ring of honor/the rock

Question
QUESTION: Is ring of honor just a wrestling company for young talent to develope and get experience to make to the next level either like tna or wwe or are they tryin to make in the main stream media like tna is doing.

Why do u think the rock is interested in coming back to the wwe since he has just seperated himself from the company and saying his not coming back to the wwe and not using the rock name and just using dwayne johnson its like he pulled a 180 on me and the wrestling fans

ANSWER: Hi Devoreaux.  Thanks for the question.

1.  I don't think they are necessarily looking to compete with WWE or TNA, but they have been trying to expand, and they seem to be getting more popular.  

They problem they have is just like a lot of other smaller promotions, in that once a wrestler gets really good and catches the eye of WWE or TNA, they just can't afford to keep them anymore.  They aren't able to compete financially with WWE or TNA.  Basically, they aren't developing the wrestlers for WWE or TNA.  They would keep them if they could afford to.

2.  I think when the Rock left WWE for Hollywood and started using his real name, it was just so people would hopefully take him more seriously.  There's been quite a few wrestlers who have tried their hand at acting, and not many of them have been really successful.  I think it's possible he was trying to separate his wrestling career from his acting career.  When most people hear the name The Rock, they think of the wrestler.  By using his real name for movies, he's hoping they associate that with acting, not with wrestling.

I don't think he ever lost his passion for the wrestling business, and I don't think he ever closed the door at coming back at some point, but I think he just wanted to concentrate on acting and not worry about wrestling.  He's always going to have wrestling to fall back one, but by staying away, he's shown a lot of people in Hollywood that he can serious as an actor.

The timing just might be right for him to come back, although it remains to be seen what capacity it will be in.  I honestly can't see him wrestling at this point, because even for a one time match type of deal, he would have to work extremely hard to get into wrestling shape.  I don't know if it's worth it for just one match.  

Thanks again for the question.  Let me know if you have anything else.

Have a great day!

Dave





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I was reading something about the worst invesments made by a business person and vince mcmachon was on that list for the xfl now what cause the xfl to failwhat it the football itself because when it came out people watched it I know people who tried out for it so what was the postives about and what was the negatives

Answer
People may have watched the XFL, but not enough of them.  The ratings for the first week on NBC were pretty good, but they were half of that the second week, and they never got any better. In fact, at the time, one of the games received the lowest rating ever for any show broadcast on network TV. Since the ratings were so low, NBC elected not to carry a 2nd season of the XFL.  

Another issue with NBC was the length of some of the games.  Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live, was upset that some of the games would run long, which would push back the start of his show.  The one instance that really angered him was the night Jennifer Lopez was hosting the show.  One game went into overtime and pushed back the start of the show across the country by about 45 minutes.

Also, a lot of fans didn't take the games seriously, and all most of the media did was make fun of the league.  There were a lot of quirky rules, and the fact that Vince McMahon was involved with it didn't help any.  There were fans who thought the games were scripted to a point, just like pro wrestling.  

There were a couple of positives.  A lot of the camera angles that were used were unique, and are used today in the NFL and other sports.  Also, the XFL had interviews with coaches during the game, which the NHL and MLB do today.

Thanks again for the question.  Let me know if you have anything else.

Have a great day!

Dave