Another Three From the List

Last week WWE released Super Crazy, Paul London, and Chuck Palumbo. I may be mistaken, but I don't think London or Palumbo had been on television since the draft back in June. Super Crazy had been bouncing back and forth between ECW and Smackdown having random matches with no consistent feud or storyline.

Super Crazy was always fun to watch. Without a cruiserweight division on Smackdown he was a little lost. Palumbo was never all that interesting. The biker gimmick never really did anything for me, even though I'll admit I didn't watch too much Smackdown when that version of Palumbo was a regular feature on it. I didn't see much potential in either of them beyond the midcard. I guess both guys fit nicely into the role of "established jobber", someone who is recognizable that a new face in the company can beat on their way to a push. Guys like Tommy Dreamer, Snitsky, and Val Venis.

As for Paul London, here's what I wrote about him in the original list post:

"Something should be done with Paul London. He's too talented and too fun to watch to let him go to waste. He could be placed in the current program with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Like Lance Cade, London is a product of Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy. Chris Jericho & Lance Cade vs. Shawn Michaels & Paul London...I'd pay to see that. A solo London probably wouldn't be much more than a jobber, and I can see a guy as talented as he is asking for his release to head to TNA or back to Ring of Honor."

I wrote that back in July, after which London lost a match to Chris Jericho and hasn't been seen since. I figured he was talented enough to work in at least the upper midcard as a singles competitor if pushed properly. Obviously that didn't happen. I didn't expect it of his former tag team partner Brian Kendrick, who went on to become the phenomenon known as The Brian Kendrick. As I said, I wouldn't be suprised to seel London show up somewhere else very soon. Where ever he ends up, I'm sure he'll land on his feet...or his face.

SvR 2009 Roster Leaked

Fans of IGN's annual Smackdown countdown may have been disappointed this year when it was announced that rather than announcing the whole roster and ticking them off the list, the countdown would proceed without the roster, with no indication as to how many superstars would be in the game. With a new Legends of WrestleMania title to launch early next year, there was speculation as whether Legends would even be in the game, as many seem to be willing to give them up in exchange for a more complete current roster.

Well, as should be a shocker to no one, the rendered images that show up on the match-up screen have leaked onto the Internet, and they seem to reveal the game's 63-man roster. The images match those that have already appeared on IGN's countdown, so the whole thing looks legit, and rather than a denial, THQ issued a statement reminding that nothing's for sure until it is revealed on IGN. So take that as you will.

Anyway, the revealed roster is thus (spoilers, of course):
RAW SUPERSTARS
Batista
Chris Jericho
Chuck Palumbo
CM Punk
Cody Rhodes
Hardcore Holly
JBL
John Cena
JTG
Kane
Kofi Kingston
Lance Cade
Paul London
Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio
Santino Marella
Shad Gaspard
Shawn Michaels
Snitsky
William Regal

SMACKDOWN SUPERSTARS
Big Show
Brian Kendrick
Carlito
Curt Hawkins
Edge
Festus
Jeff Hardy
Jesse
Jimmy Wang Yang
Mr. Kennedy
MVP
Shelton Benjamin
The Great Khali
Triple H
Umaga
Undertaker
Zack Ryder

ECW SUPERSTARS
Boogeyman
Chavo Guerrero
Elijah Burke
Finlay
Hornswoggle
John Morrison
Mark Henry
Matt Hardy
The Miz
Tommy Dreamer

RAW DIVAS
Beth Phoenix
Candice Michelle
Jillian Hall
Kelly Kelly
Layla
Melina
Mickie James

SMACKDOWN DIVAS
Maria
Michelle McCool
Victoria

NON-ACTIVE SUPERSTARS
Tazz
Vince McMahon

NO LONGER EMPLOYED SUPERSTARS
Ashley
Big Daddy V
Ric Flair
Trevor Murdoch

Will there be more? Downloadable, perhaps? THQ's not telling. Next entry, I'll be crunching some numbers with the Smackdown video game series.

