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ASK PWTORCH ALL-STARS 10/30: Is Cena too Super? Is Goldberg vs. Cena in the cards in the future? Why did the WWE Magazine cease publishing? When did a wrestler land on your radar as “one to watch?"

Oct 30, 2014 - 8:41:03 PM
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The PWTorch All-Star Panel features an array of contributors answering your questions who have worked in various facets of the pro wrestling industry, plus PWTorch contributors join in. You get an unmatched mix of perspectives including first-hand insights from people who have worked in the ring and behind the curtain.

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PWTorch reader Jim from Newcastle, England asks: Can it be argued that WWE's unshakeable faith in John Cena has and continues to hurt wrestling? I hear a lot about how he sells the most t-shirts, works harder than anyone else, and is a role model to youngsters, but frankly if anyone was pushed down people's throats to the extent that he has over the past nine years, they would as well. Of course, it is not Cena's fault that management has invested so much in him, but he also must accept that his apparent stubborness to go along with the booking hurts other wrestlers irrevocably. There are many examples of this, but I'll just pick out two: (1) the innumerable amount of times he kicks out of other people's finishers; (2) The number of times he has “jumped on the bandwagon” when someone else has garnered grassroots support.

REALITY TV STAR & EX-TNA MANAGER Jonny Fairplay (@jonnyfairplay was also former personal assistant to Roddy Piper and cohost with Sean Waltman of weekly podcast at www.ProWrestling.net) answers: I think Cena’s great for kids and business. I just think he could be positioned less Super. And when he is positioned less Super, stay less Super for more than 23 hours.

INDY PROMOTER & ANNOUNCER Brad Stutts (Follow @cwfmidatlantic and @stuttsy and listen to his podcast at www.WrestlingWithOptimism) answers: It only hurts wrestling in the sense that they literally haven't invested in anyone else in a decade. We'll never know what Bryan's run would have ended up like, but I think the safe money says he would've been just like Dolph Ziggler, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, Chris Benoit, and half a dozen others who held the belt but were never the centerpiece of the promotion for any length of time and were back to being just a guy on the roster within a few months. Here's hoping Roman Reigns or SOMEONE is given the opportunity and sustained support from the office to truly break through.

EX-ECW CHAMPION AND LONGTIME WWE WRESTLER Justin Credible (also current IWE Champion, visit www.TheJustinCredible.com and on YouTube here including his ongoing Wrestling 101 Series) answers: It is what it is. I don't know what to say anymore. The big problem is that there are so few guys that are ready to do what he does. No other federation out there to make stars doesn't help either.

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PWTorch reader Rachel M. asks: Was WWE Magazine ending production an "all of a sudden" thing or was it planned far in advance, especially with print media dying ever since the advent of the internet? Thanks!

INDY PROMOTER & ANNOUNCER Brad Stutts (Follow @cwfmidatlantic and @stuttsy and listen to his podcast at www.WrestlingWithOptimism) answers: I think print media dying out contributed to making it a casualty of budget cutbacks, for sure. It weakened the magazine's importance which hindered its chances for survival. But budget cutbacks due to the Network were the ultimate nail in the magazine's coffin.

REALITY TV STAR & EX-TNA MANAGER Jonny Fairplay (@jonnyfairplay was also former personal assistant to Roddy Piper and cohost with Sean Waltman of weekly podcast at www.ProWrestling.net) answers: I think it’s a work. It’s all a part of the plan to bring Vince Russo back.

PROFESSIONAL BROADCASTER Jim Valley (Long time wrestling fan, Torch subscriber, and currently PWTorch Livecast guest host. He won a National Edward R. Murrow Award and several regional awards during his 20 year broadcast career. He has done TV announcing for several independent wrestling promotions, hosted his own wrestling radio show, interviewed many top stars, and was flown out to Stamford to audition for WWE. He took second to Todd Grisham.) It was going to end at some point in the future. Supply and demand. It was ended sooner rather than later to help cut expenses.

EX-ECW CHAMPION AND LONGTIME WWE WRESTLER Justin Credible (also current IWE Champion, visit www.TheJustinCredible.com and on YouTube here including his ongoing Wrestling 101 Series) answers: I'm sure it was planned. Unfortunately print magazines are going out at a rapid pace. The WWE was losing money on that end so they just decided to pull the plug. It's a shame because wrestling magazines to me were very important to how we saw pro wrestling.

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PWTorch reader David C. asks: What's a match that you saw that put one of (or both) of the wrestlers involved on your radar of “ones to watch”?

