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WRESTLEMANIA 23 MAIN EVENTER AMONG SEVEN TALENTS RELEASED BY WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT

Seven talents were released by World Wrestling Entertainment yesterday as Wrestlemania 23 main eventer Bobby Lashley received his requested release from the company and six developmental talents were let go as part of a bloodletting of the developmental system that may be continuing today.

Several weeks ago on the forum of his official website, www.BobbyLashleyOnline.com, Lashley broke word of his decision to leave World Wrestling Entertainment, penning, "Circumstances, which are out of my control left me no decision but to leave the WWE. I can't go into details of this now but like I said before, sometimes people will hate you personally and try to destroy you, which has happened here. Evil has prevailed.  However like I said before, if you continue your struggle, doors will open around these people. You have not seen the last of me, so please don't stop your support. Add Bobby Lashley to the list of RECENTLY RELEASED!" 

Lashley, a former amateur champion who also served in the Army, originally signed with the company in 2003.  He debuted with the Smackdown brand in 2005, moved to the ECW brand in December 2006 with the idea that the brand would be built around him.  He received a huge promotional push and won the ECW belt at the December to Dismember PPV. 

WWE's push continued featuring Lashley going right into a Wrestlemania 23 headline match against Umaga with Donald Trump and Vince McMahon as their respective seconds which was promoted heavily to the media due to Trump's involvement and the hair vs. hair stipulation that saw McMahon shaved bald in the center of the ring.The Wrestlemania 23 match led to a feud with McMahon where Lashley lost and regained the ECW title.  Lashley was drafted to the Raw brand in June 2007 and vacated the ECW belt.  He had been out of the ring since last July, when he finally took time off to have surgery and rehab rotator cuff and shoulder problems that had been nagging him for several months.

In regard to Lashley's decision to leave the company, Dave Scherer wrote the following on 1/23: "The word we have gotten is that part of it has to do with how his girlfriend Kristal Marshall was treated by the company when she balked at being paired with Edge and doing the Lita gimmick, and was then quickly released.  Let's just say that there is a line of thought that at least part of why she didn't want to do the angle was fear of a racial element being added to the storyline by the Smackdown creative staff.  I have also heard of other issues behind the scenes where Lashley reportedly feels like he hasn't been treated well himself while he has been out rehabbing.  There is said to have been little communication between Lashley and Vince McMahon and no firm plans in place to get him back on TV now that his injury has healed and this was frustrating to him." 

Lashley has teased a potential MMA career in his future, although that would be dependent on the type of the release he received from WWE.  WWE initially tried to block Brock Lesnar from competing in MMA, one of the factors that led to Lesnar suing (and eventually settling with) WWE.

Released from the WWE developmental system yesterday were the following talents:

Robert Anthony, 25, originally from the Mid-Western independent scene, had been working out of Florida Championship Wrestling.  He had worked under a mask on the indy scene as Ego Fantastico before being signed by the company in late 2006.

Michael DiPaolo, 32, who had been working the past year in Ohio Valley Wrestling as Antoni Pulaski, is best known to wrestling fans as ECW Original Roadkill.  OA New York native originally trained by Tazz and Perry Saturn, he was one half of the final ECW World Tag Team champions with Danny Doring.  He was used on the ECW brand when it was revived in 2006 and was even said to have been given high marks by Vince McMahon after some early ECW TV taping appearances.  He was sent down to OVW with the idea that he would be given a new persona and be brought back to Raw or Smackdown, but ended up sidelined with back surgery for several months.  He returned with a new look as Pulaski, working as a heel.  He had been out of the ring after suffering a stinger while wrestling Matt Sydal.

Chris Guy, 35, is well known as former ROH regular Ace Steele.  Steele had been working in Ohio Valley Wrestling at the time of his release. He was originally sent to Deep South after being signed to a developmental deal in January 2007 following his portrayal of "Donald Trump" in the infamous Trump vs. "Rosie O'Donnell" match on Monday Night Raw. When WWE severed ties with DSW, he moved onto OVW. A mainstay on the Mid-Western independent scene, Steeleworked for TNA, Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling NOAH in the past.  He formed one third of the Second City Saints in ROH alongside Colt Cabana and CM Punk and was also Punk and Cabana's original trainer.

Shawn McGrath, 31, wrestled as Badseed Shawn Osbourne and was originally trained by Les Thatcher.  McGrath was signed by WWE in June 2006 and teamed with Mike Kruel and Eddie Craven as Bad Company, at one point doing a really funny bit in OVW where he pretended he was blind and would then interfere in Kruel's matches.  He was later moved to Deep South and of late had been training at Florida Championship Wrestling.

George Murdoch wrestled under the ring name G-Rilla for Florida Championship Wrestling, doing something of a thug gimmick.  At one point, he had been teaming with Sonny Siaki and Eric Perez as Urban Assault.  Murdoch had been signed almost immediately, training as a pro wrestler while in the developmental system.  There had been high hopes for him since he stood a legitimate 6'8 and weighed 325 lbs.

Cassidy Riley, who left TNA in late 2006, after working enhancement and undercard roles, most notably as a flunky for Raven, was signed by WWE in early 2007. Wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling under the ring name Cassidy James, Riley debuted as the younger brother of former Smackdown regular KC James.  The two actually meshed into a really good old school Southern heel style tag team and held the OVW Tag Team titles several times. Once WWE opted to move KC back up to the ECW brand, where he's made sporadic appearances as babyface James Curtis, the James Boys were split up.  Riley had suffered a broken arm a few months back but was back in the ring at the time of his release.

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