Select Answers: Tony D, Qualifying matches, Collision commentary

Welcome to Select Answers, a feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most recent Fightful Weekly Q&A Podcast. The show drops every week on Fightful Select for subscribers.

When aggregating these posts please refer to it as "Fightful Select Answers Q&A" and tag Fightful, noting that it was in the Q&A format to avoid confusion.

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Do you think WWE should consider booking qualifying matches for the spots in the Royal Rumbles? There are 9 weeks between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble this year. Rumble qualifiers would create lots of matches with stakes, and could be used as a story device to start, continue and end feuds. 60 matches across 27 episodes (9 RAWs, 9 NXTs, 9 SMACKDOWNs) is totally doable. (And maybe you do only 50 matches to leave room for surprises and part-timers like Roman & Lesnar.) You could have the qualifiers feature matches with competitors wrestling across brands (like The Last Time Is Now Tournament) or you could make the matches exclusive to each brand, i.e. RAW vs. RAW, NXT vs. NXT, and SD vs. SD (like the MITB & Elimination Chamber qualifiers).

I don't, and there's a good reason why. They're not gonna do 30 of them. There has to be room for surprises and last minute changes. I only want to see qualifiers if it makes sense, and it almost never makes sense for the Royal Rumble. For Elimination Chamber or Money in the Bank, sure. But for the Royal Rumble where there has to be an element of perceived randomness, not so much.

Collision has been in need of it's first full-time lead commentator that can keep up with the action, and Nigel's quips. Has there been any discussions on finding someone suitable for the role?

They try to keep their commentary team flexible, but they've had to add a little bit in the last year or two. Kevin Kelly got fired in March 2024, Jim Ross is on PPV only and had some health struggles, and Tony Schiavone is slowly adjusting his role as well. They re-signed Ian Riccaboni, but he likes to maintain his day job, and they added Bryan Danielson. I would be adding a women's commentator if I were them, probably Veda Scott. I think between the broadcasters they have, that would help cover things well.

Could you provide any updates on Tony D and his current status with WWE?

Well, he's still under contract. That has been reiterated to me a number of times. He's not wrestled at all since July, and the people I speak to at the Performance Center say that they don't really see him around much these days. He was backstage at the November 11 episode of the show, which is a rarity. He wasn't doing anything wrestling-related based on what I heard, and I've not heard of imminent creative plans.