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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: Richard
Hello, I was looking at some of the old mailbags and in #30 whoever responded to a question about wrestling's most tragic family said that it was the Von Erichs because, "all but one of Fritz's kids died of either a drug overdose or sucide", having grown up on Dallas wrestling and idolizing the Von Erichs I just have to say something. David died of a heart attack brought on by a childhood heart ailment during a match in Japan, no drugs involved. Mike died of complications of Diabetes and one son, the name escapes me, was electricuted at a young age. Yes, this family is probably the most tragic in wrestling but, don't always chalk things up to drugs. Thanks love the site.

Thanks for the information. I think the point of the answer in mailbag 30 (and no, I didn't answer the question - Mailbag 30 was long before my time) was to illustrate that the Von Erich's were surrounded by tragedy. I guess it's easy to blame things on drugs because they're usually the cause of relatively decent people screwing up their lives. However, as Richard points out the Von Erich's expired from a few different and unlucky causes, not just drugs.

From: Jordan
hey guys you have a great site anyway this is more of a opinion type question. when they showed hhh marry stephanie at the drive thru stephanie never said the words because she was knockd out. so would that mean they werent married and the story line couldve been over faster. why do u think no one pointed it out.

Strangely enough, saying the words "I do" doesn't mean you're married. It's the actual signing of the marriage certificate that means you're married. Stripped of all its romantic notions, marriage is simply a contract - and the marriage contract doesn't exist without signatures. Of course this means that Jordan's next comment would be "But if Steph was knocked out, she couldn't sign the marriage certificate". As I recall, Hunter held her hand and "helped" her sign the contract. That's not strictly legal, but what do you expect when you marry in a drive thru chapel in Vegas?

From: ET Kor
Hi good people at RajahWWF! Greetings from Malaysia. Do you agree that Internet fans can be a bit too fickle minded sometimes? Before Steiner was signed, loads of ppl were pleading for WWE to sign him. And now that when they do, the same ppl have decided to boo him because he can't do much. Same for Kevin Nash, and soon, perhaps Goldberg. Some time ago, ppl were complaining that Lawler's jokes were getting too childish and sex-natured. That was of course, before he walked out on WWE because of Stacy. And when he was away, ppl were criticising Heyman and saying how Jerry Lawler was the King of Color Commentating. And now that he's back, talk of him being stale is staring to surface again. Same thing for JR. Before he took that short break from commentating - ppl said he was fake, over-sells, etc.... only to realise Coach was not good enough, and that JR wasn't really that bad after all. Unfortunately, nowadays it seems that the Thank You's and the Tributes seem to come only when a wrestler has passed away.

Excellent point, ET. I completely agree with you. A lot of internet fans are extremely fickle and I think that's part of the reason that the WWE doesn't have a lot of time for its internet fan base. It pisses me off because not all internet fans are like that. It's like there's a small section of the internet wrestling community who are very vocal, very young and very uneducated about a lot of things and they seem to think they speak for all wrestling fans. As a result all internet wrestling fans look like boneheads because the WWE and other wrestling industry related companies think these idiotic people are the core part of the internet wrestling community. Like I said, it pisses me off.

FROM: RVDISDAMAN
What are the chances of Paul Heyman going to the NWA:TNA and helping make them a competitor to the WWE now that he is no longer in charge of Smackdown?

Very remote. Paul Heyman is still very much a part of the WWE and I doubt he's too interested in heading up NWA: TNA. Running ECW probably provided him with enough economic, social and business related nightmares to last him a lifetime. I should imagine that after having the weight of ECW sitting heavily on his shoulders for a number of years he's quite enjoying just being a part of the WWE and not being directly and solely responsible for its success or failure.

From: Martin
At last they surprised me with the kane mask. I think they did a very good job to make him ugly and they build the hype very well. What did you think of the angle!!!

When the mask was removed I was left wondering if I was the only person who didn't realize that Kane's hair was attached to the mask. I checked around a little and it seems that at least a few other people were surprised that it wasn't his real hair. Thank God for that. I also wondered if the girls who used to email me and say "Kane is so beautiful, I love him and want to marry him" were prepared for his ugly face. Ah, fickle are the flames of love. I think it's a great "now" angle, but I wonder what will happen 6 months down the track when the shock of the mask-less Kane is gone and he's left with half a gimmick. I guess the best we can hope is that the WWE will take the opportunity now to develop Kane's character away from the mask so in 6 months time he has something to hold the long term interest of the fans.

From: Drew
I've long been a supporter of Scott Steiner dating back to his first run in WWF/E.During his run in WCW ,He used the Steiner Recliner in all his matches.Since coming back to WWE, he rarely uses it. He doesn't even have a real finisher. He started out suplexing people off the top turnbuckle, then he used the reverse ddt, and now is using the flatliner(Which is a dull move). Bottom line , Steiner needs a permanent finisher that will get a rise out of the fans or they will chant"BORING" during their matches just like they did to Lance Storm.

