Hey Scott,
Bit of a morbid question here that I find myself thinking about. (I guess I am weird.) Let's say that a current active member of the roster were to die over the weekend. Monday Night RAW rolls around, who gets the "Brian Pillman 10 bell salute and we move on", who gets the "RAW Is Owen" or "Monday Night Eddie", and who gets the "Benoit Clip Show Cancelled Show"? For the sake of argument, we'll say that Superstar in question died in a seemingly "natural" way like a car accident, or choked on food, drowning, whatever. So no double murder/suicides or drug overdoses.
I think its obvious a guy like Cena or 'Taker or HHH would get the full tribute show, but where is that star power cutoff? Does a guy like Santino get it? Or Kofi Kingston? CM Punk? If Johnny Curtis died would anyone even notice? I realize this question is a bit unsettling, but I know I can't be the only one to wonder about it.
Morbid Blog Question
–Jared
I couldn't pick Johnny Curtis out of a police lineup if you held a gun to my head, so I'd wager that he'd only get a brief mention and they'd move on. Hell, Lance Cade and Umaga both died not far removed from being employed by WWE and they hardly got more than a graphic. I don't know if Test even got a mention because I wasn't watching at that point.
Anyway, CM Punk would be part of the upper level of dead guys at this point, and I'd say Kane and Randy Orton would be up there as well. That's probably the cutoff, as I can't imagine a Daniel Bryan tribute show unless he died of really extraordinary circumstances. Same for Santino — 10 bell salute, but not a whole tribute show. After all, they've got ratings to think of!