?Reported by Mike Siciliano of WrestleView.com

On Thursday, July 7, 2005 at 3:36 AM EST

Wow. I feel like I just did this column yesterday, (I did) and now there's a whole new batch of stuff to discuss, releases, interviews, signings, thoughts, you name it. You ready? Ok. Let's go to work.

Here is the latest list of WWE talent that have been released by the company:
Joy Giovanni - I am beginning to honestly believe that these divas are being released not because of their work ethic, but because of the gripes and bitching that has been publicly brought to the surface by the likes of former divas such as Rochelle Loewen and Amy Weber. Joy had the possibility of being something that could have a future in WWE, but she had been put through the perverbial internet ringer, and that probably cost her the job. Sad, she was attractive, but true.

Kenzo Suzuki - Two emails I received told me that Kenzo recently suffered a collapsed lung. I can't confirm this, but I can tell you this much, it would fit WWE's pattern of getting rid of people rehabbing from illness or injury. Anyway, like I said in yesterday's piece, the far east talent have been misused from word one, they all should've been grouped together. Kenzo did not have the it factor I think to really make it on his own, in my opinion. I am not sure what this does with Hiroko, but I would assume her neck is on the chopping block as well.

Matt Morgan - Morgan's future was sealed by the draft. His feud with Big Show, gone. His days as Carlito's big backup, gone. His job with WWE. Gone. The gimmick they gave him in his return to WWE's main roster was insulting, as well. I don't understand how they didn't realize that if it didn't work for Goldust after his 'electrocution', how would it work for a bigger, less enjoyable character who has 100 times less experiene behind a mike than Dustin Rhodes Runnels. I don't have a clue. (Hey, it was a decent comparison, don't you think?)

Charlie Haas - Every single hardcore fan that emails me, and how many times as well have I said in this forum that this man got royally screwed by not having the draft send him to Raw to feud with Shelton Benjamin. Even with the IC title being taken from Shelton, he and Haas could have had some classic "WRESTLING" contests to highlight the show that doesn't seem to focus on the second W in WWE. I feel for Haas, as he definitely had the talent to do some major work within the realm of WWE.

Jackie Gayda - There is two aspects to discuss here. One. I met Jackie a while back at an autograph session, (2nd time), and I have to tell you, she was looking superb. Redeveloped her physique, and her appearance to make her possibly become one of the top WRESTLING divas in the business, and, if packaged properly, a challenger to Trish Stratus. Both I and my wife thought she had a bright future ahead of her within WWE. Two. Tough Enough is done. Absolutely done. I don't care what anyone says now, but that show will never return to the air, and, on a secondary side effect, Al Snow's days as a WWE superstar may also be numbered. 7 champions of Tough Enough over 4 seasons. 2, TWO are left. I hold a slight bit of personal pride of the fact that the two left are from season 3, the one season I watched from beginning to end. Kind of gives WWE a black eye, from inside it's own ranks.

Marty Jannetty - I don't have a clue what happened here. First, he has a tremendous showing in his match on Smackdown with Kurt Angle. He has a successful reunion match as the Rockers vs. former World tag champs La Resistance. He gets the chance of a lifetime to be back in the spotlight of WWE again with a contract. I see through the grapevine promotion of "Jannetty who is en route to WWE" in some indie web sites promoting his final appearances. Then what? No sign whatsoever till the six man last week, where Christian makes a joke about Jannetty being in jail, and rumors surface that it may NOT have been a joke? For the casual fan, Shawn's heel turn was the straw that broke Jannetty's back with the company, but from my opinion, Jannetty broke his own second chance by disappearing off the planet.

Dawn Marie - My esteemed colleague Ben Bauer seemed rather irked about this one. I would agree. I also met Dawn at a signing, and she was absolutely a pleasure to speak to, and meet. I HAVE to believe that Dawn requested this because of her impending arrival, (if you didn't notice her pregnancy at One Night Stand, well, um, glasses?) but we'll probably never know for sure. I hope to see her back in the ranks of an organization sooner rather than later. She has a mean streak that is definitely needed for women's competition.

