Select Answers: Politics in Wrestling, Wardlow, Finlay/AEW

Welcome to Select Answers, a short feature that provides some of the answers to questions that were posed to Sean Ross Sapp in the most rece

Welcome to Select Answers, a short 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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Does politics often come up backstage at wrestling shows? And if so how do wrestlers handle their political differences?

Well, if it's discussed heavily these days, I don't hear about it ANYWHERE near where what I used to. I know that may be difficult to believe with WWE and TKOs clear ties and relationship with the current administration. There are certainly people who react to Triple H being at a podium with Trump and those connections, but that's usually when I ask about it.

In years past, there would be a lot more unsolicited approach from wrestlers that would tell me about when Kevin Dunn's truck had a giant Trump flag plastered across it. Or even instances where he'd be on headset saying things like "what a bodyslam, wish it was on that Nancy Pelosi instead." I know that seems like a joke, but it was something that happened.

This might be a silly one, but why did WWE switch to velcro on their titles from the brass studs? I've always thought the switch makes the titles look like toys instead of a prestigious symbol of that champion.

Just the convenience of applying it and taking it off. The brass snaps would sometimes be tough to put in when they needed to quickly put on the belt. The velcro certainly looks and sounds tacky, but has made it a lot easier

Since you shared why Evil isn’t used on AEW/ROH, do you think a similar thing is to why David Finlay isn’t used either but instead of Tony not liking him, it’s because David’s father is a higher up in WWE. I find it odd that they use and mention all the other og war dogs except him

I actually asked about this, and I should be clear that this is just complete speculation. There were people in New Japan Pro Wrestling that felt like Tony Khan probably hadn't seen much of David Finlay in the last few years since he last wrestled in AEW. He's improved significantly since then both in the ring, from his wrestling motor, and from an on-screen personality standpoint. However, him being on the Wrestle Dynasty show in Japan is a solid indicator that Tony Khan is at least open to it. You'll notice that EVIL was not on that show despite being on Kingdom the two days prior.

How do you see Wardlow landing with his new group?

Well, I'm glad he's back, but one of my biggest criticisms of AEW is the inability to do something new. Wardlow has been with Inner Circle, Undisputed Kingdom, Pinnacle. There's a lot of meat on the bone for him to do other things rather than be in a group. Fortunately, they seem to have a big vision for the Don Callis Family. I think that as constructed, Takeshita could turn babyface, or the group could become so big it turns Death Riders face

EDIT: APOLOGIES, Patreon cut off this story initially