How many times over the last few weeks have we read about one or more talents getting cut from the iMPACT Wrestling roster? Front office guys like D’Lo Brown and Bruce Prichard were let go along with top tier talent like Tara and Matt Morgan. Heck, the interwebs even went bonkers when never-used talent like Jesse Sorensen and Crimson were released, though similar outrage did not follow the decision not to sign a new contract with the company from folks like D.O.C. and Madison Rayne. It has definitely been a few weeks of cost cutting and trimming the fat for Dixie Carter and her team at TNA.
And yet, there are still people actively employed by iMPACT Wrestling that I would release from their contracts immediately. And since people are being cut from the TNA roster left and right, I figured that a column discussing who is on my fictional chopping block might be of some interest. Here we go!
Christy Hemme
Without question, Christy Hemme is the number one person on the list of people I would get rid of immediately in iMPACT Wrestling. Hemme may have been a big star for a hot minute up in Stamford and she may have had a mildly entertaining ring career when she first entered TNA, but she currently offers nothing of unique value to the promotion. That’s a very important point to remember – Hemme doesn’t do anything that someone else couldn’t do (and probably do better). Right now, Hemme is the ring announcer for iMPACT Wrestling and she co-hosts the weekly podcast with Jeremy Borash. If money really is tight in TNA, then she absolutely does not need to be getting paid whatever it is that she’s getting paid to do these tasks. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t pay her more than $100 per night to play her current role as a sub-par ring announcer.
Brooke Hogan
In all honesty, I’m most annoyed at myself for putting Brooke Hogan on this list, but she deserves to be here. I do not agree with all of the haters on the interwebs who suggest, “Bruk sux!” and similar unreadable garbage. I was always a fan of the idea of Brooke Hogan running the Knockouts Division. However, if there has ever been an authority figure with worse booking than Hogan, I want to know that person’s name. This position could have worked out for Hogan; in fact, it should have worked out. But no one in Nashville knew how to book Brooke. Hogan didn’t need to be on the screen each week – she didn’t even need to be on the screen for a prolonged period of time. She just needed to make short 30 second appearances in backstage segments over the course of her first 6 months with the company. TNA gave us the exact opposite. They gave us a reality TV star who was untested and unfamiliar and put her in a major program with Bully Ray. That program, in itself, would have been sufficient. Unfortunately, Hogan remains a regular part of the show and still has that “Executive in Charge of the Knockouts Division” title. The fans aren’t into her because her authority figure role has been badly botched. It’s time to let her go and maybe bring her back a few years down the line.
Devon
Another difficult decision, but Devon is ready to be let out to pasture. Or rather, if it comes down to finding space on the roster for a guy like Matt Morgan or a woman like Tara versus someone like Devon, then you have to let Devon go. He just can’t compete in any respect when it comes to being a major singles player. Sure, when Team 3D first broke up he dropped a bunch of weight and became a pretty good lower-to-mid card guy. But let’s be honest – Devon has always stopped short of becoming a “must see” performer. Other than backing up Bully Ray, he brings nothing to the table. He’s the Marty Jannetty to Bully Ray’s Shawn Michaels. He has no future as a singles wrestler (which is obvious because the folks at iMPACT Wrestling never book him in any substantial storyline) and he’s not worth anything in WWE or ROH by himself. It’s time to let Devon go.
Rob Terry
I’m a huge Rob Terry fan and that’s one of the reasons why I think he needs to be let go. He’s not doing anything in iMPACT Wrestling and the writing team at TNA is never going to find anything substantial for him within the company’s current structure. Someone is always going to say he’s too big, too slow, too clumsy, or too muscular. I disagree with all of those assessments. Terry is a great performer and someone who is learning and growing every day. Just watch his performances in OVW and you’ll see that he’s constantly improving. But he should ply his trades among the independent promotions for a little while to build some more experience. Then he can come back as the monster that he really can be (and should be) in iMPACT Wrestling.
Velvet Sky
Much like Rob Terry, I’m a huge fan of Velvet Sky. However, I don’t know what else can be done with her in the promotion at this point. Sky is one of those knockouts that you have to keep around because she is smoking hot and can push merchandise. And while it would be great for TNA to utilize her for this specific purpose, I don’t know if she needs to be making an active roster member’s salary while pushing merchandise. Sky has been to the mountaintop and back. She’s be the TNA Knockouts Champion, let go, returned to the fold, and fought her way back to the top of the mountain. I don’t know what’s left for her in terms of telling a story to TNA fans. And with the drought of good ideas for the entire roster coming out of creative these days, I’m hard-pressed to find any reason to pay someone like Velvet Sky to just do the same old, same old.
