Twitter Request Line, Vol. 180

Mark Henry: 69 Star Wrestler Screen Grab via WWE.com

It's Twitter Request Line time, everyone! I take to Twitter to get questions about issues in wrestling, past and present, and answer them on here because 140 characters can't restrain me, fool! If you don't know already, follow me @tholzerman, and wait for the call on Wednesday to ask your questions. Hash-tag your questions #TweetBag, and look for the bag to drop Thursday afternoon (most of the time). Without further ado, here are your questions and my answers:

How many stars would you give an Erick Rowan/Mark Henry showdown at WrestleMania and why is it six stars? https://t.co/GibCziy5M3

— Nick Gator (@NickGator) March 1, 2017

Please, a match that nice would deserve 69 stars.

@tholzerman#Tweetbag If you had to do something akin to this* for wrestling, Who would be doing what? This: https://t.co/xEvs8jBaUi

— Okori Wadsworth (@OkoriWadsworth) March 1, 2017

If you want someone proficient, I would go with any number of people: Mike Quackenbush, Bryan Danielson, Drew Gulak, Robbie Brookside. But if the template is Anthony Bourdain, then one would probably need an utterly pompous, self-absorbed douchebag who happens to be good at his job, so the answer would be Rip Rogers.

@tholzerman How does one deal with the natural, slow separation that grows between them and their friends as they get older?

— Brak Obama (@NotBrockJahnke) March 1, 2017

The glibly quick answer would be make new friends, but as someone with social anxiety, I couldn't give that advice with a good conscience. Besides, I was terrible at making and keeping friends when I was younger, and it feels like the task is, like most things, harder as one gets older. That being said, as long as you don't completely burn your bridges is to temper your expectations of where your friendship will go. People move, have kids, advance in their careers and interests. People never stay the same for too long, and folks who have lifelong friends that aren't family or significant others luck out  hard to have such. If you can stay cordial with those friends and maybe keep up with them on social media while keeping in mind that any contact you might have will be lessened over the years, it might ease the blow of losing friends.

Or not, I mean again, I'm a socially awkward geek. I could be talking out of my ass here.

@tholzerman How would you rank wrestlers named after a severe weather event/natural disaster/act of God? #TweetBag

— Star of Savage (@StarOfSavage) March 1, 2017

1. Earthquake - RIP John Tenta
2. Texas Tornado - RIP Kerry von Erich
3. Hurricane Helms - Honestly, I dug his shtick, even if it had limited shelf-life. Still laugh about how The Rock put him over and then the next week Triple H squashed him though.
4. Typhoon - I'm still mad that he turned his back on Hulk Hogan, even though I kinda hate Hogan now.

@tholzerman When you look back on Ryan Howard's Phillies career, are you mostly happy or mostly disappointed? #Tweetbag

— Rich Thomas (@earthdog) March 1, 2017

It's hard for me to look with disappointment upon any member of the 2008 Phillies because they were Champions. Ryan Howard was a big part of that and of the 2009 pennant winning team ("Get me to the plate, boys!"). I think a lot of the hate he got was tied to the fact that he got PAID, which honestly speaks more to the state of labor in America more than his worth. He declined in later years, sure. In fact any year after '09 he was a net drain on the team. But man, he was a big part of the Phillies five year run of excellence, so I cannot be disappointed with him.

Protected user @LUTang_Secret asks:

is 2017 a better year than 2015 or 2016 to start an indy?

Oddly enough, yes, it is for the reasons why some might say it isn't. WWE is out there sopping up all the name talent like the guzzling capitalist machine it is, but this situation creates growth in two ways. One, it puts an onus on local promotions to build their own stars which then move up the ranks and replace the people that are being sopped up instead of going to the same pool everyone else is trying to use. Two, if more jobs are being offered by WWE, then intuitively, more people are going to want to get into wrestling, right? I think the scene is starting to see the benefits now. Alumni from the Chikara Wrestle Factory and the Absolute Intense Wrestling school, for example, are starting to filter across the country. Other schools can't be too far behind.

@tholzerman what should the Broken Hardys do at Wrestlemania 33

— Dave E (@NewCardSmell) March 1, 2017

Nothing. I wouldn't have them debut until after WrestleMania, because right now, Mania is a fucking logjam, man. The Broken Hardys are too special an act to waste on the Andre Battle Royal or some thrown together tag team contest or confrontation with New Day. What I would do is debut them at the RAW after Mania by laying out Brock Lesnar in advance of a match at Payback where Matt wins the Universal Championship by bending time and space and negating Lesnar's "S-Class" status. It won't go down like that at all because I'm still not sure Vince McMahon isn't going to insist they do an early '00s tribute act to their TEAM EXTREME days, but fuck that old fuck anyway.

Protected user @adamsgroove asks:

With the injury of Kevin Durant, would you take the Warriors or the rest of the NBA against the Cavaliers?

I would still take the Warriors, if only because they were an unstoppable force BEFORE getting Durant. They lost Harrison Barnes and "Alt-Right" Andrew Bogut, but the key players, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, and Steph Curry, are all still there. Besides, Durant is only going to miss a month currently, so the collision course is still on.

@tholzerman Thoughts on Adam Silver? Universally thought of as best major sports Commish, but also played a big role in Colangelo to Philly

— Nick Van Sexel (@TheREALjKAM) March 2, 2017

No one's perfect. Anyone who is considered "good" will have a few mistakes, whether minor or major. Silver has been a net positive for the NBA in an era where really none of his peers can say the same. He's been great on allowing players to embrace activism, and he's helped grow his league into where it might be able to overtake the NFL in popularity within 15 years, which if you think about it is a huge accomplishment. The Colangelo thing is bad, obviously. The commissioner shouldn't meddle with team management, especially under the guise of health of the league when what Sam Hinkie was doing was basically what every team in the expansion era has done to get better. The Cavaliers didn't go from zero to hero by signing mid-level free agents. They tanked their asses off for LeBron James and then tanked their asses off when he left to get other pieces to put a true title team around him when he came back. To punish the Sixers for that by running a good GM out for a nepotistic idiot is hypocritical and totally serves the "Old Boys Club" nature of sports ownership in any league. That aside, however, Silver has been a good steward for the NBA.

@tholzerman Worst theme for a WWE guy (with any staying power)?

— Window Respecter 🌹 (@thom_not_tom) March 2, 2017

I hated it when it debuted, and I hate it now.

@tholzerman What would've happened in professional wrestling from 2001-05 if WCW had gone out of business but ECW hadn't? #Tweetbag

— Butch Hussein Rosser (@dammitbutch) March 3, 2017

I fear ECW continuing to live on would have stunted the growth of the indies. When it died, Ring of Honor and Chikara were able to grow from the ashes, while Combat Zone Wrestling was able to take more of a center stage. Without those three promotions in Philadelphia/the East Coast, and with ECW competing with other areas (the precedent was there with XPW, so it's not hard to see Paul Heyman battling with IWA Mid-South, NWA Wildside, or other territories), it would be hard to see the vibrant and influential indie scene progressing the way it did in the Aughts.