Stuck in the Middle With You - The WWE's Hit or Miss Relationship

Stuck in the Middle With You - The WWE's Hit or Miss Relationship
Submitted by Da J-Train on Saturday, September 27, 2003 at 11:10 PM EST

Hey everyone and welcome back to my column. Well, I am onto my third column on the main page and so far, everything is going pretty well. My last column got about 2 times more feedback than my first, so it is good to see that my column is catching on quickly. Again, I have to thank all of you for reading. If you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Anyway, what is on tap for this column? Well, I was reading some recent WWE signings which served as inspiration for today's column. You see, as a columnist that does not do Raw or Smackdown reviews, Pay Per View Predictions, or Biographical columns, and at the same time, makes a conscious effort to be different, sometimes it's tough to come up with things to write about. So, I was going to take a look at one of the most successful Independent federation to WWE developmental relationships today. However, it is as successful as they would make you believe?

BUT FIRST...

Letters! I get Letters! I get sacks and sacks of Letters! LETTERS!!! That's right; it's time to answer some of my Love, Hate, Kind-Of-Care-For, and I-Only-Like-You-as-A-Friend-Mail. Now, as I said before, I got twice as much mail as I did the first time, so, I can't answer everyone's letters. But hey, I do things for you, the readers, so if enough of you request that I up the response limit from 5 to something else, I consider doing it. I just don't want my column to be more long winded than it already is. So, here we go:

Feedback O Rama

Letter 1 :

'Sup J-Train,

It was clearly LaResistance' fault. Your most certainly a mark for that shabby team, so your biased. But thats ok. Decent column by the way. La Resistance should be punished for that. And I am certain that Bubba is going to be really stiff with them at the PPV. And they deserve whatever they get. I mean how could they just drop Spike like that? I mean its Spike! He weighs all of 150lbs. Its not like he even close to being a heavyweight. You mention that they are to small for that move and it should have been done from the apron. Spike is easy to throw. Ecspecially for 2 pretty strong men. No excuse for their actions.

Vis

Well, I do have to admit that I do tend to favor up and coming superstars more than I do others, but I don’t see what I said about La Resistance coming from a biased point of view. I mean, the replays showed it on Raw, and after I got this email, I made sure to watch the replays even more closely. When you watch them, you can clearly see that Spike’s distance was being hindered by the ropes. He was all over the top rope. I don’t care who you are or how strong you are. A throw will not have the same distance or effect if it is hindered by something. However, what La Resistance, in particular Rene Dupree should be punished for is breaking character. Besides, Rob Conway bit it just like Spike at the Pay per View, so that should satisfy your urges for poetic justice.

As for being called a “mark” of that tag team, let me first off say that I give everyone in the WWE a chance and I give them all credit for what they do… until they fuck up or truly let me down with a reason not to give them a chance or credit. I do that with every superstar, no questions asked. Secondly, and this is not just directed toward Vis, but why is it that being called a mark is intended to be a huge insult on this website? I mean, you guys throw it out without even thinking. It seems like if someone doesn’t like what you like, they are a “mark”. It’s kind of ridiculous if you ask me. It’s not even that big of an insult. And the fact that some people go out of their way to show that they are NOT marks is even more ludicrous. People.., being called a mark is not the worst thing in the world, nor does it bother me in the least. So bring it on, call me a mark all you want because it don’t have time to care about the negative opinions of a few people who decided to take the time out to bash me anonymously.

Letter 2

Hey Da J-Train,

Hey man, great column, especially since you're taking a different perspective
with your subject matter--

IMHO, about whether it's who you know...I think who you know DOES help but
also whether you can deliver the goods helps too. Knowing someone can help you
get your foot in the door and give you those extra chances those other
wrestlers don't get. But if you're given those chances and don't do shit with
them--you get axed. Let's take the Triple H situation--is being with Stephanie
helping his career? It's fairly obvious that it is. But let's be honest--despite the
fact that his wrestling ability isn't what it used to be, he's a draw. He's a
big name wrestler and he did it thru his promo skills and wrestling. If Triple
H was Crash Holly and married to Steph, he would not be the World Champ. He'd
probably stay with the company, but he wouldn't be over like he is. But Steph
or no--he was headed toward the world title. (On a personal note, I DON'T
like him and wish they'd give the title to Jericho or Booker T when he gets back
or at Wrestlemania when he deserved it.)

