• ON THIS DAY IN WWF HISTORY (July 29, 2001) – WWF Sunday Night HEAT
On this day in 2001, the World Wrestling Federation aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWF Sunday Night HEAT’.
It was broadcasted from the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and featured pre-taped matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWF SummerSlam 2001’ PPV.
The card can be found right here:
1. Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
2. Justin Credible & Raven vs. TAKA Michinoku & Funaki
3. Albert vs. Hugh Morrus
4. Mike Awesome vs. Hardcore Holly
• Former WWE Wrestler Says Vince McMahon Failed As A Leader & Is Out Of Touch
IMPACT Wrestling Star Eric Young recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet, where he discussed him being released from WWE during the budget cuts in April and how disappointed his run on the WWE main roster made him.
Below is what he said:
“When they said they were going to release talent, I knew for sure I was going to be on that list. It’s nothing personal. I don’t take it [personally]. I’m not bitter in anyway. One person made a massive mistake. I’m not the first person he’s made a mistake on, and I will not be the last.
It’s a weird situation to be in. You love something so much, pro-wrestling, me and my wife talked about this. My first love in my life was pro-wrestling. It was the first thing I cared about so deeply. It consumed everything I did.
Every minute, the job I had, the people I talked to, everything in my life was based around pro-wrestling and how I could further myself and advance my career. The last three years, I hated it. I didn’t watch it. I didn’t talk about it. I avoided it as much as possible. That’s a weird place to be in.
With the WWE, I’m not the first guy to say this, Moxley talked about this a bunch, it’s a broken system. It’s impossible to be creative. It’s impossible to get ahead. It’s impossible to feel like you have even a foothold in your career at all. I’m a person that spent 20+ years grinding, trying to make my reputation and it’s basically dumped on by one person for no reason whatsoever.
[Vince McMahon] looked up from his cellphone for 5 seconds, saw me doing something that maybe he didn’t agree with in that moment and that’s the end of it. The whole time you’re there you’re just trying to fix other people’s mistakes. That’s what it feels like, and it’s an exhausting process. You’re not having fun. There’s no creativity. He wants everyone to be the same, do the same things and sell the same way, and that’s not what pro-wrestling is to me.
He always treated me with respect. When we talked, we definitely had a few personal conversations between me and him. I had pitched some things and told him what I thought. He was receptive to it. Nothing ever came of it. I don’t take it personally, but I’m in this position because he couldn’t recognize that I had anything to offer.
The last thing I’ll say about it is this. If you have a 3 hour pro-wrestling television show and you can’t find something for me to do, then you’re failing as a leader. Plain and simple. You failed your company. You failed the shareholders, you failed the fans and you failed yourself. The reason I wasn’t on the show was his choice. No one else’s.
I think if you ask most of the people who work there, they would be in my corner. He wasn’t in my corner, so I wasn’t in the show, and I would tell him to him his face, ‘You failed as a leader. You can’t find something for Eric Young to do.’ It’s a really weird place. You can’t fully understand it until you’re there.
No, and that’s another thing, I’m just in the moment. At that time, I realized my position there…I work [WWE] Main Event [show]. I was an enhancement guy for guys that they were pushing. If that’s what you decide, you’re paying me. I’m an employee. Then that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, and that will never change. I feel like it’s a massive waste of my talent. It’s a massive waste of my experience and my ability to do a bunch of different things.
I may not be the best promo or the best in-ring worker or the have best body or be the fastest or the strongest, but I’m very, very good at all of it, and I’m not saying that because I think I am. I’m saying it because I’ve done it. I’ve wrestled on every part of the card. I’ve wrestled women. I’ve wrestled X-Division guys. I’ve done tags. I’ve been funny. I’ve done the opening match. I’ve been in the main event. I’m not saying I think I can do. I’ve already done it, and there’s proof on tape of me doing it. It’s just crazy to look back at how long I was there and the investment they had made in me financially, and I didn’t do anything.
Like I said, not the first person he missed on, will not be the last. He’s got more wins than he’s got losses. Pro-Wrestling in how it’s designed and the size that it is today, it’s because of his vision. He’s a genius. I will never take that away from him. I have a giant house and very good life because pro-wrestling has been very good to me because he made it to a worldwide phenomenon. Any person in wrestling owes that to him, and I respect him for that. I respect the things that he’s done, but at this point, it just seems like he’s out of touch of what’s really going on and what people want to see.”
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