The revolving door of releases

As you probably all know, there was a good amount of wrestling personalities released from the WWE within the past 2 months. Of these personalities, 99% of them have had some connection with the new ECW. It may seem like over-analysis, but it's something you have to keep in mind. The reason is that their involvement on ECW was multi-faceted. Basically, if you're involved with the new ECW in any way these days, you're either a new talent looking to get yourself over, an old talent that needs re-direction, or just a piece of the big picture which involves getting ECW over as a brand. Sadly, I see each of their firings and releases as a failure to do any of the three.

Let's see, here's who was released that has a connection: Braden Walker, Shannon Moore, Nunzio, Domino, James Curtis, Big Daddy V, Stevie Richards, Colin Delaney, The Highlanders, Cherry, and Referee Wes Adams. Such a motley crew if I do say so myself, and yet each of them had a chance to shine on the new ECW if not for a brief second.

Now, if you'll indulge me, I'll let you in on what they brought to the table as of their debuts, actual or not, on the new ECW, what they did last, and the reasoning behind their releases, be it factual or opinionated. If you come off as offended by what is written hear, voice it. I'll also give you the general reason why they all might have been fired, as well as what could have been done instead. Be warned: this may be lengthy as some of my analyses will be, so bear with me.

Braden Walker: For those of you who know, his real name is Chris Harris and was a regular for the TNA organization before coming to the WWE. He came while asking for his release from TNA, hoping to finally get a fair shake at a decent career. His debut on ECW consisted of him pretty much threatening Armando Estrada with a bad joke, coming out to generic country music, wearing even more generic tights (probably to cover his extra weight) and winning his match against Estrada with slow moves, no energy, and a flying cross-body block so botched that it would re-injure Ricky Steamboat's back. Although, I'm sure it injured Estrada as it looked like Walker crushed him. After this debacle, he wasn't seen on t.v. until he talked to Matt Hardy about his match w/ Colin Delaney who was with Mark Henry at the time. Another bad joke was made about Harris' former company, and, get this, he never even came out once to help Hardy after promising to. His last appearance on ECW consisted of a match against James Curtis that ended with a fisherman's suplex, with no energy and slow moves. He was then shown the door afterwards, with the reasons being that he kept shooting his mouth off backstage about his TNA accomplishments, which don't mean anything in the WWE as they aren't seen as competition. Throw in the fact that he didn't have a good look about him or much charisma even after being taught the WWE style of wrestling (which I think he didn't need) along with a very corny ring name, and Chris Harris is out of work.

Shannon Moore: He was brought in to the new ECW as "The Reject". Basically, his girlfriend got him rehired by the WWE after seeing how successful he was getting in TNA against A.J. Styles. Heck of a way to stick it to your pseudo-competition, yes? Well, this just about burned his bridges with them, as he started to have vignettes of himself, decked out in eye-liner, black fingernails, chains, earrings, and a mohawk to play up his punk status. What did it get him? An on-air, kayfabe, slap in the face by C.M. Punk, who called him a poseur. They instantly got into a feud, which was a big no-no for Moore's push, because Punk was already being pushed as an undefeated, well-versed wrestler from the indies, who thrived on competition as his addiction (he is straight-edge after all). This pretty much shoved Moore into the back burner of ECW, which later placed him on SD in the midst of a cruiserweight title hunt, as Gregory Helms was pretty much unstoppable. He never got a title shot, the fancy mohawk was gone, and he was soon straddled in two angles that might have put him over if not for the bad creative ideas behind them. One angle had him at odds with Jamie Noble as Noble was determined to become the cruiserweight champion. There was one problem: Hornswoggle had the belt, and since the WWE couldn't possibly have a midget get beat up....again...by a meanie like Noble, or anyone, the title was taken from him and disappeared for good. Angle two had him tagging up with Jimmy Wang Yang as the 3-Count/Jung Dragons connection was set in place to get tag team gold (if you don't know WCW, you won't know what I'm talking about). It was the combination of a Japanese guy imitating a southerner, and a southerner imitating a punk teaming together. They feuded with the champs of Miz and Morrison only to lose every step of the way. Then, Yang was suspended, and Moore was last seen jobbing out on SD to Hawkins and Ryder in a tag match with Yang as Yang returned (insert Yang's burial). That was the last of the reject.

