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Finally, Some New Faces
October 18, 2005 by Adam Heap

Greetings, wrestling fans. Thanks for the replies to my column about Batista; I appreciate everything you give me to work with. Recently on both RAW and SmackDown!, we’ve been seeing some new wrestlers ? most of whom are faces. I’m glad that the WWE has seen this, as they’ve had too many heels for far too long. So, let’s get into the column ? what’s the future for these Superstars?

In the RAW corner...

1. Robert "The Con Man" Conway. My congratulations to the Con Man. He has done tremendously well so far. I know he’s not exactly new on the scene per se, but his gimmick is great. I love his entrance music, by the way (If you look carefully during his entrance, you can see him singing it!). The split up from Sylvain Grenier was exactly what he needed. He’s got tons of charisma, and he gave the bump to being beaten up by the legends at Homecoming (and at the moment, I think his storyline is beating up legends like Doink and so on. Trust me; he’s going to go far. If I had to guess now, however, I’d probably see him taking on the next face to win the title (as it’s pretty obvious that HHH will take the title off Flair). Probably some time during early next year is my guess. Good luck to him.

2. Ashley Massaro. We finally have a new face diva who can actually wrestle. We haven’t seen one in a long time. She’s teamed up with Trish Stratus at the moment, and if someone can take the title off of Trish, I’d put my money on Ashley to be the next champion. She was the right one to win the Diva Search.

3. "Mickie James". Known in OVW as Alexis Laree, I don’t have too much to say. She’s only been here one show, but she looks good, especially if she got the call-up from OVW. And she’s a face, which is a plus. All the best of luck to her.

4. Cade & Murdoch. They came, they won the titles, they went to Heat. I am once again disgusted that the WWE have all this publicity about C&M, and then they go to Heat. What a waste of Cade. Murdoch’s just big and ugly. The WWE don’t know what they’re losing here.

And in the SmackDown! corner...

1. Ken Kennedy...... Kennnnnnnedy. Wow. I can’t believe this guy is so good. He has half-decent wrestling ability to say the least of it, he has great mic skills, and he has a pretty nice finisher. And I haven’t even talked about his gimmick yet. I love the whole thing where he announces his own name and comes back after being off camera for about four or five seconds and then says: “Kennnnnnnedy!” I love that. Anyway, this guy is a great heel, and eventually I see him winning the U.S. Title from Benoit. He’d make a great U.S. Champion ? even though I’m Australian, I still see him as a complete American (no offense to any Americans out there). And if he doesn’t, he’d make a great tag team with JBL. Anyway, this guy has some huge stuff going for him.

2. Bobby Lashley. This guy has a huge amateur background, which means he can actually wrestle. He’s a big guy, but he can do things that Batista can’t, like that great finisher of his. I hope they give a name to it. I’d like to see him do a mix of power styled moves like powerbombs, etc. but also stuff like neckbreakers and a few submission moves. This guy could easily be the most talented wrestler besides Benoit if he had to. I’m not sure who his first real opponent will be, but I’m fine watching him squash former Cruiserweight Champions for now. What I’d really enjoy would be him vs. Ken Kennedy. That’d be sweet. Anyways, all the best to him. (P.S. ? loved the whole Simon Dean & The 20 Cheeseburger thing).

3. Sylvan. This guy’s not even worth mentioning. Conway definitely got the better end of the split.

Look at that. Eight new wrestlers, two of which are Divas, and six of them can wrestle (The two who can’t being Murdoch (who’s a power guy) and Sylvan (who just plain sucks)). That’s obviously why the WWE fired all those people earlier. Good on the WWE, all respect for the people who got fired, but it is time to bring in some new talent. All except Sylvan and Vickie James, who haven’t appeared on a PPV as of yet (Conway beat Taijiri on a Heat match) have picked up a PPV win. Go the new talent.

Finally, I’d just like to give my regards to J.R., who’s moved into behind the scenes work. We’ll miss you, J.R. Please feel free to write about any of the aforementioned wrestlers or any new guys I’ve missed (such as Paul Burchill, who I haven’t seen wrestle). Until next time, folks.

by Adam Heap--- [View Adam Heap's Column Index]....

Bobby Bristow wrote:
Whoa Sylvan doesn't suck. He is a great talent just a crappy gimmick thats all. I think he should've kept his La Resistance gimmick that would've been cooler.

