LuckyLopez

People seem to be jumping the gun on the Angle stuff. The reports have basically been "Angle's contract runs up sometime next year and WWE is considering talking about a return. Angle seems like he might be as well." Angle's still got his health as an issue which would both turn WWE off to risking him self destructing and turn Angle off to taking on an increased schedule. Its certainly possible he goes back, having "rested" for a few years and gotten in better shape. WWE is certainly the place where most wrestlers would want to be post-retirement at least for the sole fact that Vince owns all wrestling footage for decades. But people are basically taking "what if?"s and writing Angle out of TNA. That being said I agree that Storm, Morgan, and Hernandez are all plausible upper midcarders/main eventers in the near future. Christopher Daniels is in the company and still has potential up there. I think Lethal has that room but I think TNA sees Eric Young closer, unfortunately. Doane, Burke, and Paul London are all guys I'd be very interested in seeing in TNA soon. Ultimately I don't think its a bad thing if TNA lost the MEM once this deal was done. Guys like Angle and Sting literally giving way to the younger guys would be an interesting result even if it was just by default because they left the company. Joe, Morgan, Hernandez, Rhino, Abyss, and Booker could hold down some size for the top of the TNA card while guys like Storm, AJ, Daniels, Lethal, London, Burke, and Doane increased the wrestling quality. Losing some of the older main eventers could essentially force TNA to make the top of the card a bit more like the middle of the card used to be in TNA. A bit smaller but consistently quality wrestling. And part of me hopes one day soon Chris Harris will get his life together and return to have kick ass brawls with Storm that raise both of them into stars. EDIT: Wasn't the reason that Jerry took him to WWE that Jeff and TNA weren't interested? Certainly they could have changed their minds since then but Jarrett's connection doesn't seem to matter. He wasn't Kozlov's mentor or anything, he was just his inlet into wrestling and TNA got first shot and passed.

I'd argue it has less to do with those factors and more to do with how the organizations handle contracts. The media issue especially since Boston's media is notorious for being suffocating and cutthroat where most Yankees tend to be able to disappear if they want to in NY unless they are guys like A-Rod and Jeter. It probably has more to do with Boston having shown its willing to make "cold" decisions towards fan favorites and team heroes. The Red Sox have generally shown toughness with negotiations and been able to divorce emotions from things. It means that if you want to stay in Boston you're probably going to have to play ball with them because if you demand too much they'll let you walk. NY give huge contracts to pretty much everyone they sign/re-sign. There haven't been many if any situations where a player wanted to play in NY but didn't end up because the Yanks were unwilling to meet his demands. So there's no real need to give the Yankees a chance to get you at a discount if all available evidence suggests they'll blink first as long as they want you. Its kind of interesting (and frustrating as a Yankee fan). Cashman seems to be a smart negotiator when it comes to trades usually getting a good deal. But he seems to get very little in the way of good deals on signings, be that free agents or re-signings. Cashman and others in NY would argue "its the cost of doing business for the Yankees" but its theoretically a self fulfilling prophecy. I can't think of any examples of players who balked on NY because they stood their ground on lower demands so why is it presumed that would be the standard? But nevertheless the Yankees and Cashman seem to presume it and thus constantly overpay even when they're bidding with themselves. They voluntarily give the players leverage. Ultimately if you're never going to stand your ground on contract demands (and I'm at a loss to remember any time the Yankees have in the last decade aside from maybe Tom Gordon) then you're never going to get a bargain. Even if someone was willing to give a home town discount you're not going to volunteer that if you know the team will probably give more and probably won't be handicapped by it. In Boston players understand the organization will let a player walk if they deem the contract bad for the team.

I was worried about being called a TNA apologist if I weighed in on that discussion. The little note seemed like it could have been interpreted a lot of ways. From some idiot suggesting the name idea and not realizing what it would sound like to someone making a bad pun on the X Division and them all having a laugh to them seriously considering the name. But everyone was happy to assume that not only was Russo behind it but that it was a serious idea that people had to be talked out of. Which is certainly possible but is pretty much just a giant assumption based on this: Which to me sounds more like them trying to incorporate the X, tossing names around, and taking a minute to realize how bad Team Xtacy would actually be. Not "Russo had to be talked out of calling them Team Xtacy." EDIT: Which is not to say that I don't see how one would think that what with "Moose Knuckles" and other stuff, but still. Its just the web taking a note, making a bunch of assumptions to flesh out the story, and then repeating it as "the" story.