Joseph Park, Esq./Abyss
Just like so many of the performers noted above, if Abyss isn’t going to be used correctly or used consistently, then it’s time to let the guy go. Do I think that Abyss (or many of the folks listed above) has pushed himself into a position where he deserves to be let go? Absolutely not. However, if the writing team isn’t going to give him something substantial to work with and if he’s not going to be used consistently, then cut him loose. Offer him a per-appearance sort of deal and keep the payments low on that deal. For the lackluster position that we’ve seen Abyss placed in over the last year, I don’t know if I’d pay him more than $250 per night for those performances. It’s nothing against Abyss – it’s just a business and numbers thing.
Those are the people that I would immediately cut from the roster. What do you think? Did I get it wrong? Did I get it right? Who would you immediately cut from the roster – and why? Use the comment box below to let me know your thoughts!
– Joe Vincent
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I wouldn’t shed a tear if TNA lost Rob Terry, but I don’t agree with any of the other suggestions.
Maybe I have a mental block about Christy Hemme because she happens to be smoking hot, but I think she does a fine job announcing and is always improving. And I like that TNA uses a female announcer. And you know what, the fact that she happens to be smoking hot shouldn’t be discounted. I actually am willing to bet that the pan-up camera angle on her before the opening bell ACTUALLY influences ratings.
Velvet Sky gets way too much bizarre hate from the internet wrestling fan community. I know you’re not taking part in that, clearly, and good for you, but it should be said that I think Velvet Sky is pretty good, and I legitimately don’t understand why people say she’s can’t wrestle. Anyway, I am very much against cutting anymore of the Knockouts. We need MORE Knockouts. I can’t believe Tara’s gone. I was also a fan of Taeler Hendrix, say what you want about her recent comments, she was talented. If you cut Velvet Sky, the division will be officially gutted.
I agree with your assessment somewhat of Brooke Hogan, but I think the problem isn’t her program with Bully. She’s actually really good with Bully. It’s whenever she has announcements for the Knockouts, or conversations with them, that I tend to cringe. That said TNA has invested a lot in her and it would be detrimental at this stage in the game to cut her loose. I want to see how her storyline plays out, and that in itself is saying something.
And I like Devon. Will he ever be on the main event level with Bully? No. But he’s talented and charismatic and he brings an important heavy-hitter/big name quality to Aces & 8s. I know you’re not a big fan of Devon’s. I am. The comparison to Marty Jannetty is hyperbole. Bully hasn’t quite reached that status that Shawn Michaels reached, and I’m not sure he ever will (although I love Bully and think he’s the best heel in the business today). Similarly, Devon has never been an obscure figure, and has had a long and successful career. The Rockers, as good as they were, were relatively short lived and never tag-team champions. The Dudleys held more tag-team championships than anyone else in the history of pro wrestling and until recently were still a unit.
And Abyss? I would keep him, but for the love of God, Joseph Park needs to figure out that he’s Abyss, and they need to tell the audience that he’s Abyss, and they need to decide which personality is going to be permanent. Finish the story and do something else, you know?
None of this is very constructive because I’m just shooting down ideas, but I’m not sure I could come up with a long list of people I would cut. I’m not familiar with TNA’s budget and what’s going on, obviously, but I really hope they don’t have to release anyone else. If anything I wish they’d get a second weekly show so that more of their roster could get some spotlight.
I have to admit that I’m biased against firing Christy Hemme. Her ultra-feminist stance when Austin Aries cornered her (on national television in a professional wrestling ring) makes her less than useless to me.
She routinely goofs up her somewhat simple announcing job. One could argue that her mistake screwing up the introduction of Aries and Bobby Roode on that show was one of the biggest blunders in her mediocre announcing career. The woman is part of a professional wrestling organization and, while in character, Aries chose to back her into a corner and play to the crowd while she was standing there. And she has the audacity to complain about that when SHE was the instigator? Tough shit, Hemme. Do your job right and you won’t become part of a 10-second storyline where Aries exerts dominance over you.
Of course, I have a general disgust for today’s ultra-feminists. I think that they need to be just as marginalized as they’ve tried to marginalize young, white males over the last 40 years. So with Hemme firmly in that ultra-idiot category in my mind, she’ll always be at the top of my list until she’s out of the company.
Oh, and the reports (which I, admittedly, have no way of verifying) of her making more than the some members of the active roster of Knockouts is more than troubling. She’s not worth any investment as a ring announcer.
