— The recently released Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry book alleges that when Carlito was starting out in WWE, Vince McMahon made a racial remark towards him. It comes off somewhat similar to the Michael Hayes-Mark Henry situation in that quite like Hayes, McMahon likely didn’t mean any harm by his comment, but it’s still not something that should be said.
Here is the passage from the book regarding this incident with former WWE writer/See No Evil screenwriter Dan Madigan telling the story:
“I remember when I was working with Carlito [Puerto Rican wrestler Carlos Colon] when he just started. Vince wanted to talk to him to get to know him, and I was asked to attend the meeting to help work out a character. So we’re there, Carlito’s talking to him, just a normal conversation; Carlito comes from a normal background, has money. He speaks well. Vince interrupts Carlito mid-sentence and says to him, ‘Hey, can you spic it up some? Y’know spic it up when you talk?’ I look at Vince, this billionaire who just asked some Puerto Rican employee to ‘spic it up’ right to his face, and I just look at Carlito and say, ‘Yeah, spic it up’ like it was a joke,” says Madigan, laughing. “Vince’s image of a Puerto Rican was a Puerto Rican pimp. How out of touch do you have to be to not realize you could get in trouble for that?”
— Michael Cole recently played a joke on Tazz by fooling him in regards to the upcoming Draft, reports prowrestling.NET. Cole told Tazz that Mike Adamle was been moved to Raw for an announcing position. Tazz got hot, feeling that he has more tenure in the company and is more deserving of a promotion to one of WWE’s bigger shows than Adamle. Of course, Cole was only joking.
— Looking at last year’s WWE Draft, it would appear that a lot more bad than good came about for a number of the draftees — especially on the Raw side. After last year’s brand changes, here is what followed over the next twelve months: eight drug suspensions involving six wrestlers, one career-ending injury, five wrestlers quitting, one double-murder suicide, and two firings — both related to drug issues.
Now here is a look at how each and every 2007 draftee fared after their brand switch:
Raw
— Bobby Lashley: Went down with an injury in the summer, quit the company in January due to “circumstances beyond his control,” likely due to personal problems with Michael Hayes.
— Booker T: Wellness suspension resulting in a 60-day suspension, later quit after feeling that the company had turned their back on him.
— Daivari: Chose not to renew his WWE contract after going to the creative team and finding out that they didn’t really have anything in mind for him on Raw.
— Jillian Hall: Found a niche with her singing gimmick, but hasn’t come close to being a viable contender for the WWE Women’s Title, which was likely her original goal when moving to Raw.
— Mr. Kennedy: After crowing & cawing about how his job in WWE “was worth more than an extra ten pounds of muscle mass” and that the WWE wrestlers of today don’t use drugs unlike the ones from previous generations, Kennedy got caught in his lies when it was revealed that he had purchased a number of illegal drugs through a shady online drug firm. He was suspended for 30 days and missed out on the push of his life from the McMahon “illegitimate child” storyline as a result. His career then sputtered around for a few months after his return from suspension.
— Paul London and Brian Kendrick: Had a nearly year-long tag team title reign on SmackDown, but haven’t been close to that level of success since the move. They were largely kept on Heat, which has since been canceled. Have competed in a total of one pay-per-view match since the brand switch.
— Sandman: Got a small push initially, but requested his release from the company in mid-September following a flare-up with road agent Ricky Steamboat during a tour overseas.
— Snitsky: Was getting a big push in ECW, but after the move to Raw, was largely kept on Heat. He also served a 30-day Wellness suspension in September.
— William Regal: Became the General Manager of Raw, but was suspended due to a Wellness Policy violation shortly thereafter. Won the 2008 King of the Ring Tournament, but was suspended once again for a second violation of WWE’s drug testing policy just a few weeks later.
SmackDown
— Brett & Brian Major: Sputtered around for a few months, but the duo eventually hooked up with Edge. Are prominently featured on television due to their partnership with him.
— Chris Masters: Violated the Wellness policy on two occasions. After the second drug violation, WWE let him go altogether.
— Eugene: Didn’t win a single television match on SmackDown and lost his job to due to a Wellness policy violation in September. Dinsmore tested positive for painkillers which he didn’t have a valid prescription for. He was then told that he was being fired and was unceremoniously ejected from the arena by security officers.
— Hardcore Holly: Never competed on SmackDown due to an arm injury. Was then sent to Raw without explanation.
— Kenny Dykstra: His career went into a tailspin after his move to SmackDown. Lost the majority of his matches, went down with a knee injury in January, and has yet to be brought back on the road even though he’s been healthy since WrestleMania.
— Ric Flair: Quit the company in September due to his unhappiness on SmackDown, but was eventually lured back with the retirement angle. Barely appeared on SmackDown afterwards.
— The Great Khali: The stars were aligned right and he managed to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship a little more than a month after the move because Edge had to vacate it due to an injury. Khali held the belt for nearly three months.
— Torrie Wilson: Did very little of note during her second go-round on the blue brand and was soon forced to retire due to an ailing back injury.
— Victoria: Benefited from the move as it got her on television nearly every week.
ECW
— Big Daddy V: Got a big push right out the gate with his repackaged character. However, he’s been forced to sit on the sidelines since March due to weight issues.
— Boogeyman: Was getting a bit of a push during the summer, but went down with a calf injury in September. The injury has likely since healed, but the writers appear to have no interest in using him.
— Chris Benoit: Double murder and suicide.
— John Morrison: Was forced to relinquish the ECW Championship when the Signature Pharmacy scandal broke out. Managed to capture the WWE Tag Team Championship with The Miz, but hasn’t been a viable contender for the ECW title since the suspension.
— The Miz: Captured the WWE Tag Team Championship with John Morrison in mid-November and still reigns as champion to this day.
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