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," a feature we had previously run in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in the previous dozen years. 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 a couple times a week. We reintroduced it to the website audience last month. We have posted it every mid-day since the beginning of May.

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 David Q. from Fullerton, Calif. asking: I just finished the latest Art of Wrestling podcast with Colt Cabana, in which he and Kevin Steen briefly discussed not only the role of faces and heels but also whether fans should have responsibility in helping them play out their roles during matches, e.g., booing heels and cheering faces. I've read numerous posts on The Torch bemoaning disrespectful fans who refuse to play along (from Fandangoing to doing the wave to "Yes!"ing) and have also read numerous reports of Vince sometimes stubbornly writing and rewriting what he believes is the best vision for WWE, despite the fans' apparent plea for "underdog" wrestlers to get more exposure. Considering it's usually a very strong fan reaction that is the final act that gets wrestlers over, is there a definitive role for fans to play? Is poor writing the root of this "problem"?

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell replies: It's simple really. It's the promoters and wrestlers' job to provide the work and context that drives fans to react exactly as they want. If wrestlers, and wrestling companies, are getting the reaction they want from fans they need to work things a different way. The "job" of fans is to watch when they want and buy tickets when they want, and obey all laws and regulations when they're at the show.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I will add that in general I think the biggest favor you can do to a heel wrestler whom you really respect is to boo them. If you're cheering a heel as he's trying to get heel heat, you're contributing to him likely feeling insecure backstage afterward wondering what he's doing wrong as a heel that he can't seem to get booed. Certainly a heel being cheered can be a sign the heel is miscast and should be turned, or a face being booed might indicate the face should turn heel to better match what fans think of him, but other than those instances, the most respectful thing you can do is cheer the babyfaces you appreciate and respect and, yes, boo the heels you like and respect. That's the biggest favor you could do to the wrestlers you appreciate. That said, I agree with Bruce, you have no responsibility to play along if you don't respect a wrestler or an angle or the effort wrestlers are putting forth or the quality of the match.


PWTorch reader Damian H. asks: I have been seeing a lot of "sick bumps" and botched crazy spot monkey fests on the indy scene and in the WWE for years and am concerned this epidemic is just as bad as the hardcore era in terms of injuries, a lack of realism, and poor in-ring psychology. I remember when ECW was hot with the daredevils and the luchadors invaded WCW; it was a novelty. Now most wrestlers have no qualms about diving outside of the ring, going through tables, or doing high risk moves off the ropes. The Sabu, RVD, and Rey Mysterio copycats out there today seem to be dominating the indy leagues but they truly look unprofessional with their dangerous stunts. The young workers in TNA do it as well, and many WWE stars botch spots on TV and PPV (Money in the Banks were ugly). I feel the "safety" level in pro wrestling is at an all-time low. It seems to me that wrestlers with smaller frames are overcompensating to get noticed, but the irony is that Vince McMahon doesn't even like these "technical wrestlers" as he likes workers with the look who can cut promos. My question is: do you agree with these observations and, if so, will this trend die out or will pro wrestling morph into a backyard/garage entertainment program after the non-spot monkey veterans retire?

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: It's worth noting that both WWE and TNA had cut down the amount of this stuff they allow significantly, for legal reasons, because it damages the talent pool they need on the road, and because not only does it no longer work, it still desensitizes fans to the angles and stunts they want to use to earn money. Today's wrestlers would be well advised not to use up all the bumps on their bump card because they get a chance to make money, and learn the personality side of working. We're just beginning to see the consequences of this stuff on the last few generations of workers, and many are already dead.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller adds: In some, but not all, cases now when you see a wild stunt bump, more care is being taken to create a safer risk/reward ratio. For instance, a chairshot to the head is likely worse than a gimmicked bump through the roof of an ambulance. Some of the falls WWE orchestrates are done where the impact is hidden and more imagined, and it's "gimmicked" to look worse than it is. On the indy scene, wrestlers don't have kind of expertise and budget to create safer stunts, plus they're often (but not always) younger and more able to absorb bumps early in their careers, but they end up paying a bigger price later when it all adds up. I think it's the promoters' responsibilities to be the cooler head and prohibit wrestlers from doing excessive stunts that are all a blur by the end of the night and make sure that anything that's done that is among the most dangerous spots always have the biggest impact possible in terms of the promotion selling it on TV and making sure wrestlers who are part of big stunts sell them appropriately. Otherwise the crowd gets numb to them and it becomes pointless destruction of the careers of wrestlers.


PWTorch reader Barry L. asks: Why did WWE stop running UK only PPVs? Why did Bob Holly get fired? Who is the biggest asshole ever in the business?

PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill answers: (1) After WCW went out of business in 2001, WWE planned to fill the void by splitting into two companies (Raw and Smackdown) and slowly increasing the number of pay-per-views to twenty per year. Yes, twenty.

Early in 2003, WWE had a UK tour that drew lower than expected numbers, closing off with the UK-only Insurrexxtion 2003 pay-per-view. Vince McMahon and Brian Gewirtz missed the trip, the lineup was changed multiple time, and the event was a fiasco live. At that point, WWE decided to get rid of the UK pay-per-view and to instead tape Raw and/or Smackdown during their UK trips.

(2) That depends on who you believe. The rumor was that Holly was released after he was caught stealing pain pills from Ken Anderson's bag in the locker room. Holly's version is that Anderson gave Holly permission to go into his bag, that he had done nothing wrong, and that Anderson threw Holly under the bus.

(3) The obvious joke answer would be Ken Anderson. The sad truth, there have been a lot of awful, unscrupulous people in the wrestling business over the years, and if you ask this question to ten people inside the wrestling industry, you'll probably get ten different answers. My pick is "Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington. There have been numerous accounts of Billington's behavior that range from bullying to psychopathic rage. If half those accounts are true, Dynamite's your "winner."

PWTorch editor Wade Keller adds: As for the last subject, I think a lot of people would say Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Shawn Michaels qualified because, unlike a lot of wrestlers in top positions, they didn't even pretend to play nice with wrestlers elsewhere on the roster. Nash and Hall have both admitted to me in interviews they were big assholes, and many people back up those stories. Time seems to have softened that personality trait in them, though!


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PWTorch VIP member Erick from Boston asks: I was just watching the opening match from the 1993 King of the Ring PPV thanks to Pat McNeill. Now that the Hitman and HBK have made up, I was wondering what Bret's relationships with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Triple H, etc. are like. They did plenty of business together in the past, and Hall said in one of Wade's interviews that "if you can work, you are cool with us" or something to that effect. Also, when Bret jumped to WCW, he had to have bumped into Hall and Nash over there, do you think there was any heat between them back then? I've been a longtime subscriber and have enjoyed the Ask the Torch feature immensely.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller replies: (This answer is part of the VIP-exclusive portion of Ask PWTorch. I am now adding a segment exclusively for VIP members to this article as a bonus for VIP members. I will select questions sent by VIP members to my VIP Ask the Editor email box that I usually answer on my VIP Keller Hotline during the week and writing a text answer. To go VIP and get all PWTorch VIP content on our app and our website and our Audio RSS feed, www.PWTorch.com/govip)

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)

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