ASK-A-WAI: Questions Thread

I myself have always had the thought in the back of my mind of starting a wrestling promotion, and have always believed that, being in Australia, there’s a niche market there that could make a significant change in the Australian scene. My question for you guys is do you think creating a US-based promotion in 2019 is a bad financial move, if the goal is to grow to a semi-notable size and not stay as a small-time, loval federation?

Is FITE.TV the YouTube of the wrestling world? It seems as if it’s getting weekly TV and PPVs from nearly all the major wrestling promotions outside of WWE and TNA. Honestly seems as if they have the monopoly on it, and that it is a better route than creating a single-promotion streaming service (as point I remember John making a while ago).

1 Like

I have noticed Wai and I have a similar interest in music when we were younger. Wai, what is your favourite Weezer song and why? Have you heard their cover version of scrubs by TLC? Also, what was your best live music experience?

John, hi! I don’t have much history with Aqua. Thanks guys!

Brandon from Ottawa

Hey guys! Long time supporter, first time question… asker.

I’ll be making the trek down to Toronto for SummerSlam weekend this year. I believe Davie and Braden talked about an NXT Takeover pre show party but do you have any plans for a live podcast or meetup? Or will you both be attending the proposed upNXT tailgate?

1 Like

Jesse from the 6

NOTE- I wrote this question BEFORE Pedro Morales died. Feel free to skip it if you feel you’ve already covered this topic or if you find it insensitive.

What do you think is Pedro Morales’s place in wrestling history?

He was the WWWF Champion for nearly three years, yet his reign is often cited (when it’s cited at all) as not very successful in a business sense when compared to Bruno Sammartino’s two reigns. This is often followed with the explanation that the Puerto Rican demographic was not as strong in the Northeast as the Italian-American demo.

During the wrestling boom of the 1980’s, Morales was back with the WWF, but unlike Bruno and Billy Graham he was not portrayed as a seldom-wrestling legend. Nor did he disappear from the business as did Bob Backlund. Morales was just there; essentially used as enhancement talent, losing to cheating heels on Saturday Night’s Main Event or WWF Championship Wrestling and Gorilla would casually mention his previous title reign.

It always struck me as odd. Why was Morales never portrayed as a legend? To this day he seems largely forgotten.

Take Care

Should AEW try to sign underutilized and potentially disgruntled WWE mid-card wrestlers (Dolph Ziggler is the example the comes to mind, but there are plenty more) in the hopes of getting the attention of the more casual fan? Or should AEW be only focusing on signing talent that has not yet been exposed to the casual WWE fan, in the hopes of presenting a completely different product to the WWE? I think a bit of a mix is ideal, but I am not sure if getting into a bidding war with WWE on mid-card talent is a good strategy.

Sartorialism from England

Hi John & Wai, apologies for the slightly morbid question but i noticed after Gene Okerlund died at the beginning of the year John had a detailed obituary up very shortly after the news broke (if i recall correctly).

Like major publications do you have obituaries for significant figures pre-written and dedicate time to keep them updated or do you put them together as and when? If they’re pre-written, who is the youngest or perhaps most surprising person you have an obituary for?

Thanks

Do you guys have any interesting Post Wrestling stories that we have never heard before? Original ideas that never came to fruition for example? Additionally; when you two had initially thought about leaving TFN to start Post Wrestling, was the idea to have it is it is now, producing several podcast episodes a week as your entire content strategy? Or were there other ideas that were kicked around that were different to what we see today?

Ari from montreal
Is tyron woodley the most underrated champion in ufc history? I feel like he gets no love yet he has been very consistent with his performences and i feel like he gets no real recognition.

1 Like

How do you rate AJ Styles’ WWE tenure thus far? He’s had lengthy title reigns and standout matches with Cena, Lesnar and Reigns, but has had underwhelming feuds and matches with Owens, Nakamura, Ambrose, Joe and now Bryan.
What does it also say that his best matches have been with guys associated with the ‘WWE style’, and not the indie and Japanese talent you’d traditionally associate with a more exciting in ring style.

1 Like

Are you guys going to Vegas for Double or Nothing? If so, are you doing any sort of live podcast?

Imran from Huddersfield

Do you think there’s any merit in having a complete underdog win the Rumble one year? Not just for the surprise value, but as a way to move someone up to main event level - say someone like a NxT call up (Aleister Black), or a mid carder that could be elevated (like Big E). Obviously the idea should be that you’re already over or on the brisk of main event level before winning it - but with two titles around I do think the Rumble could be used as the tool to start someone’s push, plus it would add to the idea that anyone could actually win the Rumble, as opposed to three or four proper contenders every year.

If the Dean Ambrose stuff is indeed on the up-and-up and he’s legitimately leaving at the end of April, A) where do you see him going? and B) where do you see him as the best fit?

I find that many hardcore fans and reviewers seem to have a distaste for him (and clearly he didn’t like his direction either), but it’s hard to deny that he had a very deep crowd connection up until this botched heel turn; I mention this because, even if he is not the in-ring worker that some of the top players are today, it would be short-sighted to deny the probable value he brings to any other promotion. The most obvious link to make would be that he is contractually free just in time for Double or Nothing, but I don’t know who he fits against. Conversely, I could see him as a perfect fit as the top guy in Impact, as they don’t really seem to have one right now and he really excels in regards to the character aspect, which is where Impact seems focused; with that said, and I say this as a fan, is Impact really the place for anyone with buzz to appear right now? Regardless, I wonder where you see him going if you consider where he gets the most money, where he draws the most eyes, and where he has the best programs and matches.

Ari from montreal
Do you think there should be more factions in wwe? Just look at undisputed era or in njpw with their factions and tht success including merch sales

In your estimation what is WWE’s motivation behind seemingly throwing out classic rules like time limits and in-ring 10-counts? It seems silly to me to squander such useful storytelling tools.

My thought is laziness, but I’d like to think there’s a better reason.

How do you now feel watching and reviewing Chris Benoit matches?

Has the passing of time and quantity you have watched, made it easier since the early episodes of review a wai?

Any advice for those who want to create podcast and entertainment for the internet who haven’t yet started or are yet to crack through the glass ceiling?

1 Like

Hey guys,

Do you know how many buys Impact PPVs have been doing lately or how much money they are making from them? I cant imagine the buy rates are very high at this point.

Do you think given the way the business is going, it is wiser for them to offer the PPVs on the GWN even at a premium tier at like 10 or 11 dollars per month instead of PPVs in order to build their audience and the GWN over the long term? Even ROH offers their PPVs on Honor Club if you sign up for the Premium VIP for $120 per year. Impact’s strategy seems strange given the existence of GWN.

Thanks!

Chris, from Queensland Australia.

  1. Were you two, or any former member of the LAW, offered a job at Impact Wrestling in any capacity either while employed under a sub-branch of Anthem (the Fight Network) or after the end of the LAW?

  2. I know watching Wrestling is now your full time job but is there any wrestling / wrestling related shows that you watch in your free time that you don’t talk about on the shows? (Recently I watched an episode of “Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” from 1999 where he visits WCW Monday Nitro & the WCW Power Plant, have you ever seen this?)

There was an old Review A Wai for that show, you can find it here: https://media.reviewawai4.life/0090%20Weird%20Weekend.mp3

2 Likes