WWE Releases Two NXT Wrestlers

[Abdullah]

Both Kendall Skye and Troy McLain have been released by WWE, according to PWInsider.com.

Read more: www.WrestlingInc.com/wi/news/2014/0919/581161/nxt-diva-parts-ways-with-wwe/

Yep. Another inexperienced diva doesn't even make it to TV in a meaningful way. Maybe WWE should sign women who will stick around, who won't need to be trained from zero? Just a thought.

[Chainsaw]

"Hi,I'm Troy McLain, you might remember me from such NXT matches as That One Time I Jobbed At A House Show, and The Time I Was In The Background As A Rosebud!"

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

Ah yes... That guy who got squashed by The Ascension once and that woman who we somehow thought was Sara Del Rey getting a "Diva" makeover.

[PKO]

I just made a post referencing Kendall in the Divas Pic/Gif thread! The divas division needs to be the next big hiring change in WWE.

Sadly can't say much about Troy, but hopefully the two of them go on to good things.

[Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal]

Sept 19, 2014 11:16:03 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Both Kendall Skye and Troy McLain have been released by WWE, according to PWInsider.com.

Read more: www.WrestlingInc.com/wi/news/2014/0919/581161/nxt-diva-parts-ways-with-wwe/

Yep. Another inexperienced diva doesn't even make it to TV in a meaningful way. Maybe WWE should sign women who will stick around, who won't need to be trained from zero? Just a thought.

Trish Stratus started out as a model.

Kendall Skye started out as a stuntwoman and was trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing.

But yeah, let's judge every woman and paint them with the same brush as all being "inexperienced." Because that's helpful and not in any way offensive to an individual's learning curve and their personal and professional growth rate within an organization.

[Abdullah]

Sept 19, 2014 11:20:47 GMT -5 PKO said:

I just made a post referencing Kendall in the Divas Pic/Gif thread! The divas division needs to be the next big hiring change in WWE.

Hunter's positive hiring policies haven't seemed to extend to women in the past year, sadly.

I hope it will though, in time. They could coast with Bayley, Becky, Sasha and Charlotte for a little longer. But this is exactly why the NXT divas division is stale.

[Abdullah]

Sept 19, 2014 11:23:52 GMT -5 Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal said:

Sept 19, 2014 11:16:03 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Yep. Another inexperienced diva doesn't even make it to TV in a meaningful way. Maybe WWE should sign women who will stick around, who won't need to be trained from zero? Just a thought.

Trish Stratus started out as a model.

Kendall Skye started out as a stuntwoman and was trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing.

But yeah, let's judge every woman and paint them with the same brush as all being "inexperienced." Because that's helpful and not in any way offensive to an individual's learning curve and their personal and professional growth rate within an organization.

When every few months, one or two or three of these women leave it is fair to maybe speak up a little bit. We've had this talk before. I'm not saying everyone needs to be Cheerleader Melissa but some alteration is needed.

[JTG Fan]

Aww I liked Troy McClain, because his name was Troy McClain.

[Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal]

Sept 19, 2014 11:27:18 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

Sept 19, 2014 11:23:52 GMT -5 Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal said:

Trish Stratus started out as a model.

Kendall Skye started out as a stuntwoman and was trained in Muay Thai and kickboxing.

But yeah, let's judge every woman and paint them with the same brush as all being "inexperienced." Because that's helpful and not in any way offensive to an individual's learning curve and their personal and professional growth rate within an organization.

When every few months, one or two or three of these women leave it is fair to maybe speak up a little bit. We've had this talk before. I'm not saying everyone needs to be Cheerleader Melissa but some alteration is needed.

Actually, no. This is exactly what the Performance Center is designed for. You recruit all the people you feel could grow and excel in the company. And you see who rises to the top. Not everyone makes it. Big surprise.

Recruiting Kendall Skye is no different than WWE recruiting Trish Stratus or Hogan recruiting The Giant in WCW. You scout and see who could potentially have "It" and then you see if they can do it. It will always be a process and there will always be time and money invested to see if it works out or not.

Nobody in wrestling has a crystal ball to predict who can and can't do it.

[Abdullah]

Sept 19, 2014 11:37:24 GMT -5 Slammy Award-Winning Cannibal said:

Sept 19, 2014 11:27:18 GMT -5 Abdullah said:

When every few months, one or two or three of these women leave it is fair to maybe speak up a little bit. We've had this talk before. I'm not saying everyone needs to be Cheerleader Melissa but some alteration is needed.

