The Forzese View - Roster Cuts And Replacements
Submitted by Jim Forzese on Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 7:43 AM EST



Roster Cuts And Replacements

WWE has once again begun the task of evaluating talent heading into their new year. Realistically WrestleMania starts the WWE New Year since that is when everything old comes to a fitting climax and the new feuds for the rest of the year are to begin. WWE has started to make room on their roster for either call-ups from OVW, which seems to be what they are going to do or hire from outside the WWE family. Obviously for the WWE to grow a change is needed for the audience to stay viewing every week. WWE does not need to justify to anyone why they are making these cuts but we know for sure it is not cost cutting because the company is in financial despair. WWE is starting to do strong business once again especially overseas.

WWE has every right to cut wrestlers that they do not see holding a meaningful spot in the company and or that creative has no desire to find a program for. Even though the options are even more limited now with the closure of MLW, TNA still offers a wrestler gainful employment as does Japan.WWE is not the only place to work, they are just the biggest named company to work for. The good news for WWE is that OVW is doing such a great job of training new talents that it is forcing WWE to replace name value with rookies who are ready to become household names. The trick is getting fans to buy into these green rookies as something special because for every John Cena there is Matt Morgan, Orlando Jordan, Renée Dupree, Garrison Cade and so on that are still trying to catch fire with fans.

None of the names that have been released are shocking but in some cases the timing was quite peculiar. It must have been that WWE was waiting for a certain time to start the firing process because most of the names where in limbo anyway so they’re firing could have happened months ago. I know a lot of other Internet columnists have cried foul when discussing the fired wrestlers but I do not think that WWE made one mistake in who they fired. WWE still has about five or so guys that should be on the chopping block but these firings would have to have more purpose than just replacing them with rookies. Some guys that are holding midcard positions could be replaced but something of name value should replace them not green newcomers.

Most everyone on the net was baffled that WWE could not find anything to do with a talent like Kanyon.Well first and foremost what makes Kanyon a great talent in the first place? Kanyon was certainly not a big name before he came to WWE and I really don’t agree with fans that say that WWE misused him. If Kanyon was so big in WCW then why was he always a second –tier player for the company? Kanyon had one big feud with DDP and really that’s it. The popularity of DDP is what carried that program and Kanyon did nothing much of consequence after it. This is by no means a knock on Kanyon because he is an excellent worker it’s just that he never connected well with the fans. If you were to ask ten kids from age ten to fifteen who they preferred Kanyon or Rikishi I bet nine to all ten would say that Rikishi is better than Kanyon.Why? Because Rikishi has that connection with the fans and because of that he is perceived as a larger star (no pun intended).

That type of connection is what makes a wrestler become a megastar and work rate encompasses only a small percent of that appeal. Which is why I find it hard to believe that someone who’s character Vince McMahon loved got the axe. Ernest Miller was given the Rikishi dance gimmick because of the appeal that Vince thought Ernest would have on the audience. We really can’t say if it would have worked or not because after a strong push The Cat gets fired. WWE figured that if Miller was not going to progress in the ring then why not give his character to someone that will. Lamont and Orlando Jordan on Velocity did the same shtick that Lamont and Miller have recently done. WWE figures that this gimmick could be what finally takes Jordan over the top. WWE may once again be realizing that no gimmick wrestlers cannot get fans excited to see them even if they are proficient in the ring.

Jordan was then categorized by someone as a stereotypical, black wrestler who dances for a gimmick. First, That gimmick was Miller’s before he entered the WWE so they did nothing to stereotype him and secondly the gimmick in general is no more stereotypical than anything that say actor Wayne Brady does. Jordan has what I have written about before, untapped potential. The thing that bothers me is that it might take a stolen gimmick to get Jordan over instead of WWE giving him a fresh gimmick from the beginning. I can’t say that this was a mistake at all on WWE’s part because the wrestler has to be able to hold up his end of the feud in the ring and if the Cat couldn’t then he should be released. My jury is still out on Jordan but he has not connected at all with the fans and so as of now he is a bust.

