Strummer Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 This has been an insane half year in WWE. Think of all the shit that has gone down since January. Leaving the Benoit tragedy aside I can't think of a more newsworthy period in recent memory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Sucks about Bourne since I was holding out hope that he'd return and have some great matches with the current crop of guys. I guess Jarrett's talent pool just got a little deeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russellmania Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Evan Bourne has got to be the most underutilized talent in the world. Probably a top 3 high flyer in the world and they've done fuck all with him. It's really too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollinger. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 There are at least a couple people on that list who were in the country on work visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 JTG on his cell phone: “Uh, sorry Hunter, I’m going through a tunnel, can you call ba….sccchch….click” I’ll give some quick thoughts on each: Aksana: She looked extremely dangerous in the ring every time I saw her, messing up a lot of routine things. That elbow to Naomi’s eye socket was amateur and I knew her days were numbered after that. I don’t know how someone can possibly mess up a move that simple, but Aksana managed to. Naomi is very lucky that she can still see. You can say that it’s dumb that WWE needs every girl to be trained as a wrestler, but Aksana wasn’t very good as a valet either. Oh well. Brodus Clay: The dude put a lot into his gimmick, I’ll give him that. He moved OK for a fat guy, but I never felt he put enough OOMPH into his offense, which he would have needed for a heel run. Somebody get this guy some John Tenta tapes. Camacho: I’ve seen very little from him so it’s hard to call this a loss, but I saw potential. He looked pretty good on offense. He’s a low-risk guy that Jarrett or TNA could use. Curt Hawkins: He wasn’t bad at anything but he wasn’t very good at anything either, extremely bland. You always need job guys on the roster, but there’s other guys on the roster who are better at that. Drew McIntyre: This is exactly the kind of guy TNA needs to pick up. Great worker and he’s not even 30 yet. Has the “future of the business” gimmick ever worked for anybody besides Randy Orton? His push came to a screaming halt after his wife went nuts, which is unfortunate for him. If you follow Drew’s Twitter, you can tell he’s been unhappy for a while. I hope Drew doesn’t call it quits and goes somewhere to get rejuvenated. I would be very excited for a Drew TNA or NJPW run. Evan Bourne: He debuted at the wrong time. If he came along five years later, he would probably have held a singles title. He came in during the Randy Orton clone phase, so he was at least decently over for being different. If he came in with the Cesaro’s and Rollins’ of the world, we would be remembering Bourne a lot differently. I thought he was really good at a lot of little things that most flyer types ignore. Too bad he couldn’t talk. Jinder Mahal: Jinder’s role in 3MB could have been filled by anybody, I don’t think he was anything special so I’ll use this space to talk about 3MB. I legitimately enjoyed them whenever they were on. The Hornswoggle stuff was great fun and breathed new life into a stale character. I think there was more potential with the group other than the guys the three faces team-up against to prepare for the Wyatts or the Shield. The initial vignette was well put together, sadly they stopped putting effort into them right away. This could work out well for Heath, I always thought he was too good for the gimmick. Teddy Long: I’m sure this wasn’t a firing as much as a retirement in disguise, Teddy’s getting up there in years. Dude was always fun when he was on TV and it was refreshing to have a face authority character. I enjoyed the hell out of his manager run. My dream of Teddy managing the PTP’s into the Zeb/Heyman fued will sadly never happen now. Yoshi Tatsu: WWE never knows what to do with Japanese guys outside of comedy and it’s unfortunate. The language barrier was always going to be a ceiling for him however I do believe he was taking English classes. Here’s hoping the next Japanese guy they bring in is treated seriously and no “me no speaka no Engwish” shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 I'm a Bourne fan too, but I think there is something to his story that we don't know and somehow hasn't leaked. As so many posters here have said, he got great crowd responses on ECW and was pretty marketable. At the very least, he was a great bumper who could make others look absolutely great. This tells me that there's a reason he hasn't been put in the position to at least job out to guys like Rusev, Tensai, and other monsters or new talents that have been introduced in the past few years. It's not like Kofi Kingston is THAT much better in that role or that they don't have enough TV time to have two or three guys in that position. I'm hoping that Bourne's release is followed by questions being answered regarding the severity of his injuries and why they never bothered to bring him back when he could've been so easily used as a bump machine for The Wyatts or Roman Reigns or Cesaro or any other heel they've wanted to look dominant in the past 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollinger. