The Crystal Ball 5.07.06: OVW Vs. Deep South
Posted by Steve Sullivan on 05.07.2006
If OVW shuts down, Deep South will be the sole developmental territory for the WWE? What's in Deep South? Should the WWE keep 2 territories?
It's that age old question. Steve Austin or Bill Goldberg? Paper or Plastic? Ohio Valley Wrestling or Deep South Wrestling? Some questions may never truly be answered but today, one of those questions could become a bit more clear.
With the arrival of a new ECW and the apparent takeover of Ohio Valley Wrestling, this may be the last chance anyone has the opportunity to compare these two WWE developmental systems. A very tiny debate has broke out as to what should happen to the WWE developmental system IF OVW does shut down for the new ECW, it will be up to Deep South to pick up its feet and be the new pinnacle of developing talent. And a developmental system has never been so important with 3 brands for the WWE.
But I'm here to start a new argument. Why does the WWE only need one developmental system? Ever since Deep South came around, we've seen a lot of success and ring maturity from the new additions to the roster. In fact, today, we are going to take a look at the latest alumni from both Ohio Valley Wrestling and Deep South Wrestling. Not to compare who the better organization is, but to point out that two developmental systems for 3 brands would be an excellent idea.
You can take OVW's talent away, but the arena will still be in Louisville. I don't see why a new developmental system couldn't open up in it's place. It's obvious to me that a new ECW won't be making its tapings in a small warehouse on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky. But what it can do is bring in even more talent to feed its newest brand because God knows that one small developmental system won't do much to feed 3 big brands.
But that's just my opinion.
Now on to the point of this column. OVW vs. DSW. What kind of success has Deep South had up against Ohio Valley Wrestling as of late? And more importantly, how much talent has come onto our television screens in the WWE since the WWE has had TWO developmental systems.
Many of you are probably not really familiar with Deep South Wrestling. And guess what. Neither am I! But what I did do this week is spend a lot of time becoming familiar with Deep South through different websites and piled together a bit of information to share with you.
First off, let's compare alumni. Ohio Valley Wrestling has had nearly 10 years to produce many successful alumni into the WWE. Deep South has been around for about a year now, maybe a little less. So what I'm going to do is compare callups from the past year. Their success they've had on screen, and so on and so on.
First off, let's start with Deep South Wrestling's callups.
The Gymini
Palmer Cannon
Nick Mitchell
Johnny Pairsi
Kid Kash
The Miz
Matt Striker
Sorry kids, that's it. But to their defense, Deep South Wrestling has not been around for very long. But that really shouldn't matter. What should matter is…when you are "developing" in a developmental league, you should be allowed a lot of time to prepare yourselves to step into the ring with the veterans. If you don't know what you're doing, you're going to be in big trouble.
The Gymini, well unfortunately we haven't been able to see a whole lot of what these guys have. They are a highly touted tag team (better known as The Shane Twins) and didn't really see too much time in Deep South before getting called up. There isn't a whole lot of initiative in Deep South for Tag Teams since they currently only have 1 Championship belt. I don't even expect to see much more of these guys once the new ECW comes around. Simon Dean, AKA Nova will likely jump ships and head over to ECW and these guys will be without a manager and soon without a job.
Palmer Cannon was a joke. Just when it looked like Palmer was about to actually get some ring time, the baby quits his job because he was getting ribbed. Let me tell you what real ribbing is. Real ribbing is what happened to Johnny Jeter during his "initiation" with John Cena and Carlito. The man got his chest chopped like crazy. Did he quit? Hell no. Grow some balls. Cannon looked like he was about to get into an angle with another Deep South alumni who jumped over to OVW, he quits. Again, no success for a Deep South guy. Not only do you need to hone your skills, you need to hone your ego too.
Nick Mitchell, sadly to say, has seen the most success on WWE TV so far. He jumped ships over to OVW once the whole Spirit Squad began and I guess you can say he is the first official and original developmental talent from Deep South to hold a title. You can argue that Kid Kash held the Cruiser title before Mitch, but Kid Kash is not an original talent of DSW, as he wrestled in ECW and TNA.
Johnny Pairsi is on the Raw roster but I cannot remember seeing him wrestle on WWE TV. I know he's made a few appearances on Heat, but that's about it. You may know him better as Johnny Swinger from ECW and TNA. He like Kid Kash is not an original talent, but he has made the call up from Deep South Wrestling since signing his developmental contract.
Kid Kash, like Pairsi is another ECW/TNA alumni who will likely see more success once the new ECW comes around. But other than his short run as the Cruiserweight champion, what else has Kid Kash accomplished? Nothing. Blame his broken arm. Blame crappy booking. Blame Canada. Blame whatever you like, but don't blame Deep South on this one. Kash was already talented.
And as we all know, Matt Striker loves poop.
And if you can believe it, Deep South has only crowned TWO Heavyweight Champions in it's short existence. One of them now wrestles in OVW and will likely make his in ring debut soon. Mike Mizanian, better known to you as The Miz won the Heavyweight Title in a 14 man tournament in early December. Miz would lose the title just a few weeks later to it's current holder, Derrick Neikirk.
Now riddle me this Batman. Since defeating The Miz on the last show of 2005, Neikirk has only defended his title a handful of times. His first defense was against Palmer Cannon, which was obviously a successful one. He then defended against his tag partner in a 20 minute match that ended in a draw. His partner is Mike Knox and together, they are Team Elite. If you ask me who Mike Knox is, all I can tell you is that he is the champ's partner and he lost in the finals to The Miz for the tag title. He's a big guy, so I'm sure the WWE has their eyes on him.
