Before we begin can I just say two things? Good. The first is about the poll to the left hand of your screen. I know people have read the blog on the poll and I'm quite disappointed to see that only one person has voted. I can't bring you the best if you don't tell me what you want. So for those of you who read this, please vote, it takes thirty seconds. I can't judge just by one persons vote and won't go on that. I know people fret that it might be bugged with viruses or some shit like that, but we've known each other long enough now, for you to know I'm here to give you the truth and not download viruses onto your computers. So vote people. You only have until October 31st. The second is that your Night of Champions 2012 preview will be up at the end of the week. You'll have plenty of time to digest it before the event itself.
And on we go...
You know, I found out something astonishing today that made me wonder if WWE knows what it is doing anymore. I know I've said before that they don't but that's always said with us both knowing that WWE still retain some grip on reality. Even if they don't venture into it much.
Abraham Washington the manager of the Prime Time Players was released from WWE a few months ago because WWE deemed him a 'waste of space'. That wasn't the official term WWE used on its website but we all know that when the 'Future Endeavour' stamp falls on a contract, it's what WWE both mean and think.
You might not have thought much of the newly dubbed A.W when he suddenly turned up at the side of O'Neil and Young, but Washington was a great talent when he was outside the ring. He'll never be remembered in WWE as a Bobby 'the Brain' Heenan, let's face face it Heenan was the most gifted and talented manager and commentator this business ever had. Jim Ross and Gordon Solie come joint second, but for me it was always Heenan.
I remember once, during the match between Bret Hart vs Rick 'The Model' Martell at U.K Rampage 1992. Gorilla Monsoon said to Heenan; "Stu and Helen Hart had twelve children." To this, Bobby Heenan, a s quick as the wind, without even thinking replied; "One of each, huh?" This was in the days when commentators didn't have a script were only told what to say when Vince needed to hammer home a point. Apart from the necessary details that they needed to get across, Heenan was free to say whatever he liked.
This has nothing to do with Washington or the point of this blog. Bare with me, I'm getting there. Abraham Washington was no Bobby Heenan, we've established that. Rewind now, back to ECW in 2009. The first time we met Abraham was when he appeared on ECW as a talk show host. It wasn't much to look at, but gradually the guy began to develop some personality and some good lines. He was a loud mouth with seemingly no future in WWE and for a few years it was true.
After Washington left ECW and the programme which made a mockery out of the old ECW folded and was replaced by NXT, Washington seemed to disappear from WWE. Unless you watched NXT on which Washington would sparsely lend his hand to commentating and backstage skits, then you could be forgiven for thinking that Washington was gone from WWE before he even got started.
When he turned up at the side of the Prime Time Players looking like a second hand 'Slick', it looked like WWE had finally found a role for A.W that he could pull off with aplomb. Maybe A.W would have been a huge name in WWE in 2012 if WWE had have persevered with him in 2009 and not, like they do with so many wrestlers and managers and commentators, got bored of him. In the side of the business that A.W was trying to break through in, he had what it took.
The wrestling business is a combination of two things. What happens in the ring and what happens on the microphone. Basically, the things we or they say. A wrestler doesn't have to be a whizz on the mic. Flipping the coin, the manager does. It's no good having a manager who stands next to a wrestler and just agrees with everything that is being said. A great manager will interject themselves and make themselves apart of the the match whether they're due to fight or not.
Washington had this side covered. He could talk the talk and made the Prime Time Players look like gold. Have you noticed how dull and drab they are now A.W isn't at their side anymore? So WWE sacked a genuine talent who could have been something big if time and effort had have been plugged into him, who had the skills to go further. Yet, they kept on a wrestler who has had his time in WWE and done nothing with it.
The man I speak of is JTG. One half of the former tag team, Cryme Time. When A.W was given his marching orders, WWE were planning to also clear out their dead wood to make space for some new blood. A wise idea which WWE canned. And here's why.
JTG was one of the names on the 'Future Endeavor' list. Big shock right? I didn't think so. In a desperate bid to save his job and his income, for which he does nothing of note on T.V or pay per view to earn it, JTG took to WWE's favourite social networking site, Twitter, and ranted on WWE and the company. I won't go into what he said here, it's long and boring and if you want to read it in its entirety then I'm sure you can find it elsewhere on the world wide web.
For a company that doesn't like its talent speaking out against them, WWE seemed to take what JTG said to its heart and grant him a reprieve from unemployment. Can someone please explain to me why WWE fired Washington and kept JTG? Just because he trashed the company on Twitter.
JTG is a man who never had a future in this business. From his tag team with the depressing Shad, to his singles run which has been so uneventful, if it gets any slower its in danger of going back in time. JTG isn't a great wrestler. JTG isn't a great promo guy. JTG isn't even the best actor in a backstage skit. He's taking up space that WWE need to grow someone else. If WWE were to release JTG then the company knows as well as we all do, that JTG would find it hard to get work anywhere else in the world.
His gangster image is old and repetitive. It's one that I'm trying to work out why WWE are airing it on a PG rated programme. Surely if WWE don't want to promote blood to its new child friendly audience, then it doesn't want gangsters either. His wrestling ability, while infinitely better that some, is still very limited. JTG would struggle to hold down a regular place on any wrestling card. He'd go down quicker than a cinder block in Japan. His star on the independent circuit has well and truly been extinguished thanks to his lack of WWE exposure and TNA are doing so well in the wrestling department of their programmes that JTG would bring the whole thing down a level. So where's he going to go?
I don't know whether WWE genuinely believes that JTG has a future in its company or they just felt sorry for him. One thing remains fact though and that's JTG is only a WWE performer because of the things he said. And that's the reason half of the WWE roster are still there today. It doesn't matter how bad they are in the ring or on the mic. I fear that WWE keep them on because they're afraid of what might come out of their mouths should they be released.
A wrestler who has nothing to lose could uncover the sordid and political side of WWE in a heartbeat. And WWE can't have that. Even though WWE don't listen to us, it looks like it does listen to its talent, when its talent is threatening to sell them and their secrets out.
It does look like the things we say have an effect after all.
Onwards and Upwards...