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 He's been perfectly healthy for quite some time now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Evan Bourne is such a waste. One of the best flyers in recent memory, everything he did looked so athletic and picture perfect. Not only was he an amazing bumper, he was also a great seller. As a sympathetic babyface who fits the WWE mould he is just about perfect, he even has the muscular, clean cut look they like, fantastic physique for a small dude. He was like a really good version of AJ Styles. How they couldn't figure a way to book him is beyond me, he is the closest thing to a good looking daredevil Jeff Hardy type they have. The thought of him wrestling Brock Lesnar, Ryback, Seth Rollins is mouthwatering. Really disappointing news. Should probably go back and watch most of his WWE stuff, I was in a long sabbatical when he was around every week so have only caught bits and pieces. Surprised they cut 3MB as well, they were pretty over, especially considering they lost every week. Just the kind of fun house show act they need. At least Titus O'Neill seems to have survived, he could be something special if they actually gace him something to run with. Got a feeling he will end up being another 'what if'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bierschwale Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Yoshi Tatsu: WWE never knows what to do with Japanese guys outside of comedy and it’s unfortunate. The language barrier was always going to be a ceiling for him however I do believe he was taking English classes. Here’s hoping the next Japanese guy they bring in is treated seriously and no “me no speaka no Engwish” shit. That'll probably be KENTA. After an NXT stint. It'll go great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Can't think of a single non-english speaker that hasn't been booked as either a evil foreign monster heel or a comedy character. Amazing that such lazy stereotyping gets a pass, suppose they are lucky that the mainstream media pays no attention to them or several shitstorms would have been whipped up over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisZ Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Dunn seems to be even sabotaging the Shield. How he didn't get fired after the cameras missed Reigns spear to Slater on Monday baffles me. That seems to be happening more and more this year. I had someone who knows what's going on tell me the day after Payback that Trips was incensed at how Kevin Dunn and his crew missed the shot of the Shield standing tall over his body at the end of the show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 It's been a while since they've done one of these massive house cleanings I think they're getting paranoid about their current Network numbers. There must be very little in the way of new sign-ups since Mania. I thought it was odd that they didn't give a new Network subscriber number at the last shareholders call. But this mass-cutting tells me that they're projecting even lower numbers than previously expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Has the “future of the business” gimmick ever worked for anybody besides Randy Orton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Can't think of a single non-english speaker that hasn't been booked as either a evil foreign monster heel or a comedy character. Amazing that such lazy stereotyping gets a pass, suppose they are lucky that the mainstream media pays no attention to them or several shitstorms would have been whipped up over the years. Do I need to point out again how embarrassing and stupid it looked to have two guys from Quebec pretending to be actual frenchmen from France calling themselves La Resistance as heels during the anti-french campaigns in the mid 00's ? It was so asinine on every level. Mind you, they have one French guy doing jobs on NXT and they call him Sylvester Lefort. Yeah. In the 30's maybe that would have been a decent pro-wrestler name in Paris. Sylvester Lefort ? Really ? Don't they know *anything* about what's going on outside of America ? Fuck, I would have this guy do a Eurotrash club hopper (yeah, him too), playing the total keke from Southern France (which he's from, wouldn't be hard for him) character and have him come out to Daft fucking Punk songs. David Guetta songs. (yeah, fits the character better). