Guest teke184 Posted October 19, 2002 Report Posted October 19, 2002 Randy Orton and Nidia, two major characters on Raw and Smackdown currently, were both very close to not being with WWE at all. Orton was nearly cut from the developmental program after some officials felt he had 'nothing to offer.' Nidia was kept out of the ring for nearly nine months after her Tough Enough win by Jim Cornette in Ohio Valley before finally being given a new chance and gimmick. Credit: Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter I personally feel that those officials were right about Randy Orton. What I'm wondering is which officials decided that Orton had nothing to offer, because certain guys (JR and Cornette especially) are REALLY high on this kid for reasons I can't determine.
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 I'm not sure they were wrong on Orton. They don't generally put this much spin on a wrestler unless they want you to think someone is good.
Guest Nevermortal Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 JR & Cornette are a mark for the old school....They like him because he's Cowboy Bob's son.
Guest teke184 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 I'd say one of Cornette's reasons is that Randy gave him Bob's cast from when he was in the WWF in the mid-80's.
Guest Redhawk Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 So if they had "nothing to offer" -- or even close to nothing to offer -- why the hell are they on TV? Saying that Orton and Nidia sucked on OVW is also admitting that there are/were people in OVW a lot better than them, right? I mean, you have to be comparing them to someone, right? So how do they go from near-fired to TV, while the people who did have something to offer are still there or got fired? (Like Elix Skipper. I still don't know why he's not on RAW or Smackdown)
Guest teke184 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 Nidia made it back to the WWF because they decided that they needed all the Tough Enough people they could get on TV. That's why Linda and Jackie Gayda were on TV WAY before they deserved it, why Josh from TE1 has been signed to be an announcer, and why Chris Harvard was signed and got a good amount of TV time. She's done good with what they've given her, so I can't complain. Cornette, despite being a good booker and one of my favorite people in wrestling, is not the most in-tune with the current state of the business. Randy Orton, OTOH, was probably in danger at the time because there was a LOT of pressure to cut developmental talents and some questionable decisions were made. Guys like Elix Skipper, who had prior national TV exposure and talent, were cut while leaden lumps like Johnny the Bull were kept. Orton was probably protected because he's considered a WWF legacy and will get a chance until it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's useless. That's about the only reason why Shawn Stasiak was employed up until now. (He only got fired in 99-2000 because Bulldog was more important to him at the time, until the Owen Hart lawsuit was settled.)
Guest IB2BLACK Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 How do we know if this even true?
Guest danielisthor Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 Nidia made it back to the WWF because they decided that they needed all the Tough Enough people they could get on TV. That's why Linda and Jackie Gayda were on TV WAY before they deserved it, why Josh from TE1 has been signed to be an announcer, and why Chris Harvard was signed and got a good amount of TV time. She's done good with what they've given her, so I can't complain. Cornette, despite being a good booker and one of my favorite people in wrestling, is not the most in-tune with the current state of the business. Randy Orton, OTOH, was probably in danger at the time because there was a LOT of pressure to cut developmental talents and some questionable decisions were made. Guys like Elix Skipper, who had prior national TV exposure and talent, were cut while leaden lumps like Johnny the Bull were kept. Orton was probably protected because he's considered a WWF legacy and will get a chance until it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's useless. That's about the only reason why Shawn Stasiak was employed up until now. (He only got fired in 99-2000 because Bulldog was more important to him at the time, until the Owen Hart lawsuit was settled.) I thought Stasiak was fired for taping conversations in the back and was pretty much released for his own safety. (I'm thinking if caught his ass was going to get handed to him in a brown bag). IMO - Nowinski should of won TE-1 over maven anyways and hasn't done that bad since called up. I would go out and say that he's outperformed all the other TE winners combined. Randy Orton being a legacy i doubt saved him, it didn't stop Brian Christopher, Scott Putski, Horace Hogan, Shawn Stasiak (twice) and i believe one of Bret Hart's nephews from being fired/released.