After defending the belt against his partner, Neikirk and Knox went on to fight in tag team wrestling for a long time, mostly wrestling with the likes of a tag team named High Impact, which consists of Mike Taylor and Tony Santorelli. Santorelli, also known as Tony Stradlin, attended Shawn Michael's wrestling school in San Antonio and has faced and defeated the likes of better known wrestling stars Frankie Kazarian and Colt Cabana. His partner, Mike Taylor trained in OVW but jumped ships to Deep South.
My only concern during my research of Deep South is that they seem to concentrate more on wrestling than sports entertainment, which may be good for us fans, but bad for Vince's business. Because even "God" knows that it's all about sports entertainment now.
Other well known stars on the current Deep South Wrestling's roster include former WWE Stars, Rene Dupree, who originally trained in OVW, Chuck Palumbo, and Michelle McCool. In addition to the former WWE star power, former WCW and TNA star Sonny Siaki also trains in Deep South. Siaki trained at the old Power Plant Gym for WCW and made a few appearances with them. He also became a big part of TNA's birth.
Perhaps the best chance at a huge success for a Deep South wrestler lies in the hands of a man who Jerry Jarrett brought to Vince a few months back. Oleg Prudis is a BIG BIG man who is currently training in Deep South. We all know how much the WWE loves a good big man, and this is about as big as they come. I can see this guy fighting Batista someday. He could even be compared to that of a Brock Lesner. I haven't seen him wrestle yet though, I'm just making comparisons by what I see of his stature.
Now onto OVW's alumni over the past year. Ohio Valley Wrestling has been the mainstay for WWE's developing talent for a long time now and who can blame them. With names like Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow, and Paul Heyman all heading up the organization, it would almost seem impossible to enter OVW and not learn anything about the business.
Armando Alejandro Estrada
Johnny Jeter
Ken (Kenny) Doane
Mike (Mikey) Mondo
Gunner Scott
Paul Birchall
Shelley Martinez
Now at first glimpse, it may look like the numbers are fairly even when it comes to callups to the big leagues, but you also have to look at their current characters. Only Mitch from Deep South is getting any kind of significant air time as opposed to every single member of the OVW's alumni is featured on the program weekly.
Estrada isn't really liked by many yet but you have to give him time. His promos will grab onto you and if you open up your mind, he might actually entertain you. He's managing a character that may not quite be as over as Vince would like, but he is still successful. Not to mention Flair jobbed out to him, so that must mean that Vince has some sort of demented plan for him. And of course, Estrada will be the mouthpiece that will lead him to that promise land.
Johnny, Kenny, and Mikey have all seen a ton of success since their callup. The Spirit Squad gimmick has caught on fairly well and now these guys are finding themselves involved in some of the top storylines of the show. And trust me, getting the rub from Vince and working DIRECTLY with him can only mean a high future for these guys, not to mention that Ken Doane has already received his first WWE Title match. I wonder if Vince did that just to see my reaction.
Gunner Scott, aka Brent Albright is already getting a lot of TV Time in his current feud with Booker T. I'd almost look for this feud to continue past into and past The King Of The Ring tournament. I'd almost go as far as saying Gunner will find himself involved in the finals. Getting the rub this early could mean a bright future for Gunner. And you can't spell bright without Albright. Ok, that was corny….
Paul Birchall has been on the Smackdown roster for awhile now but he returned to OVW to work on his current gimmick. The pirate gimmick is really over with some fans and he has a fantastic entrance. And an even better finisher. And now it looks like Birchall finds himself in the same exact battle he's been involved with on Smackdown that he was in with OVW.
Shelley, who interfered in the match on this past episode of Smackdown, stalked Birchall on OVW. This is the first instance I've seen of an OVW storyline continuing on WWE TV. Could this be a sign of the times to come with the newly purchased OVW TV Library?
I'm not one to say one is better than the other, but you have to look at the facilities, the fan base, and the dedication of an organization to be such an important part to a highly successful business. The WWE would benefit greatly to keep a two developmental system. If you can get the type of wrestlers you have on your programming with the two you have now for the two brands you have now, you can't expect to keep the same success with one system for THREE brands.
I hope that Deep South becomes more noticeable in the days to come if Ohio Valley Wrestling does indeed come to an end here in Kentucky. I truly feel that the talent in OVW has had more motivation to improve themselves because of guys like me who monitor their abilities and careers and readers like you who read about them and ask questions about them.
Just like Chris does! And he writes in for our only Steve-mail this week!
Love the column being clicking it since you started it. Just a little something to add that might make you bump Deuce Shade's number from 4 to a higher one. Jimmy Snuka was the first ECW champ. So there might be a little angle to play for Deuce trying to win the title his father held years ago.
Great read,
Chris
I didn't realize Snuka was the first ECW champ but it doesn't surprise me. The thing is that I guess I should stress here is don't catch the Orton/Rock syndrome. Being a second of third generation star does not mean you are going to have the success of guys like Orton and the Rock had. Those guys are fortunate. Because look at guys like David Flair. Look at guys like Pete Rose Jr. All of them made it to the big leagues, but were never as good as their original fathers. Deuce has yet to show me that he is capable of doing the same stuff his father was capable of. Not to mention he's working dark matches as a "Greaser" and is working an angle in OVW where he is "disrespecting" his father right now.
That's going to do it for this edition of The Crystal Ball. What do you think? Am I wrong? Tell me. What do you think about the future of WWE's developmental system? Hit me up with some emails. And until you do….