Actually, no. This is exactly what the Performance Center is designed for. You recruit all the people you feel could grow and excel in the company. And you see who rises to the top. Not everyone makes it. Big surprise.

Recruiting Kendall Skye is no different than WWE recruiting Trish Stratus or Hogan recruiting The Giant in WCW. You scout and see who could potentially have "It" and then you see if they can do it. It will always be a process and there will always be time and money invested to see if it works out or not.

Nobody in wrestling has a crystal ball to predict who can and can't do it.

When Eve Torres left, there was this big debate that WWE shouldn't have pushed her because she just walked away. I strongly disagreed with that.

There is a difference between someone like Eve or Kaitlyn who left after leaving a mark and these near nameless faces that drop one by one. This has been happening at least since Anya was fired where, in every batch of NXT releases, there's always a woman or two. They show up. They either decide to leave or they don't make the cut, most of them writing a farewell message amounting to platitudes about a pleasant experience. Which is fine, I guess.

Except that HHH went on a mini-rant about performers who walk around with their head down, men and women who are simply happy to collect a paycheck and stay hired. I can't help but think that it would apply to these women since they get released. I love Naomi on the main roster. I kinda like Alexa and Carmella seems like a neat character. But right now, they're not the norm. The norm is they're hiring women who aren't ready, who aren't especially fussed one way or the other, and they never make it to TV in a meaningful way. Of women who don't come up from a wrestling background, we've only seen Summer, Alexa, and Audrey Marie in prominent wrestling roles on NXT. Three. One of whom was released. That's not a lot.

With the women's division being a main draw for Hunter's vision, I think it's important that he would hire females similar to the Steens and Zayns in terms of talent. Why is that a cause for argument? Why is that wrong? Women like Paige who cry buckets after winning a talent, women like AJ who leave eight sets of twins at home to wrestle. Yes, I'm being facetious in a way but I really do believe being a true fan of wrestling helps. It's not a great gig to be on NXT for most. It apparently doesn't pay well. Dedication helps. If it's all the same, then these newbies would stick around.

TL;DR: Hire all the types of performers you want. That includes women with wrestling experience though and they haven't in over a year. If WWE didn't look Devitt's way in favor of an unknown quality, we would rightfully be furious. I can't help but think that, because it's only the women's division, it matters less. Which, again, it shouldn't because the women are a draw for NXT.

[lionheart21]

Sept 19, 2014 11:18:44 GMT -5 Chainsaw said:

"Hi,I'm Troy McLain, you might remember me from such NXT matches as That One Time I Jobbed At A House Show, and The Time I Was In The Background As A Rosebud!"

I was hoping for a Troy McClure reference in this thread, and I get it on the second post.

[BigWill]

Let's stop lying to ourselves. The WWE isn't even looking for a next Trish Stratus, so she's not even worth using as an example in this discussion. They're looking for eye candy that won't potentially hurt themselves or their opponents in the ring. That's all. They're not looking for women to have "It", or women that are even good in the ring. If they were, women like Cameron and Eva Marie wouldn't have gotten the call up when they did. That's the real reason they hire mainly models. It's easier to teach someone the basics of wrestling than it is to make someone look attractive to the audience. Also, models are less likely to complain about the shitty divas booking compared to women from the indys that believe they deserve better.

[Deleted]

Came for the Troy McClure reference leaving satisfied.

[Abdullah]

Sept 19, 2014 12:45:25 GMT -5 BigWill said:

Let's stop lying to ourselves. The WWE isn't even looking for a next Trish Stratus, so she's not even worth using as an example in this discussion. They're looking for eye candy that won't potentially hurt themselves or their opponents in the ring. That's all. They're not looking for women to have "It", or women that are even good in the ring. If they were, women like Cameron and Eva Marie wouldn't have gotten the call up when they did. That's the real reason they hire mainly models. It's easier to teach someone the basics of wrestling than it is to make someone look attractive to the audience. Also, models are less likely to complain about the shitty divas booking compared to women from the indys that believe they deserve better.

I'd agree with that and I do, as far as the main roster goes.

But the women's division is at its worst the third most important aspect of NXT. Some weeks, it's the first.

