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Ask the Editor
SUNDAY'S ASK PWTORCH: What if Vince McMahon hadn't signed Hulk Hogan in the early '80s? Why didn't Rock get WWE more mainstream attention as champion? How is A.J. Styles's push weak compared to Sting in the rafters? Will Orton ever turn heel?

Jun 23, 2013 - 2:33:06 PM
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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 Daniel N. asks: I love Ask PWTorch, but can I read it on the app or just the website?

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: Ask PWTorch was relaunched in May (it started back in the early days of the PWTorch Newsletter in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and has been an active feature as a VIP Keller Hotline format for years now), it was a category activated just on the website. However, VIP members get access to it in the VIP Articles section of the iPhone and Android PWTorch app. The VIP sections of the app get unlocked as soon as you sign up for a VIP membership.

You not only get access to every daily Ask PWTorch article, but you get the VIP bonus question at the end, also. You also gain access on your app to our back issues (on average three back issues are posted weekly from 5, 10, and 20 years ago in both text and PDF formats) plus our new 16 page newsletter every week (also in text and PDF format), plus over 60 VIP-exclusive audio shows per month which you can stream within our app, plus access to the VIP Forum on the app in a mobile-friendly format so you can interact with other well-informed VIP members and PWTorch staff on a daily basis. All on your app! All of these features are also accessible on our VIP website.

We are running a sale right now where you can try the VIP membership for a full month - and immediately gain access to over 25 years of archives, also - for just $1.99. That's over $8 off. You can also sign up for a year and get the same $8 discount. SIGN UP INFO - CLICK HERE. I'd love to earn your business for the long run, and I'm confident if you try us for $1.99 you will join thousands of other satisfied customers. We have been paid for our wrestling coverage for over 25 years for a reason. Find out what we do well by getting a month of access for just $1.99!


PWTorch reader Matt T. asks: I'll make this short and sweet. Any news on if WWE will ever do the Randy Orton heel turn? It's been rumored forever.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: Well, "ever" is a long time, so yes, I think it's a safe bet that at some point, he'll be heel again. As for in the immediate future, that's anyone's guess. WWE has done a number of turns in the last week, so they may hold off on doing one with Orton, though they've certainly hinted at it. With Mark Henry now slotted against John Cena at Money in the Bank, Bryan will have to wait another month for a title shot, and his semi-program with Orton lately has been well-done. Will WWE decide to turn Orton heel to get Bryan over as a babyface if the rumored upcoming program with Cena is true?


PWTorch reader Shane W. asks: I have another question for my favorite daily fix, Ask PWTorch. Having lost yet another major PPV match, it seems Ryback has lost all credibility as a main eventer, or at least as a monster heel/face. Where do you think goes from here, and do you think WWE has handled his push properly? Thanks for reading, and keep up the great work!

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: I do think his push has been handled properly, though I certainly understand people who would argue otherwise. I never really saw Ryback as being "championship material," so to that end, for them to get as many big matches out of him as they have is a testament to WWE's booking and Ryback himself. I don't mind him as a title challenger, even as a PPV main event title challenger, but I just never saw him as a guy to hold the title - and if he did, it would be a short-term situation. As to where he goes from here, I still think he can be an upper card player. He doesn't have the mic skills of a Chris Jericho to get heat back after constant losses, but all WWE has to do is throw him out there to blow through a couple wrestlers using his impressive strength, and he'll have his heat back in no time.


PWTorch reader Marlon C. of Albany, N.Y. asks: If Hulk Hogan had opted to stay with the AWA in the '80s instead of going to the WWE which wrestler do you think instead would have been chosen to be the focal point of the company? Looking back I think a drug free Kerry Von Erich would have been a good pick and I think that Randy Savage proved with his run in 88 that he was a legit draw. Any Thoughts?

