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The Professor's Position: Hirings, Firings and Injuries
The #1 Source for TNA News: It's July 8th, 2008 and the Professor's Position is here. We've got some HUGE stories to cover this week. First on a personal note to my fellow staff members and loyal readers, I'm leaving town tomorrow to go on vacation for a week so don't expect me to post any columns or be able to post any columns for anyone else for a week. I'm getting away to a resort where there will be no computers, no nothing. So hopefully I'll be invigorated upon return. TOP STORY: Hirings, Firings and Injuries So much stuff to cover here so I'm going to break it down into three distinct sections and then talk about the people in each section. Today's Professor's Position column is all about these three main pieces. Let's get right into it. Hirings: -Ultimo Guerrero Although just a rumor at this point, there appears to be interest on both ends from Ultimo Guerrero and TNA. Guerrero has been a great fit for TNA during the World X Cup and would like to work for TNA full time in a schedule comparable to Shocker from a few years ago. However nothing is inked yet and Guerrero has had some Visa problems in the past which could hamper this from happening. Professor's Notes: It should also be noted that Guerrero's last name may confuse some fans who think he's a member of the Guerrero family. Interestingly his name roughly translates to Ultimate Warrior. -Ultimate Warrior TNA has no interest in the Ultimate Warrior and never has. This was a completely made up rumor based on the fact that Sting spoke his name in an interview and Warrior was returning to the ring. Neither TNA or Warrior have contacted each other. Professor's Notes: I said this week's ago. Another one of these completely fabricated stories thanks to the internet. -Doug Williams There is a push within TNA management to try and keep Doug Williams past this Sunday's Victory Road PPV and the end of the World X Cup. Professor's Notes: Doug Williams is another one who is impressing management and me as well. The World X Cup is great at finding international talent. In the past guys like Petey Williams were discovered because of the World X cup. -Mickie "Moose" Knuckles Moose just recently signed a contract with TNA. Moose has been the "muscle" for the Beautiful People and is an accomplished women's wrestler who specializes in hardcore wrestling. She was trained by Ian Rotten and has a different look and style than most TNA women's wrestlers. Professor's Notes: I love that TNA continues to diversify their women's roster and Mickie was on a shortlist of wrestlers I wanted them to sign. Unfortunately a freak accident may mean we won't see her in TNA again. (More on this later) -Orlando Jordan Jordan recently competed against Warrior in Spain and has been a popular wrestler there. Rumors had TNA interest in Jordan but this appears to be false. Professor's Notes: Another obvious bogus internet rumor. Jordan has no name value and very little he could contribute to an already crowded TNA roster. -Bobby Lashley TNA continues an interest in Lashley and Bobby has some interest in TNA, but he also just signed to compete in some MMA matches in the future. Lashley remains on the fence on if he'll be able to dedicate time to TNA or wrestling in general. Professor's Notes: Lashley is a case of a guy getting handed things too quickly. WWE picked him up and immediately pushed him super hard. Much like Brock Lesnar, Lashley wasn't ready for the lifestyle of a pro-wrestler and is exploring other avenues. I do think Lashley would be a great pickup for TNA for lots of reasons, but none of that matters is Lashley isn't dedicated to the sport. Firings: -Rellik Rellik, otherwise known as Johnny the Bull in WCW and Johnny Stamboli in WWE, has parted ways with TNA. It was reported a few months ago that he was on a pay-per-appearance deal with TNA. Professor's Notes: Rellik is a bittersweet release for me. Johnny the Bull had a lot of talent and I give credit to a guy for going out and reinventing himself after an extended tour of Japan. The problem I had with Rellik is that he wasn't very interesting in the ring. He should have used more of his high flying and less Japanese strong style. I really wanted more out of Rellik and I think TNA did as well. He won't be missed and hasn't been used on TV in quite some time anyway. -Scott D'Amore Scott D'Amore is reportedly on his way out of TNA and will be finishing up at the end of the month. D'Amore has been working with TNA for many years as a backstage agent (more recently with the TNA Knockouts Division) and had worked on camera as the manager of Team Canada before the group was disbanded. The word making the rounds within TNA is that D'Amore is leaving TNA to devote more time to his businesses in Canada and his departure is said to be on good terms, although some believe he had heat with TNA management in recent months. D'Amore operates a sports bar in Windsor, Ontario and heads up the Michigan/Ontario independent promotion Border City Wrestling. Professor's Notes: This is a painful release but one I'm surprised didn't come sooner. D'Amore was once head booker of TNA but fell out of favor with management when A'more booked himself in many high profile storylines including a 15 minute match with Jerry Lynn. D'Amore never could seem to grasp he was booking TNA and not BCW and continued to book Indy style small shows. Contrary to belief, D'Amore hasn't done much with the Knockouts, that job has fallen to Dutch Mantell. Scott hasn't been doing much in TNA for the past year which is why he's finally being released. -James Mitchell "Father" James Mitchell is also being let go by TNA. Mitchell who was last manager of Judas Mesias has been off of TV since he was brutally beaten by Abyss. Professor's Notes: Some news sites reported that Mitchell was supposed to be coming back with Abyss, but that's not true. Mitchell was written out of storylines some time ago and Abyss was to be brought back with little to no connection to Mitchell. This is to cool off the storyline that had Mitchell being Abyss' father. It's believed that Mitchell will probably return to TNA sometime down the road after his character has been refreshed. Not unlike a few years ago where Mitchell was absent from TV for over a year. Injuries: -Mickie "Moose" Knuckles Mickie "Moose" Knuckles' surgery to repair a broken femur in her right leg yesterday was a complete success. She should be leaving the hospital on crutches in a few days. The surgery took longer than expected due to the muscle mass in Mickie's leg. She will likely need six months off before she can return to the ring. Professor's Notes: This is obviously the biggest injury news of the week. Mickie Knuckles broke her leg in a "Sid-like" fashion over the weekend. Although the injury doesn't appear to be as bad as Sid's it's expected to keep her off the shelf for some time. For those curious, Sid's injury took him over 4 years to heal. So if she is indeed ready to wrestle in 6 months, it'd be a minor miracle. I remain somewhat in doubt that Mickie will end up in TNA after this injury. Although it's definitely possible, with 6 months to a year away from TV the opportunity to use her may be passed. Here's the video if you want to see the injury. It's not as graphic as the Sid video which I saw live. -Scott Steiner Steiner had successful knee surgery a while back and will be out of action for some time. Steiner was set to feud with Abyss, but that plan may change depending on how long Steiner is on the shelf. Professor's Notes: Hate to hear Scott is hurt, especially on the leg area where he's had trouble before. But all signs indicate that the surgery was a success and hopefully we'll see Scott back in the ring before 2009. TNA Hotties: Gratuitous Poontang Here's who I'm feeling right now in TNA. 
What can I say, it's a Salinas kinda mood... The Wrap Up: So in summary we have 3 TNA talents leaving, only 1 is a wrestler. None have been on TV for quite some time. We have 3 potential new signings, with 1 injured and 2 unsure. So overall the great roster shakeup hasn't amounted to much. However things could change in the next couple of weeks if TNA does indeed sign some of these new wrestlers. We'll see if they do or if anyone else gets a pink slip. Until then, I'm Professor Newton Gimmick keeping you informed. Got feedback? Let me know at ProfNewtonGimmick@yahoo.com. This article has been viewed 23 times.
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