Besides, Booker gave it to the Beautiful People. It gets around.

They do but I also think the idea of the "Frontline" and the "Main Event Mafia" has gotten twisted. And TNA is largely responsible for that for calling them the "TNA Originals" before they realized their mistake. It LOOKS like a WCW/WWE vs TNA war but that hasn't been the idea behind it. The idea has been that the Main Event Mafia or obnoxious heel main eventers who refuse to make room for the new guys. Its not that they aren't TNA Originals or that they're old, its that they don't think Joe and AJ are deserving of respect because they don't think they've done anything. The Frontline is about guys getting chances and not needing tenure to move up the ladder. That's why Foley and Jarrett can support them because they feel that the future of the company is with them, not the Mafia. The Mafia insist that they are the present and future and are what Jarrett/TNA/Foley should be banking on. So Christian and Rhino fit with the Frontline despite not being "TNA Originals" because they support their efforts to move up the ladder. Despite being former World Champions who made their names in other companies they don't feel that puts them above the TNA guys like Joe and AJ. Their resumes may fit the Mafia but their philosophies fit the Frontline. But obviously TNA confused this issue and fed the "WCW/WWE vs TNA" feel by labeling them "TNA Originals." The Dudleyz certainly don't seem to fit with the Frontline and would seem more likely to fit with the Mafia's philosophy. Rhino appealed to them on the grounds that all 3 had once been the guys in the fledgling promotion fighting to make names for themselves. The Mafia tried to appeal to their basic greed and lust for power. The Dudleyz have basically walked the line, agreeing with the general idea that kids are punks but also thinking the Mafia are being over the top and doing things wrong. So in theory Rhino simply got through to them and appealed to their ECW pride and desire to see others get a chance. Of course I think most of us agree that that doesn't feel quite right for the Dudleyz. Which is why most of us seem to expect them to turn on the Frontline.

I think you can argue that all the X guys gain SOMETHING from this just because it gives them a purpose beyond serving as bodies in multi-way X Division openers with no story. Young is the most obvious of the bunch. He's dumped the comedy gimmick, ditched Super Eric/Prince Justice Brotherhood, had a fake out for his first singles title in TNA, and has generally been getting his first even remotely serious push in TNA. Even if they do nothing with him from here on out he's arguably just better off for no longer being a cartoon, and it seems like he's seriously in the X Title mix for the first time in his career. (And I say all of this as someone who hates Young and wishes some one else was getting the time he's been getting.) Creed probably just benefits from being something other than a face in the crowd. He got that "push" but couldn't win the title in multiple attempts so just getting attention outside the X Division is probably something. Even if he's gone from being a face in the X crowd to to a face in the Frontline, its still a marginal step forward in exposure. Lethal might be a harder sell because he's gotten pushes and presence outside the X Division in the past but he's probably better off at least temporarily for being involved in something serious that doesn't include Val and Dutt. Really, the B Team of the Frontline are probably all better off simply because they were all in crappy positions before this. Sting and Rhino are both benefiting at least a little. Joe, AJ, the Dudleyz, and the rest of MEM seem to be where they were before it but ultimately no one strikes me as being worse off by this. Obviously when this progresses some more the story should benefit some people in notably ways but about 6 weeks in it doesn't seem horrible that no one has managed to make a substantial jump in their worth. And the Guns really are getting to at least show off character in a way they haven't since the Dudley feud. Shelley being allowed to talk weekly is a good thing.

Yeah, I'm really hoping that if The Dudleyz do torn that AJ and Joe are ready for it. I think that could go a long way towards making them look good. Rhino trusts the Dudleyz because of their ECW past but AJ and Joe SHOULD be suspicious. If the Dudleyz turn and they're caught off guard its going to look very stupid. The only positive might be that Sting would be able to empathize with them. I'm hoping that Joe and AJ either don't accept the Dudleyz as their partners or have a plan in place for when/if they turn on them. I do notice that the Dudleyz aren't listed in the match on the website yet despite Tenay and West assuming they were the partners Thursday. And Bubba says they're in in those spoilers, not AJ or Joe. So I'm holding out hope that's designed (even if I have no desire to see Eric Young in the main event of a PPV). But I'm dreading the turn we all see coming except Joe and AJ.