TNA hawking for WWE

Did you know that some guys in TNA used to work for the WWE? Well, if you didn't, they'll sure let you know. When DX made its high-profile return, former members BG and Kip James, formerly Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, went ape-shit over the whole thing and changed their tag team name from the James Gang (which fit) to the Voodoo Kin Mafia (VKM - Vincent Kennedy McMahon - get it?). Mick Foley made his debut and talked about how awesome the people Kurt Angle used to wrestle against are. It's always WWE this, WWE that.

TNA, after all this time, is still lacking its own identity. I know I can't get through a TNA post without mentioning WCW, but this is why. Once the nWo storyline was milked to death (three times) - WCW has absolutely nothing, so it tried to emulate the WWF. ECW mentioned both companies quite often, but that WAS its identity. It was the one company that didn't want to be like either of the other two.

TNA is not doing that. It's quite obvious that TNA badly wants to be the WWE. They need to focus on refining TNA and worry a whole lot less about whatever they're trying to accomplish here.

What if Smackdown moved back to Thursday? I'm just saying.

Five things about Impact

Despite their claims, TNA is not active competition to the WWE. It's a fact. Are they growing? Slowly, but yes. However, watching an episode of any WWE show (even ECW) then hitting up Impact will immediately showcase an inferior product. I have been watching Impact more regularly lately, and I've gathered five things (in random order) that makes the experience somewhat difficult for me.

1) Crowd reaction
Now I realize this is hardly TNA's fault, but the crowd reaction really does seem to hurt the product. The smallest aerial spot will ignite a 'TNA!' chant, and well-known names will be cheered simply for name recognition. I'm pretty sure that of Kurt Angle, Christian Cage, Booker T, Kevin Nash, Sting, AJ Styles, Scott Steiner, Tomko, and Samoa Joe, there should be one heel, but you can't tell from the crowd. Everyone gets cheered. Of course, I remember the days in which WCW piped in 'Goldberg' chants, so I guess this may be the lesser of two evils.

2) Inconsistency
The problem with my inconsistent viewership of Impact is that I am constantly wondering who's on which side of what. The Team Angle/Christian Coalition thing had me scratching my head, Tomko's allegiance baffled me, and just what is up with Kevin Nash and Samoa Joe? Sting is supposed to be this holier-than-thou bitter veteran, yet still high fives the fans on his way to and from the ring. Everyone loves the swerve, but you really need to keep some kind of consistency if you're going to make them mean something.

3) Gimmicks
First and foremost, leave Jay Lethal and Sonjay Dutt out of this category. They have both taken what could be awful gimmicks and have run with them. I'm talking about Shiek Abdul Bashir (Shawn Davari) who is holding the X Division Title as his hostage (yes, Mike Tenay really said that). I'm talking about Christopher Daniels being 'fired' and returning as the masked Curry Man. I'm talking about the imminent arrival of Suicide, a character based on the amnesia-based video game character. There seem to be a million bad gimmicks out there, and TNA is slowly but surely trying to go through them all. At least Matt Morgan isn't stuttering. That's a plus.

4) Don West
As the voice of the product, a commentator's voice is the most-heard noise on a show. You'd think that with responsibility, one would find a set of somewhat pleasant voices to be heard for the product. WWE has its teams of Jim Ross, Tazz, Matt Striker, Todd Grisham, Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole, none of whom are hard on the ears. TNA has its longtime team of Mike Tenay and Don West. While Mike Tenay is certainly a capable commentator (as well as a walking encyclopedia of wrestling knowledge), Don West yells. And yells. And yells. I would probably be welcoming on TNA programming if West wasn't screaming at me for both hours. TNA also falls into the old WCW trap of having two play-by-play guys and no color commentators. Surely there's someone who can provide analysis - maybe someone like Scott D'Amore or James Mitchell or even Raven to take the spot. Just please, PLEASE, get rid of West.

