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DONOFRIO'S FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: Detailed Report on Dean Ambrose & Paige at Wizard World Pittsburgh - Q&A session yields interesting comments on WWE topics



Sep 13, 2015 - 4:05:05 PM

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By Tony Donofrio, PWTorch specialist



When I found out that Wizard World was bringing a few WWE Superstars to Pittsburgh and I was assigned to covered the event, I figured that nothing newsworthy would really come out of this event. After the first night following the Q&A with Dean Ambrose, I felt even more confident that my suspicions had been confirmed. Then, on Saturday afternoon, Paige went on-record to reveal some of the details behind the reports of her and Alicia Fox being allegedly thrown out of a bar this past week in Baltimore (video can be seen here in yesterday's report).



I really thought that the afternoon was going to be more of a bombshell news day when the WWE termination of Hulk Hogan was brought up. However, Paige sheepishly would respond that the Hogan situation was something that she couldn’t talk about. When all the dust had settled on the WWE portion of Wizard World in Pittsburgh, it still ended up being more fluff than substance, but there were still some fun tidbits to report.



The first thing worth noting is that Paige has become somewhat of a pro at these comic-con type conventions. That’s not to say that Ambrose was a bore or not intriguing when he was on-stage, but you can tell that Paige really gets into talking to the fans and that she even has a following. Some of the fans that had questions for Paige remarked that they’d spoke to her at previous conventions and some even came bearing gifts. She really had a charm about her and seemed to enjoy being there.



Most of the Ambrose Q&A was handled by the moderator due to the release of Ambrose’s new movie “12 Rounds 3: Lockdown” movie. I’m not sure if this was something that WWE negotiated with Wizard World or not, but most fans there seemed to be a lot more interested in talking to Ambrose about his wrestling career than his recent, new acting career.



Worth nothing was that the Q&A had to end with a significant number of fans in line that did not get to ask their questions because the moderator monopolized most of Ambrose’s time talking about the new movie. Having said that, Ambrose did get to talk about some wrestling topics worth noting. He did say that on this particular day of the week that Terry Funk is his favorite wrestler of all-time.



Ambrose also stated that The Shield did break up during its height, never got a chance to get stale, and he thought it was the best time for the trio to break up. Not surprisingly, Ambrose said that most of his favorite matches come during house shows, which seems to be a common themed answer among WWE wrestlers these days.



In terms of one of the most relevant topics discussed was the transition from the independent scene to WWE and without mentioning it, explaining the importance of NXT and grooming the younger stars for Raw and Smackdown. Video of Ambrose's explanation is HERE.



As for Paige, she was much more forthcoming on a lot of her answers and the whole panel was dedicated to fan questions. When asked which former pro wrestlers she’d have like to work, Paige talked briefly about Lita, Molly Holly, and Bull Nakano (which really threw some of the younger fans for a loop).



Paige also stated that she is not a fan of having a Divas Tag Division/Tag Titles because it would devalue the current Divas Title. She also said that for some reason the backstage nickname given to Team PCB by Vince McMahon is “The Freak Show,” which she doesn’t really understand.



When prompted, Paige said that she does not hate the monicker “Diva” for the current name of the women’s division within WWE. She believes that any company can have a women’s division, but that the Divas division in WWE is a brand that stands out as the division that all women should want to be the champion of. However, she did state that she believes that the title being in the shape of a butterfly is something that needs to go the way of the do-do bird.



The other important thing worth noting was Paige’s comments on joining the Total Divas show, which she says some hardcore fans felt alienated by. Video of her explanation is HERE.



All things considered, it was a fun weekend and even ended up being newsworthy in some aspects. A few additional videos that I took will be added to my YouTube page along with the videos already appearing on PWTorch this weekend.



Tony Donofrio is a Specialist for PWTorch covering a variety of topics and promotions. You can reach Tony at TonyDonofrio@icloud.com or follow him on Twitter @TonyDonofrio.



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