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-------------------- Busy weeks for me personally and professionally, as you may have read... Thus, I haven't had time to get to your questions in ASK TITO lately. I apologize on behalf of MRTITO.com, as we should provide better customer service... By the way, for those asking, I usually take a mixture of Twitter, LoPForums.com, and E-Mail questions to generate this column. Goes to show you that I have loyal, longtime followers many of whom actually came back to LoP because I started writing again by the heavy e-mail volume that I still get. Hey, us old timers in our early 30's don't stare at a Smartphone all day long... On to your questions... --------------------------- What if Linda McMahon actually becomes a United States Senator in 2012? Would that change the WWE for the better or worse? For one, I'm not seeing a chance that Linda McMahon even wins the GOP Primaries this time, provided her 2010 humiliating loss when the GOP dominated in may other areas that year, and also for an experienced Connecticut politician running against her in Christopher Shays. Thus, I could save my fingers to type about the next question. BUT - Let's just say Linda wins the GOP Primaries and somehow wins... In my opinion, it could only get worse for the WWE. I think by having her in the Senate, if she votes in any way that favors the WWE or the lobbyist the WWE is paying to lean on Congress, it's bad publicity for the WWE and probably squashes a second term for Linda. WWE already has a ton of influence by the amount of donations given to politicians and money given to lobbyist to protect the Entertainment industry from additional regulations and also to fend off Athetlic Commissions. I think Linda running for Senate is a personal goal of hers and Vince McMahon has to let her do it because of all of the WWF/WWE grief he made her endure. That, and Vince hasn't been the most loving husband for much of his life, although he's changed his ways for the past decade or so. In my opinion, it does nothing to help the WWE because it already commands a decent influence on politicians everywhere. Money has proven to be a better representative than a human being sent somewhere to vote. --------------------------- Do you think that Eric Bischoff describing Bret Hart as "damaged" was something to cover Bret's misuse in WCW? First and foremost, Eric Bischoff is always in "cover my ass" mode, while always trying to place blame for his problems on other factors. He won't fully admit to terrible booking decisions made after Starrcade 1997, as of course that would be blaming Hulk Hogan directly. Bischoff will never say a bad word about Hogan, ever, even though Bischoff's successes have lived and died with Hogan. BUT he does have a point... The wrestling business was beginning pass Bret Hart by and in my opinion, the WWE used Bret perfectly in 1997 by turning him heel and having the Hart Foundation as a heel stable. It was a move, that in my opinion, blunted the downward spiral of the WWE that year. Without those creative ideas changing Bret's character to a heel, I don't know how well Bret would have done in 1997. He was incredibly pivotal in putting over Steve Austin with that character and also directly challenging Vince McMahon at the announcer's booth. Bret got screwed HARD at Survivor Series and due to him being unable to debut immediately with WCW, the WWF and Vince McMahon controlled the message and started convincing fans that "Bret Screwed Bret". By the time Bret did debut in WCW, he was damaged goods because the WWE smeared him and made fans believe that the WWF had to strip him of the title. However, it was up to the WCW minds at the time to use Bret Hart properly and they didn't throughout 1998. I actually thought that Vince Russo used Bret well during late 1999 and could have revamped Bret's career for 2000... Then, Starrcade 1999 happened when Bret was dropped on his head for the Figure 4 around the ringpost and then the "kick heard around the world" from Bill Goldberg. Bret could have had a great 2000 and it may have saved Vince Russo's job from being demoted the first time. ---------------------------- Do you think Facebook is wise for going public? Would you buy any of its stock? For the primary owners of Facebook are the "wise" ones going public... They'll own big chunks of the stock beforehand and once investors start buying Facebook stock, it will drive the value of their stocks upward. The McMahons made an absolute killing when the WWE went public and their net wealth has each ballooned since the public stock offering. For a company and it's primary owners, it's a wise decision if you can pull it off. Not only do the original owners and Executives elected (CEO, CFO, etc.) and Board Members get incredibly rich, but stocks allow for any company to raise Equity to use towards Assets on the other side of their balance sheet. It's a nice 3rd option to have for a company behind revenue driven from sales and also helps to be less reliant on borrowings. Would I buy Facebook stock? HELL NO. For one, it's going to be overpriced. I expect the Facebook stock to push well over $100.00 per share, if not maybe challenging how overpriced Google is (currently at $596 per share). I like getting more bang for my buck when I buy stocks, as I obsess with the principle of "buying low, selling high" or "buying low and enjoy dividends as a long". But I don't like Technology companies... Too inflated based on not telling tangible goods or services and I expect the Price to Earnings Ratio to be way inflated on this company. The owners of Facebook, however, are going to become