SEScoops Mailbag: WWE Discriminating Against Black Wrestlers?

SEScoops Mailbag for September 23rd

(submit YOUR questions to sescoops@gmail.com)

Q: Whose idea was it to get Kane to take his mask off? Was it legitimately Eric Bischoff’s idea? – Fabian

A: No, Eric Bischoff did not have any say in the creative direction of WWE while he worked there. It was Vince McMahon’s call to unmask Kane.

Q: Do you think WWE will continue pushing the same people or will they eventually see that they have other talented wrestlers like Matt Hardy, Christian, R-Truth, John Morrison and so on? – Joseph

A: The only place they’re pushing Matt Hardy is out the door at this point. Christian is most definitely underutilized by the company. R-Truth is exactly where he should be right now. Morrison appears to be getting a push with two, consecutive clean pinfall wins over Chris Jericho and a competitive showing with the WWE champion a few weeks back. In addition, they’re trying hard to get Alberto Del Rio over on Smackdown and have at least tried to get Nexus over (though they’ve cooled off quite a bit). Yes, they’re still pushing many of the same tired faces, but you can’t say they’re not trying to get some of those younger, newer faces over.

Q: Can you tell me who wrestled as Leatherface in the IWA King of the Deathmatch against Terry Funk? Also, I vaguely remember an early TNA masked wrestler called Mr. X and can’t find anything on him either. – Jolietjonblues

A: The original Leatherface character was played by the former Corporal Kirchner of WWF fame. He created the character (which borrowed the name of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie villain) and used it in Japan for years before going to jail. At that point, the character was given to Rick Patterson who used it for his match with Funk in 1995. As for Mr. X, I cannot remember this. Perhaps someone can shed some more light on this in the comments section below.

Q: Is Mike Tenay still paranoid about his job now that Jim Ross has re-signed with WWE? – Lenny

A: He should be after CM Punk’s performance on NXT this week.

Q: The TNA Knockout Tag team Championships have certainly lost their luster since the early part of this year. Do you think TNA should retire the belts or do you think they might be able to rejuvenate the Knockouts tag division? – madslam2009

A: They never should have created Tag belts for the Knockouts division in the first place. Why do you need them? Were there really THAT many talented female performers featured on Impact each week? A singles title is enough. It’s like promotions of old that used to have a set of belts that were defended during 6-man tag bouts. At that time, it may have been a fine idea, but it just doesn’t work in 2010. Less is more.

Q: Is Dwayne Johnson still going to return this year and do something with WWE? He didn’t get to host Raw as a special guest. And how come WWE doesn’t film live Raw and Smackdown in Australia when they do in other countries like England? – Elizabeth

A: Nobody knows for sure except Rock whether or not he is going to come back. He has said he would love to guest host and had intended to do something this summer, but his film schedule got in the way. He has even more projects lined up now. As for Raw and Smackdown airing live down under, it’s an issue of cost and the time zone difference.

Q: What’s happened to MVP the past year or so? I saw this guy being a potential main eventer, but now he’s wrestling guys like Luke Gallows on Superstars. Have I missed something? – Mark

A: He’s been in and out of the doghouse numerous times now, going back to an “incident” backstage where he got a bit testy with a drug tester. As the story goes, he was asked to pee in a cup and remarked to the person, “So you went to college to grow up and do THIS?” The moral of the story is in WWE, keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told.

Q: When is WWE coming to san diego my name is ken I always wanted be a wrestler if i made it i call myself vocano.

A: Good luck with that.

Q: I just want to know why does WWE slap an “Urban/Hip Hop” gimmick on every black wrestler (MVP, R-Truth, JTG, etc.) with the exception of Shad and Ezekiel? Do they do it to try to appeal to the black crowd or is that how they feel? Also, when will Kofi main event on Smackdown? – Chris

A: You just mentioned Kofi’s name and last I checked, he was pretty black and did not have such a gimmick. Neither did Shelton Benjamin. However, your point is a valid one. Keep in mind, this is the same company that is responsible for The Slickster, Akeem the African Dream, and Saba Simba. Their taste is questionable at best. As for Kofi in the main event, since they cut his legs off during the feud with Randy Orton, he’s never fully recovered the momentum he had. Unless he can find a way to recapture that, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

Q: Since WWE is now accepting that smaller talent such as Daniel Bryan and Evan Bourne can be big draws, is there any reason why WWE hasn’t looked at former TNA X-Division champion Petey Williams, or even Christopher Daniels? – Nate O.

A: First of all, I don’t think WWE has accepted that Evan Bourne can be a “big” draw. In spite of the great reactions he continues to get, they still squash him at every opportunity. The fact is, John Cena went to bat for him with Vince and as a result, Evan got a nice push there for a while. With Bryan, there were people backstage who went to bat for him. In WWE, you need allies to put in a good word for you backstage. Otherwise, someone with the size of Petey Williams is not likely to get a second look. As for Chris Daniels, from what I understand, there are people backstage who don’t like him for one reason or another. Their loss is Ring of Honor’s gain.

Q: Where are John Cena’s balls? He seems to have lost them. Does Vince have them or did he take Cena’s balls and give them to Linda? Would somebody please ask Linda for John Cena’s balls? – Andrew

A: Oh, how I hope this question comes up during Linda’s debate with Richard Blumenthal.

Keep those questions coming to sescoops@gmail.com and remember to include your name!