As for J-Lo and Ben--I'd be more sympathetic to them if they weren't media
whores. Anyone that seeks out the fame they get HAS to be prepared to accept the
consequences. Besides, judging from the success of Gigli, maybe the public
ISN'T as fascinated with them as the media suggests.

Anyway, cool column, keep it up.

JAMES

Thanks for your comments. I really try not to be negative like lots of internet writers seem to be because there are lots of positives to look at. I don’t like to discuss the Triple H situation because although it is truly the wrong way to go about making yourself famous, there are not many people who would pass up a similar opportunity. I’ve even said it before. As Americans, like Triple H and I are, we are constantly being pressured and told how important it is to be extremely successful in your chosen line of work. Now if you are basically guaranteed that level of success if you would only date the boss’s attractive daughter, who equally digs you, you would have to have some pretty strong morals to pass that up. Could you do it? I know I couldn’t. I also know it’s not right either, that’s why it does not excuse Triple H for being the asshole he tends to be. It does not excuse him for holding a title for close to a year and does not excuse him from holding down some obviously deserving people.

Letter 3

Hello JTrain, i would like to say that I really enjoyed your first 2 columns on the main page. It gives me something else to real while waiting for another TITO installment. First off i would like to say that I agree on the whole nepotism idea insinuated in the column. Lest ye forget that during any Triple H match we would always have o hear "well king you know he learned that while being trained by former WWE superstar and current WWE hall of famer Killer Kowalski.: I believe, that the WWE is under the state of mind that if any developmental prospects have WWE ties then it is worth mentioning. For proof, how come they have neglected to mention that fact that Mark Jindrak was a former WCW tag champ on a few occasions? I mean, i think it would help get over more than saying he is a "rookie" then again i am surprised they have made mention of Garrison Cade being trained by good ole HBK.

Now on the Carlin bit you used, gave me a good laugh. good laugh because it was all true...especially the Maurice Clarret thing. Since i live in Columbus near Ohio State, it seems like that is the only news. It seems that there are no murders, no dyeing, no robberies...NO NO NO. the only news in Columbus is Maurice Clarret. I mean he has been on the front page in the papers for lying, not a cop killer, no a hero or anything...Just a 19 year old kid who can't tell the truth to law officials. I am not really sure on how to close this praise letter, so i will do it like this...in honor ot George Carlin of course....
"RAT SHIT BAT SHIT DIRTY OLD TWAT, 69 ASSHOLES TIED IN A KNOT..HOORAY! LIZARD SHIT! FUCK!"

Sincerely,

Bryan T.
Columbus, Ohio

I absolutely laughed out loud when I read your email. The Carlin line at the end was a great touch to it. To be honest, I think the WWE does not mention Jindrak as a former WCW tag team champion because it means nothing as far as they are concerned. The only time a WCW champion is mentioned is when it is apart of the person’s gimmick such as Booker T. I was going to mention Killer Kowalski, but I could only make the column so long. You understand. Thanks for the feedback

Letter 4

I have to say, I'm impressed. There's finally a wrestling contributor who
speaks English. When I saw "Da J-Train" or whatever it was, as your name, I
was worried that I would be in store for yet another of the millions and
millions of illiterate redneck fan columns on a wrestling website, however,
when I actually read your column, I found it to be coherent in it's format as
well as coherent in sentence structure. You make valid points and you bring up
some considerable knowledge that, I trust, is all correct. So, thank you for
creating a website column that isn't an abomination to the english language,
nor to the intelligence of your readers. Maybe there are more normal people
that watch wrestling than I had anticipated, after I saw Smackdown being
preempted for "The Mullets", I thought that maybe wrestling fan-base had
gotten, if possible, even more ill-and-in-bred than ever before. In any case,
I do actually have a comment on your recent column, "Is it who you know?"

