Mike Johnson at PWInsider.com reported the following:
Originally posted by PWInsider.comFrankie Kazarian gave TNA management notice yesterday at the Impact! tapings that he was finishing with the promotion. According to one source, Kazarian's contract actually expired late last year and he was never asked to sign new paperwork, so he was working without a deal. Kazarian was a former co-holder of the X-Division championship with tag team partner Michael Shane. I don't have any word on how this affects Shane's status with TNA, if at all.
Frankie is an awesome worker and I hope that WWE gives him a look. I can't blame him for wanting out after having to job to a NASCAR driver at the PPV. It sucks for Michael Shane, as those two could have been a great team to put the titles on. Maybe Michael Shane will work his way into the whole ex-DX members storyline.
Its not a good time to be a Cruiserweight in wrestling. In TNA, he's jobbing to a race car driver and in WWE, we'd be lucky to see him once a month on Velocity.
I hope WWE takes a look at him because I bet he could do some good stuff in OVW before he gets called up to Velocity to do nothing.
"When did they pass a law that says the people who make my sandwich have to be wearing gloves? I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want glove residue all over my food; it's not sanitary. Who knows where these gloves have been?" - George Carlin
And yet Christopher Daniels is getting a nice push in the right direction. Would you really rather have the other four guys back on your TNA TV programming like two months ago, when you could also see Daniels doing nothing? It's not ALL bad...
Originally posted by chillAnd yet Christopher Daniels is getting a nice push in the right direction. Would you really rather have the other four guys back on your TNA TV programming like two months ago, when you could also see Daniels doing nothing? It's not ALL bad...
All four, for Daniels? Hmm. Yeah, you've got a point.
I'm not even a huge fan of Kazarian -- but I really liked his tag team with Shane, and the Harris Boys or the Phi Delta Slams are no substitution.
It's frustrating -- a couple of months ago TNA had an AWESOME tag team division, but now we've lost XXX, Shazarian, and the NYC, D-Ray 3000 has vanished (leaving Shark Boy alone), and the Naturals and Batts & Clark have been kinda buried lately (although we'll see what Candido can do with the Naturals).
If the Harrises and the Slams are the guys that they're bring in to bolster the tag ranks, then I dunno what they're thinking.
(To be fair, I don't hate the Slams [yet!] -- I'm more tolerant of "big guys" than, I think, most people on this board, and as long as a team has a team name, matching outfits, and a double team finisher, I usually can deal with 'em regardless of who makes up the team. The Harrises, though, are the exceptions to this -- I really cannot stand those guys.)
When is Jim Mitchell going to show up with a new New Church? It's long overdue. I miss Slash -- although I notice that James Storm has started using Slash's Whirlybird move, so I suppose that may be a sign that Slash is not in fact waiting in the wings.
--K
Last 5 movies seen: Seance on a Wet Afternoon - The Yes Men - A Trip to the Moon - Dawn of the Dead (2004) - One, Two, Three
I'd love to see Kazarian and Michael Shane reunite..in WWE. Even if they spend a year or so on Velocity I'm sure it'll be entertaining to see them work with London,Akio, Nunzio, Moore, Spike and Chavo.
That could make for some great Velocity main events.
And, with such a thin tag-team roster a Kazarian-Shane tag team title run isn't too out of the question.
Kazarian and Shane have always been entertaining and (nowadays)was one of the only reasons I still like TNA. But, they have been getting screwed around a lot lately.
But, in my opinion, so has Styles,Daniels,Petey, Sabin and Skipper. X-Division titles or not.
Another case where a wrestler's contract expires and TNA management doesn't re-sign them while still using/pushing them on TV. No need to mention who's in charge of that.
Is it just my imagination? I thought Kazarian was big enough that he wouldn't strictly have to be a cruiserweight. No? I always thought of him in at least the Carlito/Hurricane/Tajiri size category. Maybe even a bit taller than Christian, albeit more slender. No?
Originally posted by emmaIs it just my imagination? I thought Kazarian was big enough that he wouldn't strictly have to be a cruiserweight. No? I always thought of him in at least the Carlito/Hurricane/Tajiri size category. Maybe even a bit taller than Christian, albeit more slender. No?
Its hard to tell because he seems tall next to AJ Styles or Michael Shane but they're really short. I'd say he's probably around Christian's height but not any bigger. Its like that old ECW thing where Rhino looked big but is really just average height at best in WWE.
"When did they pass a law that says the people who make my sandwich have to be wearing gloves? I'm not comfortable with this. I don't want glove residue all over my food; it's not sanitary. Who knows where these gloves have been?" - George Carlin
According to obsessedwithwrestling.com, Kazarian is 6'1" and 215 lbs. So he's taller than most WWE cruiserweights (if not indeed taller than all of them) and weighs a little more, so I guess he could be big enough to not be strictly cruiserweight.
But I'm guessing that he'll still be stuck on Velocity on a weekly basis...if he gets that far.
I'm not too sad to see Kazarian go, I thought he was pretty overrated. I do like Michael Shane, but i hope they let him wrestle singles now. Really it wouldn't have made since to re-sign Kazarian, I mean let's face it, they have a one hour show and they don't have that much time to spend with the X Division so you keep the best ones (AJ, Daniels, Shane, Sabin, Petey) and let the others walk (Kazarian, Red, Sonjay) wouldn't make sense to pay them to sit around.
Originally posted by QuezzyI'm not too sad to see Kazarian go, I thought he was pretty overrated. I do like Michael Shane, but i hope they let him wrestle singles now. Really it wouldn't have made since to re-sign Kazarian, I mean let's face it, they have a one hour show and they don't have that much time to spend with the X Division so you keep the best ones (AJ, Daniels, Shane, Sabin, Petey) and let the others walk (Kazarian, Red, Sonjay) wouldn't make sense to pay them to sit around.
Queezy has a point in there. TNA really needs to 2 hours each week to develop some of their storylines better, or at least the opportunity to make them better.
But then again, Smackdown has 2 hours and look what they do.
Originally posted by MayhemTNA really needs to 2 hours each week to develop some of their storylines better, or at least the opportunity to make them better.
Not long ago I would have said this is absurd, but TNA's roster is probably only a couple guys away from being able to pull this off. It would be nice if there were time to give a reason for, say, Petey Williams vs. Elix Skipper, or those six-man 'get the guys on the show' tag matches that happen every month.
Apparently, all a sad traffic accident in Pittsburgh took this Hall of Famer's life. WWE.com remembers him... managed Hogan for a little while. http://www.wwe.com/article/johnny-valiant-passes-away RIP "Luscious" Johnny Valiant