Q&A session about WWE

Roddy Piper beat Hulk Hogan by applying the sleeper hold

When was the last time a match was won/ended with a sleeper hold?

The last time it happened in a high profile match was when Roddy Piper beat Hulk Hogan with a sleeper at WCW Starrcade 1996. But after looking into it, I’m reminded that Dolph Ziggler did a backpack version of it recently, and won matches on Smackdown in that way.

What happened to Andy Leaving, the guy who won Tough Enough. Is he still with WWE?

Andy Leavine got released from his development contract in April 2012 and now works for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, where’s he’s one half of the tag team champions. He needed seasoning badly, and he wasn’t going to get it in WWE, so him working internationally is a great opportunity for him, and you’ll no doubt hear his name again in the future.

For months Evan Bourne has been tweeting that he will “Be back soon”. Since he has been suspended a couple times for failing “wellness testing”, do you think it is possible that WWE is holding him out till his contract expires so they can release him?

I wouldn’t think so. The nature of the injury he suffered has made it so that getting him back up to 100% has been a challenge. He’s appeared at NXT a few times recently, but WWE officials have said that they don’t feel that he’s back up to full speed. But once he is fully fit, you’ll see him back on your television screen.

Wrestlers do not have provided insurance, or no insurance at all. With Obama Care coming, how will the WWE handle that with superstars?

WWE doesn’t have to do anything. WWE won’t do anything. Wrestlers are not employed. The only Superstar I know they will have to do something for is Triple H because he’s employed by the office. Wrestlers will have to provide themselves with coverage purchased on the individual market unless they can prove it is not affordable to them because the premiums would be more than 8% of their household income. That probably won’t apply for WWE employees, but I can certainly see it counting for TNA‘s undercard and professional independent wrestlers, and retired wrestlers.

But whereas before insurance coverage was too expensive for independent wrestlers due to their preexisting conditions, on 1/1/14, anyone with preexisting conditions, (old injuries, etc) will be able to get affordable insurance without those conditions being factored into the cost of their healthcare. Unfortunately, that means premiums are likely to increase for everyone for a few years. Analysts believe that premiums will go up for a few years, but they also believe that premiums will go down after a few years as we transform into a more universal system.

Just getting rid of the pre-existing condition clause is an amazing thing for professional wrestlers.

Have you ever heard of Territory League run by Rikishi?

Territory League is a really interesting new promotion/concept that is run by Rikishi. The idea behind it is complex and there are a number of rules that I won’t go into, but the basic idea seems to be that teams from various cities, comprised of different divisions, (heavyweight, tag team, luchador, and crusierweight) compete for city supremacy. The idea seems to be to have a promotion to sort of recreate the territory feuds of yesteryear. Specific information on shows is kind of scarce right now, but here’s Gangrel describing it in a recent interview with 411mania.com:

“”We’ve taken it so that wrestling is no longer an individual deal, you know, wrestler on wrestler. We have eight or nine teams, I’m on the LA Templars, and there’s four teams going into this Final. You have a Heavyweight, a Cruiser, a Lucha and a tag team. So these five members, whoever is battling that day, will come to the ring as a team and go from the ring to the crowd, where there are cages, like MMA cages, which is your locker room, much like a hockey bench or a dugout. Then each wrestler will come out and win or lose for his team, and the team with the most wins that night, gets the win…and will go on to battle for the Rodney Anoa’i Cup, and one will leave as champion that night.”