RCWilson17 wrote:
I kinda agree with you but at the same time come on man ashley can't wrestle a lick. and Plus i've seen micki james(aka alexis laree) wrestle alot and she is one of the best women wrestlers out there. Ashley just really is lame and shouldn't be in the wwe. The only reason ashley won was cause she gave out her phone number. But besides that you had a very good column, but as far as you saying ashley as WOMEN CHAMPION, LOLOLOLOL!!!!!. Victoria or micki(esp micki) will be new womens champion.

ps(if you ever want to see paul birchell please try to see any of his fwa matches he's really good and is very held back in the wwe but is still good)

Efrem Solomon wrote:
A lot of those wrestlers are great to watch and they're all getting a big push by the WWE, but I just consider that a free ride. As for Ashley Massaro, she has no wrestling talent and they're teaching her everything on the road. I wasn't surprised that she won the Diva Search, but I'll be damned if someone says that contest was based on wrestling talent. If Alexis Laree is who I think she is, then she needs to stay away from that groupie gimmick. It looks like she has the best in ring talent, but could get lost when compared to other divas. Cade & Murdoch aren't getting exposure as champions, but are getting plugged into matches where there is no focus on them. The only thing I have to say about Sylvan is that he should start applying for 7/11, because after this it's less likely he'll find a job.

Mr. Taylor (pause)(pause) Taylor! wrote:
I totally agree with you. WWE needs some new faces around its dying promotion.

---Rob Conway is suspect in my opinion. Conway has a good gimmick but I don't think its going as well as WWE was hoping. I can see him being a multiple time Intercontinental champion like "Christian" but he will be missing something that will keep him from ever holding the WWE title (Just like Christian LOL)
---I gotta disagree with you about saying Ashley has good wrestling ability. Ashley is probably the worst in-ring competitor on Raw but teaming her up with the likes of Mickie James and the Women's Champion, Trish Stratus, is excellent in her training and learning curve.
---Mickie James has impressed me too. Even though, I always knew she was a talented woman from the Indies, I think she is the perfect fit to help out WWE's Women's division and put it back on the map like it was during 2002-2003.
---Cade and Murdoch ,yet another tag team that was just handed the gold just to give them creditability in their debut. I had high hopes for this team after seeing all of their debut promos, but I think WWE's tag team division has a some kind of disease and nothing, not even giving teams random title runs, will help Raw or Smackdown's tag team division (even though I love Smackdown's tag team division more)

I don't have to really comment on Smackdown's "New Faces" because Everyone seems to be pulling their weight. Not only is Ken Kennedy a fresh new face on Smackdown, but this is the 1st time I have seen a gimmick like his and unique gimmicks always fly in the world of wrestling. Bobby Lashley is definitely about to get the "Brock Lesnar" push and hopefully, if everything runs just as smooth as it did for Brock, maybe a dream match may happen between "Lashley and Lesnar" or even more realistically.....LASHLEY vs BATISTA ....World Title!!

1 Guy I do have to mention that many may feel is a big waste of air on Smackdown is the newest face....."The Boogeyman" I think Boogeyman has the potential to become a new scare tactic for the new generation of young fans of WWE. Undertaker has started to age and age VERY QUICKLY. Its hard to take Undertaker seriously after having such a terrible gimmick back in 2000-2003. Its hard to get those 3 years of C.R.A.P. out of anyone's mind. I believe they should start fresh and make Boogeyman very menacing and very satanic and slowly build him up and slowly build Undertaker down and hoping into a retirement match against Boogeyman (Wrestlemania 22 anyone?). Only problem with Boogeyman is....I heard he was somewhat OLD himself.

Alternative Board wrote:
thanks for giving some props to the new guys. Slyvan and Murdoch are the worst of the new group, nothing going on there (Murdoch is especially annoying). The WWE have heartedly, if that, tries to build up the tag team division. I loved the 80's with all the great tag teams. I don't know if there really isn't a market for it, or if Johnny Ace is that obsessed with overgrown big men who can't wrestle (see Chris Masters, Viscera, and even Batista). I don't know why guys like this get over, no mic or in ring skills and no real gimic. They're like Deisel, Warrior, and sycho sid. Big guys who made one or two long runs and that was it.

The Con Man deserves all the props and more that you gave him. He has great wrestling skills, good mic skills and a great gimmick. He reminds me of Rick "The Model" Martel with his Arrogance. I hope he goes far and gets thrown in the IC run.

I don't think HHH is gonna take the title from Flair or Kennedy from Benoit. They need to put Benoit bacl with the headliners b/c he is always over with the fans when he wrestler. I don't know what WWE is doing with the US Title (now JBL is wrestling in a #1 contender's match-it makes no sense).

And Bobby Lashley (can you say a better version of Monte Brown from TNA- a smart move by WWE) has mad skills. He could be the next Lesnar, big with wrestling ability. I hope he can develop in the mic as well.

Ross from Philly wrote:
I'm so glad so many people like Ken Kennedy as much as I do. By far the best heel on SmackDown! and hopefully will get some sort of title in the next few months.....Kennnnnnedy. I would also like to see Bobby Lashley using alot more powerbombs and suplexes. What was up with the whole super intense attitude last week? Lastly, JR will be back. The WWE is getting tons of backlash and the ratings will slip (like they have since Homecoming). Overall, great article! RVD 4:20!

Edrom41 wrote:
I agree for the most part w/ you but I don't think sylvan sucks, he's good and gave wwe ppl a nice hardcore match w/ holly recently

wrote:

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