Although it has not been confirmed by my colleagues with connections here at Wrestleview, I have seen from other sources that indeed Hiroko has been released from WWE. I will not say that is official, by any stretch of the imagination, when you see it here later from my esteemed colleagues, then believe it. OK? Back to business.

Those are the current additions to the list I posted up yesterday. They also made note of a tag team who will be free to pursue other options once their contracts run out, which, according to what I have read, will be shortly. Bubba Ray & D'Von Dudley were loyal soldiers to the company, going against the grain in the alliance invasion, and the brief ECW incursion prior to ONS. As many people may have said their days are done, I personally loved the Dudleys as a tag team unit, and even with the fact that they may be "old", the division as a whole within WWE is so poor that I would have figured the Dudleyville natives to be permanent fixtures within WWE. Obviously, I was wrong. This one really bothers me. I loved the Dudleys in competition. Their match at ONS was brutal, vicious, and sadistic. Absolute artwork in my opinion.

Additions

While all these cuts are going down, the WWE did sign former WCW talent Big Vito. I'm not 100% sure of this one, but there is an obvious angle where he can be put in to that would bolster the tag team division. Nunzio has been in limbo since the departure of the FBI, but possibly working him with Big Vito, who has done time as "italian" competitors, may be able to bring back the FBI gimmick, which is, from where I can stand, something that can be long-standing. I hope they go that route with Vito, because honestly, from there, I don't see any other options.

I want to talk about something that's going to go down on Smackdown tonight, but I won't. Let's just say the gimmick we're all going to see on the show, I hope and pray remains. It's funny. It obviously has a cult following, and it's a hell of a lot less annoying than the little purple bastard. I probably just spoiled it for anyone who hasn't read the Smackdown spoilers, and if I did, I apologize.

The last topic here is the impending return of Brock Lesnar. My wife told me she is done with WWE if they bring Lesnar back in to the fold. I have to be blunt, I may be too. Lesnar was handed the world on a string by WWE before, and he spit in the collective faces of the talent, the fans, and the McMahon family. To even go as far as having Lesnar's meeting be "breaking news" on WWE.com is revolting. He took his ball, went for the NFL, flunked like a high school dropout, so now he's gotta lie in his own damn bed with that skank Rena Mero, and leave the rest of the world alone. The lawsuits are a sign of immaturity, and desperation. His grovelling back to the WWE is a sign of desperation. "Open doors to him", he quotes as to the conditions of a possible WWE return for the former WWE champion, is a sign of absolute arrogance that nobody needs. If Lesnar truly wants to return, and the chance is given to him, he ought to get on his hands and knees on the first television program he is put on, and publicly say to the world how much of an idiot he was to ruin his career like he did when he left after Wrestlemania 20. And then, when he's near tears, have Austin come out and stun him again like the cockroach that this punk is.

Sorry guys, I just am really pissed that this muscle bound clod may soil programming that is pretty dirty and disgusting with talent-less oafs already, oops, sorry, didn't mean to upset any Chris Masters fans.

Spike Dudley, will you please shut the hell up?

I read the brief from Spike on his website, which I assume is back open since his departure from WWE. While he may be 100% correct in every single thing he said, he needs to shut up. WHEREVER he ends up, he doesn't need to air his dirty laundry about the problems that appear to be going on inside the bowels of WWE. It shows a very significant side of jealousy and anger toward your employers, and potential future employers, if you hold that much of a grudge because of a release that was obviously due to economic conditions that were out of your control. I also don't want to hear wrestlers whine, carry on, and bitch about their fortune being ruined for whatever reason. Each and everyone of these people know the price they may be forced to pay if the ball isn't in their court. Spike lost his ball when he lost the cruiserweight title. Now, go to TNA, Ring of Honor, or any of the indies, and build a cult following that will be 10 times more loyal, loud, and understanding than anyone in a WWE arena.

