By Wade Keller, Torch editor

David from St. Louis asks: I listened to the great interview with Luther Reigns and the guy is smart to the business and straight-shootin' which I admire. Real cool dude who never got a fair opportunity in WWE. He was talking about the budget cuts and the dress code. Who are the wrestlers and management trying to impress by wearing suits to every show? It's entertainment, no stock-holder is going to be offended if some wrestlers come out in jeans and a t-shirt. Has there ever been a situation within WWE where a wrestler, agent, or employee mentioned to WWE that maybe, just maybe, his daughter and the creative staff's way of writing TV might be causing these revenue declines? Don't the wrestlers hate that they maybe are told they attendance is down cause of how they're wrestling or doing promos, when all they are doing is what they are told? I wonder if Vince actually will ever say, you know maybe my daughter needs to be removed.

WK: Stephanie has strengths and weaknesses, and she's still figuring out what those are. Vince McMahon needs to give Stephanie a chance to learn on the job because she, Shane McMahon, and Triple H are the top three who are expected to take over the company when he no longer runs it (which may be 40 years from now for all we know). She will never be removed from her position, but she may choose to change her role and defer duties o others and supervise them.

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Tyler Powell of Los Angeles, Calif.: As a semi-knowledgable wrestling fan, it seems to me that two of the better minds of wrestling over the last decade and a half have been Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette. Why hasn't a dedicated money source stepped forward to back a promotion headed by either of them, as one did for the Jarretts or Turner did with WCW? I would think that giving either of these great wrestling minds such a backing would be a lot wiser than trusting either a Jerry Jarrett or Eric Bischoff.

WK: Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette are two of the great wrestling minds of the last 20 years. Both have personalities that could drive away the trust an investor would have in them. Cornette has strong opinions on how wrestling should be presented, and while his foundation for storytelling is fantastic, even those who appreciate his wrestling intellect admit that he may not be willing to adapt enough to present a product that blends his ideas on wrestling with how wrestling has evolved over the past 20 years. Heyman will probably get another chance to promote wrestling on his own unless Vince McMahon keeps him wrapped up with high paying "consulting" contracts just to keep him under his control. Heyman has his faults, too, that might drive away investors. Both are great minds, but both have drawbacks that could unfortunately limit their future influence.

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PWTorch.com reader Phil Esposito asks: In your opinion, what would the ideal TV deal be for TNA? Personally, I think a deal on Spike TV would be best. With a combination of "Ultimate Fighter" from 9 p.m.-10 p.m., and Impact from 10 p.m.-11:05 p.m., I truly believe that TNA may have a chance to attract some disgruntled WWE viewers. In my opinion, I'd much rather watch an X Division match than a 20-minute Triple H promo.

WK: If it's a choice between Friday or Saturday nights on Spike TV or Monday nights on WGN, I lean toward Spike TV. Spike TV is a proven, major cable station with a history of drawing great wrestling ratings and strong programming such as CSI which can be used to crosspromote TNA. However, even though WGN's ratings are just a blip on the map compared to Spike, they have decent national penetration and would offer TNA the coveted Monday night slot. So many fans see Monday nights as the time to watch wrestling that there would be channel flipping, and TNA would have a chance to catch the attention of WWE fans during slow segments of Raw - fans who would never go out of their way to tune in to TNA later in the week. There are pluses and minuses to all options. Ideally, Spike would pick them up and put them on in the timeslot of their choice. Either is much better than drawing 0.2 ratings late on Saturday nights on FSN. To end up on Spike, though, they would be without TV for August, September, and October.

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PWTorch.com reader Dan Cartwright asks: Given that Triple H is the main player and will remain the main player in whatever WWE show he is on: Why can't he be a babyface? We can argue if he should be the top guy all the time until we are blue in the face.
The "problem" either way is this: who wants to watch a show that is centered on a "bad guy?" Is it just that he likes it better? It is really hard to ask a person to tune in weekly to watch the person they are suppose to dislike be the center of the show. Rather it is Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Bill Clinton, or Rush Limbaugh. At the end of the day... doesn't it make more sense to center a series on somebody the fans are supposed to CHEER for?

WK: I don't have a problem with Triple H being the consistent top heel on the show as long as he's interesting and entertaining, and if there is a steady mix of babyface opponents. It doesn't present a challenge for him to end up on top time after time without demeaning the babyfaces, but JBL has shown how to do that in a way that doesn't leave babyfaces destroyed since he always cheats to win. Hunter will eventually turn babyface, but I'm glad they aren't rushing it. It should be a few years before it's considered unless another great franchise heel comes along to prompt an early turn from Hunter.

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Background on Torch editor Wade Keller: Torch editor Wade Keller founded Pro Wrestling Torch in September 1987. He has been interviewed as a wrestling expert by dozens of TV and radio stations across the country; he has also been quoted in dozens of major newspapers and magazines across the world. Media entities that have featured Keller in stories covering wrestling include National Public Radio, Fox News Channel, ESPN Magazine, the New York Post, Entertainment Weekly, the All-News Channel, the Associated Press, and the Washington Post. He also hosted his own weekly two hour wrestling talk show on KFAN sport radio in the '90s. Over the past 17 years Keller has also interviewed, one-on-one, wrestling's top names for in-depth "Torch Talks" and feature articles including powerbrokers such as Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Jerry Jarrett, Bill Watts, Jim Cornette, Jim Crockett, Jim Herd, Paul Heyman, Ed Ferrara, Terry Taylor, Kevin Sullivan, Jim Ross, and Vince Russo; top wrestling stars such as The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Mick Foley, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Rick Steamboat, Jerry Lawler, Bill Goldberg, British Bulldog, Road Warrior Hawk, Jesse Ventura, and Hulk Hogan; and legends such as Lou Thesz, Gordon Solie, Bruno Sammartino, Roy Shires, Terry Funk, and Verne Gagne.

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