Welcome to a new website-exclusive PWTorch feature! I am PWTorch founder and editor, Wade Keller. I've been covering pro wrestling since 1987 when I started the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter while still in high school. Over 25 years later, PWTorch reaches more wrestling fans every week than any other independent brand. When we launched PWTorch.com in 1999, one of the features I enjoyed doing the most was "Ask PWTorch." I haven't done it recently on the website, but did revive it in recent years in an audio format for PWTorch VIP members on my Keller Hotline. We reintroduced it to the website audience this month.

If you have a question you'd like me to respond to, send your question to askpwtorch@gmail.com. I, along with the Torch staff, will address you questions.


PWTorch reader Dan N. asks: I remember back in the late 90s in WCW when Vince Russo introduced the "New Blood" vs. "Millionaire's Club" angle. For that angle, they chose to have Hulk Hogan feud with Billy Kidman. Why was Kidman chosen for this feud?

PWTorch editor Wade Keller asks: Kidman for a stretch of time was having the very best matches in the country on a regular basis. He received heaps of praise from many places, including some fellow wrestlers and the wrestling media. My theory on why Kidman was chosen was because Hulk Hogan and Vince Russo didn't believe someone as short as him with such an unremarkable personality could get over, and so they "chose" him to get a big push to "prove a point."

Hogan putting him over was just silly, because he didn't really put him over in any meaningful way and nobody, given the totality of Kidman's push and presentation, felt that he was truly being elevated. So basically, it was a passive-aggressive push, with the goal being to shut up people who thought work rate was important. They chose the guy with the biggest difference between his stellar workrate and his low charisma, height, and promo skills so he wouldn't actually be a threat, but they could say they "gave him a chance" and "listened to his fans."


PWTorch reader Omar F. asks: I was wondering if you could pull the curtain back a little bit and discuss your initial reaction to the WWE acquiring WCW. Did it come as a shock to you? Where were you when you first found out about the news? At the time the acquisition was announced, what potential did you initially see, or did you see this as perhaps a hindrance to the business?

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I actually was the first to report on the possibility in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter, and also was the first to report that the Fusient deal headed by Eric Bischoff fell through when others continued to say it was a done deal, and continued to be at the forefront of reporting the break news regarding the up and downs of the negotiations. One great thing about being a PWTorch VIP member is you gain access to those newsletters covering the story as it played out over the course of over six months, from our initial reports of the possibility through the Fusient situation until the end.

By the time the sale happened, it was pretty clear it wouldn't mean much. WCW was losing tens of millions of dollars, was cancelled as a TV show by AOL Time-Warner, and had very little value left by the time WWE acquired it. Keep in mind, what WWE actually acquired were the WCW trademark, the WCW tape library, and mid-card and lower-card wrestler contracts - wrestlers for the most part they would have hired themselves if they thought they were worth it. So the question was whether WWE would try to resurrect the WCW brand themselves and turn Raw or Smackdown into a WCW show, which there was talk of.

The demise of WCW itself was slow, agonizing, and painful, and seemed inevitable for a year or so once it became clear that it had been so badly mismanaged financially, exacerbated by diminished TV ratings and PPV buy rates, that their parent company was losing patience and interest. It was mostly at that point a matter of time before either massive changes were made or it was shut down or sold to a new owner. Jerry Jarrett had shown interest before Bischoff in buying WCW and keeping it operating as a show he provided to Time-Warner stations TNT and TBS.

WCW had become so bad, so painful to watch, so destructive in many ways to the pro wrestling industry, that while my preference was for it to be fixed, I didn't feel bad that what it had become was put out of its misery. The name still had value to a lot of fans, but Vince McMahon didn't see the point in funding a promotion that didn't fit his vision. He couldn't let go of any control and let a different person run what would essentially be a rival office.