I may sound like a wrestling dumbass with this question, but until a week or
two ago, I haven't followed wrestling since the WWF's buyout of WCW and ECW.
Part of this was due to the fact that I was in a long-term relationship and
she didn't appreciate me spending monday nights glued to the T.V. instead of
to her. So, I was wondering, where the fuck is Sabu? I know he's wrestled over
the last two years for PCW, XPW, and TNA, but, if it is, in fact, who you
know, then why wasn't Sabu recruited with RVD? They were both trained together
in Michigan with The Sheik, right? And with RVD being such a hot commodity, I
would presume that the person he had the best matches with (both as partner
and as opponent) would of been right in the door with him. I don't care what
anybody says about him, he had the most electrifying and intense matches of
wrestling's history, he always rose the bar a little higher, not to mention he
was more apt to use technical wrestling maneuvers like modified armbars and
submissions than RVD had ever been. Also, is Ken Shamrock only out of the WWE
because he asks for too much money and he's too unreliable? I read that he
made something like twice as much per year as average WWF talent back when he
was with them. Thanks for any answers, I'll try to remember to read your
column often as it is probably the only interesting and well-written one
around. As for my emails, well, I tend to be a little long-winded, huh?

-Mickael
Shades Of Gray Entertainment

Thanks for the feedback Mickael. I was always good in English class, not to toot my own horn. Anyway, as for Sabu, He was out of ECW during the time of The Invasion angle. He had a falling out with Paul Heyman when he was prevented from joining WCW. He then hit the independent scene. To be honest though, I would not to see Sabu in the WWE because he is not right for it. Sabu is a wrestler who relies on his hardcore spots to get over, and the WWE is not the type of place to cater to that type of thing. It would really ruin Sabu. Besides, he is very flaky when it comes to commitments. However, I do think that Ken Shamrock should rejoin the WWE. It is clear that the fans would like to have him back, and he would be great on the Smackdown roster. I hope to see it soon, but I am not holding my breath.

Letter 5

great column mate i love the way u put a lot of research into your columns i have to disagree about the fact that you talked about the Smackdown Tag Champs, without a doubt shelton and charlie are doing a great job as being credible tag champs

Rihan007@aol.com

Thanks for the kind words, but I fear you have misunderstood me. I was not putting down Haas and Benjamin. I was referring to the fact that they were riding high as champions and for a while there, they went from Smackdown to Velocity. They were great champions.

Alright, there is your Feedback O Rama. I will continue to reply to feedback as long as there is feedback to reply to. And remember, if there are enough requests, I will gladly

Alright, enough of this whole whoo hah, it's time to get to the topic of my column:

The Hit or Miss Relationship

As many of you know, I am a big fan of following the WWE’s farm system, Ohio Valley Wrestling. I think it’s important to have some background on some of the people who will be, like it or not, the future of the WWE. With that said, recently, three wrestlers were signed to WWE developmental contracts from the California based federation Ultimate Pro Wrestling, the independent federation that has sent more people to the WWE than any other Indy fed. UPW has sent close to 20 superstars to either the WWE developmental system, or the main roster itself. Not only that, UPW is the first line of work when the WWE needs personalities to work dark, tryout, or jobber matches. The relationship has been a very strong and successful one when looked at from one point of view between the WWE and UPW. However, when truly looked at, the relationship, to put it in the best of terms, has been very hit or miss.