EX-WWE CREATIVE TEAM MEMBER John Piermarini (ex-WWE Creative Team member 2009-2010, frequent PWTorch Livecast guest) answers: As a fan I don't think I ever put someone on my radar based solely on a match. It was more of someone grabbing my attention over a period of time. As a writer on the WWE creative staff, most of the time guys got on my radar was my interactions with them backstage and catching onto their personalities or drive and wanting to find a way to get that seen on television.

REALITY TV STAR & EX-TNA MANAGER Jonny Fairplay (@jonnyfairplay was also former personal assistant to Roddy Piper and cohost with Sean Waltman of weekly podcast at www.ProWrestling.net) answers: I saw Jushin Liger vs. Brian Pillman at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, N.C. and, even though it was an opening match, I knew it was something special.

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PWTorch reader Frank C. asks: Mike from New York, N.Y.: I was watching the Goldberg Monday Night War episode and wondered if Goldberg vs. John Cena is a big-money short-term program. Did '03-'04 and WrestleMania 20 taint him in the fans' eyes? Is it a situation where WWE wouldn't want another anti-Cena crowd?

PROFESSIONAL BROADCASTER Jim Valley (Long time wrestling fan, Torch subscriber, and currently PWTorch Livecast guest host. He won a National Edward R. Murrow Award and several regional awards during his 20 year broadcast career. He has done TV announcing for several independent wrestling promotions, hosted his own wrestling radio show, interviewed many top stars, and was flown out to Stamford to audition for WWE. He took second to Todd Grisham.) There are two hurdles: Reeducating the fans about Goldberg and Bill's asking price. WWE has negotiated in the past with Goldberg and they couldn't come to financial terms. Given that WWE is in cost-cutting mode right now, I don't see them making a deal right now. One positive is that the Goldberg DVD that WWE put out did sell surprisingly well.

INDY PROMOTER & ANNOUNCER Brad Stutts (Follow @cwfmidatlantic and @stuttsy and listen to his podcast at www.WrestlingWithOptimism) answers: That run may have tainted him in some fans’ eyes, the ones who were watching then and remember the television angles, but it isn't what would potentially hurt his drawing power. Being off TV for literally a decade at a time when the WWE's audience is SO many young people who weren't watching during his peak run in 1998 (and many of them weren't even born yet) is what I think would make bringing Goldberg back an uphill battle. He wasn't as iconic at a Hulk Hogan or The Rock or Steve Austin. A fair number of fans showed they remembered him by chanting his name at Ryback a couple of years ago, but that doesn't necessarily mean those same fans would be up for a return. It'd be a neat attraction but I personally don't think it would break the box office or anything.

EX-ECW CHAMPION AND LONGTIME WWE WRESTLER Justin Credible (also current IWE Champion, visit www.TheJustinCredible.com and on YouTube here including his ongoing Wrestling 101 Series) answers: I would love to see that. It could work. Especially after Mania, but I don't see Goldburg ever coming back.

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(Send questions for a future Ask PWTorch to: askpwtorch@gmail.com. If you have a particular person on the All-Star Panel you'd in particular like to direct your question to, include that in the subject line, but multiple panelists may also answer.)

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Catch up on past Ask PWTorch articles...

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In case you are new to this feature, let me introduce you to our All-Star Panel…

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION: By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

Thanks to Pat McNeill and Anthony Jeselnik for the name of this feature. Just as "CSI" spawned "CSI: Miami," "Ask PWTorch" spawned "Ask PWTorch: All-Star Panel." Only without David Caruso. In any case, we are excited to present to you a new cast for the Ask PWTorch spinoff, which is available exclusively on the PWTorch App (or, for VIP members, on the VIP website too). You are reading this, so you are either a VIP member or have already downloaded the free PWTorch App on your phone or tablet. If you aren't a VIP member, why not? With VIP membership, you gain full access to both Ask PWTorch features on all devices you use to visit PWTorch - our App and our Website.

The "Ask PWTorch All-Star Panel" edition is scheduled to be published first thing in the morning (although not necessarily every single day, like the afternoon website-based Ask PWTorch is; we'll see about that as we move forward). It will feature an entirely different panel of experts and analysts than the afternoon Ask PWTorch does. We have assembled a wide range of contributors, which may expand or change over time, with the goal being to give PWTorch readers new perspectives from people who have particular areas of expertise. Along with our All-Stars from outside of PWTorch, several of our PWTorch contributors (but not the main staff who contribute to the website-based original Ask PWTorch!… you will be quizzed on all of this, so take notes) will also be regularly contributing, especially to current-events-related questions.