Nunzio: He was an ECW original named "Little Guido" James Maritato and was to see his ECW original status rejuvenated with the new ECW coming forth. He was teamed with his running buddy Tony Mamaluke and his valets included Big Guido (who disappeared after episode 1) and Trinity (another former TNA superstar who was a)trained to be a wrestler by Mikey Whippwreck, b) trained to be a stuntwoman, and c) one of the few attractive divas who could wrestle). They made up the F.B.I. (Full Blooded Italians). Their highlights included jobbing out to any tag team that showed up and dissolving after Paul Heyman lost power in the WWE after December to Dismember (Trinity and Mamaluke were fired shortly afterward, along w/ Francine). He went back to being Nunzio and lost almost every match he was in since then. I say almost b/c he won an 8 man tag match involving himself, Funaki, Delaney, and Batista. He was last seen losing to Evan Bourne in a very well-fought match, good enough to make us forget about those atrocious Halloween and Christmas matches where he dressed up like Dracula, and an elf, respectively. It was just a sad case of misused talent as he was fired recently. He did win the cruiserweight title in Italy though...

Domino: He was Clifford "Domino"Compton, one-half of the throwback team of Deuce and Domino. They were practically greasers from the 1950s who won the WWE tag belts on SmackDown one a few occasions. His ECW debut: it involved a squash match between himself and Festus, I think. You see, in order to put over ECW's ratings, it was decided that Smackdown stars would appear in matches on ECW television. Did it help? Sparingly. Domino was last seen losing to the Big Show on SD within 5 minutes, maybe less. He was fired weeks later after being seen as the weak end of his tag team, which explains the split-up of the two and the drafting of Deuce to Raw. It didn't help matters that he had made it publicly known that he thought Deuce was way better than him. Not smart..

Cherry: She was Domino's sister and Deuce's girl (kayfabe). She was their valet when they were a team. She was also with the two on ECW in that squash match incident. In recent news, she was dumped and ditched by the two. She went on to be a wrestler (which she really is) on SD, and did battle with some divas, in her quest to break out as a star. She never did, and was last seen getting kneed in the face by Maryse and jobbing out of the 6 diva Olympic salute tag match. Once again, wasted talent.

James Curtis: He was originally known as K.C. James on Smackdown. He teamed up with Aaron "Idol" Stevens and they were managed by Michelle McCool. Their tag team exploits led them to lose against London and Kendrick over the belts. Soon after, Stevens was fired after violating the drug policy, and McCool was repackaged. James became James Curtis and practically jobbed out of most of his matches, putting over talent. As stated, he last put over Braden Walker, and both were fired subsequently.

Big Daddy V: He was Mabel from Men on a Mission, King Mabel, Viscera of the Ministry, Viscera, the world's largest love machine, and whatever else the WWE could think of. None of those gimmicks worked, but they kept him b/c he was the only big man who was consistent with his weight and ethic. This time, he was to be drafted to ECW and pushed as a one-man wrecking crew known as Big Daddy V. He practically was unstoppable, even beating then-champion CM Punk on a number of occasions. Well, physically beating him up. Now, why didn't this work? a) People remembered him for his train-wreck gimmicks and no one would buy him as a dominant threat. b) He looked veritably repulsive physically. There was a reason he wore shirts and baggy pants. Sadly, the WWE forgot why and we were treated to some of the nastiest folds around. No offense to the obese people out there, but the WWE and its fans aren't looking to see that type of stuff on t.v. When his ECW days didn't work, he was teamed with Mark Henry to wreak havoc on SD, only to be stopped every time by the Undertaker and/or Kane. He recently got over a bout with pneumonia, which kept him off t.v. for a while, and was fired afterward.

Stevie Richards: What more can be said about this guy? He was an ECW original through and through until he left for greener pastures in first WCW and then WWE. Sadly, those pastures weren't greener or helpful to his credibility as a wrestler. We all hoped the new ECW would re-establish his cred, but to no avail. It wasn't long before he became a perennial jobber to new talent, just like Tommy Dreamer. He was then taken off television due to a lack of material to work with creatively. He then returned to t.v. with a new angle: to re-dedicate himself to his career after yet another difficult round of throat surgeries due to his recently broken neck. He started winning, until they decided to push Mike Knox for the first time in 2 years, and was relegated to job out to Vladimir Kozlov on SD. He lost his job later.