The first part of the “hit or miss relationship” has to do with the performances of the UPW alumni once they are on the main roster. UPW boasts having the best relationship with the WWE in terms of new talent, short of OVW of course, but if you look at the relationship as a whole, for each UPW alumni that truly makes it, there are a handful of ones that don’t. Right now, there are four wrestlers that the WWE has used regularly at one time on their main roster: John Cena, Victoria, Nathan Jones, and Brian Kendrick. Even on the main roster, these wrestler’s main roster popularity and longevity is a hit or miss situation. Some of them, like Cena and Victoria, have been hits. They have enjoyed long tenures as common faces on their respective shows, have created and earned their own respective fan base, and have gotten to the top in some ways, of their own mountains (Cena with numerous WWE title shots and Victoria has been WWE Women’s Champion). However, we also have misses, such as in the case of Nathan Jones. Nathan Jones, despite the hype given to him, constantly received worse and worse reviews about his work rate to the point that the WWE had to come up with an angle to make sure he was not exposed in a match that, logic in feuding and storyline progression, had to be made at Wrestlemania. The WWE could not risk having an obviously inexperienced wrestler in a major match at the biggest pay per view of the year, so they wrote him out of the match, two or three minutes removed. After Wrestlemania, however, the exposure was put to an end and he is continuously said to be reporting to OVW soon for some much needed skill sharpening.

However, one man can’t possibly tarnish the reputation of UPW or its promoter, Rick Bassman, can it? I mean after all, it is true that UPW has sent 19 total wrestlers to the WWE developmental system. However, when you look at the wrestlers that have made that first initial cut, you realize that only 6 out of 19 wrestlers from the years of 1998 – 2003 have made it to the main roster with their own unique character: The four wrestlers I have just mentioned, and Caryn Mower and Frostee Moore. You may not remember, but Mower was debuted as the personal trainer of Stephanie McMahon for like, a week. Moore, however, was one of the Godfather’s hoes, and I am counting it as her own unique character because Victoria started the same way. However, when you have a small ratio of people being signed to developmental contracts to people actually making it, it introduces the second part of the WWE and UPW’s hit or miss relationship. You see, any organization can have a small, selective group of its alumni truly make it in the WWE. That’s a fact. However, when you add to the streaky success of UPW to the low number of successful wrestlers going through the WWE developmental system, it only helps to describe the relationship as being “hit or miss”. Let’s meet some of these wrestlers, who were signed but never really made it, shall we?

Sylvester Terkay: A 6’6”, 307 pound former NCAA Heavyweight Champion. Sylvester is a former UPW Champion and a main competitor in the early days of OVW under WWE developmental contract. He now bases himself in LA as an active personality in the TV and movie business. He also works Zero-One in Japan

Russ McCullough: A 6’10” monster who spent two years in OVW and appearing in dark matches until he was finally shipped off to IWA in Puerto Rico, where others like Lo Down, Tiger Ali Singh, and The Mean Street Posse were forgotten about and some released. He is currently retired from pro wrestling.

Stefan Gamlin: Stefan is a former pro football player, F/X Toughman Competition Winner, and BattleDome star. He had a short lived WWE career and now is a part of the K-1 mixed martial arts rankings where he has recently faced breakout star, Bob Sapp.

Tom Howard: A Huntington Beach Bad Boy who was the first ever UPW wrestler to be signed to a developmental contract. This was so long ago that he was developing along side Kurt Angle!! Tom has an extensive background in martial arts and amateur wrestling, and wrestler internationally before being picked up by the WWF in 1998. His developmental contract was not renewed in the year 2000. He now wrestles for Zero-One in Japan.

Aaron Aguilera: The “Hardcore Kidd” was thrown around the WWE developmental system more than anyone I can remember. After a back surgery, he was sent to IWA in Puerto Rico. When the IWA was dropped as a developmental league, he was sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling. When MCW was dropped, he was sent to the Heartland Wrestling Alliance. However, his final lifeline came when he was dropped along with the HWA. He still works for UPW.

Basil Bozinis: A very intense, very quick developmental talent. There were high hopes for Bozinis, but he unfortunately passed away in 2002.

Diane & Elaine Klimaszewski: Twin.. yes... I said it.. TWIN sisters were once on the WWE developmental roster. They never quite made it... but you can see them in the current Coors Light “Here’s To Football” campaign. Yes… THOSE twins were potential WWE wrestlers.

Jon Heidenreich: The former NFL football player and Super Bowl winner (1991-1992 Washington Redskins) is still currently under WWE developmental contract, despite being released from the contract, then resigned. He currently wrestles under the name Big Bad John in OVW.

Mike Bucci: Otherwise known as Nova, he will more than likely make the 6 turn into a 7 when it comes to developmental talent who has made it to the big time. An injury has left him sidelined, but he is back.