West and Tenay made a point at the end of the show to recognize "how many championships were in that ring now" and how the "tables had turned on the MEM" in regard to all their titles. It seemed like they were really trying to make a distinction between the Joe and AJ led group of Creed, Lethal, Young, and MCMG and the Joe, AJ, Rhino, and Dudleyz group that has 3 former World Champions, 2 TNA "triple crown" winners, and the Dudleyz' 20zillion tag titles. So it was no longer "World Champions" vs "Kids" and became a more even playing field. What that means for Creed, Lethal, and Co I don't know but then again I'm one of those who assumes the Dudleyz have to turn. I do agree in general but if Rhino's going to work as a face at all I think this is the role he does it in. As basically the drill sergeant for the kids in the "Frontline" he's free to yell at them and push them around and its ok because he's doing it in the name of toughening them up. Its why I didn't think it was a big deal that he told Eric Young, Creed, Lethal, and Co that they weren't "experienced" enough to take on the MEM. Because he was addressing a bunch of kids who haven't accomplished much but who he's claiming to want to make ready to play at that level. Whether it plays out that way or not is another question.

They were selling their DVDs at $5 and $10 apiece. The Hardy and Abyss DVDs mentioned are going for $18 and $23 on Amazon right now. They were exceptionally good deals. And WWE's got some similar deals in their Clearance section (or at least have as I know I picked up a bunch of DVDs at $5-$8 a pop awhile back, and big ones like Ladder Matches, The Horsemen, and Pillman). EDIT: Actually the deals are still going so you can look at prices but more than half of the inventory is sold out including both those DVDs. http://shoptna.com/black-friday.aspx

I think its arguably counter productive for the company. From a creative stand point if the story is that Kozlov or Edge took him out then what purpose does it serve to leave the reason he was "passed out" so vague? Surely they realize we'll assume an OD so if it is intended to be a beating and you choose not to put in something about him being "bloodied" or some clear sign of an attack than you have people thinking that Hardy either really ODed and might be in danger for his life, might be at risk to be fired, or you have people assuming its a story but a story playing on his drug abuse and 2 strikes. It just seems odd to misdirect your audience in such a way. That's of course assuming that it is an attack story and not an OD one. And from a business standpoint it seems odd that the company is aware enough to feel that their passe approach to marijuana and the way some like Kendrick treat it could be something that hurts them publicly given their past problems with drugs... but then to put out a story that so clearly leaves room to interpret as the company playing around with the real life drug issues of an employee. On the flip side I have to give them credit. I had no idea Survivor Series was tonight and may not have realized it at all today. I know now because this story caught my attention and filled me in. So to that end, this worked to attract more eyes. I'm not buying the PPV but someone probably will and even just me knowing the PPV is tonight is potentially good for business even if it just means me tuning into RAW tomorrow and helping the ratings a bit. So I have to admit, if the goal was to find a way to toss some extra advertising on the PPV it worked in at least one case.

I really don't mind all the authority figures just because Cornette and Traci are basically middle management and Jarrett is hands off. Jarrett's only really gotten involved with Angle, who keeps pushing him and forcing his hand. Otherwise he seems content to sit back. Foley's active in the MEM stuff but he's also clearly biased towards the kids. Cornette is sort of that middle management guy stuck cleaning up messes and Traci is trying to keep one area clean for him. I don't know, it works for me. But I can understand why it might be confusing to the casual/new viewer. Curry Man getting Fired was the very first thought I had when I saw his name as one of the participants in the Feast or Fired match. It just seems like the sort of joke TNA/Russo like and I think I'd have to chuckle if Curry got fired leading to Daniels returning to join back up with AJ/Joe. I wouldn't even be shocked if Daniels pulls double duty on the PPV and wrestles in the main event. I loved Rhino's backstage promo and seeming role as a veteran leader of the "Originals." He's basically what Foley has tried to be but he's in the trenches with them so it means more. The stuff the Guns said to Foley about sitting on his ass don't apply to Rhino. And I just loved the visual of literally throwing the Guns into the locker room (or at least them sliding across screen). Rhino just seems a good way to rally the troops and get them refocused with a new name and the right state of mind. Like their own drill sergeant.

