PWTorch.com - MONDAY'S ASK PWTORCH ALL-STARS 1/5: Was Punk a whiner in his long list of complaints about WWE? Why isn’t Bobby Lashley in WWE as a top star? Is TNA going to make necessary changes when they move to new network?

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MONDAY'S ASK PWTORCH ALL-STARS 1/5: Was Punk a whiner in his long list of complaints about WWE? Why isn’t Bobby Lashley in WWE as a top star? Is TNA going to make necessary changes when they move to new network?

Jan 5, 2015 - 5:57:04 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 Forrest M. asks: Why isn't Bobby Lashley in the WWE? To me that would be a big money match between him and Lesnar. Both guys were once expected to be the face of the company. I think a match between the two at WrestleMania would make a lot of money. Is Lashley "black listed" with WWE?

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.) I think black listed is a harsh term. WWE was giving him the mega push and for whatever reasons he decided to leave WWE as they were building him up. WWE did invest time and money in Lashley. The fact that he hasn't really drawn much money or interest from the public is the reason he's not back in WWE. I'm guessing WWE management doesn't have enough trust in Lashley that he wouldn't do the same thing again. He burned a bridge. I don't blame WWE.

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 not sure. I think it's just the fact that Bobby left WWE. I think that WWE will eventually hire him again at some point.

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PWTorch reader Matt from Sydney, Australia asks: Is it just me or is C.M. Punk a massive whiner? It’s like he wants to write his own storylines and, when something doesn't suit him, he becomes difficult and hard to manage. I am a fan of his character and ring work and do think he could have been utilized better, especially after MITB 2011, but when you earn millions and millions of dollars and even have your own luxury bus to take you from city to city, I don't think there's too much to complain about. Another thing: If he's so offended about being fired on his wedding day, why is his wife still with the company? I just find it weird that she wouldn't take umbrage with it also. Lastly, his indy pals Colt Cabana and Chris Hero, couldn't quite make the grade in WWE. I wonder if they would be arguing if they had Punks salary and company perks. Just my opinion. What do you think?

EX-WWE CREATIVE TEAM MEMBER John Piermarini (ex-WWE Creative Team member 2009-2010, frequent PWTorch Livecast guest) answers: I'm not going to disagree with some of your points, but it's hard to say just because you make millions of dollars you should just be happy no matter what else is happening. If you make $50K a year, should you just be happy because there's people who make $20K and would kill for your salary? Look at the context in which he is complaining. They tell him he's a big star and he was in a WrestleMania main event. If that's the case, he should be paid as one. I don't care if you get $1M or $10,000. If you're as big of a star as your opponent and you're as big of a draw, there's an absolute gripe there. Sometimes you have to know the exact context to understand where someone is coming from.

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's all relative. When you make more money, a person tends to have more expenses. I don't think he's a whiner at all. He made a realistic, compelling case of WWE not paying him what he's worth. Perhaps you make more than someone else. Should they be upset at you if your employer skims off the top of what you rightfully earned? Vince McMahon has much more money than C.M. Punk. I think Punk is justified in his complaints and not a whiner.

INDY PROMOTER & ANNOUNCER Brad Stutts (Follow @cwfmidatlantic and @stuttsy and listen to his podcast at www.WrestlingWithOptimism) answers: It's easy to say that as an observer, but put yourself in his shoes and having these things, ideas, stories, matches, whatever that he believes so much in and watch them constantly be bungled or if the stories are true of the company deliberately costing him money and opportunities (sponsorships, film roles, signings, etc.) he has every right to be angry. Sure, he is financially set, but it’s the principle of the matter. Someone who made several million dollars but "should've made 10" has just as much fundamental right to complain as someone who should have made $30,000 this year but made $15,000.

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: Sometimes he may come off like that, but I do not believe that C.M. Punk is a whiner at all. Many of us, including me, have felt the way he is felt in the locker rooms of the WWE.

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PWTorch reader F.M. asks: I'm happy to see that TNA will be on Friday nights starting this month and I really hope they do become an alternative to WWE rather than a weak copy of WWE. Does TNA have the proper people in place to make that change? I see moving to Destination as a step backwards and it will take a huge effort to become an actual number 2. Or do you think this is just TNA prolonging their inevitable demise?

INDY PROMOTER & ANNOUNCER Brad Stutts (Follow @cwfmidatlantic and @stuttsy and listen to his podcast at www.WrestlingWithOptimism) answers: I dunno, seems like moving to Fridays (typically kind of a dead night in television) on a much smaller network will make things kinda difficult.

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: If they do not change, they are just prolonging their eventual demise.

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.) As a company, it has had too many chances, been given too many opportunities, and has lost the goodwill of most wrestling fans. I urge you to look to ROH, NXT, New Japan, or your local independent wrestling to fill the void WWE doesn't.

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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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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.