I don't think fans are too likely to chant "boring" during a Scott Steiner match. "Inept", maybe, "bad form" possibly, but not boring. I don't think a consistent finisher is the answer to his problems and indeed, I don't really think it would make a difference. Steiner's schtick is that he's big and powerful. A finisher isn't that important if you're supposed to flatten people with brute strength.

From: The Rosk
Fan from England here; fan of WWE for 15 years etc.. It seems to me that WWE clearly needs huge stables to account for the huge number of wrestlers on its books. I'm not saying bring back the Ministry/DX/NWO, but new stables would cater for every wrestler who is not being pushed and are being forced to piss about on Velocity/Heat against a no-mark (A Train, Bill DeMott, Rikishi, Rhyno etc) - this would also allow the significant amount of older wrestlers (Flair/Hogan/Michaels etc) to act as mentors or leaders of the wrestlers; and would also pave way for lone warrior figures (Goldberg/Lesnar). Speaking for the fans from England it was most popular when we had the Ministry/DX etc, and NWO was also the most successful time for WCW, so what dyou think? Surely WWE needs to do something to save its dwindling figures... Cheers to whoever answers this, youre doing a great job.

Well, cheers to you too, Rosk. You make a good point and maybe with the creation of Evolution the WWE will start heading in this direction. But it has to be said that initial indictators aren't good. Evolution seems to be a one off for the time being, with its primary role being to give Randy Orton a foundation for greatness, give Triple H some friends and give Ric Flair a reason to hang around. It seems that the WWE go through phases where they push the "stable" concept and everyone is in a stable and then that gets old so they switch focus to individual competitors. This time around the WWE kinda got stuck on the individual focus. The reason for that could be that stables are traditionally built around a couple of major players, a couple of up and coming players and a couple of guys the WWE don't now what to do with. These days the WWE have an overflow of not only talent but recognizable talent so the typical (and I count Evolution as being atypical) formation of a stable isn't relevant.

From: David Dandie
I am a very concerned gamer. I have started a petition protesting better quality in today's wrestling games and also the addition of create a move feature in the next THQ/Yukes wrestling title, WWE Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain. I would like to get as many more, signatures as possible. As of this writing I currently have 469 signatures, I need a lot more. The petition will end on June 26th, 2003. Please Rajah, I need your help. Thanks,this is the address: http://www.petitiononline.com/SmackD5/petition.html

Imagine if people put this kind of enthusiasm into petitioning for something that actually matters like the eradication of disease, research for cures for cancer and getting rid of discrimination. Instead we have David Dandie and his concerns about "gaming quality". Boy does that speak volumes for the world today. Sign if you must, but know that your social interest could be better utilised elsewhere.

From: C-dub
hey what up ? your website kicks ass, my question is, which match would you wanna see the most, if the WWE had a raw vs. Smackdown pay per view? Mine would be Brock Vs. Goldberg

Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg would be interesting, I agree. I don't think the brand extension has been in place long enough to generate any real excitement about Raw vs Smackdown matches. Give it another year or so and maybe they'll try it.

From: Patrick Kuemper
Since the WWE has re-introduced the US and IC titles is it possible, or even probable, that the WWE's tag team divisions will once again be filled with real teams, and not singles wrestlers thrown together? For years now it seems as though the tag title holders have been singles wrestlers. Kane/RVD, Eddie/Tajiri as the most recent two. However, a few REAL tag teams have emerged as of late. "Team Angle", "La Resistance", and most recently "The Basham Brothers". Even though I view Team Angle as an Edge/Christian type team (together to grow in the WWE, and once they get enough pop or heat on their own they'll be split apart into singles wrestlers) they seem to work well together. Also, I'd like your opinion on two other things. First off.. what's the worst gimmick in WWE history? Regal's "Man's Man", or possibly "The Portuguese Man O' War" Aldo Montoya? Giant Gonzalez? Duke "The Dumpster" Drosey? Those would be some of my frontrunners.

I don't think the WWE have any real plans to return to the days where there were a lot of what Patrick is calling "real" tag teams. It comes back to what I said in a previous answer in this mailbag - the WWE have a lot of recognizable talent at the moment and they're not bringing up a lot of guys from the developmentals. Tag teams are a good way to get inexperienced guys some exposure and name recongition. If you have a roster full of guys who are already known by the fans you're going to get a lot of singles wrestlers matched together a la Kane and RVD.
The worst gimmick? I thought the "Beaver Cleavage" gimmick was pretty crappy. Mr Ass is lame. Giant Gonzalez was pretty bad, but that wasn't the fault of the gimmick - the dude just couldn't wrestle. I thought the Bodydonnas was a pretty shitty gimmick and Doink has always bugged me, but maybe that's just me because like 60% of adults worldwide, I don't like clowns. I liked Duke Drosse - it was a classic mid 90's gimmick that was a great representation of the WWF's character formation in that pivotal time and we all know how I get off on the 90's classics. Who could forget Duke Drosse's epic feud with Hunter Hearst Helmsley? Well, okay, maybe everyone forgot but me...