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blehschmidt Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 So are we assuming it is over? JTG, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and David Otunga seem absent from the list to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Slater'll come out soon as Clem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Doesn't Evan Bourne have issues with drugs and/or being generally kinda crazy? Heard offhand comments but don't really know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Dunn seems to be even sabotaging the Shield. How he didn't get fired after the cameras missed Reigns spear to Slater on Monday baffles me. That seems to be happening more and more this year. I had someone who knows what's going on tell me the day after Payback that Trips was incensed at how Kevin Dunn and his crew missed the shot of the Shield standing tall over his body at the end of the show. Once it came out that Hunter and Steph want to shitcan him the moment they take over, I had no problem believing Dunn would start fucking him and his pet projects over at every turn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Sucks about Bourne since I was holding out hope that he'd return and have some great matches with the current crop of guys. I guess Jarrett's talent pool just got a little deeper. I'm not holding a torch for Bourne. He's a complete idiot with two back-to-back Wellness Policy violations. Plus, for as long as he hasn't been used, I'm sure he still got paid all this time. Hard to feel sorry for him. Teddy Long: I’m sure this wasn’t a firing as much as a retirement in disguise. Pretty classless, if so. The guy deserved a real retirement, not this "future endeavored" bullshit. But I guess they couldn't be bothered after they worked J.R.'s "retirement" and that bounced back in their faces. So are we assuming it is over? JTG, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and David Otunga seem absent from the list to me. Otunga is as close to bulletproof as someone can be. Married to Jennifer Hudson AND an intelligent Harvard-educated lawyer. They'd be massive fools to fire him. Always something for a guy like that to do in a publicly traded company. Drew McIntyre is someone they really missed the boat on, and all over some stupid issue with his girlfriend/wife/whatever she was. You'd think the company would be more interested in, ya know, actually making money. Drew was a hardworking guy who got a raw deal. I think Camacho deserved at least one chance with a repackaged name/gimmick. Turning the son of Haku/Meng into some kind of half-baked Mexican character was beyond idiotic. At least Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty got a chance to move up from those dead-end personas. Guess Camacho's dad doesn't have the same stature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 JTG released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Turning the son of Haku/Meng into some kind of half-baked Mexican character was beyond idiotic. Wait, really ? The son of Meng got a Mexican gimmick named Camacho ? Holy shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Teddy Long: I’m sure this wasn’t a firing as much as a retirement in disguise. Pretty classless, if so. The guy deserved a real retirement, not this "future endeavored" bullshit. But I guess they couldn't be bothered after they worked J.R.'s "retirement" and that bounced back in their faces. We don't know the exact details, let's not raid Stamford with torches just yet. There have been many instances where talent has been released from their "talent" contracts in the past but still received compensation in other ways. Teddy is in his 60's and hasn't been used on TV in months. For all we know it was mutual. Until I'm proved wrong I'm going to believe that releasing JTG so late in the day was a deliberate rib. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Turning the son of Haku/Meng into some kind of half-baked Mexican character was beyond idiotic. Wait, really ? The son of Meng got a Mexican gimmick named Camacho ? Holy shit. Hahaha, fair point, but the Asian Meng was a WCW gimmick. Haku at least got to keep his own roots/heritage in the WWF. We don't know the exact details, let's not raid Stamford with torches just yet. There have been many instances where talent has been released from their "talent" contracts in the past but still received compensation in other ways. Teddy is in his 60's and hasn't been used on TV in months. For all we know it was mutual. Aren't mutual releases handled differently though? At the very least, they're usually not lumped in with several other names. Even if this was Teddy's choice, he still deserved a far better send-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Not necessarily. The Dudleyz were lumped in with the Summer 05 crew when they mutually agreed to non renew. We can still get a sendoff. Sgt. Slaughter was released in 08 or 09, how many times have we seen him since? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 From Curt Hawkins' Twitter: “@TheMarkHenry: Here we stand. Still here!!! pic.twitter.com/V20Wu0v0Tx” Your colleagues lose their jobs & you tweet that? You're an idiot Mark. https://twitter.com/TheCurtHawkins/status/477134520844824576 OUCH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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