There you go; those are the personalities who were or still are under WWE Developmental contract who have ties to UPW. Now, as I said earlier, there have been three new UPW alumni that have been signed to a WWE Developmental Contract: Matt “Horshu” Wiese, Ryan “Keiji” Sakoda, and Chris Mordetzky.. Now, if 31% of all UPW alumni have made it to the WWE main roster, and roughly 50% of those who do make it have actually had a successful WWE career, does this fare good for our new recruits? Well, if math and history are consistent in this matter, 1 out of these 3 wrestlers has a chance of being called up, and it’s anyone’s guess if he is then successful. Maybe it’s just bad luck, or maybe it’s just then being a part of a relationship that is truly Hit or Miss.

Random Stops Along the Way

Whatever he does at the Survivor Series; it is a must-win situation for Chris Jericho. Why? Well, Survivor Series will mark the year anniversary of the last time Chris Jericho defeated an active member of the WWE roster at a pay per view. The last win he got over an active member of the WWE roster, he defeated Ric Flair at last year’s Survivor Series. The only other wins he has in the last year on a pay per view were over Jeff Hardy at No Way Out and a six man tag team match win at Backlash, but Triple H got the pin. Other than that, look it up, it has all been losses. It’s good to know you are appreciated.

***Editing Note*** I have received a few emails telling me that the information above is in fact, wrong, and yes, it is. I looked up the information for a past column and when I didn't use it, I tried to submit it to memory and I wrote the passage above as how I remembered the pay per view scheme. I am sorry for the mistake and the unprofessional nature of me not looking up information to confirm a gripe I may or may not have, but instead going on what I thought was true without confirmation. Hey, I'm still a young columnist and prone to mistakes. No one is perfect. ***End Editing Note***

I was glad to see that Jimmy Yang was signed by the WWE. I was a fan of Yang in WCW and have seen some of his NWA-TNA stuff. Maybe this is an example of the WWE going more international. It would be nice to see more Latino wrestlers in the WWE though. I think with Ultimo Dragon, Jimmy Yang, Funaki, Tajiri, and new prospect Ryan “Keiji” Sakoda, I think the WWE has a good amount of Japanese descent wrestlers. Other than Los Guererros and Carly Colon, there could be more Latino Wrestlers.

Bye-Bye Kevin Nash. For the most part, I am sad to see him go, because I was a fan of Nash in his prime and in the NWO. I just hope he knows that his best is behind him. It has been a good run... please Kevin, know when to quit.

I am looking forward to seeing a Paul London and Spanky tag team in the WWE. After call, considering their Indy history, their training, and their similar wrestling styles, it’s only logic that they get put together. I hope to see them in the WWE as a tag team by the end of the year.

A quick shout out to one of my best buddies, and, for a time, the only guy I would watch wrestling with, Mike. Mike turns 20 this week and I can not go up to Niagara Falls to see him due to work, but hey, here is my Happy Birthday. So, for your birthday, I hope you spend it like The Flintstones. I hope you have a good time, a Yabba-Doo time. I hope you have a Gay old time! Ohhhhhh, you know I’m kidding. Have a good one Mike.

Well, it’s time to go back to the section of my column that is now two editions old. It has gotten lots of positive feedback and it’s always good to stick with what people like. So, let’s go back to another round of….

Free Flowing Hostility: 5 minor cultural items I am Bored With, Tired Of, and Pissed At.