Of the above list I agree with Brooke, Devon, and Abyss.
Brooke ads nothing to the ratings, or the storylines. She would be best served by being an idiot character, to play off of her clumsiness, but it appears TNA is set on trying to play her as a strong personality.
Devon, to me is just Devon. He is very generic, and he has lost too many steps as a wrestler to put on an exciting match anymore.
Abyss as has been mentioned has been watered down by the Joseph Parks storyline to the point, I don’t think he will ever have his monster mystique again in TNA.
I would add Garrett Bischoff to the list, I think if TNA really wants to show they are about cutting the fat then Garrett needs to go, I think he has a future in the business but he is so raw and not ready for TV at least not to the level of some people that were cut already.
Guys like Garett Bischoff and Wes Brisco didn’t make my list because of some assumptions that I made. I assumed that people like Hemme and Brooke are making much more than these guys since they are still in the developmental stage. So, for my money if I can fire one Devon and wind up using that money to pay the salaries of two developmental “projects” that have class wrestling name recognition (Brisco and Bischoff), then I’ll take it.
Actually, now that I think about it – this might be the exact opposite of what happened back in WCW.
I just feel like Bischoff will almost be like a baseball player brought up too soon and in the long run it won’t be good for him or TNA. Brisco seems to have a lot more seasoning. I see a lot of flaws in Bischoff’s game, and wonder if he ever gets a chance in fans eyes when they are watching the development live on TV every week.
I’m guessing and it’s only a guess that when Devon resigned, he swallowed a lot of pride and came back for a lot less to stay in the big game. That being said, he is clogging the bases (to use another baseball reference), he doesn’t seem to bring anything new or exciting, that maybe someone else released or still on the roster lacking screen time could.
Joe, although I don’t want to de-rail this topic too much, or get into a heated debate on the subject, I do disagree about Hemme. I don’t think it’s ultra feminist to be upset when someone sticks their junk in your face. It was in character, and on TV, yes, but that is the kind of thing that’s a little borderline iffy to do if you didn’t agree on it before hand. I don’t think she had whatever was coming to her for botching the announcement. She has made mistakes, but most of the time I feel she does a good job and is improving as I said. I understand and respect that you disagree.
William, I disagree about Bischoff too. I think he’s actually pretty good. In fact, he’s a lot better than Brisco. A LOT better. Brisco is un-coordinated and boring, and I feel very much like his last name is the only reason, the ONLY reason he has a job with the company right now. He wouldn’t pass Gut Check if he had a different name, and better wrestlers have failed.
Garrett on the other hand is actually talented, takes bumps well, possesses impressive agility, makes other guys look good and take a serious beating, as we saw in his debut at Lockdown years ago against Immortal. He’s also the guy that took a superplex off the steel cage in the most recent Lockdown battle with Aces & 8s. He also has mic skills. I say keep him. Get rid of Brisco.
I often wonder why Taz is still there.
I think he’s pretty funny. I like him as a heel commentator too. A heel commentator was kind of a throw-back idea that I had missed.
To address Joe’s picks…
Christy Hemme – I’d have to see how much she’s pulling down, probably too much, but I’m sure they could find someone cheaper to do it. I’ve often wondered how a permanent female announcer next to Tenay & Taz would work out? Maybe she could do that?
Brooke Hogan – Should have never been hired in the first place. I like the idea of a KO GM but use someone already on the payroll. Use Madison Rayne while she’s on leave. Impact is written months in advance, have her film a few weeks worth of footage making matches and whatnot every couple of weeks that could play on the screen. She lives in Ohio, which is one state away from Tennessee, where the TNA offices are. Not that far a drive/fly. Cheaper than Brooke, plus you’re still keeping a loyal knockout who fans are already familiar with (& on maternity leave) on the payroll.
Devon – Let him go. Cut him loose & he can focus on the Team 3D wrestling school. Provided he isn’t signed back with WWE, I’m sure he can always come back for Team 3D reunions & whatnot.
Rob Terry – They don’t know what to do with him. He was a dancing machine a few months ago, it was different & getting a reaction, then he “went on rotation” and off TV. Cut him or use him
Velvet Sky – I’d rather they have kept Angelina Love. Velvet isn’t terrible but I don’t see the rabid fan base she has.
Joseph Park/Abyss – Keep Joseph Park, let Abyss go.
I dig the idea of Madison Rayne as Knockouts GM. She’s a great heel, and it would be really interesting to see her interact with Knockouts like Velvet and ODB. The fans would love to hate that … seems like gold.