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: There was no such thing as a drug-free Kerry Von Erich, or anyone else beside Bob Backlund at that point, although the Von Erichs probably had a worse problem than most. It took WWF some time to figure out what they had in Randy Savage. He made a great foil for Hulk Hogan after a while, but he was a little weird to take national. The real option might have been a babyface Ric Flair, who might have outdone Hogan with the mainstream Rock 'n' Wrestling media of the time, Vince McMahon wanted a more modern "Superstar" Billy Graham and Flair could certainly provide that. Hogan, though, was the perfect fit for the musclehead superhero good guy McMahon wanted to market nationally.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller adds: I watched Hulkamaniac hatch in the AWA in the very early 1980s, where he replaced Verne Gagne and The Crusher as the top babyface. Hogan was such a perfect match for what Vince McMahon wanted to do, it is difficult to imagine the same level of success for the WWF in the expansion period of the mid-1980s without him. WrestleMania may not have started, or if it did, it might have failed. I think the answer is no one would have allowed Vince to do what he did other than Hogan. He might have been forced to look at a different formula and gone with a nasty lead heel and a parade of babyface challengers. A babyface or heel Ric Flair would have been the best choice just because Flair was regarded as the top star at the time along with Hogan in terms of having the most polished, nationwide-ready act.


PWTorch reader Andy from Toronto, Ont. asks: During the last three years, and especially this past year at WM29, with the rock essentially being one of the most bankable movie stars at this time, How come WWE didn't get more mainstream attention when the Rock was apart of WM? I feel Rock is a bigger star at the moment than Mike Tyson was in 1998 and there was tremendous amounts of outside media attention when Tyson was a part of WM14.

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: Looking back over the, uh, weeks since The Rock, one of the most visible movie stars of the laser year, had his WWE Title run, the one thing I didn't take into consideration was that many of the media outlets and other concerns he was hyping didn't care for him hyping WWE at the same time. Still, I'd argue WWE got enormous monetary and ancillary benefits from having a star that size so closely aligned with them.


PWTorch reader Steven Ball asks: Recognizing the similarities between the A.J. Styles storyline now and the Sting storyline from back in '96-'97, do you think that TNA is making a mistake by booking A.J. in regular matches on Impact? Seems to me that if they are following the same path with A.J. that they took with Sting, he will eventually be the one to take out Bully Ray and be the Hero of TNA. In my opinion, a big part of what made the angle work so well back then with Sting is that they maintained the illusion that Sting was a "free agent" and was not obligated to compete in matches booked by WCW. The fact this his first match back was against Hogan at Starrcade was a big deal; I feel like TNA is ruining an opportunity to build mystique and anticipation with A.J. Styles right now.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: The difference to me is that while Sting was technically a "free agent," they didn't really make that distinction with AJ Styles. As far as we know, he's still under contract to TNA and is therefore beholden to the company as far as participating in in-ring competition. Now, they could've said that when AJ took his ball and went home that his contract lapsed and it did make him a free agent, but then you'd have to explain how he still had access to the building and was still participating in angles on their TV show if he wasn't under contract (but also wasn't affiliated with Aces & Eights, who won the right to be "in" TNA without being TNA wrestlers). That kind of situation can get messy as far as explanations go. I like what they've done so far - Styles is under TNA contract but simply has no loyalty to the brand.


PWTorch VIP member James B. asks: When Brock Lesnar invaded WWE headquarters the camera showed the name placard on Triple H's office and it was the name Paul Levesque. Since Stephanie McMahon has returned to television she has called Triple H by his real name multiple times, usually while pleading with him about some matter. Do you think this is a nod and a wink to insider fans, an attempt to make it seem more real, or the beginning of a transition to Hunter using his real name on the air? It does seem odd that an executive of a company would go by a gimmick name such as Triple H. It would be more respectable and consistent if he used his real name on and off of television. What are your thoughts?

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: This is part of the VIP-exclusive portion of Ask PWTorch. 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.

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

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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THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE

PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.

He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.

He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).

He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)


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James Caldwell, assistant editor
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