From: Samantha
Hey guys - LOVE the website! I really enjoy reading everyone's articles here and this is the best wrestling website I know of - I think that has a lot to do with the writing so thanks for that. I think Shawn Michaels had every right to be mad about Bad Blood (I would rather have seen more of him and Flair than Nash and The Nose ANYDAY- I know I'm not the only one) but I hope that he doesn't stay away from RAW for too long because of it, because that would suck so much...There are many Mondays when he's one of the few reasons I don't change the channel!

Me too! Actually, it pleased me that Shawn Michaels spoke out about the match at Bad Blood. It showed that some of his old feistiness and attitude were still there, albeit buried beneath a lot of religion. Plus, he was right - Flair and Michaels had all the makings of an oh-my-god-let's-blow-the-lid-off-of-this-place kinda match. It could have been an epic thing, but the WWE downplayed it and didn't give it the time or build up it deserved.

From: Puppy Lover
y does the wwe always have somthing blocking the divas puppies whenever they show their puppies?

Mainly because you're watching wrestling and not porn, bonehead.

From: The Man with No Name
HI rajah, awesome site, its the best out there but I was wondering if you could please put the dates next to the mailbag number on the rajah mailbag page so readers can know when it was posted ...thank you.

This is a great idea and I'm not sure why we didn't think of it ourselves. I don't think we know the exact dates of all the old mailbags, but we can start dating them from this one. Thanks for the idea and I'm sorry I deleted your name...Bad Aree, no cookie.

From: Jahiz Barlas
Hey Rajah. Been visiting your site for 3 yrs now, and never realised you guys had a mailbag aswell. guess im not that loyal a fan. anyhow i wanted to ask some questions/comments: 1. Why does the WWE not push RVD to a position he deserves? I dont know about you guys, but i think he has got immense talent, which is being wasted big time in tag team wrestling, cuz he is not able to show what hes really capable of. Just becase the guy doesnt have much mic talent does not mean he should be punished for that. If the WWE would just try, im sure hes gonna work out really well, as he did in ECW. 2. Why the hell doesnt HHH loose his damn title so that other more deserving people can hold the title for sometime. Personally i think HHH is the lowest scum, as he is the only man who i know has slept his way to the top. Is Vince sooo stupid that he doesnt realise how HHH is playing with him?(Not Aree Please, i know what her answer would be even from just reading the last mailbag) 3. Why does Vince think that bringing back old wrestlers, way past their prime is gonna help him get ratings. Is it just me, or should he start thinking for the long-term, and develop new talent, rather than bring back ld ones, who are bound to die sooner or later. Thanks.

"Not Aree"? Poor little Jahiz. He simply doesn't realize that as far as he's concerned I'm the God of the Mailbag. For Jahiz the mailbag starts and finishes with moi. You don't get to pick and choose who answers your questions sweetheart. I always give the Rajah specific questions to him but this is not one of those times and I'm not feeling generous at all. 1. The WWE are aware that RVD has a lot of talent. However, they seem to think they can more or less keep him on ice until either they feel he deserves the title or the general title scene is one where RVD can maintain the title realistically. Now is not that time, and they seem content to keep him in a holding pattern, offering him gold, but not the big gold. Look at it from their point of view - what is RVD going to do? Threaten to go to NWA: TNA? I don't think so. 2. I'll admit to a bias towards Triple H, but suggesting that he slept his way to the top is ridiculous. He's an excellent athlete and he deserves success. However, he's not the only one who deserves success and as time goes on the stink of injustice starts to invade the lockeroom. There's a lot of great guys on the roster not getting the time they deserve. As for Triple H "playing" Vince, give Vince a little credit. He has a history of letting his champions do what they want, but he has also proven time and time again that he will do anything for the sake of the product. 3. Vince thinks that bringing back old wrestlers will get him ratings because it does. However, the increase is very short term and the WWE have yet to parlay one of these short term "recognition" spikes into long term ratings success.

From: Frank Brincat
WHEN ARE PPV'S AND SMACKDOWN COMING BACK TO AUSTRALIAN TELEVISION????????

They're back as of mid-July which should make Australian wrestling fans very very happy.

From: Steven Wright
i just read one mailbag question and you said to drop an e-mail if we had personal experiences with wrestlers so here it goes. on may 3rd 2003 i went and stood in line for 2 1/2 hours in the wind to meet torrie Wilson. i was close to the front of the line so i got up the stairs quick. when i walked i she was sitting at the autograph table. Anyways my friend Eddie was first. Before we got up there we all decided to get hugs from her. Eddie walked up and she signed his shirt. he got a hug and picture of the hug. next was my friend Jered, he also got his shirt signed. next up was me.......i walked up and she picked up a signing sheet. At the time she was signing it my dad told her that i did my hair especially for her.(truth) i was a little embarrassed but she was flattered and She talked to me :) I then got my hug and picture.Then Joey went up and did the same. it was well worth the wait. Now the autograph is hanging in a frame with the picture of us hugging right next to it :)

I just thought I'd drop this email into the mailbag for all those people who didn't like Steven Wright's contribution to the last mailbag and point out that yes, you might think he's a loser, but he's a loser who has hugged Torrie Wilson...

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