Last is Zach Gowen the one legged wonder. I thought that hiring Zach in the first place was a mistake by WWE but I fully understand why it was done. Any wrestling company needs to try and get mainstream publicity and will do it at all costs and if it means exploiting a handicapped wrestler or by hiring a Survivor loser then so be it. The big difference between WWE and TNA is that after neither one capitalized on mainstream press TNA at least still has something they can use. Johnny Fairplay can become a decent on air character if booked properly but Zach Gowen could never become a serious wrestling superstar. There is no way in hell that a one hundred pound, one-legged wrestler, could defeat anyone of consequence. It just couldn’t be viewed as realistic. Zach is a tremendous performer for his affliction but not tremendous period.

I hate to even talk about this because of the controversy of criticizing a handicapped performer but WWE should have known better than to hire him in the first place. Instead of trying to get sympathy press WWE should be getting press because of innovative concepts in their storytelling. I wish good luck to Zach but I just hope that WWE does not rehire this kid and give him false hope that he is going to one day be a champion in the WWE.If the rumors of Zach being a prima-donna backstage are true then I would rather see that as the reason he was fired as opposed to his inability to captivate Hollywood with his condition. Maybe the biggest problem with Zach was that after he began his career with Hogan, Vince, and Piper there is no where to go but out the door.

Bottom Line:

There are plenty of other wrestlers that are under WWE contract that could find the unemployment line soon. None of which would really make anyone shed a tear if they were terminated but the catch will be in whom WWE chooses to replace them with. If I were the WWE I certainly would not deplete my minor league and have no one to fall back on if I had a rash of injuries arise. There are certain wrestlers that deserve the opportunity of being called up to the big stage but I would not just throw five more guys without a gimmick onto WWE TV. Most OVW standouts are struggling to gain acceptance by the WWE audience because of the lack of dimensions given to the wrestlers. Low card personalities are becoming non-existent in today’s WWE ie.tag teams without names or wrestlers without monikers.

Names such as long standing OVW standout Nick Dinsmore and of ECW fame Nova are two names being considered for the roster spots. WWE has roughly five spots open on the Smackdown roster right now and I don’t think that all five should be given to OVW graduates. Sure Dinsmore and Nova are ready and maybe Chris Cage. The “Hitman” Chris Cage (He is said to be the second coming of Bret Hart hence the moniker) may be wise choices but what about the independent ranks? What about a wrestler like CM Punk or Sharkboy? What about Simon Diamond the husband of Dawn Marie? What about Sonjay Dutt? What about HBK’s cousin Michael Shane or Bret’s nephew Teddy Hart?

My point is that there are a lot of quality “new” wrestlers that are available in the independents that should not need to be groomed the WWE way of wrestling first. I would much rather see some wrestlers that are new to WWE that I actually have seen before their debut in WWE.I think that it is great that WWE is promoting from within the company and kudos to Jim Cornette and Danny Davis for their excellent training regiment in OVW but there are so many quality wrestlers available that have gimmicks already and could make an immediate impact to the company. Hiring these Indy wrestlers also gives WWE bait to lure fans of these Indy wrestlers to the WWE product while exposing these wrestlers to the WWE audience.

I wrote it before and Michael Shane agreed in a recent interview that a match between he and Teddy Hart in WWE has money written all over it. Yeah maybe the rivalry of HBK and the Hitman is long gone and maybe new fans would not care about it at all but a feud that picks up where that one left off is worth a lot more than Nidia vs. Jamie Noble will ever be. I just hope that if WWE is soured on some of the old WCW guys that they give quality Indy wrestlers their chance to show the world what they are capable of doing. WWE no longer needs to worry about homegrown talent because all the wrestlers out there now are just guys looking for employment and not part of a vicious battle of wrestling supremacy. Congrats to Eddie Guerrero for winning the WWE title and showing the world talent is talent and that size does not matter. Until next time that’s just my view.

Jim Forzese
forzeseview@yahoo.com









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