1. Corporate Bowl Games. Is anyone else sick of this bullshit? There used to be relatively cool college bowl games and now it’s all corporate. It’s ridiculous. Look, I know that you have the money to sponsor a major college football bowl game, but it doesn’t mean you have to ruin the game’s credibility by plastering your name all over the place including the name of the god damn bowl game. This corporate sponsorship has to be done in streaks and there are better ways out there to pass over your product without ruining the bowl game. Here’s what you do: You continuously punch into the minds of the viewers that you sponsor the game. For example, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Take the Tostitos crap OUT of the Bowl Name and before every commercial spot, you announce that the game is brought to us by Tostitos and you make Tostitos commercials the first spots on every commercial break. That’s all you need to do. You don’t need to throw your name around like a 5 cent hooker just because you are a shallow cunt out for all you can get. Sure, all college teams want to get to the national championship, but the minor bowls were desirable as well… and let’s face it, no one wants to go to The Continental Tire Bowl or the Insight.com Bowl. Hell, even the BCS games have gone corporate! It’s not The Sugar Bowl anymore, it’s the NOKIA Sugar Bowl. Come on you masters of the corporation and the downsize, leave SOMETHING sacred.

2. People who consider themselves and actually call themselves “punk”. You get this a lot with the teeny bopper crowd or the crowd who want to be different, so they listen to these punkish bands that happen to be popular at the time. Just because you can spend $80 at Hot Topic to try to “look different” doesn’t mean you’re punk. Just because you have the latest Good Charlotte or Ataris album and you know all the words, doesn’t mean you are punk. And don’t get me wrong, lots of the bands who are popular now are great bands, but there are so many people who can jump on the band wagon, just because it’s cool. However, none of these people can name a song or album by Rancid, The Clash, or The Sex Pistols. The way I see it, if you have the audacity to consider yourself “punk” to the point where you have to throw a label onto yourself, you are then instantly NOT PUNK. Punk is not about labels and it’s not about image. It’s about doing your own thing.

3. Women who make a purchase on the simple reason of the thing being “cute”. And I know, it’s not just women, but it usually is. You see this a lot with shoes... females will buy shoes, not because they need them for anything, but because they saw them and thought they were “cute”. I don’t know about you, but I think there is something a little fucked up about considering an inanimate object cute, let alone to the point of spending all sorts of money on that inanimate object. And again, it’s usually the things that no one in their right mind would ever care about or judge someone on... it’s not just shoes, but really, I see no logic in waiting in line and dishing out all sorts of money so that a part of your body that no one really cares about or a part of your home that less than 1% of the people you encounter will ever see. Is it self gratifying that you own something that may be labeled as “cute”? It just doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, I am a guy who doesn’t do that kind of thing. Maybe I am missing something.

4. Disney Sequels… in fact, Disney film right now in general. Disney has completely lost its magic. Why do they have to make a sequel to every film they do now? It’s retarded. And, of course, every one of the sequels is absolutely horrible and all follow the same basic equation. In the mean time, they have not had a truly memorable string of movies since their small renaissance from 1989-1994. It all went to hell with Pocahontas and Michael Eisner’s greed. The only decent Disney movies anymore aren’t even true Disney movies… they are Pixar movies… a company that Disney just happens to own. Pixar is responsible for Nemo, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. In the mean time, Disney is pushing out a sequel to The Jungle Book for some reason. Let’s hope this next “real” Disney movie, Brother Bear, is good because if it isn’t, Disney had better hold onto Pixar for dear life.

5. Robert Forster. I hate Robert Forster. I think he is a horrible actor and he truly brought down a good Tarantino film, Jackie Brown. Hey, I wanted to get my quota of 5 in this week and I was strapped for stuff that pisses me off. Don’t like it? Sue me.

Well, it certainly feels good to vent. Phew! Anyway, I’m spent, so let’s wrap this up.

The Caboose

Well glory be! Three main page columns done. I would say third time is a charm, but I feel that the first one was. What did we learn today?

1. WWE/UPW may be a good relationship, but all in all, it had a low level of success

2. Chris Jericho is apparently NOT Mr. Pay Per View

3. Take a Breath, Look Back, Wipe the Tear from Your Eye, and Leave with your Head held High Kevin Nash

4. Look for Spanky/Paul London. A great team in the making

Alright guys, thanks for reading and as always, Feedback is appreciated.

Da J-Train

merlinJAP@hotmail.com (If you email me, put FEEDBACK in the email subject or it will be deleted)

AIM: JPAW101

Mickie James Looking the HOTTEST EVER!

Quick Links -
[Back to LOP] [News Archives] [Results] [Columns] [Forums]