?Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com

On Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 5:18 AM EST

In the past week and change, there has been an awful lot of happenings going on in the WWE that I personally cannot stand. I'd like to run them down, one by one, and make some opinions on it.

First off, Rhyno gets released. I can't say I am not surprised one bit. If he embarrases the WWE during the biggest weekend of their year, well, hey, you made your bed, you gotta lie in it. I would find it contradictory if the rumours of Rhyno still working the June 12th ECW themed pay per view turned out to be true, but, the bottom line is, if you embarass your employer, your job is done, and its obvious Rhyno sealed his own fate.

Secondly, Matt Hardy gets released. Now, I have to say this with a little bit of restraint. Two people basically take Matt Hardy's personal life, and turn it upside down. Matt takes the time to talk about it on a public forum, because he is that, a public person, and let's be obvious public people's personal lives are non-existent. Now, he probably could have kept most of the issues involving himself, Lita & Edge as close to secretive as possible, but who really thinks that would have been successful?

So, two people help to make someone else, who has been a loyal soldier for the company, miserable. He tries to cope with it, and what does the company do? Fire the one, because he's been out on injured reserve for so long, that, probably in WWE's thinking, he has no storyline niche to fall in to when he is ready to return to television. It's really almost childish, the whole damn thing. Let's not take away the fact that the duo have basically turned their own public reputations in to garbage, I'd love to see how their reactions would be if they did any autograph signings in the near future, talk about some major league reactions. Sheesh.

Ok. Last thing on the Matt Hardy situation. If my name is Jeff Jarrett, I am so fast talking to Matt Hardy to get his name signed on a contract the instant he becomes available. Reuniting the Hardy Boyz in TNA would skyrocket their credibility, probably assist Jeff in his own habits, and definitely give WWE a major league headache that they cannot afford right now. I am not a huge Matt Hardy fan, I have to be honest, but the facts are the facts. Matt Hardy has a fanbase, who was desperately waiting for him to make his return to WWE. He had a role, as he was neck deep in a feud with Kane prior to his knee problems, so a storyline was ready to go, yet, he got what he got because of something completely out of his control. Frankly, that's ridiculous.

Jesus and Chilly Willy get released. Jesus, again, as another one who has a cup of coffee with the big leagues, gets hurt, and then eventually gets the boot. I feel sorry for Aaron Aguilera, I thought in the brief time he was up with the big time, he had a modachim of potential. I can't comment on Chilly Willy, I didn't see him in ECW. I thought, however, that WWE should give him a shot, as a token of goodwill, since the man served in Iraq and received a purple heart. Come on, wouldn't that be a storyline in itself?

Next, Raw. Now, frankly, I have not seen the whole thing yet. I barely got by the Randy Orton promo before falling asleep yesterday morning, so I hope to catch it all later today. But, why, why, why, can someone tell me why we have to have Triple H vs. Jim Ross next week? Why? Someone explain that to me. I can BARELY understand the booking this week, with Triple H so angry about losing his title, that he wants to kill anyone in his path, but in the process, the bookers basically, in setting that up for the Game, took out the only legitimate tag team Raw currently has on its roster, the Hurricane and Rosey. With the tag team division basically relegated to Heat, this little debacle basically puts a dagger further in the collective stomach of the division, and will make it even tougher to get the credibility back in to the tag team championship. Don't tell me about La Resistance, either. Anyone who is anyone will state firmly that they have had their time at the top of the ladder, and do not deserve another shot there for some time, I would believe. How many times have they held the belts? 4? At least?

Now, Molly asks for and is granted her release. With the onset of the next diva search, which I'll get to in a minute, and the push Christy has gotten as a wrestler, I'm not surprised if Molly went to WWE brass, said the division sucks, and I want out. So, who's left? Vickie, Lita, Trish, and who else? Vickie has been on the outside looking in for the past few weeks, so badly that she didn't even get her own introduction last week on Raw for the diva tag match. Oh, quickly on that, how pathetic is it that Molly works a tag match last monday night, and then less than 24 hours later, she is done with WWE. Isn't that a little condescending, even if she did ask for her walking papers.