Let me introduce you to our panel…

Justin Credible: Current pro wrestler and former ECW Champion and longtime WWE wrestler in the 1990s and 2000s, Justin Credible (P.J. Polaco) currently is the IWE Champion. He travels as indy champion from Maine to Mexico with the title. He posts new Wrestling 101 YouTube videos at www.TheJustinCredible.com or on YouTube at his YouTube Channel.

John Piermarini: Ex-WWE Creative Team member who will provide a behind-the-scenes perspective from his years working for WWE including alongside Vince McMahon, Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and John Cena. He has been a frequent PWTorch Livecast guest and was the subject of a comprehensive five-hour Torch Talk interview several years ago about his experience with WWE for most of 2009-2010.

Greg Oliver: SLAM! Wrestling reporter and wrestling book author (and hockey book author), Greg will provide a Canadian perspective on many wrestling topics. If you are a fan from Canada or have Canadian-related wrestling questions, Greg can help you. He is a wrestling historian who published a wrestling newsletter during the boom period of insider wrestling newsletters starting in the late 1980s. We were pen pals in the early 1990s and first met at a 1989 wrestling convention in Chicago run by Jon Gallagher of the Wrestling Forum (the first insider wrestling newsletter I ever received in the mail in early 1987).

George Schire: Author of "Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling," former Pro Wrestling Focus radio cohost with me in the early 1990s on KFAN, former contributor of history pieces to the PWTorch Newsletter, and multi-time guest on PWTorch Livecast "Interview Friday," he will be providing a historical perspective to Ask PWTorch.

Johnny Fairplay: Reality Star and Wrestling Manager, perhaps best known as Pat McNeill's Regis Philbin. He was an old neighbor of PWTorch senior columnist Bruce Mitchell who watched PPVs at his house long before he became a contestant on Survivor twice. He has been on many reality TV shows, the PWTorch Livecast numerous times, and follows wrestling very closely. You can read more about him on Wikipedia.

Brian Fritz: Host of the long-running "Between the Ropes" podcast, and now working for Yahoo! Sports radio, he also has been a guest on the PWTorch Livecast (and I've been a guest on his podcast), he brings years of reporting on wrestling including on-site interviews with wrestlers at major press events over the years. He follows today's wrestling and will provide his perspective and take on your questions.

Mick Karch: An early PWTorch Newsletter columnist over 20 years ago, Mick has been an announcer for virtually every national wrestling promotion other than the WWF, WCW, and TNA in the last 25 years. He currently works as an announcer on Minnesota indy wrestling shows. He got his start in wrestling running the Nick Bockwinkel Fan Club in the 1970s and is known for his sense of humor, strong opinions, and tremendous insight into wrestling's past dating back many decades, but he also watches today's wrestling regularly and can provide valuable perspective as a result of that span of time following and participating in the industry.

Brad Stutts: He has worked behind the scenes in wrestling in many roles, including taking jackets to the back, setting up and tearing down rings, running websites for indy promoters, running lights and music at live events, and performing as a manager, announcer, wrestler, and promoter. He currently is the lead announcer for CWF Mid-Atlantic Wrestling in North Carolina.

Jim Valley: Long time wrestling fan and Torch subscriber. He won a National Edward R. Murrow Award and several regional awards during his 20 year broadcast career. He has done TV announcing for several independent wrestling promotions, hosted his own wrestling radio show, interviewed many top stars and was flown our to Stamford to audition for WWE. He took second to Todd Grisham.

Current PWTorch Contributors: A mix of current PWTorch contributors will provide their opinion on today's wrestling scene and modern wrestling history questions, including Shawn Valentino, Michael Moore, Ben Tucker, Jon Mezzera, Brian Leahy, Jimmy Eaton, and Mike Roe.

You can send your questions for the All-Star Panel to the same address as always: askpwtorch@gmail.com. We will make sure they are directed to the appropriate panelist for potential inclusion in a published Ask PWTorch feature here on the PWTorch App or VIP Website. You may see your question asked in both versions of Ask PWTorch (the Afternoon original website-exclusive version and app-exclusive All-Stars version) so check both versions. Different groups of panelists may tackle your question on different days, so keep checking back. Because they all come from different backgrounds and have different experiences as both fans and working in some capacity in the business or covering it for the Torch, you're going to get some strong specific points of view from them.


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