5) Crazy-ass matches
If you think about it from a business standpoint, the weekly, free TV shows are there to allow a storyline to unfold and build to a turning point/climactic moment at a PPV, in which the viewer has to pay. It is at these PPVs that the highest quality matches should be on display. This includes gimmick matches, that don't (or shouldn't) appear regularly. Such is not the case with TNA, though. Every episode of Impact usually has at least one crazy stipulation match, be it a object-on-a-pole or a ladder match, or some hard-to-define stipulation that TNA is so renowned for. Most of these matches would likely be heavy PPV draws had the fans not become so used to them from episodes of Impact. WCW did the same thing in its closing days, desperate to get a quick ratings jump. So put on quality matches on Impact, and save the special stuff for the PPVs. If you can even get storylines going consistently, you might get a better fanbase.

So there you go - five things that make watching Impact a chore for me most weeks. There's potential there, which is why I tune in at least every other week. it just needs a lot of fine-tuning to make it.

If It's On a Wrestling News Site, It Must Be True

There are rumors going around the internets that MVP has a good deal of backstage heat for some reason or another. Given the previous stories we've all heard about backstage heat, especially all those about CM Punk and the track record they've had, my pick to win the WWE Championship scramble at Unforgiven this Sunday is...

Another Seven Bite the Dust

WWE has released six more names as of yesterday.

Shannon Moore and Domino were on my list. Nunzio should have been, but I forgot about him.

Braden Walker used to be "Wildcat" Chris Harris in TNA. Aside from Monty Brown, Harris was the only "home grown" TNA star to jump ship to WWE. After signing his contract back in January, he was invisible for six months until popping up in ECW. He was released after just two televised matches.

James Curtis was a jobber in ECW, but back when he was KC James he was one of Michelle McCool's "Teacher's Pets" along with Idol Stevens. After that tag team went nowhere, he went back to OVW. He eventually found his way to ECW, where he never won a match.

The story going around was that Big Daddy V was sent home and told to lose some weight. Apparently, WWE saw being a 900+ lb. bucket of jiggly man goo in suspenders as not healthy. I'm guessing the efforts to trim up didn't go so well. Along with Trevor Murdoch, he was a wasted draft pick as he got released before even making an appearance on the show he was drafted to.

And finally, famous referee Nick Patrick got the sack as well. I have no idea why, but I can't say as I remember seeing him on television recently.

Just a Thought...

One champion (CM Punk) and five challengers (JBL, Batista, Cena, Kane, Jericho).

If it weren't for the fact that they've already had two of them this year, I'd say we've got the makings of an Elimination Chamber on our hands.

Better judgment says they won't go for it, but you never know.

UPDATE: On second thought, I just learned that there's going to be a Hell In A Cell match at Summerslam. Given that both structures would have to hang over the ring, it's logistically impossible for both to happen on the same night.

First Murdoch, and now...

Just heard about this on WWE.com...

On the Bubble

With Trevor Murdoch, being released on Thursday (who was on the list I compiled for this article before that, just so you know) after getting drafted to Smackdown, it seems WWE is beginning the bit of house cleaning that seems to happen after every draft. If you recall 2007, just among the 25 superstars who changed shows in the draft nine of them are no longer with the company. So here's a list of guys (and one girl) I think are on the bubble and could be getting "wished the best of luck in their future endeavors" in the near future.

Injuries, Steroids, & Suspensions, Oh My!

Since the Benoit tragedy last year, the WWE has really stepped up its enforcement of the wellness policy. Management doesn't play around with those who violate it. And being injured for an excessive amount of time doesn't help either.

Ashley Massaro – Since winning the Diva Search in 2005, Ashley hasn’t done much of anything. In fact, I’d wager that she’s spent more time injured than active. She’s been with the company for three years and still doesn’t know how to wrestle. And even if she learned, she’s far too injury prone to push.

Boogeyman – Injured for at least six months now, already fired once and just not good in the ring. The guy has an interesting presence and is weird as hell, so he could kept around for backstage segments. But there’s only so many times that The Boogeyman can show up, do something bat-shit crazy, and fade away.

Jimmy Wang Yang – Suspended since June 9, Jimmy Wang Yang was a very unlikely violation of the wellness policy. But with that on his record and no more cruiserweight division, Yang’s prospects don’t look good.

William Regal & Jeff Hardy – With two strikes against the Wellness policy on them, you’d think these guys would not be so stupid as to get a third. But most people thought they’d be smart enough to avoid a second strike. That obviously wasn’t the case.

