Pro Wrestling Torch was established in 1987 by Wade Keller. One of the primary traits PWTorch has been credited with over the years is assembling the best and most diverse staff of columnists with broad knowledge, but also areas of specialty where they have a particularly strong grasp of history. Every day PWTorch.com presents that team of writers answering your questions, some of which are fact-based and others of which are opinion-based. Either way, we've got you covered with Bruce Mitchell, Pat McNeill, Sean Radican, Greg Parks, James Caldwell, and Wade Keller. Collectively they have over 80 years working for the Torch, writing about wrestling and studying industry history and trends.

If you have a question you'd like us to respond to, send your question to askpwtorch@gmail.com. I, along with the Torch staff, will address your questions in this feature and also the “Ask PWTorch: All-Star Panel” edition which is also published most days here at PWTorch.

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PWTorch reader Andrew from New York asks: Huge fan of the site and proud VIP member. Why would they bring both Christian and Sheamus back as the same exact characters/gimmicks that weren't getting over before their injuries? Lack of planning or just laziness? Wouldn't they be able to elevate talent to a higher degree if people were actually interested in them? I don't get it.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: I suppose that depends on what your definition of "over" is. Both were over to an extent, though not at the main event level. Christian wasn't really pushed to that point, though, and Sheamus still gets good babyface pops, though some could argue the reactions he gets don't match how strongly he's booked. But I don't have a real problem with their returns or how they were handled.

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: I don't think Christian and Sheamus have the same gimmicks and place in the promotion. Christian is a glue guy, a veteran who can be relied upon to do whatever is asked of him except be a top drawer main event. Sheamus is a cold act coming off injury who WWE would like to build into a top drawer main eventer for years to come.

PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill answers: (1) Laziness. (2) Sure, but they have no interest in elevating Christian. And WWE thinks Sheamus is a main eventer, and that people are still interested in him.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: I think wrestlers have a chance, when they've been away for a while, to redefine themselves and return with a new mission that gets fans invested in them out of the gate. WWE didn't do that with either Christian or Sheamus. Christian, I understand, because he is at a late stage of his career and, as Bruce said, a good veteran hand. That said, it wouldn't have been a bad thing to give him something a little more concrete to focus on as a character since he does fill considerable TV time. With Sheamus, he was flat when he left, so it makes more sense to have him declare some sort of new mission and have a new attitude or approach to his matches. He came back, though, when Batista did, and considering what a one-dimensional push Batista has been given so far - and the mistakes that have been made - it's hard to imagine that Vince McMahon & Co. had much creative energy to spare to figure something out for Sheamus. I wouldn't ever call Vince McMahon lazy, but I think his priorities and delegation skills were lacking here. I think having Sheamus return at a different time than Batista would have done both acts some good.

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PWTorch reader Vince B. asks: Is Roman Reigns a tweener now? That's all, keep up the good work!

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: No, Roman Reigns is currently a heel whom WWE Creative is rightfully positioning so fans really, really want to turn babyface before they finally pull the trigger. Done right (and, as an aside, I thought the Shield-Wyatt showdown Monday night was the best thing on Raw since the Rock's initial return promo three years ago) this kind of storytelling is one of the most effective in the pro wrestling trope.

PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill answers: He's a babyface. Thanks for writing.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: Technically, Reigns is a heel, as evidenced by his attacking Mark Henry at ringside with a spear to protect Dean Ambrose on Monday. But he's clearly a heel who is conflicted and "starting to see the light." If your definition of a "tweener" is someone in "transition," I suppose he is. But I don't like the term in general because pro wrestling makes money when fans are given a reason to side with a wrestler due to his character and integrity and work-ethic (i.e. Daniel Bryan) and a desire to see a a wrestler they see as taking shortcuts, being a jerk, or lacking integrity get what he has coming. A "tweener" doesn't fit in that equation and is largely worthless in the context of pro wrestling storytelling. It's okay for a babyface to have flaws or for a heel to show glimpses of second-guessing his ways, but basically they are either a babyface or a heel - it's a binary choice, like either being pregnant or not pregnant - but you can be a face exhibiting signs of jealousy or frustration that could lead to a heel turn, or in Reigns's case, you can be a heel starting to shows signs of second-guessing your ways and the character of the people you associate with.

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PWTorch reader Marlon C. asks: How much does size and having a great physique influence a wrestler's push in the WWE? The prevailing wisdom is that Vince McMahon prefers his wrestlers to have a certain look and a certain type of physique. How true is this? For every Ultimate Warrior and Sid Vicious there have also been guys like Bret Hart, Randy Savage, C.M. Punk, Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels. All were or have been main event stars and none of them had bodybuilder type bodies.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: Look at the final three wrestlers in this year's Royal Rumble. I think that's your answer.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: If you became a PWTorch VIP member and dove into our 1,300+ newsletter archives featuring our weekly in-depth coverage of the wrestling industry over the last 25+ years, and focused on the times when each of the smaller wrestlers were pushed, you'd read about all of the internal resistance to each of those smaller wrestlers and Vince McMahon's attempts to push others who "fit the mold" instead of them until the options ran out. I would say Randy Savage didn't have great height, but he certainly much of the time had a great physique that McMahon looks for.

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PWTorch reader Gary H. asks: The WWE Network seems like a big deal to me. What impact, if any, do you believe it will have on the Torch?

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: It's great for us. It gives us so much more to report on - from both the business side (subscriber numbers and such trends) and the content side. Having a much larger audience exposed to NXT gives us incentive to ramp up our coverage of that to meet reader and listener interest. More people being able to watch PPVs at a reasonable price means more people will be interested in hearing our post-PPV shows analyzing what happened and what comes next. As we have done with DVDs, we can break down their Countdown shows and explain what does and doesn't make sense on their lists, what was left out, how politics played into the order, and when they're just puzzling choices.

For some people, the best part of WWE Network matched with a PWTorch VIP membership is going to be our 25+ years of back issues of the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletters (in PDF and all-text formats). Those back issues take on a whole new value for VIP members because when WWE Network subscribers watch an old PPV from the late 1980s or 1990s or 2000s, they can look up our reports leading into the PPV and, in many cases, listen to audio content previewing the show and talking about the angles leading up to the PPV, the politics that went into who got the main event slots, etc. and then read my PPV reports with match analysis and star ratings followed by the Torch Roundtable reviews with the Torch staff's scores and reviews of the show. It's a great supplement to enhance the viewing of old PPVs.

The more today's fans and long-time fans have access to experience the history of pro wrestling on TV, the more interested they'll be in learning about not just what happened, but why it happened - the politics, the business fallout, the alternative and discounted plans, etc. So it's exciting for us because it makes our unmatched archives on the VIP site that we've spent 10 years building up from our 25+ year history exponentially more valuable. The sign up page is here, by the way, and you can get a full year of membership for just $99 which includes 75+ VIP-exclusive top-tier audio shows, four new weekly newsletters packed with exclusive content and insider backstage info we don't publish on the free site, ad-free access to the website and the Livecasts, and more. You can also try it for a month for $10. Even better, you can add on a print newsletter subscription with home delivery of the paper copy for a full year for just $30 for a full year (about 50 issues) or just $3 more a month. VIP Sign-Up Info: www.PWTorch.com/govip.

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