INSIDER ARTICLE, PT.1 : THE WWE MASSACRE

As promised, here is part one of the two-part article posted on PWInsider this weekend. This portion was published on Saturday.

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SLAMJAMZ CENTRAL: THE WWE TALENT
MASSACRE - A Complete Analysis

Part One of Two
By TC Kirkham

This has been one of the most crazy,
devastating weeks in recent memory for the professional wrestling fan.
18 talents from WWE - 15 wrestlers, 2 divas, and 1 announcer - so far -
have been let go in the worst-ever single short term period massacre of
talent in the 10+ years I have been a wrestling fan. WWE's
extremely unprofessional attitude continued by having the nerve to ask
the fired talent how they felt about being fired, so they could post it
on their website. That is the most obnoxious, inhuman, uncaring
attitude I've ever seen.

As if that's not enough, Jim Cornette
lost his mind - again - and has been fired from OVW over an incident in
which he slapped a student repeatedly after not reacting to another
performer as Cornette thought he should.

And in the most heinous disregard for
sensibility that I've EVER seen in WWE, McMahon and company allowed a
terrorism angle - tasteless and crass at any time - involving Muhammad
Hassan, Daivari, and five masked men dressed as commandos, to air on
Smackdown Thursday night, less than 24 hours after London was the
victim of a horrible terrorist attack with over 50 casualties from a
series of bombs going off on London's public transportation,
three in London's spacious Underground system, and one which ripped
apart a classic Double Decker bus.

This week has personally left me
completely disgusted with the total heartlessness of one Vincent
Kennedy McMahon. He has shown NO compassion whatsoever in the releases
of these performers, even as WWE announced they were hiring former ECW
and TNA troublemaker Big Vito to add to the Smackdown side, and as they
also dropped the bombshell that they were about to re-sign wrestling
turncoat Brock Lesnar to a deal, something which not surprisingly is
not sitting well with the boys in the back OR the fans.

Despite what many people out there
feel, WWE is NOT the only game in town, even though they are the only
federation with weekly TV at the moment. But that is about to change.
TNA should announce a tv deal in the next couple of weeks, I predict.
And if they and Spike TV, who is most likely going to be their
new home, follow through on the advice I'm going to STRONGLY SUGGEST
they follow in the second part of this article, coming tomorrow, they
could very well knock McMahon flat on his ass.

For right now, though, let's stick
with the WWE Massacre, and the talent therein.

WWE has so misused many of these
people, and it's disgusting. However, there is a bright silver lining
in these dismissals: In several cases, they have handed TNA and ROH a
present on a silver platter. Several of them, in fact.

I'm going to be bluntly honest here:
Not all of the talent released this week will find work with TNA or
ROH, simply because they're just not going to appeal to either group,
or the fans of either group. The performers have their fans, and will
probably show up in some capacity somewhere in the business, but not
likely soon. We'll get these performers out of the way up front, so I
can do some detailed analysis of the rest of the performers. The
performers I refer to in this group are, in no particular order, Joy
Giovanni, Kenzo Suzuki and wife Hiroko, Marty Jannetty, Dawn Marie,
Gangrel, Marc Loyd, and Kevin "Mordecai" Fertig. Unless something
really spectacular can be thought up for one or more of them, I believe
we've seen the last of them for a while where US Wrestling is concerned.

Now that those people are out of the
way, let's focus, in order of importance as I see them, of the
remaining
wrestlers who have fallen victim to WWE's callous restructuring.

1. Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley

Not a part of the cuts directly, but
WWE has chosen "not to reopen renegotiations" with them, this release
is perhaps WWE's biggest shocker AND biggest BONEHEAD move of the past
10 years, with the Matt Hardy dismissal earlier this year the second
biggest. Bubba Ray and D-Von will be free to go wherever they want when
their contract expires in early August - less than 30 days from now, it
is believed -- and will NOT be hampered by the standard 90 day
no-compete clause that WWE includes in their contracts. They will
not have trouble finding work, and some sources have indicated that the
Dudleys have already been contacted by both TNA and ROH for future
work. The Dudleys are going become the biggest of several thorns in
Vince McMahon's side in coming weeks. Simply put, it's like Vince
McMahon personally delivered to TNA a belated 3rd anniversary present.

