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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 you 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 Justin of Pittsburgh, Pa. asks: What do you think of the idea of WWE creating a competitor by purchasing TNA, Ring of Honor, or some other organization and renaming/rebranding it and adding on to it? The Monday Night Wars were one of the hottest times in wrestling and this could be recreated in some way. I think having well-known wrestlers switch between companies would create a lot of excitement just like in the Monday Night War era. I see this different than the brand split, because it was all still WWE no matter how hard they tried to make it different. I don't see this being any different than a well-known health food brand being owned by big corporations and the general public has no idea. I see this being the same. Although all us insiders may know about WWE owning this other company, the general public wouldn't.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: Yes, because it worked so well when WWE tried to create artificial competition when they owned WCW and put it against WWE. And of course the famed Raw vs. Smackdown "feud" during the brand-split in which WWE couldn't even make THEIR OWN BRAND, Smackdown, seem on par with Raw. Pass.

PWTorch columnist Sean Radican answers: I don't think WWE buying another wrestling company and rebranding it would work. The only thing that would generate true competition like the Monday Night Wars would be for another company to come along and compete with WWE in terms of production, star power, and eventually building up to a weekly cable slot head-to-head with WWE. The main problem with WWE buying another company is that Vince McMahon would naturally want the WWE brand to win and, even if the public didn't know Vince owned the other company, the other brand would suffer because McMahon wouldn't allow it to outshine WWE. There are so many other variables that would play against this as well, such as securing a deal for another brand on cable spending more money on talent and production at a time when WWE is cutting costs. It wouldn't work.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: WCW had decades of establishing its brand, a huge audience, and a strong regional foothold. ROH and TNA are not even a tiny fraction of the brand that WCW was, and you can’t just manufacture it, even if you had plenty of funding and a strong strategy. The first Monday Night War was a result of an organic and fierce real-life competition between two long-established brands. There are plenty of other ideas that are more tangible, cheaper, and more likely to succeed that WWE hasn’t tried yet.

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PWTorch reader Aaron P. asks: Would Steve Austin have been as big in a different era? I'd like to think that he still had the talent to make it to the top, but when you look at what happened to him in WCW, it seems uncertain. That Attitude Era character seems like it couldn't have existed in the same way in another time period. If he had been around when Hulk Hogan was on top of WWE, would he haven just taken a backseat to him like the Ricky Steamboats, British Bulldogs, Bret Harts etc.?

PWTorch columnist Pat McNeill answers: I think Austin would have done well in the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, or ‘80s. If Austin had been in WWF in the 1980s, he wouldn't have taken Hulk's place, but he probably would have had a Paul Orndorff-esque run against Hulk as a heel. Ironically, the only era I'm not sure Austin would have succeeded in is this one. Austin got over based on his promo work, and the modern WWE would never have let him cut his "Austin 3:16" promo on live TV less than a year after he made the main roster.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: Austin’s place on the WCW roster doesn’t have anything to do with his ability to rise to the top. First, Austin was still early in his career at that point. Second, politics and unimaginative booking leadership that leaned on established stars and not building and elevating new ones held Austin back. Austin is so smart, so hard-working, and has such natural charisma and star power that he would have been a huge star in any era when given the opportunity. Of course, not every era or every promotion would have been in the position Vince McMahon was, but you also have to remember that Austin got over as a main event wrestler with fans before he was pushed as a main event wrestler by McMahon. The fans chose Austin, and they likely would have chosen him in any era and he’d have risen to the top, even if he ended up with a slightly different and substantially different gimmick. Not just anyone could have played Stone Cold effectively, and no one else could have played it as effectively. I think Austin could have succeeded in an epic way with an array of characters and different sets of limitations and booking philosophies to work with. When I was touting in the early 1990s that WCW should push Austin as a main event talent, I didn’t have “Stone Cold” or the Attitude Era in mind. I just recognized the obvious - that he was stellar in the ring, stellar on the mic, a very good overall body type, and had nearly unmatched charisma and dedication. It’s an all-too-rare combination, unfortunately, and it went unrecognized or held back in WCW due to politics at the time.

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PWTorch reader David C. asks: Hey guys, I was wondering which moves you think most wrestlers sell incorrectly? Personally, I think most - if not, all - guys tend to sell the atomic drop in an unrealistic fashion. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I see the move as hurting the tailbone, but it's usually sold like a low blow. Whenever I see the move done, it's in front of the ref, so it wouldn't make sense for it to look like a blatant crotch shot.

PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell answers: Who uses the Atomic Drop these days? I never thought about it being a low blow and I don't think anyone else did, either. The point of the atomic drop was to showcase the strength of the guy who's picking other guy way up in the air. The least that guy can do, and the only real way to sell the move, is to fall down to the mat.

PWTorch editor Wade Keller answers: The problem with the atomic drop, back when it was used regularly, was that usually the feet hit the mat yet the tailbone rarely made contact with the other wrestler’s knee, yet the wrestler still sold it like their tailbone landed on the knee. It always seemed like a goofy move to me and I’m glad it’s largely been phased out.

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PWTorch reader Uzoma I. asks: I once asked about if Low Ki didn't mind being paired with LayCool due to most people's objection to it considering Low Ki's seriousness and dedication to wrestling. Because of how Daniel Bryan being paired with The Miz went out on the first season of NXT's initial incarnation and regardless of how Low Ki felt, was Low Ki being paired with Layla El and Michelle McCool for the second season good or bad?

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks answers: In hindsight, I think it was good. It brought out a little more personality in him beyond the intense Low Ki we were used to seeing (which is what needed to happen were he to succeed in WWE over the long haul, though other issues came into play later), and he was put in a unique situation that wasn't afforded other rookies.

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