Rajah.com Mailbag - Edition #77

If you have a wrestling or site related question you would like answered, you can send it in to the Mailbag by clicking HERE (please select the "Mailbag" drop-down).


From: Aaron

First, I want to say I am a longtime fan of your site (since 2006). Secondly,
I would like to point out that on the list of WWF/WWE Champions and the
different nationalities, Bret Hart seemed to be excluded from this list.
Another one that came to mind was Chris Jericho but, he was actually born in
New York during his father's stint as a Ranger hence, giving him dual
citizenship between Canada and the US. Was Bret Hart left off of this list
for a reason? Thanks for any insight, folks!

Cewsh: Well, as I understood that dude's question, he was asking how many DIFFERENT nationalities had won the WWE title. And since Ivan Koloff was the first Canadian champion, I listed him for that country. Several Canadians have won the title at various times, including Jericho, Hart, and Edge.


From: Adam Craner

As i write this i am currently watching the Rock/Austin match from WM17,
Austin just applied the Million Dollar Dream and it led me to thinking, when
was the last time a match was won/ended with a sleeper hold? Not a submission
(STFU, Anaconda, Sharpshooter etc) but a bonafide genuine sleeper hold where
the arm fails to stay up after the third try..its a move thats considered to
be genuinely dangerous if applied right but nowadays, its merely a filler..so
yeh, my question is that.

On a side note, i love Rajah, read it everyday and use it as my number 1 for
rumours, results and inside info!

Also, i'm a 'smartmark' and a fan of Punk & Ziggler - the actual bread and
butter of 'wrestling' right now.

Cewsh: Well, off the top of my head, 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. Beyond that, you'd have to go to people working old school gimmicks on the independent scene for the most part.


From: Phlavin

What ever happened to that guy who won Tough Enough, Andy? I haven't even
heard of him being in developmental. Is he still with WWE?

Cewsh: 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.


From: Jaden

I was watching Impact on Thursday ,and Jeff Hardy started chasing Bully Ray.
He fell down on the ramp and a ref had to escort him to the backstage. I was
wondering did Jeff get hurt like Triple H did in 2001 or was it part of the
storyline?

Cewsh: It appears that Jeff suffered a legitimate hip injury during his match on Impact, but that he will be fine going forward.


From: Wendy

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 til his contract expires so
they can release him?

Cewsh: 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 his is getting there, and once he is, you'll see him back on your television screen.

Besides, if WWE wanted him gone, he'd be gone.


From: Noah

Hey guys, big fan, long time reader, etc. My question is for anyone who wants
to answer but more directed at Cewsh. Multi-parter:

1. Knowing your fandom towards the (great) one they call Shinsuke Nakamura,
how do you think he'd fair in a major American promotion? Obviously the
language barrier would be an issue, but do you think a set of circumstances
could present itself to where Nakamura could have a successful run in WWE,
TNa, etc? If so, how would you like to see it done?

2. What other Native Japanese wrestlers do you think could do good business
in the US?

3. Do you think a promotion like DDT, or a westernized version of it, could
be successful in a US/European market?

4. If you could book a WWE/NJPW supercard, what would be your three "big
money" matches? And would you go directly for the Cena/Tanahashi bout?

Thanks in advance for answering, all the hard work, and hilarious screen
caps!

Cewsh: Firstly, thanks for the love, amigo. It bring a little tear to my eye to get my first mailbag question directed specifically at me from someone not named “Anti Cewsh Army”. This is also a great batch of questions for Japanese Wrestling fans, so let's dig into it.

1. I think that of all of the major Japanese wrestlers of the moment, Shinsuke Nakamura is the one who would easiest be able to adapt to new styles. He's proven himself extremely capable at wrestling luchadors, brawlers and just about everything else. And his extreme eccentric character would play great in WWE, where the language barrier would present a problem to any foreign performer not doing such a clear cut gimmick.

2. Basically, I had to place money on anyone from New Japan making it in WWE, it would be Okada first and Nakamura a close second. Other Japanese guys who could make it in the US, but not necessarily WWE, are Kota Ibushi, KENTA, (who has already proven it in ROH,) Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, SUWAMA and Tetsuya Naito.

3. I think that DDT is maybe a little too Japanese to work in America, because the things they ffind quirky and irreverent are things that many Americans would find just plain weird. But I think that Chikara is a spiritual sibling to DDT at the very least.

4. Oh man, my dream WWE vs. New Japan card? You don't realize how long I poured over making this card for one throwaway question. But if it happened, I would have to stop watching wrestling, because nothing could follow it.

John Cena vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
CM Punk vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Brock Lesnar vs. Yuji Nagata
Randy Orton vs. Katsuchika Okada
Sheamus vs. Togi Makabe
Dolph Ziggler vs. Tetsuya Naito
Daniel Bryan and Kane vs. Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan
Chris Jericho vs. Prince Devitt
Big Show, Brodus Clay, Tensai and Big E Langston vs. Bob Sapp, Akebono, Manabu Nakanishi and Strong Man

MAKE THIS HAPPEN DAMMIT


From: Cody

Just want to say i love the site, first time question asker to the mail bag,
my question has to do with Obama care. I have been under the understanding
that wrestlers do not have provided insurance, or no insurance at all, with
Obama Care coming, how will the WWE handle that with superstars?

Cewsh: For this question, I consulted a medical biller with 7 years experience who has had experience preparing for the Affordable Care Act.

“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 preexisting condition clause is an amazing thing for professional wrestlers.”


From: Whitmey

Why is John cena the biggest star in wwe company?

Cewsh: Witchcraft. Also, have you seen his abs?


From: John

Have you ever heard of Territory League? I believe its ran by Rikishi

Cewsh: 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,) that compete for city supremacy. The idea seems to be tho 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."

Read more at http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/230628#LJzpxS63t3Z4viuM.99


From: Jason Durocher

I think I remember reading in the past that your site is based out of Calgary, Alberta. Is this true because I think it's really cool that someone from the same city as me is running the best wrestling site on the internet!

Rajah: This is going to be extremely painful for you to hear, but rajah.com is not based out of Calgary. In fact, it's based out of St. Albert, Alberta, Canada which is pretty much Edmonton.


If you have a wrestling or site related question you would like answered, you can send it in to the Mailbag by clicking HERE (please select the "Mailbag" drop-down).