Yeah, there's been good stuff obviously. I think it would be hard for a company to not have anything worth watching. The X Cup was fun and one of the few chances for the Guns to shine as well as great performances from Speed Muscle, Los Guerreros del Infierno, and Averno. Beer Money has been a great surprise. LAX had a brief run where TNA was treating them well again. Curry Man had some great stuff. The Beautiful People really came into their own as heels. I know some didn't like it but I really enjoyed the Kong Challenge and Taylor Wilde's debut, even if she got boring pretty quick after winning the title. And I do agree that the Sting stuff has been fairly interesting even if TNA kind of dragged it out at the end of the summer. And the Angle/AJ series of matches stand out to me especially the Last Man Standing at Hard Justice where Angle did the somersault from the stage. But all in all its been a very uneven product and a lot of stories and feuds that people weren't that interested in when they started were dragged on for months. Which TNA always has a tendency to do with 1 or 2 midcard feuds but during the summer/fall they just seemed to be doing it with the whole card to try and avoid starting anything new until after BFG/October.

Similar to the New Blood thing with the roles reversed. The veterans are trying to hold down the kids. It has been a pretty rough year for TNA. I think they had a great build to Lockdown but even the biggest fans of the company I know soured on it through the summer. Joe's run was underwhelming and they really seemed to be dragging out stories until Bound For Glory in October. Since then there's been some new sparks of stuff with the MEM story but it hasn't captured my attention back completely. All in all I think its safe to say 2008 was a bad year for TNA creatively.

I agree that not too many people could probably affect TNA's ratings in the short term at least, But at the same time I think a drastic change in programming where the women make up a larger part of the show due to necessities created by salary changes... or a considerable loss of the "depth" of TNA that makes up what draws people to house shows or PPVs... that any such change risks hurting the company. Meanwhile its kind of safe for TNA to say "we're stable and we've seen slow but steady growth, stay the course." Trying to change the way women are compensated in this business is a pretty substantial step off course. It could prove positive results but it could prove negative. I don't see why that would be an issue. Call a company meeting, say "hey, we feel the women are being disproportionately underpaid, since they're nearly all making less money than all the guys yet they're working just as hard as the guys are". The macho pigs in the locker room don't like it? Tough shit. Go try to Braden Walker yourself with the WWE if you feel so slighted here. The simple fact that the women not only work as hard as the guys but in fact tend to draw higher television ratings would seem to indicate that the company is basically exploiting them by paying them less than the men. I mean, here we have tangible proof in the form of Nielsen numbers that these chicks are more valuable assets to the company than most of the swinging dicks they employ. How can you justify paying the draws less and the deadweight more? Nielson numbers have margins of error larger than the jumps the women see. And the men can easily argue that the stagnate ratings show that those jumps are meaningless and thus using them to justify raises is silly. Meanwhile I'm willing to bet that the men work longer and more matches in the grand scheme of things when you add up TV time, PPV time, and house shows. And of course any undercard tag work or X division worker potentially has a way to move up the card. They have more utility to TNA under its current format than the women do. Even with an increased presence than WWE the TNA Women's division is still limited to 1 or 2 short matches a show, usually 1 match a PPV, and I suspect no more than 2 matches a house show. With the women unlikely to ever find use in the X division, tag division, or heavyweight division (Russo jokes aside). And ultimately I suspect that if James Storm and MCMG walk away from TNA because they feel they're getting screwed by making less than Awesome Kong and barely more than ODB then TNA will see that as a bigger loss than if they lose ODB. And I'm not sure I blame them. Even as a fan of TNA's women's division I'm not sure how much of the program it can be before it becomes over exposed. And IF men were to buck from such a change in payscale it would be more likely the talented guys making up the under and mid card and less the "deadweight." Kip James isn't going to walk away unless he has a better job out there. But James Storm may very well try to "Braden Walker" his way in WWE. And maybe avoiding getting fat and amazingly unmotivated in record time would work out better for him. Again, its not that I disagree that TNA has dead weight they can cut. I think we all could look at that list and save them a few million without even tangibly affecting the show by cutting guys like Kip, BG, Rave, Hoyt, and Hebner. But ultimately pay raises don't exist in a vacuum. There's a payscale that probably isn't even determined by TNA as much as it is the industry as a whole. And you can't really change one part of it without changing the rest. You CAN start paying the women more just like you can start paying the X Division more. But unless you intend to make them larger parts of your company its probably going to eventually impact the rest of the roster. Even if it takes a few months when LAX are up for contract renewal and use the Beautiful People's salaries as a reference point or when Consequences Creed gets frustrated that he's making less than basically every woman on the roster. TNA does have financial limitations and I think its just a matter of deciding that losing Gail Kim is less damaging than running the risk of pissing off the men by raising the women's salaries and not theirs exponentially. And if small fluctuations in Nielson ratings that the Nielson Media Research deems unreliable is the primary justification that's not going to carry well at the negotiating table. Because ultimately I think its safe to assume some "swinging dicks" are going to push the issue and not all of them will be "deadweight." TNA is a business and paying women as much as it takes to employ them is what's best for the company. Without knowing what WWE pays their women or how much a woman can make on the indies I'm not sure how to fairly judge TNA's salaries. Because the relative pay scale of women in wrestling is as relative as the relative pay scale of wrestlers in TNA, men and women.

