Mick Foley continues to speak out against the direction of WWE Creative and the whole developmental process in general; Lance Storm recalls the time when Chris Jericho tried to get Daffney in WWE, but the company rejected her, and the late Brodie Lee is honored by an ex-WWE wrestler.
Mick Foley on WWE Developmental
Mick Foley isn’t one to keep his opinion to himself; really, he never was, and that’s one of the many things we love about the legend. And as of late, he certainly has been busy criticizing WWE’s Creative Team and now the developmental program that the company adheres to in producing young talent moving forward.
WWE Developmental has come a long way from where it was in the days of OVW and even FCW, but according to Foley, that isn’t at all a good thing. Stars like John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Shelton Benjamin and so many others came from Ohio Valley Wrestling, and it was there that they learned the ropes of a very difficult business and essentially became the future of a business that was in peril without any competition or a hungry star to take the reins from the retiring Stone Cold and The Rock who was starting a Hollywood film career.
FCW became the developmental platform after that for a plethora of other stars that include Sheamus, Drew McIntyre and so many more. But now, with competition in AEW, is the new developmental system in WWE too advanced for its own good?
via WWE /YouTube
Of course FCW went on to become NXT and the rest is history, but according to recent Mick Foley comments, as has been reported by wrestlingnew.co, the new developmental system definitely has its cracks. He stated on an appearance on Busted Open Radio, specifically responding to what he felt about WWE talent’s individualistic qualities, he said:
“…I think one of the things you risk when you have a developmental system, and a way of doing things specific to your business model, is that you lose a little bit of the individuality, so you tend to have a lot of people who can do great moves, have very good matches, whose names you can’t remember after they’ve wrested unless you’re tuning in every week. That was part of the problem with me. I was watching sporadically, and I was like, “Wow, look at that guy. Good shape, looks great, handsome guy, wearing trunks, great moves, can’t remember his name. A lot of guys tend to fall into the same pattern of looking and wrestling the same…”
via Mick Foley /Busted Open
via Mick Foley /YouTube
Even when he was on the Broken Skull Sessions on the WWE Network with Steve Austin, he was highly critical of WWE’s misuse of Antonio Cesaro, and I must also mention his recent video he shared on social media (which went viral) entitled “WWE we have a problem,” which we also previously reported on. He also posted the video on his YouTube Channel and can be seen above.
Chris Jericho wanted Daffney in WWE
On his appearance on Figure Four Daily with Brian Alvarez, wrestling legend Lance Storm spoke of a time when Chris Jericho wanted to get Daffney in WWE but was shut down by WWE executives:
“…I can’t recall a time I didn’t see her where she appeared happy, where she was smiling and making everyone around her smile and be happy as well. Not that I knew her that well, but there was also the connection in that Jericho knew her really well because she, at one point, was married to Jericho’s band mate from Fozzy. The one story about Daffney I think is funny is Jericho tried to get her into WWE post Invasion…I remember him telling me that he went and suggested her, and the response he got from whoever it was in the office that he talked to said, ‘Yea, we really don’t like that screaming thing.’ He said, ‘Well then tell her not to scream.’ It’s like she doesn’t have to scream. It’s not the only thing she knows how to do…”
via Lance Storm /Figure Four Daily
via Impact Wrestling /YouTube
Daffney never had a run in WWE, sadly, but wrestled and had incredible runs for WCW, ROH, TNA and on the independent circuit before her retirement and subsequent passing.
Fandango honors Brodie Lee
As has been reported by webisjericho.com, Fandango (Curtis Jonathan Hussey) has honored an old friend in Jonathan Huber (Brodie Lee) in a big way, by getting inked in dedication of the memory of the late Brodie Lee.
He shared the tweet featuring the tattoo and the likeness of his old friend to much applause by fans and peers alike.
Brodie Lee passed away on December 26th, 2020 at the age of 41 from an issue with his lungs. The loss was felt greatly in the wrestling community. WWE and AEW paid tribute to him after his passing and obviously that loss is still felt today.