Tag Team Turmoil

With Cryme Tyme and Jesse & Festus being the only real tag teams currently active in the WWE at the moment (and by that I mean introduced and pushed as a tag team) it doesn't look good for the only other real tag team left. And what happens to the teams that have split thanks to the draft?

The Highlanders – The Highlanders made a small impression when they debuted on Raw then quickly faded away to Heat. Then they turned heel for no good reason and didn’t even get a storyline to go with it. Rory’s been injured since late last year and Robbie’s been pretty much off the radar since then.

Brian Kendrick – I can’t for the life of me figure out why they split up Paul London & Brian Kendrick. Kendrick got shipped off to Smackdown and I just don’t see what’s there for him to do. There’s no more Cruiserweight title to go after, I honestly think Kendrick’s too small to be considered a threat to anyone on his own.

Domino – The lesser half of Deuce & Domino, here’s another guy that got left out in the cold thanks to the draft. The tag team had broken up the week before the draft, but now Domino doesn’t have the opportunity to feud with his former partner. The greaser gimmick only really worked as part of a team and now that Domino’s all by his lonesome I don’t see a bright future for him.

No More Heat

The elimination of Heat removes an opportunity to showcase the undercard. That doesn't bode well for guys like Charlie Haas, Snitsky, Shannon Moore, Jamie Noble, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Super Crazy. Barring any sort of push they might get I really don't see these guys appearing on any of the three main shows as anything more than jobbers. Any one of them could go at any time.

The "Never Gonna Get Fired" Club

At one point, Billy Gunn, Scotty 2 Hotty, Val Venis, Funaki, and Hardcore Holly compromised what I liked to call the "Never Gonna Get Fired" Club. These guys had been around for years and never got much further than the midcard. For whatever reason, although in some cases these guys remained pretty popular, they never went anywhere. Gunn got the axe in 2004, followed by Scotty in 2007. I wouldn't think Hardcore Holly would get released anytime soon, as he was Tag Team champion only a week ago, but Venis and Funaki have nothing going for them and, frankly, haven't for years. So, never say never.

On the Fence

These are a few guys I see as at a turning point in their careers. With the right opportunity they could be huge stars. If they stay in the rut they've been in they don't have much of a future ahead of them.

Chuck Palumbo - Already released once before, Palumbo came back to a bit of success on Smackdown recently. The move to Raw in the draft could mean big things for him, but it could be bad news if he gets lost in the shuffle.

Deuce - As the adopted son of Jimmy Snuka, Deuce is a natural fit to join Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes. But if he's left alone with his greaser gimmick, I don't think he'll be around for too long.

Kenny Dykstra - Most people know Kenny Dykstra as a former male cheerleader or "that guy with the headband." If you saw any of his work in OVW as a heel, you know Kenny has the potential to be big. He just needs an opportunity.

Carlito - Another second generation star, Carlito's been pushed in fits and starts since his debut. They'll put him in a high profile feud, even give him a title, then back off for a while. He's capable of having a great match on any give night, he just needs a push that isn't going to dissolve after a month or so.

Paul London - Something should be done with Paul London. He's too talented and too fun to watch to let him go to waste. He could be placed in the current program with Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels. Like Lance Cade, London is a product of Michaels Texas wrestling Academy. Chris Jericho & Lance Cade vs. Shawn Michaels & Paul London...I'd pay to see that. A solo London probably wouldn't be much more than a jobber, and I can see a guy as talented as he is asking for his release to head to TNA or back to Ring of Honor.

DH Smith - Son of the legendary Davey Boy Smith, DH got derailed very early on with he was suspended for a Wellness Policy violation less than two weeks after his WWE television debut. He seemed destined to join up with Ted DiBiase Jr. on Raw, but got sent over to Smackdown in the draft. I don't know what he'll do over there, but this one's kind of iffy as we haven't seen much of DH Smith.

Elijah Burke - Even in the star anemic ECW, the amazingly talented Elijah Burke hasn't been getting pushed. I'm begging WWE to push this guy and not let him fall through the cracks.

Well, there you have it. 23 names who's days with the WWE might be numbered. I guess only time will tell.