Query on wrestlers' height, Z! TLIS #48, Questions on WWE's horror skits, DVDs, and both members of Laycool, DDP interview, look at TNA house show, Punk at Comic Con, Arn in the Hall, Compton interview, Dixie talks Sting/Hogan/UK, WWE and TNA in Orlando at the same time, update on WWE-Savage, Ryder update, Smackdown Roulette, Comics writer talks working with WWF, Flair confirms appearance at HoF (With in-attendance notes), and the Impact Wrestling post-show

First up today, a query:
1. I don't see being 5' 11" preventing someone from being a successful wrestler, especially in this day and age. It's not nearly as important as other, non-physical factors, and one can always gain a few inches with the right boots.

A Zack Ryder-less edition of Z! True Long Island Story has been posted. I like the selling of the Kane angle. The quip about the tire changing was pretty good. In general, though, this was kind of a miss.

As for my look at PWInsider.com's questions:

1. Because business is still going relatively well and they don't have a strong competitor nipping at their heels to get wrestling fans who are into more serious wrestling segments. They can be as lazy and counter-productive as they want as long as business doesn't tank.

There isn't really anything to add to 2 or 3. 4 was just asked recently and there isn't really any further update.

After the break, I go into the rest of the day's questions and news. Up next, will Michelle McCool return with The Undertaker?


5. I don't see them working together on-screen just because they're a couple off-screen. It'd be kind of weird from a character perspective. I once saw a fan online pitch the idea of McCool returning as some kind of Queen of the Damned (which sounded pretty awesome), but if neither are going to be full-time characters I don't see a point of putting that much focus and pushing for them. As was stated, she retired after injuries took their toll.

6 isn't really wrestling-related, so I think I'll move on.

Former WWE announcer Todd Grisham has a kidney stone. Best wishes and I hope it passes soon.

Diamond Dallas Page talked about his controversial WWE run. They neglect to mention his work as a midcard motivational speaker that lasted a decent while after that angle. I didn't dislike the angle at the time, and the fact that I had never seen WCW or his wife meant that I couldn't compare Undertaker's wife in the looks department. I'm sure there were other people who were in a similar boat. It would be ridiculous to someone who had seen that DDP was married in WCW, then he goes to WWF with no mention of his wife.

Newsday had a video promoting a TNA live event. Very good piece. There's nothing quite like that kind of experience, for sure.

C.M. Punk will be at Wizard World Philadelphia Comic-Con on 6/2.

Here's an article on the Enforcer Arn Anderson going into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Cliff Compton, formerly Domino in WWE, briefly discussed his harrowing experience working in Nigeria 5 months ago. Wow.

Dixie Carter talked about the upcoming London TV tapings, Sting, and Hulk Hogan. Always intriguing to hear from her.

TNA is currently scheduled to tape Impact Wrestling on 4/3 in Orlando, Florida. WWE will be taping Smackdown nearby. I don't think we'll hear anything about anything between the two sides, but you never know.

Lanny Poffo has stated that he has yet to hear from WWE about a Hall of Fame induction for his brother Randy Savage. In fact, he hasn't heard from them since his brother passed away. That's more than a little concerning. There needs to be a talk between the two sides to heal those old wounds, whatever the cause of them may be.

Zack Ryder could be off of TV for a number of weeks to sell the injury from Kane. Come on now. It didn't look THAT devastating. Hopefully that pays off with more sympathy for Ryder and gets him more over, etc..

The 1/17 Smackdown taping in Las Vegas will feature something akin to Raw Roulette, but for Smackdown. That could be interesting. I'm a fan of that IF it's used to shake things up and add to stories instead of just "here are some wacky random matches".

Jim Shooter of comic book fame talked about working with the WWF and the McMahons in the early '90s. Part 1 Part 2 VERY interesting. I can easily understand why they wouldn't want a non-wrestling character getting more attention than their wrestlers. As for the nitpickiness and protection of characters/performers, I imagine that that still exists today. I know that not too awful long ago, websites showing pictures from WWE video games couldn't show Triple H in a compromising position (getting beaten up, etc.) because he was such a big star to them. That makes sense in an obsessive, controlling way where they want their performers to look "right". The nWo angle was inspired by a group in Japan, not Shooter's work.

Ric Flair confirmed at a signing that he'll be appearing at the Hall of Fame ceremony where the Horsemen will be inducted. I imagine he's got some kind of agreement with TNA where he can do such things. I go to that Wal-Mart fairly often, and as luck would have it was there earlier in the day. I saw the note about his appearance and came back for the signing. I didn't see it advertised until the day of, weirdly enough. Why the local paper didn't have anything on it is beyond me, but apparently some radio stations plugged the appearance. The line was pretty short (due to hardly anyone knowing about it; some people just happened to be there that day and lucked out in attending at that time). He had promo pictures to sign as seen in the video, and you had to go through the line more than once if you wanted more than one thing signed. If I had known further in advance, I might have planned everything out better. My mistake. I didn't recognize anyone with him, and am not entirely sure what the appearance was for. No TNA logos or anything. All in all, a one of a kind experience.

Finally, here's the post-show for Impact Wrestling. I like that we're getting more from Morgan, Crimson, Magnus, and Joe.

That's all for Thursday's news. More to come tomorrow. Thanks for reading!