ASK-A-WAI: Questions Thread

Jake from The Windy City here:

Lately, I went back and watched your POST Production video analyzing the Hollywood Reporter’s very-detailed report on the Smackdown negotiations between FOX and WWE back in June 2018 and you guys brought up Ronda Rousey being served as an icebreaker for the deal being finalized and she is the most important piece of this roster to achieve that higher level. Do you think Fox is disappointed in Ronda under-delivering in WWE and basically disappearing months before the Fox run started as they were hoping she would have a match on their network? Is Fox at all concerned about WWE not delivering on certain promises to them and could it affect the value of their negotiations in a few years?

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The Cure, The Smiths, Joy Division

Rank em.

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What’s good dweebs it is I Brandon feels like forever since we spoke and for that I’m excited to hear your thoughts on some items I may need to ask you.

-John what was your fav MMA fighter/gear that came out in the early 2000’s silverstar,affliction,that aka clothing line that got Cain Velazquez fired for a day

-the way yourself and Wai romanticized Okata’s run in the g-1 is it possible we could get a harlequin style post wrestling shirt with yourself and Wai? Big Rob Pierson get on it

-also a wh La Parka post Perez style shirt with his catch phrases like “fuck this company” etc

-jeff Hardy run in aew has been meh and he clearly has a death wish so why does he continue to dress like its 2004 with his affliction jeans he got at Buckle?

I’ll hang up and listen

Brandon Frm NJ

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Everyone is talking about how Wrestlemania will look this year but my real concern is the Rumble. With an event so dependant on crowd reaction to the entrances, do you think the Thunderdome can pump in enough fake crowd noise to feel close to a real Rumble? I have noticed that over the past two week WWE has been emphasizing superstar specific crowd chants. This helps but will it be enough?
Warren

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Brandon from Oshawa

Do you guys remember your dreams? Did you have any recurring ones as kids, that you still remember today?

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Has there ever been a WM match that didn’t go the way you thought it would go and made you ask yourselves “What if…”?

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Hey guys

I recently got engaged and have started planning my wedding with my Fiancé. We just booked our venue and set our date, but the rest is yet to come. With John being married already and Wai being engaged, do either of you guys have any advice/Interesting stories regarding your experience planning your wedding?

Appreciate all the work guys

  • Luke
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Jordan from Kitchener,

Hey guys

This might be an easy one to answer, but how have been doing during thispandemic? Have you guys experience highs and lows? This is coming from a mental health aspect. Continue the great work guys and all the best.

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Jesse à MTL

Wai, you said you thought Ibushi-SANADA was just OK.
John, you said you thought it was great. So, John, can you please tell me what Ibushi-SANADA did that you hadn’t seen literally 50 times before this month alone?

Maybe it was the reduced crowd participation but this G1 left me feeling cold. Most of the matches were good and plenty were even very good. But so what? I think the only one I’ll remember is the 158 Match. So what was the point of the other 90 matches?

Maybe I’m getting too philosophical, but if you still have the time and energy at this point in the show, could you muse on why pro wrestling seems so resistant to change? Why don’t we see wrestlers–including ZSJ–actually apply the Six Second Billy Robinson Rule? Why are 95% of all submission holds heat-less rest spots? And why are the matches so darn long? Naito breaking the time record this year seems like trolling more than anything else. Is this really what fans want? Or is it self-indulgent of the wrestlers at this point?

Take Care

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Brian from New Jersey

I had posted a very silly question here previously, but I came up with a far better, more sensible one.

Recently, a group of friends and I began discussing and sharing wrestling music videos. Either genuine music videos for original songs with the wrestlers (such as Piledriver and Jive Soul Bro) or highlight reels and brief location shots edited together with an existing song, mostly done to showcase a specific star or tag team (a lot of these were done with the Fabulous Ones). The former seemed prevalent in WWE and WCW (and have begun reappearing with the Miz & Morrison videos, and yes, Freebird Road about ten years ago), while the latter seemed to be done a lot for the smaller territories. Wrestle Rock Rumble also came into discussion. So, do you have any favorite wrestling music videos that come to mind?

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Imran from Huddersfield

Reposting at Wai’s request!

How much value do you place in impartiality in reporting/journalism? How do you feel about getting news from left/right leaning sources, and how much importance do you place in not showing bias in your own work? Obviously there will be some inherent bias as you’re largely stating your personal opinions on things, but how good do you think you are at being able to judge wrestlers/matches fairly even if you don’t particularly enjoy the participants involved? (for what its worth, I’d say you’re both very fair!)

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Branavan from Ajax

Howdy John and Wai, why do you guys think that some in wrestling fandom have such a fixation (for lack of a better word) with wrestling having a sports esq presentation when they could, you know, watch a real sport?
By the way I have no issue with sprinklings of this philosophy but considering that wrestling gets made fun of for being fake, why would a fake sport appeal to non wrestling fans anymore than the current way wrestling is, not accounting for quality of characters and angles.

Thanks for all the great podcasts, writeups and impressions.

What was a worse storyline? Retribution or Aces & Eights?

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Hi guys,

As a fan that doesn’t watch the WWE product outside of catching a youtube clip on something that sounds interesting from the podcast - I have a question.

Is it possible that Jeff Hardy’s ‘Terri nooooo’ personality left his body and jumped into Domenic Mysterio’s body for this Murphy fued? John’s impersonation of both sounds the same and is my soul basis for the thought. :wink:

Love your work as always gentlemen.

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Can I ask which of your shows is the most popular? Is Rewind a Dynamite as popular as Rewind a Raw? And do you tend to see more downloads/listens of say a Raw review if it’s been an awful show or a good show?

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I know there has been a lot of discussion regarding the third party sites and employees, but one thing that I haven’t heard much discussion over one aspect that I was hoping to get your opinion on… from my understanding, if a wrestler wanted to still use some of these platforms, if they give over control to the wwe, they still are potentially able to, however any profit would go towards their downside. So they aren’t even going to make more money if they participate… what incentive does any wrestler have to spend a second of their own time on these sites if ultimately the only one making any money is the company?

Hey John and Wai, I’m curious how you guys and Brother Nate became podcast pals. I’ve been listening to you guys since 2012 and remember you guys used to host Review an Impact, but was that your first co-hosting job, and how did it come about?

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Rob from Saskatoon

Will there ever be a Wingmen reunion podcast? What was your favorite Wingmen memory? Which of the Wingmen do you still keep in touch with?

Hi Guys,

I’m wondering about your thoughts on Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

While I don’t think he was ever going to put on a 5 star classic, watching old shows on the network he is absolutely one of the most over guys on the roster. When he attacks heels with the 2x4 the crowd goes absolutely bananas.

Do you think with the current standards for in ring performance, could a guy like Duggan still be a success? Is there anyone in the current scene that you think could really run with a Duggan style of gimmick?

Thanks

Steven from Toronto - I was just wondering if you guys believe Awesome Kong will be making a return to AEW now that GLOW has been cancelled? Where does she fit in now on the show, if at all? Since Brandy has swapped gimmicks twice since Kongs departure, could we see a nightmare collective reunion? Everyone loves a reunion :joy: