The Ominous Thoughts News Report 1.21.07

The Real News

We have two major news stories this week, the first of which is the big cuts to the talent roster in WWE. From the main rosters of Smackdown and ECW, Mike & Todd Shane (aka the Gymini), Tony Mamaluke, Doug & Danny Basham, Sylvester Terkay, CW Anderson, Jazz, and Tatanka have all been cut. Developmental cuts include Seth Skyfire, Jack Bull, Ryan Reeves, Mike Taylor, Tracy Taylor, Tony Salantri, and Thomas Farra have all been cut. DSW trainer Bill DeMott has been cut as well, and Al Snow has been cut as a wrestler, but will stay on as a trainer. Also, Gangrel and Rodney Mack, both brought on to be part of ECW, were released without once appearing on TV.

The only one of these cuts that really surprises me is Sylvester Terkay, who they were giving a pretty good push to as a badass shooter. I mentioned yesterday in Friendly Competition that they could have gotten a lot of use out of him as an enforcer for a heel champion in the mold of an Arn Anderson, but I guess that’s not to be. As for the others, I’m really not surprised at any of them. Most of the ECW guys were brought on when ECW was being revived, but guys like Tony Mamaluke and CW Anderson lost all value when they decided to make it a WWE brand instead of being anything close to the original vision. Once ECW house shows were cut, it was just a matter of time before these guys were gone. The Bashams became expendable the moment Paul Heyman was once again sent home (though not released, apparently), and Jazz only appeared on TV once before sitting home for seven months.

The first conclusion we can come to is that standalone ECW house shows aren’t coming back anytime soon, even though word was that they planned to bring them back after Wrestlemania. I can’t say this shocks me because after watching December To Dismember, I realized that their roster of credible talent isn’t deep enough to support more than their one hour weekly show. If they had more time, they might be able to develope more than just Lashley, RVD, CM Punk, Sabu, Hardcore Holly, and then twenty jobbers. As it stands right now, any ECW house show would look like December To Dismember. I went to an ECW house show in White Plains, NY back in late August and it was pitiful. I was sitting there watching two hours of matches between jobbers before Big Show and Sabu came on for the main event, and I’m sitting there thinking “I paid to see THIS?”

On the Smackdown side, I’m glad Tatanka got a year or so of work, but most WWE “legends” that come back to work full time are used as jobbers, so I don’t think his release is a big loss. The Gymini surprised me a little bit, but tag team wrestling doesn’t mean what it used to in WWE. I think that if there were one of them instead of two, he would have been kept on just based on his side, but I think the fact that the two of them were basically interchangeable worked against them somehow.

I haven’t seen any of the developmental talent to have been released so I can’t comment on them, but I’m glad that Al Snow is being kept on as a trainer. He’s barely been used as a wrestler for a few years now, so his wrestling release didn’t inspire much of a reaction from me. As for Bill DeMott, I haven’t been hearing great things about him as a trainer. From what I hear, most of the wrestlers to pass through Deep South thought he was overbearing and way too tough to train under, and was more worried about breaking the wrestlers down than helping teach them what they’ll need to know to work well if called up to the main roster. Apparently, WWE didn’t like his teaching style because he’s gone.

Word is that there may be more releases to come, and if there are I’ll talk all about it next week. However, as for right now, SCOTTY 2 HOTTY STILL HAS A FREAKIN’ JOB.

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The other big news this week was the passing of Bam Bam Bigelow, who was found dead in his apartment in Florida Friday morning. The cause is as yet unknown, but being that he was only 45, I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to suspect that he died of the usual. It’s a real shame because twenty years ago, we saw this 400 pound guy who could do amazing feats of agility for a guy his size, and more than one person looked at him and said “This is the next guy to be the man.” Eight years later he’s doing the job in the main event of Wrestlemania to a football player, and it was all downhill from there. He was gone from the WWF within a year and, even though he had a successful stint in ECW, his best days were behind him by the end of the 90s. In recent years, we’d heard about various problems he’d been having in his personal life, most recently the death of his girlfriend during a motorcycle accident he had while he was apparently under the influence and neither of them were wearing helmets. The guy had really fallen on some serious hard times, and didn’t seem to have anything left of the money he had made while he was working in the big time.

It’s a real shame and came as kind of a shock to me. I was writing something Thursday night about Bam Bam for an upcoming column, and it was really weird to think that as I was writing about him, he only had hours to live, or maybe was already dead and nobody knew it yet. I’m not going to exaggerate and call him “the great Bam Bam Bigelow” or act like his death is a major loss to the industry in the here and now, or in the past for that matter because he somehow never amounted to what he should have, but it’s a real bummer to look at what he could have been and what he instead became.

So instead of a guy who should have been World Champion (and I’m sorry, the ECW Title was not a real World Title), we have a guy who is yet another reason why the WWE Wellness Program is important and should continue to be strictly enforced instead of adjusted to accomodate storylines as needed or, as I suspect it currently is, being conveniently forgotten about.

The Other News

WWE

Cassidy Riley and Ace Steel have been signed to developmental deals.

I haven’t seen enough of Cassidy Riley to really comment, but Ace is great. He’s a great worker, an entertaining personality, and has trained many other wrestlers on the indy scene, including current ECW superstar CM Punk. This makes Ace doubly valuable to WWE because, if they ever decide that he’s not going to work out as an active wrestler, they can send him to train in OVW or DSW. Looking at where smaller wrestlers like Al Snow and Nova wind up makes it seem that if you’re not 6’4″ and 260 lbs, having training experience is a good thing to have in your back pocket.

WWE has signed Nattie Neidhart, daughter of former WWF Tag Team Champion Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart to a developmental contract, and will report to Deep South Wrestling.

She will join fellow third generation Hart, Harry Smith, in the developmental system. It’d be great if they got programmed together when they eventually get called up (which I have no doubt that they will), but will Teddy Hart follow? Obviously not right now, since Teddy’s already signed on with MTV for Wrestling Society X, but even if he wasn’t, I’d have to question whether he’d make it. However, from all accounts, Teddy’s been a model citizen at WSX, so is it possible that he’s finally grown up and started taking the business seriously? Maybe by the time his contract with WSX runs out, he’ll have the maturity/TV exposure that would make it worth the risk for WWE to bring him on board. You never know, and I doubt WWE wants to end up with another Randy Orton on their hands, but I think it would be really cool if the Next Generation Hart Foundation made its way to Raw. Unfortunately, a fourth cousin will not be joining them…

Lance Storm announced on his website that Dallas Hart, son of Bret “Hitman” Hart, is no longer training under him to become a wrestler.

I’m kind of bummed out to hear this, but I’m glad that he felt comfortable getting out now instead of staying with it because he feels like it’s expected of him, only to wind up like a Von Erich. I’m also happy that Bret wasn’t one of those wrestling fathers that pushes his kids into the business, because the only thing that would have been worse than Dallas ending up like a Von Erich would be Dallas ending up like a Von Erich because Bret acted like Fritz and drove him to it.

Hulk Hogan’s opponent at Wrestlemania will now most likely be either Shane McMahon or the Great Khali. There is very little chance at this point of Big Show returning for the match.

Well, so much for all the rumors that Big Show was just milking the injury and waiting for the big money program with Hogan. Say what you will, but Big Show busted his ass and did some pretty wild stuff for a guy his size in the name of getting the new ECW over. He also took a lot of big bumps that a guy his size probably shouldn’t do, and I guess it finally caught up with him.

The following names have been announced as participating in the Royal Rumble:

ECW: Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Hardcore Holly, Sandman, CM Punk

I’m going to have the full preview of the Royal Rumble next week, but as I look at this list, the only names that look like serious possibilities to go over are Undertaker, Shawn Michaels…and MAYBE Edge. I really have no idea who’s going to win, but not like in 1992 or 2001 when there were so many good choices that you couldn’t pick just one, it’s one of those where there’s so few that none of them really seem worth picking. I hope those last few spots get filled with somebody really good.

Tank Toland is now working as the trainer of the amateur class at Ohio Valley Wrestling.

I’m glad he got rehired by WWE. Why, you ask? Because this means that he’s done in ROH. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s not a terrible wrestler like your typical musclehead, he could do some pretty cool stuff, but just all the Dick and steroid jokes made it a bit of a drag to sit through his matches, and he was also really bland as a character, which while not always the biggest qualification for success in ROH, was a pretty glaring deficiency in his case.

The Cyber Sunday buyrate is coming in at 235,000 buys, 141,000 of which are domestic.

I dunno. Isn’t that decent these days? No? The fact that so few people in the US bought it isn’t a good sign.

The Royal Rumble press conference in San Antonio, Texas has been cancelled, at least to the public.

I guess this means they got tired of people showing up and cheering for the competition. If they got rid of everyone in the Rumble other than Michaels, Undertaker, Benoit, and Edge, and then filled out the rest of the match with TNA guys, then maybe the show would be worth watching. Of course, nobody would take WWE seriously ever again, but it’d be fun to watch.

TNA

Kurt Angle suffered a concussion while wrestling Samoa Joe at Final Resolution. He felt better later on, but was pretty rattled at the time and didn’t remember parts of the match. He praised Joe for carrying him through the rest.

Good for Joe for being able to carry Angle through the rest of the match and all, but Angle got hurt again? It seems like every time he steps in the ring these days, he gets himself hurt. Great, he was feeling better later, but the fact remains that he did get hurt again. Either he’s suddenly developed the lowest tolerance for pain of any wrestler ever, or he’s that broken down that it’s that easy for him to hurt himself. Suddenly, rushing the Joe-Angle feud doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. I hope that when he finally breaks down for good, it’s not live on PPV. Which brings us to…

Kurt Angle will make his debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling on 2/18. The appearance was booked through TNA and will likely be a tag team match.

Last time I checked, the Japanese style was a lot stiffer in general than the American style. If Angle can’t make it through a TV or PPV match without suffering some kind of injury, how the hell is he going to get out of Japan in one piece? Maybe that’s the logic behind putting him in a tag team match. That’s the best idea of how to use Kurt Angle I’ve heard in a very long time. I hope he doesn’t get hurt, but imagine if he does and the guy who did it would forever be known as the guy who ended Kurt Angle’s career? I think that would be worth something over there.

TNA got a lot of publicity from the angle on TNA Impact where AJ Pierzynski hit Lance Hoyt with a chair.

I guess as long as they keep getting the media coverage, they’re going to keep bringing AJ and Torborg in. However, on the wrestling side, there has to be some kind of payoff eventually. Unless AJ’s going to get in the ring with Hoyt or someone, it’s just a loose end that’s not going to lead anywhere.

The Heart Throbs were backstage at Final Resolution and are now in talks with the company about coming in.

I didn’t see what they did on Byte This that got them fired, but if Vince Russo finds out, I can only imagine what might be done with them if they do get brought on.

Everything Else

Tylene Buck, who appeared in WCW as Major Gunns, is now doing a webcam on an adult website.

Not for anything, but she always kind of disgusted me even when she was in WCW. Now that she’s six years older, I have even less motivation to want to look at her naked, much less doing depraved things. I have omitted the link to the website to protect the innocent, but if you’re really interested, the link to the link is here.

I LOVE FEEDBACK!!!

This letter comes from Rob Fisher, who has issue with my pro-TNA stance. I’ll break it down point-by-point.

While, I don’t think that Marky Mark really even made an effort to construct a valid point, I have to question the validity of a lot of your points regarding TNA. It’s obvious you’re a shill for TNA and there is nothing wrong with that. I am a shill for things that suck and for whatever reason it may be, at the end of the day it’s what YOU like.

Okay, first thing: I’m not a shill for anyone. As you put it, it’s about what I like, and I’m going to support whatever I like even if it’s not popular.

Before I go into the my feelings about your comments regarding TNA and WWE I have to point out that you come off as one of those people that thinks they are a non-conformist just by liking something that no one else likes and hating things that everyone else likes(or watches in this matter).

No, it’s not a conscious effort to be a non-conformist, it just so happens that I don’t automatically gravitate toward the recognized brands just because they’re the recognized brands, and I’m not going to timidly sit in a corner and hide the fact that I think TNA and ROH are much better products just because I’m in the minority. If that was the way it was, I’d be sitting here writing about how awesome Batista and John Cena are every week and how I can’t wait for the next mindless single-brand PPV, while burying TNA because they’re the little guy. That to me seems more like bandwagon jumping than anything else and besides that, it’s really hard to try and support something you don’t believe in. If I were to do it that way, then I WOULD be a shill.

Okay so you think an Emmy award winning show that was tops in ratings for about 10 years is mindless drivel; it’s not for everybody. Thank god we had Saturday afternoons with Hercules to fulfill our substance quota… this is America and successful = good. I am not defending WWE, because I do agree that their about as productive creatively as trying to get a shit stain out of the carpet with a Persian rug.

So in one sentence you tell me that, being that we’re in America and all, successful = good, and then in the next sentence you tell me that WWE, the most successful wrestling company in history, is like trying to get a shit stain out of a carpet? Care to explain that a little better?

TNA is in no way shape or form good and the only reasonable explanation I can come up with for you thinking TNA is good, is that you hate WWE so much that you blindly rationalize it out of spite for WWE.

No, I think TNA is good based on its own merits. Its matches entertain me, its storylines usually entertain me (although I readily admit that Joe-Angle wasn’t what I hoped for), and that’s my opinion, just like your opinion is that TNA is not good. I do not hate WWE because it has given me many, many years of great entertainment. I even found the hated dark ages of the mid 90s to be what I consider entertaining. I just think the current product is horrible. And even if I did hate WWE, I wouldn’t rush to the side of TNA if I thought it sucked too for the sole purpose of running down WWE. If I didn’t like either of them, I’d just watch ROH or I’d stop watching altogether.

First off, ratings do matter… you can’t make an argument that ratings don’t matter and then say that the reason the buyrate is so low is because they aren’t getting high ratings. Well, I suppose you can but it’s completely asinine. TNA’s ratings dropped. At 11 o’clock they were pulling a 1.1 rating. A year later they had to build back up to that rating in a primetime slot. If it was quality they wouldn’t have lost viewership. It’s a simple equation.

I didn’t say that TNA has always been good. Right now I think they’re doing just about everything right. And even if they’re not, or if your opinion is that they’re not, the difference is that they’re trying to give us what we want, instead of WWE which sometimes seems like it does things specifically to spite the fans, especially when Vince McMahon comes out on Raw and specifically tells us that he doesn’t care what the fans want and that he’s going to continue feeding us what he likes whether we like it or not.

Everything TNA does is right? Really? VKM was right? Rushing through the Joe/Angle program was right? I don’t see how this is any better than what WWE does. The best thing they had going was LAX and they managed to fuck that up(stripping them of the titles; silly flag burning segments). AJ Styles turning heel and repeating the same tired fake injury spot to pick up wins. All bad.

Okay, great, your opinion (which I’m sure you didn’t read somewhere and just repeat back to me as if it was your own) is that the stuff TNA is doing is bad. Great, I don’t have any desire to change your opinion about it. But if you’re going to tell me that this isn’t any better than what WWE does, it would help if you were to name some stuff in WWE that you like or that you consider to be better than VKM, or Joe-Angle, or anything else. And you know what? As stupid as VKM’s anti-WWE thing might seem on its own, and despite the silly payoff, I still think it’s better than 90% of what I see on WWE these days.

3 min matches make sense if you have good writing that help develop compelling storylines. However, when your main attraction is supposed to be the WRESTLING aspect as opposed to the Sport-Entertainment nonsense that WWE produces, it’s highly counter-productive, not to mention that no one cares about Abyss’s secret, VKM, silly flag burnings, baseball players, Petey Williams face turn, Jerry Lynn, Jackass or Angle-Joe for that matter. The proof being that they had a decent jump in buys for their (Angle/Joe) first match and then low and behold TNA, who had just gained more viewers(paying viewers at that), lost them in a month’s time. You can’t blame that on WWE having the market cornered, because they gained the audience, people were aware, and they lost them. How is that TNA doing anything right?

No, YOU don’t care about Abyss’s secret, VKM, flag burnings, Jerry Lynn, etc. I’m really glad Jerry Lynn’s back in the ring, I think he’s a great worker and that his return has been a long time coming. I’m also interested in what Abyss’s secret is. It may not have the best, or even a good payoff, but just the fact that they’ve got me wondering makes me feel like I care. No, Joe-Angle didn’t live up to my expectations, but I was interested while it lasted. You also act like TNA started with the same size audience as WWE and then drove them all away. They didn’t, they started from NOTHING and worked their way up to a 1.5. Here’s an interesting little tidbit for you to think about as well: while TNA’s audience has been slowly growing, WWE’s audience has been depleting an an equal or greater speed. That tells me that more and more people are being turned on to TNA while more and more people are being turned off to WWE. Not sure if there’s any connection, but there it is.

The fact of the matter is – wrestling is a business. You must make money to keep said business going, and TNA isn’t. They have seen glimpses of hope, but then folded. Even if they gain more viewers with a Monday night special, they have to prove they can keep them, which has not been TNA’s strong suit and it probably never will. Because TNA is not good, they are just an alternative.

Well, like I said, TNA has a record high audience right now. As for them being an alternative, yes, that’s exactly what they are and in fact is what they bill themselves as. You know what’s funny? Six or seven years ago when WCW was still around and long before I even seriously harbored the thought that I would ever end up writing for 411, I used to read the columnists of the time responding to email accusing them of being anti-WCW and pro-WWF just to be contrary. It didn’t matter that the WWF was hitting on all cylinders with great storylines and awesome matches while WCW’s storylines made no sense and often died with no explanation after mere weeks while chasing all the good talent out of the promotion at a rapid pace, they just saw the writers supporting the product they liked while recognizing a shitty product for what it was, and they felt compelled to write in to them and question their journalistic integrity.

I hate to drag his name out of mothballs, but Scott Keith was a perfect example. Scott Keith wasn’t anti-WCW on principle. He thought it was much better than the WWF in the 80s, then hated them both during the early and mid 90s, but then as the late 90s and early 00s hit, he decided he liked the WWF product better and was so behind it that he couldn’t give out four and five stars to enough matches. In the meantime, he would fucking BURY WCW. Once WCW was gone and WWE’s product started going down the shitter, he had no problem telling us what he didn’t like and why he didn’t like it, and eventually got so disgusted with it that he stopped writing about wrestling altogether. I can’t say that I’d do anything different, because if all wrestling really sucked that bad that I had nothing good to say about any of it, there really wouldn’t be much point in continuing to watch, much less write about it.

So what’s my point? My point is that I like TNA’s product. I really like ROH’s product. I don’t like WWE’s product right now. I’m not going to blindly support TNA and ROH just because they’re not WWE, but I’m certainly not going to write positive things about WWE if I don’t believe them. I’m sure as hell not doing it out of spite just to be contrary. It just so happens that I like Hercules better than Friends.

We Got Links Out The Ass

First let’s get the self-plugs out of the way. Friday in That Was Then, I respond to some of the best feedback I’ve gotten recently, and then in Friendly Competition, I take my weekly look at ECW and TNA and start us off on the Rob Van Dam Contract Watch.

Zac Calhoun may spend a little too much time going to see plays for my taste, but this week in The Ripple Effect, he cleans out his mailbox and then talks about Randy Orton using injuries to his advantage.

Sat & Uncle Trunx challenge us to take the High Road or the Low Road on the Ironman Match from Final Resolution.

Larry gives us His Take On the passing of Bam Bam Bigelow.

Phill Feltham nearly gives me a heart attack in The Quick Talkdown by suggesting that a Kevin Federline vs David Arquette match at Wrestlemania would be a good idea. Well, it’s a very creative idea, that’s for sure.

Finally, Ari gives us Column Of Honor