The name is stupid because it does confuse things. Is an Original a guy who has been with TNA since early on or someone who got his big break in TNA? And how does Christian fit into either interpretation when Joe wanted him in? Aside from the name the group makes fair enough sense to me. The MEM are a group of guys who believe that those on top should stay on top and the next generation should wait their turn. Their turn to be decided by the main eventers. The other side simple wants an even playing field in which wrestlers can move up based on their drive and ability, without any concern to their tenure or resume. So main eventers can fit in it fine just as long as they don't want to hold these kids back. And Foley and Jarrett work fine because they want the company to grow with these kids. But the uninspired "Originals" name fails to represent that idea and adds a confusing element to things. Because ultimately nothing in Joe and AJ's mission statements seem to suggest they care whether you made your name in TNA, WWE, or WCW.

Again, I think its just a matter of practical financial demands. Even assuming TNA cuts the people we feel are useless and a waste of money that's only 1 part of it. If Gail Kim gets bumped up to $150K then Kong wants the same, maybe more since she recognizes her unique worth. Then the Beautiful People and ODB are not only being underpaid compared to the men but compared to the top women and they want raises. Now the average female salary is up and a number of women are making more than some men. The Motor City Machine Guns realize they're making no more than some Knockouts (or maybe less) despite working for the company longer, wrestling in more and longer matches, working harder on the house show circuit, and traditionally being a more important part of the show. At which point a James Storm or LAX realize other salaries are going up for people who have done less in the company and don't have as high a profile. And naturally once enough salaries go up then even the guys making the most start to demand compensation for the changes that have occurred. From a practical sense I'm just not sure how you raise the women's salaries without raising the men's. And while the firing of some dead weight might compensate for some of that it seems like you're devoting yourself to a potentially MUCH higher budget on talent for the long term. Men have just been the basis for wrestling for so long with women as a side that it seems like one company can't change that because of a year of higher profiles for women. If the wrestling market as a whole doesn't reflect women as equals to men then I'm not sure TNA has the financial stability to make that progressive statement with their check books. And marginal movements in ratings (even if they do seem consistent) don't seem to be enough to demand they act. Even if they DO lose their "biggest ratings draw" how does that actually negatively affect TNA? A 1.0 instead of a 1.1? Is that worth the financial burden? Certainly doesn't mean I don't agree that Gail Kim should have gotten a deal making more than Earl Hebner and Don West and that Kip James is an albatross. Just that I imagine its not a simple as raising 6-12 salaries and being done with it.

Borash was pretty heavily involved with production back in the early days. I remember reading stories about how he was basically teaching himself graphic design and video editing on a computer and watching TNA production was basically watching him mature as a student. And I seem to recall reading that his history with WCW included a lot of web stuff and he was in charge of that for TNA. I assume they've moved on and added people since then but I also figure that salary isn't so much for his on air contributions as his backstage. Which isn't to say that he might not still be overpaid, but just saying.

I think they dealt with this issue with Kim already and probably will soon with the likes of Kong and the Beautiful People. As undeniably valuable as the Knockouts have been for TNA it puts them in a really difficult position financially. Raising the pay of the women will almost certainly result in the men demanding more and that would presumably destroy TNA who have only recently become profitable. Kim seemed like a very hard decision they had to make to lose her in order to keep up their basic pay structure and while I assume they'll have to pay out for Kong I could see them losing some others. The advantage is that there's probably only a few of the women who could find better deals in WWE or elsewhere, Kim being one of them. Velvet Sky may not have that same option.

He claims to be some kind of African king. I almost want to say he referenced Kenya and I know people have said its based on Idi Amin but generally I think he's kept to vague African references like hunting elephants. It really is the exact same act as the British King from WWE except he jumped fake places he's from. He started it up pretty randomly and just slipped further and further into his delusion as everyone around him either gave him weird looks or just humored him. When he gets fired up he slips back into his natural accent showing it all to be an act. Same thing, just a different accent/country of origin.

