With Cyber Sunday next week and TNA’s product currently in more ridiculous then it’s been in months, I was trying to figure out what I could write about this week. I’d like to take some time to discuss some of the younger or new stars that have started to emerge in recent weeks as well as a few that were shown the door. You know it’s interesting in pro wrestling how one week can change the course of a storyline or even a career itself. What I’m talking about here is the sudden release of Raw star, Lance Cade. Cade had pinned HBK just a few weeks ago and had played a critical role in the HBK/Jericho feud so I was surprised that Cade would be released after being given such a featured role in Raw top feud. J.R.’s blog on his web site has continued to shed some light on the situation and apparently Cade had some type of a seizure on a plane from a reaction to a substance. As a result, Lance was taken to an emergency room and given his pink slip shortly after that. You can’t really blame the WWE for releasing Cade because the last thing the WWE needs is another negative media attack on their company so they released Cade to get the situation off their hands, which is a smart business move. That’s being said, Cade was trained by Shawn Micheals and was considered to have a lot of potential by WWE officials so I wouldn’t be surprised in Cade was brought back sometime in the future. Aside from that I don’t think it’s a major shot against Raw or anything like that because while Cade was solid in the ring, I didn’t really think he had the “it” factor or the charisma to be the main eventer that some thought he might have the potential to be.

Another young star that has major potential and actually still has a job is Brian Kendrick. Kendrick is another product of the Shawn Micheals’ training and he has always had really good skills in the ring that have continued to improve during the course of his career. Kendrick was one of the main stars of the early Ring Of Honor shows and has also toured Japan for Zero One. It’s somewhat ironic that Kendrick was released from the WWE a few years ago and now seems to be in line for a major push, which he deserves. Besides his in ring skills, Kendrick has some decent mic skills and some charisma as well so I think with the ring push, Kendrick really could be the next generation HBK because of there are many similarities between the two stars. The ring jacket, the body guard, the in ring style, and since HBK trained Kendrick you know that HBK has shared some of his knowledge with Kendrick. The only thing that I think could halt Kendrick’s push is to be lost in the shuffle so to speak of Smackdown and with Triple H controlling the top spot, Kendrick might not get a fair chance to become a major star.

The third wrestler I want to discuss is Vladimir Kozlov, who has been getting a lot of T.V. time lately and from the looks of it will be getting a main event heel push. If you remember Kozlov was actually brought to Smackdown once before but was shipped back to OVW for more training without actually having a match on T.V. I was and still am very skeptical about Kozlov’s ability but he’s been at least watch able in the ring so far. I think there’s a few things that WWE has done right during Kozlov’s short stint on Smackdown. They have skipped the stereotypical Russian wrestler gimmick with the Russian flag and singing the national anthem, which in this case is a good move because Kozlov would be more of a comedy act with the traditional Russian gimmick. Another good decision is giving Kozlov a faster paced in ring style that is more realistic and utilizes his agility well during his matches. Having Kozlov work with some of the upper tier talent also benefits him because besides giving him credibility, those stars can also help make him look good during matches. There’s only really two things that worry me about Kozlov’s current push. He might not be ready for such a major push and also if he’s being built up just for Triple H to beat him because as soon as Triple H beats him, all the T.V. time invested in Kozlov will basically be worthless. I doubt Triple H would job to Kozlov so it seems possible that Kozlov is being built up to job to Triple H.

That’s about all for this particular column but I should be back next week with a column about Cyber Sunday and thanks for taking the time to read the column.

Until next week
That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It
Dr. Wrestling

If you have comments or questions e mail me drwrestlingallpro@yahoo.com

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