Bad week for WWE
This past week, there was a lot of unfortunate news in WWE.
While the week started with the announcement that WWE was considered 鈥渆ssential鈥� and would have free reign to continue its shows at the Performance Center in Orlando, the week went downhill from there.
Remembering 鈥淭he Fink鈥�
The pro wrestling world is mourning the loss of WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel as he passed away Thursday at the age of 69.
For the younger readers who are not familiar with 鈥淭he Fink,鈥� he was Vince McMahon鈥檚 first hire when he bought the company from his father.
There is little doubt that Finkel is the greatest ring announcer of all-time, and there is no debate to be had about it.
In fact, I dare say that when discussing the greatest in different pro wrestling categories, there isn鈥檛 much discussion when it comes to ring announcer.
For instance, when the topic of greatest pro wrestler of all-time comes up, different people may answer Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin or for old school diehards in here in the Pittsburgh area, Bruno Sammartino.
When it comes to greatest play-by-play announcer of all-time, Jim Ross gets the nod but otherslike Gordon Solie and Gorilla Monsoon also receive recognition.
Best manager?
Bobby Heenan, Paul Jim Cornette and Paul Heyman (then known as Paul E. Dangerously) come to mind.
Top color commentator?
Heenan, Heyman and Jesse Ventura are frequent responses.
Best match? Best feud? Biggest draw?
The topics can go on and on with all of them having countless responses.
But for ring announcer, the conversation begins, and ends, with Finkel.
He was the pro wrestling soundtrack for so many and when Finkel announced a new champion, it felt, and more so sounded, special.
鈥淭he winner of this bout,鈥� he would start before momentarily hesitating. 鈥淎nd nnnnneeewwww,鈥� he would continue.
And new.
Two simple words that one man made feel like the most important dialogue in the history of verbal exchanges.
While there have been several stirring tributes to Finkel since Thursday, they have all included two other simple words and they speak volumes: Thank you.
WWE announces mass releases
Wednesday, WWE announced it had released dozens of employees while furloughing several others.
McMahon hosted a conference call Wednesday with employees where he announced major cuts were coming for employees, both on camera and behind the scenes.
While many were expecting releases due to WWE鈥檚 income being hampered by the COVID-19 situation, I doubt anyone could predict what was about to happen.
The meeting lasted less than five minutes and the employees were told that they would be getting text messages about where they stood.
No position was safe as wrestlers, producers, agents, writers, referees and Performance Center coaches, among others, were released.
Some of the bigger names cut were Kurt Angle (who was a producer), Rusev, The OC, Zach Ryder, EC3, Rowan and referee Mike Chioda, who had been with the company since 1989.
The full list can be found online, and we will have more on this next week, including a look at who may end up in AEW.
XFL closure affects WWE cuts?
It was announced that the XFL filed for bankruptcy Monday and one has to wonder if the loss of money for McMahon may have led to all of the WWE releases.
More on 鈥榚ssential鈥� decision
The decision to allow WWE to continue doing shows at its Performance Center was due to an amendment made after WWE had been told it was not in compliance with the executive order that was given to business and residents in Florida.
Anyone else think that McMahon鈥檚 friendship with President Trump played into the decision?
WWE could have been in breach of its respective contracts with Fox and NBC Universal where it has to produce live content almost every week.
More on this next week as well.
Facebook Live chat
Thank you to everyone who watched the Facebook Live chat I took part in this past Tuesday with Brian Carothers and Ed Troup.
The episode of 鈥�31 More Days with Brian and Ed鈥� has just been uploaded onto YouTube and at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N8Cceyrzds&t=39s.
On This Day鈥�
In 2010, Rob Van Dam defeated AJ Styles to win the TNA heavyweight championship.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.