[________ has left the building]

WWE does hires women wrestlers along with the models and athletes. People want them to basically hire the Shimmer roster which they won't do for various reasons. For every wrestling newbie like Eva Marie and Cameron who struggle to pick it up, there are women who not only pick it up but strive like Summer Rae and Alexa Bliss. I have no problems with WWE hiring people who never done pro wrestling because a massive number of people we love started from scratch under the WWE umbrella. You never know who will become a superstar. Just like they shouldn't penalize someone who wrestled in the indies before coming to WWE. WWE will keep the same hiring practice of hiring women who fit their vision for Divas regardless of their experience level.

[lesleymoon]

It would be great if they hired some more indy female talent, it would. But I have to wonder, knowing what we know about the pay there at NXT, if they have reached out to indy ladies and got a 'thanks but no thanks' response? They can probably make more on the indy circuit, honestly. While I'm sure there are indy ladies that would give their right arm to work for WWE, there are probably others that would rather eat nails than to work for WWE.

Also, I don't see a problem with them giving 'models' a shot. Hopefully they will have some athletic background, or some wrestling knowledge, but to me it seems a bit shortsighted to say 'Oh she'll never amount to anything because she is a stupid model.' Give 'em a shot. I mean, Charlotte didn't have any wrestling experience prior to joining the developmental system, right? As a previous poster said, thats what the developmental system is for, to see who can hack it and who can't.

[Abdullah]

Sept 19, 2014 12:57:52 GMT -5 ________ has left the building said:

WWE does hires women wrestlers along with the models and athletes. People want them to basically hire the Shimmer roster which they won't do for various reasons. For every wrestling newbie like Eva Marie and Cameron who struggle to pick it up, there are women who not only pick it up but strive like Summer Rae and Alexa Bliss. I have no problems with WWE hiring people who never done pro wrestling because a massive number of people we love started from scratch under the WWE umbrella. You never know who will become a superstar. Just like they shouldn't penalize someone who wrestled in the indies before coming to WWE. WWE will keep the same hiring practice of hiring women who fit their vision for Divas regardless of their experience level.

I don't disagree with that. But as I said, there is a huge imbalance. I don't know what the number is after this most release but let's say NXT has, give or take, 15 women. Of those, only Bayley, Becky and Sasha have any prior wrestling experience. Last month, Bayley vs Sasha and Becky vs Charlotte were repeated often.

Beyond that though, when we talk about Steen or Devitt being signed everyone can agree that it's a wise choice. No offense to the football players, no offense to the pretty boys most said, but it makes sense to sign someone with a following who already knows a lot. Why can't the exact same thing be said for women's wrestlers? This isn't about the main roster; they'll inevitably get misused there. But as long as Hunter is going to give the division 10-15 minute marquee matches, then he should hire at least a few more female performers that can handle the pressure; that can lift the newer workers.

I get the logic of 'eh, we'll just use Emma or Nattie to fill a spot' but it doesn't mean I agree with it. I'm not asking for Shimmer main-eventers either. Bayley and Sasha weren't. Some even said they weren't good when they signed but they knew enough that they really excelled in a top spot. Same with AJ Lee.

[The Ichi]

Bottom line is the top wrestling company in the world should be hiring people (male and female) with at least workable experience.

[Next Level was WRONG]

McClain didn't have any wrestling experience either, why are we singling out Skye?

[Dshuks]

Sept 19, 2014 12:57:52 GMT -5 ________ has left the building said:

WWE does hires women wrestlers along with the models and athletes. People want them to basically hire the Shimmer roster which they won't do for various reasons. For every wrestling newbie like Eva Marie and Cameron who struggle to pick it up, there are women who not only pick it up but strive like Summer Rae and Alexa Bliss. I have no problems with WWE hiring people who never done pro wrestling because a massive number of people we love started from scratch under the WWE umbrella. You never know who will become a superstar. Just like they shouldn't penalize someone who wrestled in the indies before coming to WWE. WWE will keep the same hiring practice of hiring women who fit their vision for Divas regardless of their experience level.

That's complete nonsense.


Yeah WWe sure does hire a lot of female wrestlers except for the fact that they haven't signed one in about a year and a half. While they've signed countless model types. Compare that to the ratio of Male wrestlers that get signed and non-wreslting athletes and bodybuilders that get signed.

In 2014 alone WWE has signed - Kenta, Kevin Steen, Devitt, Willie Mack. I don't think it's too much to ask for the WWE to sign 1 or twoindy women's wrestlers a year in place of one or two model signings.


I mean since the WWE took a chance with a male Japanese star like Kenta, why not sign someone like Io Shirai who imo is prettier than most of the divas.