viscera (formerly known as Mabel), Gangrel, Edge and Christian. Vince McMahon had his own faction, aptly named "The Corporation" which consisted of the following people: Shane McMahon, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco, Big Bossman, HHH, Chyna and Mankind. When it was revealed that the Ministry of Darkness and the Corporation were in cahoots, the group was merged and re-named the "Corporate Ministry". I guess "Corporate Darkness" or "Ministry of Corporation" didn't really work. The Corporate Ministry consisted of Shane McMahon, 'Taker, Paul Bearer, Faarooq, Bradshaw, Mideon, Viscera, HHH, Chyna, Rodney, Pete Gas, Big Bossman and Vinnie Mac. Thanks to WWEdownunder.com for clarifying my memory in terms of whom was in which faction.

And yes, heels do sometimes get a bigger ovation than faces these days because the world has changed and where there was once just black and white, there are now only ever increasing shades of grey.

From: Rhyno Fan
Hey again. I have a question, even though it's from a while back, it still bothers me. Way back in the Triple H/Austin feud, I remember Triple H putting a rattlesnake in a bag and then bashing it with a hammer. I'm not really sure, but without it cutting it looked like he really beat that snake to death. My question is, was it a real snake?

I must have been out to lunch when this happened, because I have absolutely no recollection of the event. However, I am 100%, without-a-doubt positive that the snake was not a live one. If the WWE committed an act of animal cruelty like squashing a snake with a sledgehammer on national television, they'd face public vilification and probably several lawsuits. I'm sure someone would have pulled the old switcheroo on the bag before Triple H took to it with the hammer.

From: Bookabear
Do you agree with me when I say it was DUMB for the Smackdown to trade Ivory to Raw leaving 3 divas!

I'm not sure that the number of diva's on Smackdown really matters. The Women's title is exclusive to Raw, so any diva on Smackdown isn't going to be in title contention. I guess that's why they traded Ivory - she's a solid wrestler and a title contender, so she wasn't well utilised on a show where there was no title to compete for.

From: Greg & Angie
Rajah, love the column, just one questions is it just me or has the WWE made the refs total morons as of late? There has always been the obvious missed foot on the rope etc but lately is has gotten ridiculous Do you agree?

It depends a lot on the referee. Most of the WWE referees are experienced performers who do a pretty good job of "not seeing" a lot of different things. Earl Hebner should be given an Academy Award for some of his "I've been crushed by a wrestler and I can barely lift my arm" performances over the years. In the wrestling world referees are blind - it's just the way of things. How else can a wrestler get some serious heat for cheating his way to victory, if the referee doesn't look the other way? To answer your question, I don't think it is any more ridiculous now than in the past.

From: Kimberley Williamson
Hey Rajah, good job on the mailbag. Anyway why did the WWF decide to stop the Rock/Trish angle? My friends tell me that they think that if Trish were his valet, it would have hurt his career with her getting in the way and all and him having to make the save. I feel that even though they dropped the angle, there should have been some explanation. Thanks.

Yeah, Rajah. Great job on the fraction of the mailbag you actually do. Just kidding. I adore Rajah, and he knows it. Generally the WWE pair up men with women to help the guys get over, like Stacy Keibler and Test. The WWE pairing up The Rock and Trish was always a little odd because it was more for Trish's benefit. Trish got some rub from him and that helped the WWE set her up at the shining star of the women's division. As for an explanation for dropping the angle - yeah, right. The WWE hardly ever explain their reasons for dropping an angle and quite frequently leave us all wondering what the hell happened. What happened to the briefcase? To G-TV? Who was Triple H talking to on the phone a few weeks back on Raw? Where did Doink the clown go? And so the list goes on. It's a great fault of WWE programming that they allow their angles to drop away with no explanation. Even a one liner or a quick shot of the briefcase going into a river would be better than nothing.

From: Robert Runacre
Which wrestlers in the WWE, if any, are gay in real life?