2. Billy Kidman

Of the performers who were direct
victims of the massacre, Billy Kidman is perhaps the best known. A
multi-time WCW Cruiserweight champion back in his formative years,
Kidman got lost in the shuffle in the shift to WWE after the WCW
buyout, and the only thing good that's come out of Kidman's time with
WWE is the fact that he found a wife in WWE Diva Torrie Wilson.
It didn't help that he bulked up a bit too much and cut his hair off,
changing his look considerably. Still, Kidman is a five-star talent
that is sure to find work in the biz, be it in TNA, ROH, or Japan,
where he might be best suited in the long run, with his high-flying
style. His one big problem with prospective new employers might be the
fact that he's earned himself a rep for being from the "JBL/Bob
Holly" school of hazing, something that only developed after being a
victim of that kind of crap himself in his really early WCW days, and
wanting to get ahead more quickly in WWE, he joined in on several of
Bradshaw's extremely juvenile bullying sessions. His attitude in this
area may make him a bit undesirable at the moment, unless he can clean
up his act.

3. Maven

I'll go more into depth on why Maven
is third on my list in the next installment of analysis tomorrow. But
he's VERY important, trust me. The only reason Maven never got over is
because John Laurinatis, Stephanie McMahon,. and Triple H kept cutting
the legs out from under him because he was a "Tough Enough" alumni, the
very first winner, in fact (though I never agreed with that decision -
I always felt Josh was a better performer and should have won the
original competition). A golden opportunity lay ahead for Maven if he
should choose to stay in the business and persevere a bit longer.

4. Shannon Moore

Of all the released talent this week,
Shannon Moore is perhaps the most unfairly lambasted performer among
them. A cruiserweight with more skill in just ONE of his pinkies than
the entire bodies of Heidenreich, Gene Snitsky, and Nathan Jones
(who could forget him…no matter how hard they try) combined,
Moore never got the shot he truly deserved. Even with help from his out
of the ring buddy Matt Hardy, and later Paul Heyman, Moore could never
catch a break. The recent transformation of his look and style, which
greatly hurt him with most fans, transforming him from a good
looking young man the ladies could get into into a major league
Dork with a "moussehawk", too much of a "bulk up" job, and make
up which made no sense, was probably the final straw. But at least
Shannon TRIED to inject freshness into his character, tried to "rev his
game up", and was easily along with Paul London and Akio (see below)
the reason the oft-maligned, little watched WWE Velocity was the best
show in the WWE's TV crown for the past year. Matt Hardy also commented
on Shannon's release today, saying pretty much the same thing (although
he said he liked Shannon's new look, which I STRONGLY disagree with). I
think Shannon's going to appeal to many a market, indie and big league.
And, for the record, I first touted him as a potential TNA X Division
champion in February of 2003! There's a lot "moore" to Shannon
than people give him credit for, and in the next few months, once his
90 day no-compete runs out, Shannon will blow the minds of people who
don't give him said credit. I think people will finally get a chance to
see what the WWE missed out on…an extremely talented and personable
former WCW Hardcore Champion (shared with Shane Helms and Evan Karagis
as "Three Count") that they completely overlooked.
With all his potential, it's mindboggling that the WWE didn't see it.
Then again, think about who were talking about here - Vince, Steph,
Hunter.... On second thought, it's not that mindboggling...it's out and
out ignorance.

5. Akio

Like Moore, Akio never really got a shot at getting over in the WWE,
because he's under 6 foot, he never got a real persona, and he's a
(gasp) cruiserweight wrestler. Three strikes, kid, you're OUT.
And that's a shame. We knew whenever we'd see a Moore vs Akio match on
Velocity (the ONLY place they would ever appear in that capacity), we'd
get a good match. They'd been mixing it up together since the dying
days of WCW, when Shannon was part of Three Count, and Akio was the
leader of the Jung Dragons. And in fact, no matter who Akio mixed it up
with, the match was worth watching. Whether taking on Paul London,
Chavo Guerrero, Shannon Moore, or Spike Dudley, you could see the
talent this high flyer had. If TNA doesn't snatch him up for the
X Division pronto, I'll be damned surprised.

6. Spike Dudley

Spike Dudley has a rep for being one of the nicest guys in the
business, always doing what he's told, always happy to please his fans,
always working hard to get over. But this time, with Bubba Ray and
D-Von being sold up the river as contract negotiations fell apart,
Spike
followed them up said river in his little raft. Spike needs time
off to heal his body completely, and if I were him, I'd enjoy the 90
day clause and then a few more months besides that. But he's a
go-getter and already advertising his availability. And he'll no doubt
end up wherever Bubba and D-Von end up. Unlike Moore and Akio, Spike
already had a solid persona when he arrived in WWE having established
it in ECW. And over the past year, the WWE had a little fun,
turning him into the little heel that was the ringleader of the Dudley
Boyz. It was hilarious, it was fun, and it worked with the fans. Well,
except the beard. PLEASE shave that ridiculous beard off. A goatee is
fine, but that mountain man monster just looked....well....DUMB on a
guy of Spike's size. IF Spike can get himself healthy
again, he's the most likely of all the massacre victims to end up as a
Ring Of Honor regular. His extreme style is a natural fit for the
Philly-based group. And he'd probably be welcomed in TNA as well, and
could lend his talents to TNA's most valuable area, the X Division. Or
perhaps...he could do BOTH. But seriously, Spike, sit on the sidelines
for awhile and HEAL. THEN worry about where you're going to go.

