Select Answers: MITB, Cody Mania 40 Plans, AAA TV deal, Four Way Tourneys (Patreon)

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.

***

With MITB being later in the year do you think we could see an attempted a cash in at Royal Rumble or Mania?

Yes, and I think that's one of the motivating factors. From January to July, you had a lot of exciting shows -- Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, WrestleMania, Money in the Bank. I think you needed something later in the year with stakes that can maintain some interest through the fall and winter months that usually die down.

A year or two ago on the Masked Man podcast, David Shoemaker was told that Cody’s creative for Wrestlemania 40 would’ve had him taken out via injury angle, had rock vs Roman happened. Did you hear the same thing?

I have never specifically heard that. However, when Cody Rhodes and other people spoke to me about the way that is was going, they claimed that the fans would have even been more mad at what the original plan was going to be. That would certainly fit the bill, and I can look more into it.

Why does WWE prefer four ways when they do tournaments instead of 1-1? To me it’s lazy booking.

The very short answer: They want to include big names in the tournament, but they don't want the big names taking pins. They can utilize it to have someone else win, and branch it off into a story for the bigger star that doesn't win it.

How close is AAA to securing that coveted US TV deal? And if they get it (and with it a big financial boost), will they expand their roster and have more live shows than pre-recorded ones?

I haven't heard that it is imminent, but it seems like one of those things that will drop out of nowhere. It all depends on what WWE wants out of it, and if they see it as a tool to just grow the brand. There are networks that would love to have AAA, but it has to be the right price for them. WWE will probably have to weigh protecting their asset financially or using a deal to get people in America into the brand. Yes, if they get a financial boost, they will expand. Or at the very least use more WWE stars.