Guest teke184 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 I'd say that the massive cuts in the WWE developmental system recently lend some reality to this... Nidia and Randy Orton made it to the big time just before the latest set of cuts but around the time that HWA had its developmental deal terminated. Considering that Nidia had shown no particular talent up until she became Jamie Noble's squeeze, it was entirely probable that they'd have let her contract run up around the time that Tough Enough 2 ended. As for Orton, I'd say there may have been danger of him being released, but not the "one guy stood up for him and that was just enough to keep him employed". Jim Ross is VERY high on him, as is Jim Cornette, and JR's opinions carry a lot of weight in the WWE, whether we want it to or not. (like him and his goddamn "hosses")
Guest teke184 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 Orton was probably protected because he's considered a WWF legacy and will get a chance until it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's useless. That's about the only reason why Shawn Stasiak was employed up until now. (He only got fired in 99-2000 because Bulldog was more important to him at the time, until the Owen Hart lawsuit was settled.) I thought Stasiak was fired for taping conversations in the back and was pretty much released for his own safety. (I'm thinking if caught his ass was going to get handed to him in a brown bag). IMO - Nowinski should of won TE-1 over maven anyways and hasn't done that bad since called up. I would go out and say that he's outperformed all the other TE winners combined. Randy Orton being a legacy i doubt saved him, it didn't stop Brian Christopher, Scott Putski, Horace Hogan, Shawn Stasiak (twice) and i believe one of Bret Hart's nephews from being fired/released. Stasiak was taping conversations, but it's pretty much been established that the British Bulldog was the guy who was the most pissed off about it and that he went to Vince to have him canned. This was around the time that he and Diana Hart were about to get divorced and he didn't need conversations about him screwing ring rats to surface and cost him a lot of money. Legacies get chances, ESPECIALLY if the people who came before them are in management's good graces. David Flair and Horace Hogan recently got released because Hulk Hogan had fallen from management's graces and they couldn't justify employing David anymore. Stasiak got released because they had nothing for him to do, but they kept him around FAR longer than he should have been kept around, and that is supposedly due to promises guys had made to Stan Stasiak about always being there to protect Shawn. That's probably coming into play with the heavy push to get a Japanese fed to take Shawn until the WWE decides they need him again. Scott Putski fucked up his leg at Ground Zero in 1997 and I don't think he was ever the same afterwards, hence his release. Brian Christopher got caught with drugs when crossing the Canadian border, so they released him to head off negative publicity.
Guest bps "The Truth" 21 Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 "IMO - Nowinski should of won TE-1 over maven anyways and hasn't done that bad since called up. I would go out and say that he's outperformed all the other TE winners combined." I will disagree with this until the end of time. Nowinski couldn't cut a promo to save his life at that time...and his interview with Vince took him out completely. The whole time he was telling Vince that he didn't get a long with anyone, he was showing that he was NOT ready to be in the WWE locker room. Maven should have won because unlike Chris and Josh, Maven just got all of his shit done and was never bad enough in one aspect that the show had to center on his faults. Nowinski was a crybaby and a kiss ass. I like him now...but he did not win that contest for good reasons.
Guest the 1inch punch Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 Am I the only one who actually digs Orton?
Guest The Czech Republic Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 yeah pretty much, 1inch punch
Guest The Czech Republic Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 Shut up Repo, we all need to say we hate Randy!!!
Guest Repo Man jr Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 How can you hate Randy? He's a real stud with a tremendous upside from where I sit Seriously though, I think he's got some talent. This weeks interview was great!
Guest Human Fly Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 It's about time they gave him some form of character, he seems alright in the ring to me. He needs a new finisher though, the cross body seems a little underwhelming.
Guest razazteca Posted October 20, 2002 Report Posted October 20, 2002 whatever happened to the fabled Wheelbarrow Suplex that Ortan did in OVW? the WWE moveset sucked, the Oklahoma Roll was ok but the Crossbody and Play of the Day do not look good when Randy attempts the moves.
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now