Well it would seem that WWE’s annual mass- talent release is under way. As I previously noted in my draft column series, WWE tends to like to let go a number of performers around the time of the draft lottery (prior to the advent of the draft a similar firing would ‘traditionally’ take place immediately after Wrestlemania), and it also seems that a fair few of those released are drafted beforehand for some bizarre reason, only to never appear on television for their new programme.

While some releases have already occurred in this fashion earlier this year, (see Trevor Murdoch), this week I will look at the six wrestlers who were victims of the most recent cuts, and do a retrospective on their WWE runs to date.

Number one on the list was ECW’s Braden Walker i.e. TNA’s Chris Harris. To say his run in WWE was not notable is a huge overstatement. I can’t really say much more about this guy’s career, but think that this picture ad (credit Deathvalley Driver Forums), does his ‘run’ more justice than my words ever could.

‘Nuf said!

The next notable to be released was Domino. The writing was seemingly on the wall for him since his interminable tag team with Deuce was split up and his partner was moved to RAW with marginally more support from management. I really had to think when looking for career highlights for Domino, because in truth there isn’t a great deal to choose from.

The Greaser gimmick itself was a bit of a throwback to the stereotypical character driven WWF of the early 1990s, and the only half decent matches I can remember Deuce to be in were in doubles matches against Paul London and Brian Kendrick early in their run in 2007, and singles matches against the former ROH’ers which proved that sometimes even the superlative ‘Hooligan’ duo struggled to carry opponents to decent matches. The fact that I can barely remember more for Domino’s year and a half run than Walker’s two week run is to me a pretty good indicator of how successful the former was in the WWE.

Nunzio, on the other hand, is a prime example of how WWE’s lack of focus on the cruiserweights can lead to under-utilised wrestlers doing little of note while being in secure employment for a number of years. Competing under the Little Guido gimmick, Nunzio became a highlight in 1999-2001’s original ECW.

Initially competing as a shoot-style single after breaking free of the comedic original FBI, Guido went on to form an FBI mk.2 tag team with Tony Mamaluke which consistently had standout matches on ECW pay per views, but also most impressively an incredible match and rematch against Mikey Whipwreck and Taijiri at the Ballroom Blitz weekend which blew me away on initial viewing, and is widely considered the extreme promotion’s 2000 match of the year.

WWE-wise was a different matter though. Brought in on the flimsy premise that he was Jamie Noble’s cousin in late 2002, Nunzio immediately became a non-entity, even when he formed another FBI rerun along with Chuck Palumbo and Johnny Stamboli. While Nunzio was and is a very solid performer, he was never given the chance to shine, and outside of a minor Cruiserweight Title reign in late 2005, the highlights of his WWE run were hidden gems of matches against the likes of Paul London, and Jamie Noble on Velocity through 2003-2004.

Long running developmental talent, and sometime main roster member James Curtis was next to go. While Curtis only competed briefly on Smackdown during 2006 (as K.C. James in a tag team alongside Idol Stevens), I remember being surprised at the quality of the matches that he took part in.

In retrospect this was probably due to the hard work of opponents such as Kid Kash, Jamie Noble, and the always productive London and Kendrick, but as the above mentioned Domino shows, some credit does have to be given to Curtis for holding up his end to some extent. After losing a virtual squash to then US Champion Chris Benoit, he was taken off TV, and only appeared earlier this year, working as a jobber on ECW.

James Curtis’ run was pretty unotable, but at least he didn’t embarrass himself by producing no highlights during his WWE stay, I.E. Walker and Domino.

In a similar position to Nunzio, although in my eyes not quite as talented, is Shannon Moore. After a decent (by 2000 standards) run in WCW, Moore was picked up after the WWE buy out and enjoyed a pretty lacklustre run, most notably competing as Matt Hardy’s V1 lackey.

Let go in 2005, Moore would go no to compete briefly without a contract in TNA, bizarrely beating top babyface AJ Styles in a streetfight before being resigned to WWE almost immediately afterwards. Sporting a bizarre Mohawk and tattooed up to the eyeballs, Moore’s new ‘Punk’ character did not really get over in ECW, and the only really good matches of his latest WWE run were as part of a tag team with Jimmy Yang, in particular a great little series of matches against Tag Champs Miz and Morrison through Winter 2007.

Last to go of the current releases was Big Daddy V. For a more in depth view of his career as a whole, please see my earlier column (written in a slightly sarcastic tone, honestly!). To sum up, V had evolved into a decent monster heel in receipt of a good push prior to his departure due to health problems (no, really?) in March of this year.

While I think there was more potential for him in this role, if his previous employment history with the WWE is anything to go by, then he’ll probably be rehired and ECW Champion by this time next year. Oh well, at least we haven’t had to sit through any ECW matches of Mark Henry vs. Big Daddy V, which if their previous effort at No Way Out 2000 were anything to go by, would surely have torn down the house!