I have no idea and I really don't think it matters.

From: Ieuan Johns
Hi there Aree, Just a note on a question you had in Mailbag 51. I am pretty sure that the World Wildlife Fund court case was not retrospective. In fact it was the WWE themselves who decided to pull the videos/games/Cds etc. from the shelves in order to properly establish WWE as their sole name. The thinking behind it is to stop people calling them the WWF as soon as possible. This is a sound idea becaus some WWF fans might get confused about the changing initials, especially in foreign language (non-english) countries.

I understand what you're saying, but pulling all old DVD's and tapes off the shelves voluntarily based on a strange assumption just isn't a good business decision. From what I read, the WWE were arguing that no one in their right mind could confuse the World Wrestling Federation with the World Wide Fund. If that was their argument, then voluntarily recalling products from the shelves because they're worried about confusion of names is inconsistent with their defence. Thanks for the information, though.

From: Darrell Tealer
There was a question asked in your mailbag about whether or not Shawn Michaels was injured following his Summer Slam 2002 match against HHH. The answer that was given was obviously correct, but the following point that was made sort of confused me. It was something along the lines of "If you're referring to Summer Slam 1998, then yes Shawn was injured after his casket match with Undertaker." Correct me if I'm wrong, but first of all, there was no Casket Match at Summer Slam 1998, Undertaker faced Stone Cold for the WWF Championship, and Shawn Michaels' last match in 1998 was Wrestle Mania 14 when he lost the belt to Steve Austin. Maybe I misunderstood the comment, but thought I'd just point it out. Keep up the good work

Yes, I made a mistake. There was no casket match at Summerslam 1998. The match was indeed at Royal Rumble 1998. There's a long and boring story as to why I got that wrong, but I'll spare you the details. Thanks for the polite clarification.

From: Brett
My name is Brett and I am from Tampa,FL. I have watched wrestling for 15 years. I have slowly drifted away from the sport over the last couple years and now I hardly watch it. I check your newsboard just to keep up to date with things. WWE Wrestling is just plain boring right now. Its hard to believe with such a strong roster. The buyout of WCW had a strong impact on the ratings, but I think the WWE has really done it to themselves. First, the ditching of the IC and Euro titles. Ok the Euro wasn't that special, but the IC title come on. It was the stepping stone to the world title. Second, their hasn't been a true dominant force since Austin. THey ruined the NWO and its credibility, they ruined the Big Show, and made DDP a midcarder. Third, their storylines have been drab at best. lastly, there is no tagteam division. I can't stand hearing Lilian garcia announce "Here is the team of blank and blank". I don't want to whine or bitch, but I think they can improve their show. I like the different brands and the feud between them. I am glad Vince has stepped away for awhile. I just think they are going in the wrong direction and need new ideas to grasp the viewers. Thanks.

I don't agree that WWE wrestling is "plain boring", but I think they handled the brand extension badly. It's like they just jumped into it without any long term plan for amalgamating the two talent pools. I think they're starting to sort things out now, although I don't know who they think they're kidding trying to suggest that Raw and Smackdown are in competition with one another. Let's hope they stop pushing that quite so hard. As for the tag team divisions, I think the WWE are starting to get back on track. I was excited to see Buh Buh Ray and D-Von band together again at Survivor Series and I hope to see the APA and Matt and Jeff join up again at some point. There has to be some decent tag teams kicking around in the developmentals so the WWE should add a little fresh blood and really mix it up.

From: JMS
Hey Aree, do you think everyone is as talented as you are when it comes to responding to mailbag questions! Thanks for agreeing that we don't need anymore whiners complaining about wrestling! Oh, by the way are you drop dead gorgeous or what?

