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Post by toodarkmark on Jun 16, 2019 21:45:24 GMT -5
The biggest true, potential game changing free agent in wrestling is CM Punk, to the extent that there’s a chance he may return to wrestling. I agree with a lot of the names that have already been said here, too. Particularly Orange Cassidy...his gimmick is a bit strange, but he’s an excellent ring psychologist and has a lot of star potential. The same holds true for Jervis Cottonbelly/Kevin Condron, I think. I’d really like to see both go to AEW and get to work on a bigger stage full time. To me these are the two I think of also. CM Punk is the top ex WWE/ROH guy who could move the dial, and Orange Cassidey is my favorite wrestler not signed to anyone. He's got the place in my heart that Larry Sweeney did. I guess, Bad News Barrett is someone I like who has been away from wrestling, but could be seen as a high level free agent.
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Post by Joe Neglia on Jun 16, 2019 21:45:57 GMT -5
It's astonishing how few ex-WWE guys are still out there that seem to matter. This can be said of those still signed to WWE and their week to week exploits. Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures.
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Post by toodarkmark on Jun 16, 2019 21:48:55 GMT -5
This can be said of those still signed to WWE and their week to week exploits. Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures. I think once you've been a part of WWE, it can be hard to go back to the indies, psychologically. And, many are just burnt out on the industry. If you don't have a love love for it (Moxley/Cody come to mind), you may want to get as far away from the industry as possible.
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Jun 16, 2019 21:59:54 GMT -5
Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures. I think once you've been a part of WWE, it can be hard to go back to the indies, psychologically. And, many are just burnt out on the industry. If you don't have a love love for it (Moxley/Cody come to mind), you may want to get as far away from the industry as possible. Agree with both of you guys and I think that last sentence sums it up. Weren't a lot of those mid 2000's Lauranitis hires guys with "the look" that had no wrestling experience? That's probably a part of the reason you don't see those guys anymore. They had no passion or history for wrestling, it was just a job to them. Especially all the Divas of that era. To answer the question, is Willie Mack signed anywhere?
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Post by HMARK Center on Jun 16, 2019 22:44:02 GMT -5
Yeah, for reference I believe that any NJPW or ROH regulars who were able to work non-NJPW/ROH/RevPro shows during Mania weekend this year (with the exception of the Hitchcock Memorial Show, I think, as the main event there was Ospreay vs. Bandido) are likely not under full time contract with either company. That would include Eagles (worked numerous cards around the area that week), Jonathan Gresham (worked Bloodsport and Orange Cassidy's card at the GCW Collective), and Minoru Suzuki (main evented Bloodsport against Barnett). Davey Boy Jr. was still considered a NJPW regular at that point and worked Bloodsport, as well, but it seems he's under MLW contract.
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Post by Deputy Muscle on Jun 17, 2019 1:37:08 GMT -5
I think once you've been a part of WWE, it can be hard to go back to the indies, psychologically. And, many are just burnt out on the industry. If you don't have a love love for it (Moxley/Cody come to mind), you may want to get as far away from the industry as possible. Agree with both of you guys and I think that last sentence sums it up. Weren't a lot of those mid 2000's Lauranitis hires guys with "the look" that had no wrestling experience? That's probably a part of the reason you don't see those guys anymore. They had no passion or history for wrestling, it was just a job to them. Especially all the Divas of that era. To answer the question, is Willie Mack signed anywhere? I think Mack has a loose deal in place with the NWA. Not sure how it works though as obviously he's all over the place at the minute!
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Jun 17, 2019 3:01:26 GMT -5
I almost don't want to mention them, but nZo and Big Colin Cassady Xtra Large are likely free agents, I would assume, since whatever the hell they tried with Ring of Honor doesn't seem to be happening.
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lucas_lee
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Post by lucas_lee on Jun 17, 2019 9:36:51 GMT -5
In terms of name value David Arquette, Nick Gage, Chris Dickinson, The Butcher and the Blade tag team, possibly Jimmy Lloyd, and I can think of others who havent joined AEW yet hahah. Independant wrestling women I have no clue and Im far behind on that scene
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Post by TWERKIN' MAGGLE on Jun 17, 2019 9:44:20 GMT -5
I love that 20ish years after he basically ruined everything (through no fault of his own), David Arquette is a legit wrestling star.
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Post by Hypnosis on Jun 17, 2019 9:58:09 GMT -5
I almost don't want to mention them, but nZo and Big Colin Cassady Xtra Large are likely free agents, I would assume, since whatever the hell they tried with Ring of Honor doesn't seem to be happening. nZo and CazXL: So awful that not even current ROH wants them.
