**WARNING: Contains results from TNA Against All Odds.**
Over the course of 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment, looking to cut costs or thin the herd, fired so many wrestlers from their roster that it is too numerous to count -- or at least too numerous for someone writing a casual column and not wanting to dig through too many news stories. Let's just say it was a lot. More than a few. Less than a million. Yes, in veritable smorgasbord of pink slips, WWE lost a great deal of talent last year. Some, as I said, were terminated, but some left on their own free will. So, where did they go?
TNA. They went to TNA. Hopped a plane to Orlando, signed nice contracts and turned corners in their careers. From this fan's perspective, it seems to have worked out well for the most part. Especially for those who were never at the top of their divisions. Sure, Team 3D has made a nice splash as a TNA tag team, but Brother Ray and Brother Devon ruled the WWE tag division for years and since that's what they are doing in TNA as well, they have neither gone up or down the card. Instead, I wish to discuss the new arrivals who were not living up to their full poential in The E. Let's begin.
RHINO: In March of 2001, as ECW was choking to death, Rhino debuted on WWE television. He assisted Edge and Christian in defeating the Hardy Boyz, which quickly launched him into the high profile in WWE. The Hardys were insanely over as the top babyface tag team, and Rhino screwed them. Edge, Christian and Rhino were all previously part of an indy stable called THUG Life, so the pairing made sense. On his own, he won the Hardcore Championship (at that time, not a joke title) from Kane. Rhino's ECW popularity carried over into WWE nicely at first. He held on to the gold in a match at that year's Backlash, which is often considered the best Hardcore Championship match in its short history.
Rhino went on to bigger and better things than the Hardcore title. During the (in)famous ECW/WCW Invasion angle, Rhino feuded with the ever-popular Chris Jericho as well as capturing the WCW United States Championship from Tajiri. He had a lot of momentum in his first year with WWE. Unfortunately, that all came to a halt. Rhino had two herinated discs in his neck. He was out for over a year. Practically a lifetime for a wrestler. He returned to modest success on the Smackdown brand, but things were not the same for Rhino. Whatever plans WWE had for the Man Beast were put on hold. He was drafted to Raw and slapped together with Tajiri in a reasonably good tag team, but with the way WWE handled (and still handles) their tag teams, it did not have a good chance of taking off.
Following Wrestlemania 21 last year, Rhino made a spectacle of himself in public by having a violent argument with his wife in a hotel lobby. In what became fodder for jokes about the Man Beast, Rhino was released from World Wrestling Entertainment over making a scene and breaking an expensive vase. He and his wife have since divorced. Rhino has lost custody of his daughter. WWE brought Rhino back for their ECW reunion show, One Night Stand, but that was his last paycheck from WWE. Rhino had so much potential to be big in WWE, but for various reasons (as in the previous case, some his own fault), he never made it.
In July, Rhino made his triumphant return to television. This time, with TNA. Rhino gored NWA World Champion Raven and made himself an instant player in the company. He has main evented many episodes of Impact as well as Pay-Per-Views. He is one of the most popular wrestlers in TNA. He's hugely over. The transition worked for him. Enough that he was given the NWA World Championship at Bound for Glory. One could speculate that one of the problems with Rhino in WWE was that he was billed as a monster but he's only about six feet tall. He's bulky and looks vicious but that doesn't compare well to the 6'7" hosses that WWE often employs. In ECW, he looked like a monster and looked good to capture the top title. In TNA, the same is true. That's purely speculation based on WWE's habit of booking.
At any rate, Rhino did not hold the belt very long, but in the months that followed, he was still a top wrestler in the company. He just won a brutal feud with Abyss at Against All Odds. In all likelihood, he will be back in the main event before the year is out.
SHANNON MOORE: After a somewhat embarrassing run in WCW as a member of the Three Count boy band, Shannon Moore signed with WWE following his former company's demise. He spent about a year in the Heartland Wrestling Association, then a WWE developmental territory, before being called up to wrestle on the Smackdown brand. Much like in WCW, he did not receive a particularly dignified role. He was Matt Hardy's sidekick. A Mattitude Follower (or MF'er) who worshipped a slightly heavier cruiserweight. Still, it was a regular role on Smackdown, and one should be thankful for small favors.
Unfortunately, not even that lasted. Hardy left for Raw and Moore was on his own. He did not do well as a solo act. He was (and is) reasonably talented and has plenty of experience. Although, almost no cruiserweight gets much of a shot on Smackdown unless you're something fantastic like Rey Mysterio, or to a lesser extent, Chavo Guerrero. Moore tried a new persona to help stand out amoung the crusierweights. He transformed himself into The Prince of Punk. Wearing almost Road Warrior-esque attire and sporting a new mohawk, he was certainly standing out in the cruiser ranks -- at least in terms of appearance.
Again, it didn't last. Two strokes of bad luck happened in rapid succession last year. First, he got injured with a concussion. Although, it was due to a car accident (the other driver was at fault) and not ring related. Second, he got fired. WWE only has so many spots for cruiserweights. Fortunately, TNA specializes in them. The X-Division is the highlight of the entire promotion. Moore may not be as acrobatic as some of the high-flyers but he does bring something most X-Division stars lack: mainstream credibility. TNA signed Moore to a contract. He started working last November. He had a short feud with AJ Styles in which Moore got the win in a street fight on Impact. TNA would be wise to utilize the Prince of Punk in the upcoming Pay-Per-View. If TNA's record of using ex-WWE stars is any indication, Moore will do just fine.
CHRISTIAN CAGE: Yeah. This is the obvious one, isn't it? Christian began his career in WWE as a spooky, gothic character in The Brood and eventually The Ministry of Darkness. In retrospect, an odd role for someone who is so adept at comedy. The Brood and Ministry did not last, but Christian stayed together with tag team partner Edge. The pair reached great success as a tag team, especially after developing their "reeking of awesomeness" cool dude characters.
The team of Edge and Christian was wildly popular, but WWE saw great things in Edge (even though it took them years for capitalize) and had him win the King of the Ring tournament in 2001. Both Edge and Christian went into singles shortly after. Christian made a name for himself in the midcard, earning the Intercontinental Championship three times. He feuded with the likes of Booker T and Chris Jericho, both who had World titles in their careers, but he never could get himself into the main event. He could send the crowd into a frenzy, host a talk show, cut some of the best promos on either brand and wrestle good matches but he could not reach the big time. Why? Wasn't he tall enough? Not ripped enough? Not talented enough in the ring? Maybe it was a combination of various things.
During the Smackdown tapings on October 21 last year, Christian was asked to sign a new contract on the spot. Literally right before his match. He did not. Speculation is that WWE lowballed him on his new offer and also would not give him time off to prepare for a movie role. Christian let his contract expire, was jobbed out on TV, packed his bags and left for TNA. In what was perhaps one of the worst kept secrets in recent history, he made a "surprise" apperance at Genesis and cut a crowd-pleasing pro-TNA promo. He took his former indy name Christian Cage.
It did not take long for TNA to push Christian into the main event. At Against All Odds, Christian faced and defeated Jeff Jarrett and won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. From where I sit, it was one of the greatest and most emotional moments in TNA history.
Well, there you have it. Don't take this as some kind of anti-WWE or pro-TNA piece. Rather, it is a simple reminder that everybody deserves a second chance.