7 & 8 Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda

I'm doing these two as a pair because they are newlyweds, and would be
a great addition to any organization that might want them. They've
already served notice that they will be sticking around in the
business, contrary to what a couple of online pundits have speculated,
and they should. Charlie has been floundering around since Team Angle
ended, and Jackie....well, she's a heck of a valet. Seriously,
though Jackie, along with Maven, and the next person I'm going to talk
about, figure into an idea I'm going to be giving TNA in the second
half of this article (available tomorrow) and so we'll talk more about
her at that time. Charlie would be an asset to anyone who wants him. He
could add some style and grace to the TNA ranks, or kick it up a notch
and take on ROH. We'll be seeing the pair of them soon, I have no
doubt.

9. Matt Morgan

Morgan was the giant of those involved in the Massacre. Standing well
over six feet tall, this one time Tough Enough competitor had been in
WWE's main ranks once before, then sent back to OVW for more seasoning.
When he returned, he came back as a man whose gimmick was that of
a man who had a deep dark secret: he ::shudder:: STUTTERED. Excuse
me? You've got a guy that big, and his only claim to a gimmick is
that he stuttered? Good god, what has Creative been smoking? Or
maybe that should be what HAVEN'T they been smoking? And maybe they
should find something TO smoke. ANYTHING would have been more creative
than this. Poor Matt. He's got a terrific body, he's a handsome guy to
appeal to the ladies, and he's got talent lurking under some
still greenish skin. To be fair, WWE tried for a couple weeks to get
him over as Carlito's bodyguard, and even had him doing Brock Lesnar's
finisher , the F5. But then Brockie-Brat decided he wanted to come back
to wrestling after all, so Carlito was "drafted" to Raw and Matt was
left out in the cold. They don't need TWO big guys. And despite the
fact that they could probably get Matt for a LOT LESS MONEY than Brock,
they have sent him packing. With continued training and
work, Matt has a bright future in this business, and I have a feeling
he'll be getting offers right and left from TNA, ROH, Indies, and
Japan, where they love big american guys (ask Mike Awesome). Of course,
they love little american guys too (just ask Spanky and Low Ki), but
that's beside the point. Which is that he's likely got a few
choices to make in the future as to where he can go.

10. Mark Jindrak

Jindrak is a former WCW World Tag Team Champion with Sean O'Haire, and
WWE of course BURIED him from the very beginning. Thrust from gimmick
to gimmick without success (hey, even Glen Jacobs took three gimmicks
to finally find fame as Kane - remember "Dr. Issac Yankem" and "The NEW
Diesel"?), Jindrak just hasn't had the breaks in his WWE tenure. He's
got talent, he's a big guy, and I think if maybe he tries to just be
HIMSELF for a chance, instead of imitating old gimmicks that didn't
work (See Wrestling Dictionary under" The Narcissist", aka Lex Luger),
Jindrak might finally find himself a star, be it with TNA or even more
likely, with Ring of Honor and in Japan.


OK, so there you have it . My honest assessment of what could be in the
future for these ten people.

I keep talking about the second half of this article. And I'm going to
do so a little more right now. Part two of my Analysis of the WWE
Massacre will focus on how TNA, WWE's nearest thing to a direct
competitor, must grab the reins, pull hard, and buckle down for a
bumpy ride. And how they can best take advantage of the massive cuts
WWE has made.

I'll warn you (and PWInsider.Com) ahead of time: What I'm going to lay
out in the second part of this article is going to be a bit
groundbreaking, a LOT controversial, and in some places, EXTREMELY
unethical, but I'm going to do it anyway. Why? Because I want TNA to
survive. WWE has just handed them a basket of goodies, and I want to
help ensure TNA doesn't blow it...YET AGAIN. Somebody needs to
step up and tell the Carters and the Jarretts just WHY they're not
successful as of yet, and HOW they can have that success OVERNIGHT if
they're willing to put the bucks in, push the right pressure points,
risk some potentially nasty legal consequences, and show that they have
the BALLS to DESERVE to survive, something which, as of yet, they have
NOT shown.

But all of that is coming tomorrow....

Until then....REPRISE THE THEME SONG AND ROLL THE CREDITS!!!
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Part two of this article follows in it's own post.