Colin Delaney: Man, what a story with this kid. He goes from a top star in a top indy federation, CHIKARA as a heel, to jobbing out to everyone on an ECW television episode that was at least 6 feet tall and 220 pounds. His gimmick: he was the stringy, scrawny jobber who continued to take loss after loss and beating after beating in an attempt to gain a contract on ECW. Tommy Dreamer took him under his wing and watched his back whenever possible. Delaney finally got his chance and won his contract by beating Armando Estrada, the former G.M. Then, he would be straddled with more losses, some wins, and his last angle would be as a heel, as he turned on Dreamer, costing him the ECW title match. After that, he was beaten for one solid month, until the WWE fired him.

The Highlanders: Rory and Robbie McCallister were two Scottish countrymen who moved to the U.S. to become a tag team on Raw. They were like a modern-day Bushwackers, only they were Scottish. However, they started to become jobbers a few matches in. Their debut on ECW consisted of a new theme song and a sound defeat by the Miz and Morrison. They were last seen on Raw as a tag team, losing their last match against Cryme Tyme, after they came back from Rory's injury and Robbie's punishment behind-the-scenes.

Wes Adams: He started out a wrestler, then was made a referee on SD, who was also seen on ECW. Sounds fair, yes? The only problem: he botched a 3-count by Matt Hardy over John Morrison. Morrison kicked out at 3 but Adams signaled for the bell. He would then be fired for it.

That's a lot, eh? Now, here's the kicker: they were all fired for one general reason. The reason was that their novelty as superstars ran out while being with the WWE. Some quicker than others, sadly. That's the story, plain and simple. Now, this could have been avoided, most definitely, if the WWE wasn't so short-sighted. But, alas, instead of making proper stars, they were focused on cutting out dead weight. What's even more annoying was that some of this weight was around for a while, only they were either pushed through the gate to the moon or horribly mismanaged. How hard could it be to manage someone more creatively if you just showed some care? Not very. Here's some ideas I came up with:

-Instead of creating Braden Walker, leave him Chris Harris, push him to be a star, and stick it to TNA

-Instead of putting Shannon in a no-win situation, make him an annoyance to Punk, either costing him matches, or blindsiding him. Heck, you can even take other poseurs and place them with him as a crew. I can see him with the Miz as a team. Better yet, call upon the OVW group you didn't want to use in Gothic Mayhem (Melody, Pat Buck, Johnny Punch, Roni Jonah) to be his musical entourage of poseurs

-How about a working FBI faction for once, for Nunzio's sake?

-Big Daddy V as part of a recreated "Nation of Domination"? Possibly, but it would still be difficult. The reason: V has been buried so badly in the past that no one will take him seriously...ever

-If you saw Grease, you know about the musical number, "Goodbye to Sandra Dee". That would've been Cherry's angle for a breakout transformation right there.

-Why not put Colin Delaney under Stevie's wing as they are both wrestlers looking to dedicate themselves to finding success as they always seem like underdogs. Or better yet, make him a lackey for an up-and-coming heel (like Gavin Spears), and make it so this heel teaches him the opposite of what is right and wrong?

I would have included everyone, but not everyone could be saved by good ideas. I fear that the same will be happening soon with some new talents as well as some old talents within ECW. Not only that, but this hurts the creation of new stars as they have no one to beat as jobbers or enhancement talent. Why not hold on to some of these jobbers and have them help putting over new guys? Sadly, that won't be the case as long as we have non-wrestling experienced writers at the helm.

These revolving doors keep on swinging, and it's only a matter of time before your favorites are shown the door as well. Don't be so short-sighted, WWE. Make new stars, or at least develop them. By revolving the door with releases, how long will it be before the other stars of ECW or the like are gone? I don't see Gavin Spears lasting this long or Ryan Braddock, or Scotty Goldman. I mean, look, they are all new guys, true, and unestablished, but should they start off losing? Why not win? Oh yea, the jobbers are gone, and in fact, they probably would have had a heck of a start on ECW and a showing, too, if they were around. And what really tweaks me is that the creative team has the nerve to say that these three haven't done anything special since debuting. Ridiculous. In closing, those released have shown that ECW, as useful a commodity to get new stars over, it is a bad commodity for re-establishing stars. Now, it may prove to not be a very good commodity for getting new stars over either. This may sound trite, but don't be surprised if the next time you hear about future endeavors being wished.