Another Indie show for the Palace leader

Yep, ladies and gentlemen, the independent scene will be graced by yours truly one more time, as I am fortunate enough to be going to the Long Island Ring of Honor show this coming friday. I am very much looking forward to this one, as I will get the chance to see WWE newcomer and ROH World Champ CM Punk, and the doubleshot of a lifetime, AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels in one card, not to mention Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, James Gibson, Homicide, and a host of others. The one thing I'm going to say now, before the obvious column is written after the show, I tried to TAKE NOTES when I went to UXW back in Feburary. Not going to happen this time, ladies and gentlemen. I want the 'EMOTION' to coarse through my body, backward and forward. Results, yah, I'll try and get them as best I can, but I want to try and illustrate the feeling that a indy wrestling ROOKIE feels when he is fortunate to attend a show like this. So, be ready for that come this weekend.

More Comments

Couple of things I have read from various sources...

Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda made basic simple "we'll be back" comments on their respective websites. Classy gestures on both their parts because of the situations they have been put in. I wish them the best.

Dawn Marie, from what I have read, had her contract bought out due to her pregnancy. Good luck to Dawn and her impending arrival, and I hope she returns to the wrestling world soon.

Bubba and D'Von could not agree to money with WWE, from what I have seen, and that is the reason their contracts will not be renewed. I know WWE is going economic crazy, but come on, your tag team divisions are dying in front of you, and you can't make an agreement on money with probably the best tag team out there since the Road Warriors? Mindboggling.

I saw a headline on a site I visit about Sable and Brock Lesnar breaking up. Excuse me while I shed a crocodile tear. Not.

I do have a couple more ideas about possible talent to take the fall next, as they are still predicting more cuts. Val Venis, Hardcore Holly, Scotty Too Hotty, Nunzio are all names that should be screening calls, as far as I can tell. Some divas that may be in trouble could be all of them. If WWE does the same thing as they did last year, and hire the bulk of the diva search competitors, well, you know. Personally, I would say no, don't do it, but who knows what is running through the mind of the serial madman, Vincent Kennedy McMahon?

I have to think that this is an absolute feeding frenzy for the independents. TNA, ROH, all of them, should be frothing at the mouth for the use of these talents. ALL of them will provide name recognition, and significant attention to their product. It'll be very interesting to see how they develop with all of this name talent out in the open and ready for usage. Spike TV would be foolish to not pick up TNA as an alternative to WWE programming. The sheer format of Impact will be fresh enough, and then adding the name recognition of these talents will bring that show over the top. Makes me mad that Jeff Jarrett could profit from this, but hey, someone's gotta show Vince how much of a mistake he's just made.

Matt Hardy, save yourself the headache. Go to TNA and team with your brother again.

Plug time. My friends at New York Sports Works in the Sunrise Mall, Massapequa, Long Island are hosting another signing. Sunday, July 17th, 12pm to 2pm, 2004 Diva Search Winner and Playboy Covergirl Christy Hemme and certain future WWE Hall of Famer HBK Shawn Michaels will be on hand. For more information, please check out NewYorkSportsWorksinc.com. Unfortunately, this time around, yours truly will not be attending this show. I have already had the pleasure of meeting both Christy and Shawn. Shawn was cool, but Christy's persona on television is magnified 10 times over when you meet her live. Trust me, I saw it first hand.

I feel like I have more to talk about, but for now, I am going to stop. It's a lot of info for two nights work. Debate me: Please. Oh, yeah, that's it....

I want to thank each and every one of you for emailing me with your thoughts and feelings. I am honored you take the time to read my work, and even more thrilled you have the drive to email me about it. A special hello to my new friend in Italy who emailed me the other day, I'm sorry, buddy, I don't have your name in front of me, because I'm writing this from my job. But, trust me, your email is in my files, and I am grateful for the efforts all of you have made in making this column so much fun for me. And, one last thing. If I do not reply to your email, do not be upset with me, as my schedule is a little tight. Just remember that I read every single email I receive. If I don't reply, SEND ME ANOTHER ONE! :) Seriously, thank you all very much.

Ok. Enough sappy stuff. As I was saying, debate me, if you dare: Click here to drop me a line.

Wow, I published the column, and forgot my most important piece!

Kimosabe, SUMO!?!?!?