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Post by James Fabiano on Jun 17, 2019 10:32:28 GMT -5
I almost don't want to mention them, but nZo and Big Colin Cassady Xtra Large are likely free agents, I would assume, since whatever the hell they tried with Ring of Honor doesn't seem to be happening. That's Free AgentZ!
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Post by funakifan88 on Jun 17, 2019 11:25:46 GMT -5
Willie Mack is signed with Impact, no?
Orange Cassidy, I have heard, has signed with AEW.
Eddie Kingston should be the top of everyone's list.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jun 17, 2019 11:36:53 GMT -5
Willie Mack is signed with Impact, no? Orange Cassidy, I have heard, has signed with AEW. Eddie Kingston should be the top of everyone's list. Willie Mack I don't think has a locked down contract since he doing Impact and NWA.
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Post by The Dark Order Inferno on Jun 17, 2019 11:51:33 GMT -5
This can be said of those still signed to WWE and their week to week exploits. Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures. I blame the terrible developmental system they've had for many of those years, training guys from scratch to work WWE style who can't adapt to work with non WWE guys, nevermind adapt to indy life. They hired young guys for a certain look, trained them to work the same boring match and read from a script with no input into their characters, and once they're fired, they're like Sandow, just lost in the unstructured indies, and lost in the shuffle as having worked for the WWE will only carry you so far.
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Post by corndog on Jun 17, 2019 12:47:49 GMT -5
Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures. I blame the terrible developmental system they've had for many of those years, training guys from scratch to work WWE style who can't adapt to work with non WWE guys, nevermind adapt to indy life. They hired young guys for a certain look, trained them to work the same boring match and read from a script with no input into their characters, and once they're fired, they're like Sandow, just lost in the unstructured indies, and lost in the shuffle as having worked for the WWE will only carry you so far. The early to later 2000s, WWE was only developing their own stars, which fit under the Sandow/Alex Riley category where adapting to the indies is very difficult. However, now we are getting to the point where a good percentage of wrestlers signed to NXT/WWE have considerable indy experience, so the transition back will be much easier and the experience can even make them better like Moxley. Also consider that NXT is ran more like a modern indy with mainy former indy stars not heavily adapting their style and even homegrown talent will have an idea at least how to work matches outside of WWE.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 1:13:20 GMT -5
Willie Mack is signed with Impact, no? Orange Cassidy, I have heard, has signed with AEW. Eddie Kingston should be the top of everyone's list. Willie Mack I don't think has a locked down contract since he doing Impact and NWA. The NWA doesn't have anyone locked down to any sort of contract. They're basically an independent promotion, and can book people from companies like Impact and ROH who are allowed to work other indies on days their home promotion isn't running. Willie Mack may have an Impact deal, and is still able to do NWA stuff. The NWA barely runs shows, anyway. They've done two since Corgan bought it? The anniversary one and the Crockett Cup one?
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jun 18, 2019 1:23:01 GMT -5
Is Willie Mack still signed with Lucha Underground?
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jun 18, 2019 10:09:17 GMT -5
Is Willie Mack still signed with Lucha Underground? He did but is Lucha Underground still a thing? I mean after the contract stuff that came out and I have heard nothing from them in what seems to be forever now.
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Jun 18, 2019 13:49:01 GMT -5
It seems everyone is as confused about Willie Mack's status as I am. I know he had to drop the NWA North American Title to Cabana because Lucha underground said they have him under contract. Yet he shows up in ROH, is a regular in Impact and I saw him work a Indy show that Teddy Hart promoted in Vegas the night before Double or Nothing. That sounds like a freelancer to me.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2019 15:50:06 GMT -5
Be that as it may, it's just unbelievable that there have been literally dozens (hundreds?) of guys who've worked for WWE in the last 20 years who just completely fell off the radar. Early retirement/exit from the business is definitely a big culprit - not as many of the post-2001 workers have kept at it after leaving the WWE and moved on to outside ventures. I blame the terrible developmental system they've had for many of those years, training guys from scratch to work WWE style who can't adapt to work with non WWE guys, nevermind adapt to indy life. They hired young guys for a certain look, trained them to work the same boring match and read from a script with no input into their characters, and once they're fired, they're like Sandow, just lost in the unstructured indies, and lost in the shuffle as having worked for the WWE will only carry you so far. All this talk makes me think of Mason Ryan...The dude was relatively young for wrestler standards and had the body of Batista...I am shocked he wasn't bigger then what he was...
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