WWE Hall of Fame payoff notes, WWE legends program, personal accountability

Friday, MAY 2 - 4:16 A.M.

-I want to clarify a few issues regarding how much WWE pays the Hall of Fame inductees. There is an appearance fee of $5,000, as Bruno Sammartino mentioned in his BaltimoreSun.com interview. The company also pays for travel and lodging for the wrestlers and their families, and in many cases have helped pay for the clothing the inductees wear during the ceremony.

-It's also worth noting that a number of the Hall of Famers are members of the WWE Legend's Program. Most of the wrestlers involved in the program are paid $10,000 upfront when they sign on to be part of the program and that amount is deducted from their future earnings from royalties, appearances, merchandise, etc. In other words, a number of retired wrestlers still earn paychecks from WWE.

-Of course, none of this is meant to suggest that WWE could not do more for their former wrestlers. I believe wrestlers should be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. They should get health insurance, 401K plans, and pensions that actual WWE employees receive.

-There has to be some level of personal accountability from the retired wrestlers who are having financial problems today. Many of these wrestlers made and spent way more money than the average person will see in their lifetime. Again, I'm not saying that's the case with every wrestler who is struggling financially. There are medical hardships and other factors that can wipe out savings accounts, but there are also many wrestlers who made millions and pissed it all away. These guys knew going in that they were working in an industry that didn't provide a pension plan, yet they didn't plan for their futures.

-On a much lighter note, is it possible to have a "senior moment" at age 35? I was scheduled to do an interview with Brian Fritz yesterday and I even confirmed the time via email with Brian late in the afternoon. Yet by the time Brian called, I was lying on the couch, waiting for a pizza to arrive, and planning to watch television before TNA Impact started. The phone rang and I had completely forgotten about the interview. I did manage to deal with the pizza delivery man during the interview without Brian even noticing, which isn't an easy thing to do. I call it an interview, but it's more like a chat session between two guys discussing the latest pro wrestling news. You can hear it at BetweenTheRopes.com.

-Speaking of TNA Impact, the Hitlist will be published eventually. My goal is to post it either Friday morning or early afternoon, but I got sidetracked with stories and making phone calls today. Be patient.

Wednesday, APRIL 30 - 11:45 A.M.

-I still don't have a problem with the way Monday's Raw concluded. Yet after watching Mike Adamle and Tazz walk off ECW last night, the company is looking very desperate by doing shock angles on back-to-back shows. This might not be Katie Vick shocking, but the moves were clearly designed to get reactions out of the fans. The first one worked. Fans were very passionate about the conclusion of Monday's Raw.

The second angle flopped. I got home from the Twins game about 20 minutes after ECW went off the air and not one person wrote to ask me what happened. One reader who attended the taping was nice enough to pass along the information that Adamle walked off the set, but there was no buzz after the show from people who wanted to know whether the angle was a work or a shoot.

Granted, there were several people who didn't know whether the angle was a work or a shoot at the time it went down. However, not one person cared enough to write in and ask about what happened. I don't consider my email in-box to be the ultimate barometer for whether an angle clicks, but the fact that not even one person cared enough to ask about the angle tells me that the masses just didn't care.

Frankly, why would anyone care whether Adamle and Tazz walked off the show? I'll admit that I'm curious to see where they take the angle next week, but it's not like I'm waiting on pins and needles to see whether they are back at ringside next week. It's not like Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler walked off during Raw. This is Mike F'n Adamle and the color commentator of a third-rate wrestling show we're talking about here. No one cares.

-By the way, if WWE wanted people to take it seriously when William Regal pulls the plug on the Raw main event, then they should have opened ECW with some type of update on what took place after Raw went off the air. Rather, they waited until the traditional Raw Rebound spot roughly 30 minutes into the show to even mention it.

Have they even mentioned what happened on WWE.com yet? This is the internet age. You can't expect viewers to wait a full week to find out what happened. By not reporting on the match on WWE.com and by not treating the event as a major deal on ECW television, WWE just sent their viewers the message that the match was no big deal. Somehow, I don't think that's the message they were going for given that Triple H vs. Randy Orton is scheduled to main event the Judgment Day pay-per-view.

-On a lighter note, I had a good time at the Twins game last night. The first four innings of the game nearly put me to sleep, but it turned out to be a really fun game. Boof Bonser shocked the world by winning his first game at the Metrodome since June 2007. He rocked and delivered one hell of a performance. By the way, I was one of the only Twins fans in the entire stadium who cheered pro wrestling fan A.J. Pierzynski. The fans love to hate him, but I always enjoyed watching him play when he was with the Twins. I was even upset when we traded him and got Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano in return. I'd say that deal worked out okay for the Twins despite my initial concerns.