WWE and Tajiri Part Ways

As per WWE.com, Tajiri has seemingly amicably departed WWE.

[exposition mode: ON]

On Monday's RAW (what I will dub the Shoot episode) Tajiri made comments to the effect of "I was a superstar in ECW and I've been used for nothing much at all here." Clearly there was a tremendous amount of truth to that statement. Tajiri is a fantastic wrestler, with a ton of charisma, and WWE had countless opportunities to get him over...which they utterly failed to do.

So here's the count, as of today:

Chris Jericho -- departed, has no intention of returning anytime soon.

Christian -- departed, now a superstar in TNA.

Tajiri -- departed, returning to Japan to write a book.

The departure of Chris Benoit seems more and more inevitable.

A Visit to the Toy Store

Yesterday my sweetie and I made our annual visit to what Dave Barry calls "Toys Backward R Us", and part of the annual ritual is a trip to the action figure aisle to see what WWE is shilling this year.

WWE's financial statements indicate that their "merchandising" generates a lot of revenue. After viewing the action figure selection, all I can say is they must be making all that money from T-shirts and other licensed/logoed items, because their action figures are, quite frankly, terrible. It looks to me like action figures are one of the pieces of merchandise WWE produces (or licenses) quickly and cheaply so they can say to a mid/lower-card wrestler, "No, we're not ignoring you. Look! You have an action figure!" What other possible reason can there be for an action figure of Shannon Moore in his "Tintin meets the Road Warrior" persona, which he made maybe three TV appearances in before he got canned? And who on earth, other than Billy Kidman, is going to buy an action figure of Torrie Wilson in her Uncle Sam outfit, labeled "Winner - Great American Bash"? Is it good marketing to tie an item to one of the least successful PPVs of the year?

There are some action figures that raise a hearty markish laugh (what does the Eric Bischoff figure have in his briefcase? Directions to the Gold Club? Hair dye? Fed Ex envelopes?) - but, even assuming that WWE actually makes some money on any of this, they really need to be worried about the quality of the figures. Todd McFarlane's action figures, although they're clearly aimed at a collector market that is likely not too interested in WWE buyers, really seem to be raising the bar in terms of the action figure resembling the person, being crafted with some care to attention and detail, and being carefully packaged. Although I have to admit that McFarlane's "Slash" action figure (the Guns and Roses guy) kind of struck me as the McFarlane equivalent to the Shannon Moore WWE action figure....as in "who is actually going to buy this"?

For what it's worth, this was the first year that I saw TNA action figures in the store. There were only two of them, AJ Styles and Raven. But hey, TNA, here's a hint...if you're going to make an action figure of one of the few wrestlers on your roster that people might actually recognize, then you might want to actually try to make it look like him. If Raven was that handsome and that much of a HOSS, WWE probably wouldn't have fired him.

Kennedy Out for Six Months.

I know that we had previously reported Ken Kennedy's injury however given the length of his expected absence I thought we needed to print his latest interview.

Kennedy sidelined six months

On Tuesday, SmackDown Superstar Ken Kennedy underwent surgery to repair a tendon that was ripped clean off a bone in his back. WWE.com caught up with Kennedy convalescing at home to find out how he’s doing now.

WWE.com: How did the surgery go, and how are you feeling now?

Kennedy: I’m pretty achy, pretty sore. But the surgery went even better than they thought it would. The doctors said they got it really tight; the tendon re-attached perfectly to the bone, and they didn’t have to cut me open as much as they thought they’d have to cut me open.

WWE.com: What restrictions will you have during the recovery period?

Kennedy: I’m not allowed do to anything with my right hand for the next six weeks. So, that should be interesting. I’m not at all ambidextrous. I’m very right-handed, so I’ve been having a hard time doing anything. But I’m in a huge sling with a cuff that is attached to a cooler and it fills with cold water, so it’s pretty slick. My hand and wrist are Velcroed to my belly-button for the next six weeks. But I’m doing okay. I’m a little groggy still, obviously. I’m on pretty strong pain medication. Every once and a while it starts to wear off and I start to feel it, but what can you do?

WWE.com: What will you do to pass the time?

Kennedy: Well, I can’t play video games like I wanted to because I’m not allowed to use my right hand, so I’m a little bummed out about that. So, I’ve just been watching seasons 1-3 of The Shield on DVD.

WWE.com: When will you be able to get an update on your condition?

Kennedy: I have to go back in two weeks and see the surgeon again. But hopefully, they’ll tell me that since the surgery went so well that maybe my recovery time won’t be quite as long as they originally thought.

WWE.com: Will you have to take any special precautions once you return to the ring? Your finishing maneuver, for example, would seem to put a lot of impact on the surgically repaired areas.

Kennedy: Well, I won’t be able to do anything for six months, but once I’m ready to go back in the ring, I’ll be fully ready to go. I should be able to take a full swing at it.

*sniff* I miss him already....no Brian, be strong...Ken wouldn't want to see you cry.

Thoughts on Hemme's Release

In a rather bizarre set of circumstances, Christy Hemme has been released from WWE.

Christy posted a message on her website stating that she was going to be off Smackdown for a while to work on learning how to be a better wrestler by going to OVW. This is somewhat similar to what diva Trish Stratus did years ago to improve her own in-ring work.

However, today WWE.com posted up a message that WWE and Christy had agreed on her release, and promising more information would be forthcoming.

Naturally speculation about this has abounded, but while I wasn't a fan of Christy's, I admired her ethic and her desire to improve in the business, and her decision to go to OVW for a while seemed to be indicative of that. I can't help but (warning: my opinion ONLY here) wonder if the current powers-that-be could not possibly fathom a cheesecake diva wanting to take time off to improve and decided to simply cut their losses. It certainly is no secret that WWE has not had any particular interest in legitimate women's wrestling in quite some time.

Anyway, if/when something comes up about what really happened, I'll post it here.

WWE News : Christy Hemme released.

wwe.com is reporting the following :

WWE and Diva Christy Hemme have come to terms on her release. WWE.com will
have more details as they become available.

Not really a big loss to the company, an unexpected one though. Christy's last big feud was with Melina, as she proved to be the worst thing to happen to LOD since, well, Heidenreich. I will miss the fiveheaded tardette.

Ken Kennedy Injured

WWE Smackdown wrestler Ken Kennedy has torn the lateral in his back on the recent WWE overseas tour. He's going to have surgery later this week, but it is estimated that he will be out for at least 7 months.

This may not be devestating news per se, however Kennedy was one of the brightest prospects on the current WWE roster, and one of the few positive rookies in recent years to appear on WWE programming.

Hopefully he'll be able come back 100% and the fans won't have forgotten him in the interim. I for one will miss his hilariously unique ring entrance.