Actually, I'm not sure that I'm all that good at answering mailbag questions. My answers are usually too long and some people take issue with any infrequent mistakes I might make. I screw up dates on occasion and I've had a long time problem with confusing with events that happen at "Survivor Series" and events that happen at "Summerslam". I have to say that people who email me and rudely point out my errors make me wonder why I even bother to contribute to the mailbag. Some guy said recently that he "expected the answers in the mailbag to be 100% correct". Well, out of 50 answers, I nailed 46. 4 minor mistakes aren't much in the grand scheme of things and I have no problem posting corrections in the next edition of the mailbag. If I screw up a few dates and have to correct myself later, so goddamn what?
But to answer your question, while I'm certainly not universally adored, I am indeed drop dead gorgeous.

From: Paul Spencer
Hello there. Brilliant website you have - well organised & updated regularly. Regarding casket & coffin matches, I don't know if this is the reason, but here's my 2 cents: I'm only aware of 1 Coffin Match - the Undertaker vs Kamala at the 1992 Survivor Series. This was basically a standard match (pinfalls, submissions, etc. decided the winner & the referee was in the ring) - it differed in that once the match ended did the winner put the loser into a coffin (and nail it shut). In a Casket Match the only way a wrestler can win is by putting his opponent in the casket & closing the lid - there are no other rules.

Good to know. Thanks for that.

From: D. Barbee
An Open Letter to Vince Mc Mahon and the WWE I write this letter in hopes that someone in the WWE will read and at least take time to consider what is being said by a fan of twenty years. The reason that the WWE is suffering a dramatic ratings plunge and a decided decline in ticket sales is clear. They have not given the fans what they want. The only reason we continue to watch at all is some feeble hope that eventually the action will pick up. We hope that there is some spark of genius, that someone somewhere will come to their senses. I understand (though do not agree with) the logic behind the brand extension Where the WWE has gone wrong is in their assumption that if we split the talent we will have twice as many viewers. What they fail to realize is that if they had a better product they would not have to worry about ratings, ticket sales, brand extensions and the like. The terrible storylines are more to blame than any other reason for the WWE's downturn. The WWE/WWF/WCW was at its best when you didn't actually know what was real and what wasn't. For example, the interaction between Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon where Heyman basically indicted Vince in the ring saying that when Vince was running the Doink and Dink storylines Steve Austin was cracking his first beer in ECW and how Vince promised his father that he wouldn't compete against the other promotions seemed more than a scripted rant. It was believable, it had heart but most importantly it made me want more. Steve Austin's walking out of WWE although I'm sure is real would be a great storyline. He has understandably had enough. Never should Steve Austin have been asked to put over Brock Lesnar. No one put Austin over. No one put HHH over. No one put the Rock over. They all became superstars because of their ability either in the ring, on the mike or both. If these superstars are going to have feuds, make it at least appear to be genuine animosity. If I hate a co-worker I might take that anger out of the workplace. The fans don't need to see everything on camera and maybe its better if they don't. The WWE does not have a talent problem. The WWE now has access to years of footage from the WWF/WCW. USE IT!!!! Real wrestling fans would love to see old footage of legendary matches and Superstars.

Believe it or not, I actually edited about half of this letter out. I don't think there's much of a chance of Vince McMahon actually reading it, but I thought a couple of really good points were made. Blurring the lines between reality and make believe is an excellent idea. All of the best angles have occurred when people aren't quite sure whether things are part shoot or all made up. I also agree that the fans don't have to see everything. One of the great faults of wrestling is how "fake" it seems when wrestlers are making plans or having "private conversations" in front of a camera, which is why I like the F View on Raw. Also, good point on the WWF/WCW/ECW library. Use it to resurrect a few old feuds and remind more recent viewers of what wrestling used to be. However, I have to take issue with the comment that "No one put Steve Austin, Triple H, The Rock over". The hell they didn't. Everyone put those guys over. Every time any wrestler did the job to facilitate these men on their ride to the top, they were putting them over, make no mistake about it. No one makes it to the top alone.

Send ALL Mailbag-related email to mailbag@rajah.com.

The rajah.com Mailbag Archives

FastCounter by LinkExchange