Agreed. TNA seems to be coming at it from the idea that if Joe looks awesome during the match and dominates things then a cheap loss won't hurt him any more than Nash will look awesome getting a win when people know Joe was owning the match. But they forget that its a minority of fans that will watch the match and most people will just know/remember who won the match.

Not to take away from TNA's booking because I think we all agree they missed the boat on when he should have won the title and he lost momentum. And I think we all agree that his character hasn't been handled great at all for the last last year or so. The Nash stuff, Karen Angle duping him, the complaints about money. TNA definitely holds a great deal of blame for the luster Joe's lost. But how many wrestlers really maintain the sort of buzz that Joe had during his peak? Especially with the way Joe's run had. For just under two years Joe was ROH champ working long matches on a regular basis with a regular string of the best wrestlers in the world and just dominating. For a year he dominated in TNA beating everyone he faced and booked against the same sort of talents he was excelling against during his ROH run including that long series with AJ and Daniels. So realistically how long can a wrestler maintain that pace before he runs out of new guys to have matches with, starts getting boring in his domination, or just plain wears down physically from the pace? Most of the guys I can think of who maintained super hot for a long time were more character driven. Even if they were/are great wrestlers their strength was that they could cut the promos and do the charcter work that maintained things. And while I've always been an advocate of Joe's mic skills its still not a strength anywhere near what it is for a Rock, Austin, Hogan, Flair, HBK, or others. So while I agree that TNA had a hand in Joe losing luster I kind of have to figure it was inevitable anyway. I remember Joe's last months in ROH when it just seemed like ROH and its fans were over him. There were no new and exciting matches to be had, he couldn't dominate the roster again, it was just time. ROH works at a breakneck pace that burns fans out on wrestlers, IMO, and that's sort of what Joe's big run felt like to me. Eventually he HAD to come down from it. He had to stop working the crazy paces, he had to talk more, he had to start showing more ass and losing matches, and he had to work with talent that was already on top that might not be as good as the talent he was used to. TNA could have handled the whole thing better, I think we all agree. And more to the point TNA messed up more than once with Joe. But even if they did things fine I have to think Joe'd still be less compelling than he was in 2005 simply because it had to come down eventually.

Angle and Abyss have been feuding in the understory for weeks since the PPV. Angle was bullying around the locker room in an effort to goad Jarrett into a rematch, including roughing up Matt Morgan. Abyss being his bestest buddy helped him out and wanted to take it to Angle for his actions. The two faced off last week and Angle got himself DQed and laid a beating on Abyss with the chair leading to that big brawl that ended the show. If the question is "Why did TNA book the match?" it just seems like a simple numbers game since AJ's facing Sting, Christian's facing Booker, and Joe's facing Nash. Angle had to face someone.

I may be crazy but at this stage I'm honestly EXPECTING Daniels to "return" to join the Originals. With Angle laying out the Prince Justice Brotherhood, AJ invoking his name as an original who put the company on the map, and Eric Young's seeming serious turn this past week it just seems like a lock to me that Curry Man is done and Daniels will join up soon. On the other hand I KNOW I'm crazy that I think there's a chance Low Ki joins him since Ki worked with TNA on the video game/Suicide stuff and AJ dropped his name too. MCMG vs XXX is something I'm foolishly imagining possible.

Sinn was fine in TNA but he only wrestled tag work and was only the 2nd best partner for Slash. They were an enjoyable team that wasn't quite as much fun as the Slash/Brian Lee version but its tag work so who knows? Whether Sinn has enough talent to be interesting as a singles wrestler? I can't judge that from him doing silent freaky tag work with a very good tag partner and with people like James Mitchell, Shane Douglas, Vampiro, Raven, and CM Punk working with him to make things interesting. He struck me as the perfect tag partner/lackey to Kevin Thorn back when WWE was trying to make him work so I'm kind of surprised that WWE sees enough in him to give him a solo run with such a weird gimmick that seems guaranteed to be annoying. I'm pretty sure his niche is just as freaky and silent lackey for a freaky talker like Raven, Mitchell, Thorn, Taker, whatever.

No. He was gone before that, actually. That was just a one shot deal because he parted on good terms. He hasn't been seen since.