Anyway, we know Trish is not going anywhere. Lita is her primary rival, and unless WWE does another injury release, she won't go anywhere. Victoria ought to be looking over her shoulder, in a big big way, because I would predict, and not be surprised if the axe falls on her in the not too distant future. At the rate things are going, they oughta put all the divas on Smackdown, and just abandon the women's title, again, and this time, permanently.

Next, the diva search returns. Ok, I am a Christy Hemme fan. I admit it. I thought she was tremendous when I met her at an autograph session. I think she is incredibly attractive, and again, I'll say this, my wife will kill me when she reads that, but hey, I'm tough, (no I'm not), I can take it.

But, do we need it to be the same torture we had to endure last year? Come on, ladies and gentlemen, do we need to be subjective to that assinine competition again? As God as my witness, I may stop watching Raw if I am forced to have to witness these women again in acts of stupidity trying to please a crowd at a live event. Search for new talent, please, do so, and do it quickly, since you're bleeding the roster dry, but do it quicker than 16 agonizing weeks, okay?

I have to drop some credit to my colleague Badseed for dropping this seed in my head. With the upcoming USA deal, what is going to happen with the brand extension? I am not crazy about it, because I get tired really quickly of matches repeating themselves constantly, specifically like a Christian vs. Jericho, Orton vs. Batista, back in the day, we saw Cena vs. A Train at least what, 30 times? Now, USA is going to take over Raw's rights, Smackdown is in limbo once the contract expires, I'm not certain when that occurs, but it is coming up fast, so what transpires when all that finishes? The new USA deal also means the return, allegedly, of Saturday Night's Main Event. What brand will that be? Raw? Smackdown? Combined? If the brand extension is eventually eliminated, what happens to the status of the championships? I would welcome the elimination of one tag title, the IC and US titles will probably be left alone, although I could see them being unified to keep the IC active, and then we have the World and WWE titles, what would transpire? Another undisputed champion? Another overloaded roster to contend with?

There are potential pluses and minuses to the brand extension's demise. Personally, I think it needs to be significantly refurbished. Perhaps a six month draft lottery, instead of a year. If the lottery does not go down this week in NYC, I can't see it happening at all, because when is going to be the next opportunity for Raw and Smackdown competitors to be in the same building at the same time? Answer. I don't know of the next time prior to Summerslam. I've already gone down what I want to see at the lottery, if it does occur, but we just have to wait and see where this potential situation will take the WWE. It is intriguing to try and handicap it. It will be even more intriguing to see how it pans out.

My wife has asked me to do this next section, so let's do it. Who else should WWE release as part of its ongoing spring cleaning?

CHRIS NOWINSKI - Can someone explain to me how this man is still employed by WWE? Yes, he is an intelluctual. Yes, he is suffering from post concussion syndrome that he got while wrestling for WWE. Yes, his situation is 'tragic', at best. If he hasn't been able to recover yet from his injuries, I doubt it will ever happen. Reduce him to a non-combative role in WWE, and give another developmental talent a shot. Don't keep him reaching for a chance that probably will never happen.

GARRISON CADE - Since Wrestlemania 20, and the loss in the tag team title fatal four way match for this man and Mark Jindrak, what role has this individual had before disappearing, to an apparent injury? Jonathan Coachman's hired gun? Please. When it all boils down to it, whenever this man is ready to come back to television, where is he going to fit in? No answer? Spring cleaning time!

STEVEN RICHARDS - An ECW "legend". A perfect character as the leader of the Right To Censor. Now, a tomato can for the likes of Chris Masters? Come on, ladies and gentlemen, do we want to remember the former member of the Blue World Order as an ECW alumn, or as the man who took an Ivan Putski polish hammer shot to the nose from a wet behind the ears rookie, breaking half his face off in the process? Richards has already begun to dive in to the indies slightly, with an appearance in Ring Of Honor, he should continue his journey there. His time in the big leagues is long since over.