Again, as a VIP member, you can read all of this in "real time" as it was reported by us week to week, including our analysis of the future of the brand, backstage news on ideas Vince McMahon was tossing around, what the remaining WCW execs and wrestlers thought, and why so many big WCW names were not part of the acquisition. (www.PWTorch.com/govip)


PWTorch reader Tyler from Omama, Neb. asks How do you feel about WWE ejecting fans from live events for questionable reasons? I attended the Main Event/Smackdown tapings this week in Omaha, and was second row camera side, therefore I was a target for the things I was doing, but how was I supposed to know I couldn't smoke an e-cig or that my Jack Swagger 'WEED THE PEOPLE' sign would get me booted out when it was checked by the guy at the door of the venue? I offered to give security my sign but was threatened with arrest if I did not abide and was escorted out of the arena. I paid good money for that seat!

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I've heard more and more stories of security at WWE events overstepping what I believe is reasonable control of fans expressing themselves. I believe at a TV taping, WWE should be able to dictate what signs appear on camera or even in front of other fans. Obviously, we can imagine some crude drawings or hateful terms that WWE would have every right to take away from fans. The question is where do you draw the line? A sign about weed and Jack Swagger seems relatively harmless, especially since it's a clever play on his catchphrase and, uh, certain headline news he made. I would think WWE would have more of a sense of humor about it, especially since there are other harmless ways innocent minds could interpret that phrase.

I have no idea about e-cog rules. I suspect there's an adjustment period people are going through regarding those, since it does appear someone is actually smoking a regular cigarette and it could cause concern among fans. In close-quarters, there might be fans, including parents of kids, who aren't sure what fumes are given off because there's not a lot of education about e-digs yet, so I think that's a policy that might evolve over time.

I don't think any fan should be kicked out of his or her seat or out of the arena because of a borderline sign like "Weed the People." If someone is obviously stepping over the line with hateful words or sexually crude drawings, I can see WWE kicking them out because they were clearly violating common sense rules and were looking to get noticed. But WWE should probably indicate to arena security to lighten up otherwise because word is spreading that security at WWE events can sometimes overstep common sense reactions to small infractions of their seemingly arbitrary rules, and that type of thing can discourage fans from attending and turn fans off from the brand who otherwise my be enthusiastically loyal to the product.


SPECIAL NOTE We have launched a new FREE PWTorch Email Alert service today where you can receive BREAKING NEWS ALERTS on occasion plus TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE DAY reports. To sign up (you can easily unsubscribe anytime), click here.)

NOTE: You can ask PWTorch staff questions live on the PWTorch Livecast (www.PWTorchLivecast.com) Monday through Friday. Mondays the show airs at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT in the hour before Raw and Tuesday through Friday at 5:30 ET / 2:30 PT. The show airs five days a week and you can talk to PWTorch staff members Bruce Mitchell, Travis Bryant, Pat McNeill, James Caldwell, Greg Parks, Sean Radican, and me on other days during the week.

READ PREVIOUS "ASK PWTORCH" FEATURES BY CLICKING HERE.

(Send your question for PWTorch editor Wade Keller and the PWTorch staff exclusively to pwtorch@gmail.com for consideration! You can hear expanded conversation on the above topics from Wade Keller by becoming a VIP member and gaining access to the daily Wade Keller Hotline, posted every day for VIP members for over 1,000 days straight. Sign up at www.PWTorch.com/govip)

We suggest these recent related articles...

ASK THE SPECIALISTS ROUNDTABLE: Who will be WWE's Next Top Star?

SATURDAY’S ASK PWTORCH STAFF for 4/11: How should WWE cater to Texas at WM32? Does WWE using Sting and Hogan add to chances more TNA wrestlers are hired? Do NXT gimmick wrestlers have a chance? Is El Generico really Sami Zayn?

THURSDAY’S ASK PWTORCH ALL-STARS 4/9: Are El Generico & Sami Zayn the same person? Next MITB cash-in for IC or U.S. belt? What match do you show non-fans so they get it? Why don’t heel teams cheat?