incredibly wealthy once the public offering begins and I figure a few good years will come from the stock. But secondly why I don't think the stock is a good long-term investment. I believe that Facebook has "peaked". Reportedly, Facebook's users are growing but at a slower pace than previous years. I think that Twitter and Google+ will eat into Facebook with time, along with whatever else gets invented. Plus, I believe Facebook will get exposed on Privacy issues for what they're REALLY doing with your pictures and information. --------------------------- Will there be a wrestler currently with the WWE who will win either the WWE title or World Heavyweight Title this year that has never won one before not named Dolph Ziggler? Absolutely. The WWE believes that World Titles get people over, not actual creative booking. Chances are that Cody Rhodes will get a push on the Smackdown roster and win the World Heavyweight Title this year, while Wade Barrett is another candidate. I wouldn't doubt that the WWE changes course with Brodus Clay and pushes him as a serious candidate for the title. Just look who they've rushed to a World Title over the years and that's all you need to know. Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger, Sheamus, etc... WWE has no care or concern for their World Titles these days and in my opinion, lower Pay Per View buyrates are proving that. ----------------------------- And lastly, and I'm getting many of these questions this week... Do you have any problems with writers from other sites or even LoP? First of all, I don't like to air out dirty laundry. Some of you noticed that I had a little spat with LoP's Hustle this week. On my end, there's nothing personal with Hustle. Unless I said something to him years ago on LoPForums.com message board posts or if he disliked me spanking his Fantasy Baseball team in the LoP League, I have no real issue with the guy. He does his columns and I write mine. Since my return to LoP to writing wrestling content again in early 2010, I've tried to be "out of the way" by posting exclusively in the LoPForums.com Blogs Forum or now with MRTITO.com. That way he, along with the other LoP writers, could operate as usual on LordsofPain.net while I did my thing elsewhere. Once Calvin Martin (owner & operator of LoP) linked the Blogs Forum to LordsofPain.net, however, my popularity as a pro wrestling writer surged again. 2011 was a very successful year for my wrestling blog entries and I believe that became a competitive threat to other LoP Columnists. When the "Summer of Punk" stuff hit, a lot of attention came my way and it irritated other other columnists. I think with Hustle, whom I believe I didn't have any problems with from the past, saw someone challenging his throne at LoP and then beginning to sit in it... He just started badmouthing me on his little audio show, taking personal shots at me in columns and on Twitter, and even helping to spam the Blogs Forum with his LoPForums.com clique (who are also on his audio show). Some can't take the heat of competition, so they naturally fight back. Honestly, I have nothing personal against Hustle, and I can forgive anyone once they apologize for something they've said or did. It would be to LoP's benefit to work together instead of against each other, although many of you enjoy that we're feuding. All I'm going to say on Hustle, and now all of you can STOP ASKING ME about our little "feud". Thus, enjoy his work on LordsofPain.net and enjoy mine at MRTITO.com. As for others, I have no real issue with anyone OUTSIDE of LoP. Sure, I used to mock a news writer named Matt Boone, who later worked for LoP, but only because of his website plugs at the bottom of his news posts... You know, the "HUGE NEWS: STEVE AUSTIN DOES WHAT WITH DEBRA IN A BIKINI" kind of links, but most of that was just for fun for my old "BAD TITO" columns. Nothing personal. There was a LoP Columnist named Dumass who wrote for LoP during the mid-2000's. I never had any personal problem with him, but for some reason, he flipped out one day and wrote an anti-LoP column in LordsofPain.net. I guess he either was late to posting an entry (LoP has a 21 day rule), he linked to a website he wasn't supposed to, or something else that was removed from his column. Something that I had absolutely nothing to do with, whatever the case may be... So he attacks LoP in a column and gets himself fired. He then joins another website and tried to insist that I had him "fired" from LoP and was conspiring against him the entire time. Huh? Had he not ripped LoP in a column, he could still be a columnist to this day. Current news reporter, Marc Middleton and I had a few IRC Chatroom scuffles during the late 1990's, but it never got heated enough to the point where it affected our roles at LoP. We said what needed to be said to eachother in a chatroom and just carried on. The real issue with him was that he worked for a website that was highly competitive with LoP and it always caused friction back then. But, we've had no problems ever since and myself, Marc, and of course Calvin are the only ones remaining from the founding year of LoP, 1998. Marc, in my opinion, is the best news reporter of our bunch and is doing a fine job. Other than that, not much co-worker drama, I suppose. And I hold nothing personal, especially in my older age. I can always forgive and move on, should the other person also not hold things personal as well. CONTACT MR. TITO - Email: [email protected] - Twitter: @titowrestling - Join LoPForums.com: Feedback Thread BLOG is TITO Archive on LoPForums.com © Mr. Tito 1998 - 2012
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