VAL VENIS - Since the "departure" of Chief Sean Morley, have we seen Val Venis in a legitimate non-tomato can role on Raw at any time? Answer. I don't remember once. No storyline? No job. Sorry, Sean.

VISCERA - Since his return as a hired gun for JBL, what he has done in WWE? Not much. I thought he'd make an impact at the Royal Rumble, but he did not. I thought he maybe would just Christian as a little mini-faction with Tyson Tomko, but, he did not. He has disappeared like the others I have mentioned on this list of Raw talent. Time for a little spring cleaning, or in this person's case, a LOT.

MARK HENRY - Props and kudos go to my new friend Dave from Scotland, as he popped this name back in to my head, and for the record, I GOOFED! Why I didn't mention this oaf is beyond me. Injury prone, stiffer than Hardcore Holly, and an absolute terror to try and write in a storyline, someone please tell me how fast we can get this guy off the roster, for all our sakes.....thanks, Dave!

On the Smackdown side,
AL SNOW - Al I think has to worry about his job day in day out. If Tough Enough disappears for good, I think Al is close behind. His tenure is stuff of lore, his character one for the ages, but what does he have left in the tank to offer the big boys?

SHO FUNAKI - It shocked me to no end when Funaki won the cruiserweight championship. But, with his loss, unless he dives in to competition with the other cruiserweights, his days could be numbered. What I think should happen, and what could be a devastating force, if worked properly is a far east faction, perhaps of Funaki, Akio, & Kenzo Suzuki. It would be something to see, if they did it right.

ROB VAN DAM - With WWE's seemingly inate knack of releasing talent that are recovering from injury, I would suspect RVD oughta be looking over his shoulder. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT WANT Van Dam to lose his job, but with examples such as Test & Matt Hardy, I would think that RVD has something to worry about.

NUNZIO - Unless he goes in to full blown cruiserweight mode, with the desecration of the FBI, his life in the big leagues has got to be numbered.

AKIO & KENZO SUZUKI - Both of them need a niche, and the faction idea mentioned in Funaki's blurb is their niche, if WWE does it right. World Wrestling East. If they booked the sumo match at Wrestlemania 21, why wouldn't they do this?

CHARLIE HAAS - If he's not traded to Raw, and hence, go in to a feud with Shelton Benjamin, it has to be the dumbest move on the planet. Teaming with Hardcore Holly has some merit, but do we really think that they're going to be contenders for the tag team championship?

BILL DEMOTT - Injuries reduced him to an announcer on Velocity. I haven't watched Velocity in some time, but with the impending USA deal, Velocity may be on the way out the door. If that happens, DeMott may be in trouble, because of Tazz's supremacy at the announcer's table.

I wonder how WWE is going to handle the next few weeks leading up to Backlash and Judgment Day. We already have the Backlash main event set, and God I hope and pray that it's not a repeat of last year's Summerslam to Unforgiven situation where Orton held the belt for only a month. Smackdown has their #1 contendership series, and the eventual demise of the tag team champions, with Eddie and Rey splitting up. If that isn't obvious I don't know what is. The lottery needs to happen this week. To spice up a stagnant product. Before it's too late.

Quickly, before finishing, please understand, anyone who has some issues with the comments i have written in this column, do not take them up with the webmaster or the administration here. The comments here are directly related to one person. Me. It's my opinion. Whether or not it is a popular one remains to be seen, and I certainly do not have a problem accepting people criticizing my opinion, or saying they disagree with it. Since taking this position, I have tried to be as positive as I can be with this outlet, but this week, it's just not possible, and to the people who find this column difficult, I apologize in advance. I am not here to insult, offend, or rattle any cages, I am here simply to offer an idea, and to hopefully, make people think.

Hopefully, with that on the table, I'll say good night. See you over the weekend with a report from the signing with Batista and Candice.

Kimosabe, Sumo!?!?!?!?

Drop me an email at palace@wrestleview.com.