Jab and Grapple - Boxing and Wrestling News and Analysis

WWE, WCW & ECW former wrestlers

by Sean on February 21st, 2006

As you can see wrestling is actually a very imnpotant part of my life. The reason for that is because as a child of 6 years old my grandfather introduced it me to it. On Saturday’s this is what we did. It bonded us in a way that has NO description. And more than enough times when I watch wrestling I feel as though he is right here with me moaning, puffing, grunting and shouting to the TV “Knock him out!”

One of the things I love the most about wrestling is being able to talk to the many fans (or shall I say marks because the real fans are far and few) that follow sports entertainment. I also love it when I get the chance to meet and talk to some of the wrestlers. I will be working on a picture gallery shortly. But one of the biggest questions that comes up in conversation is “What ever happened to?”, “Where is he now?” or after finding out someone has been released or left (after contracts expires or quitting) “Will they ever show up again?”

Wrestling is a very demanding sport both mentally & physically and in some of the things I have read most times you make little to nothing starting out. As I grow more and more into Jab & Grapple I will do my best to provide information on those often asked questions which bring me to today’s topic.

After Vince McMahon purchased WCW from Ted Turner there was a major buzz on who he would keep and who he would let go. And the same rule applied to ECW after they disbanded. At least that the PC word for it. The truth is they could not compete with WWE when it came to drawing crowds and making money. Well here is what I found out.

Some of the wrestlers who were either let go or did not sign with WWE after the purchase of WCW went to TNA Wrestling. TNA Wrestling is an independant federation setup by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett (his father). They were ran out of Memphis, Tennesse but now comes from Orlando, Florida. Until recently, TNA was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was also known as NWA:TNA. However, TNA has acquired the rights to use NWAs World Heavyweight Championship and World Tag Team Championships until year 2014 and their champions will still be known as NWA champions.

Jerry Jarrett, along with Jerry Lawler, was an owner of the now-defunct United States Wrestling Association; a federation formed after the second attempt at Pro Wrestling USA and the resulting merger between the CWA (which he was also an owner of), and WCCW.

The TNA business model is different from that employed by the WWE and the former WCW in several key ways. By not touring like other major federations do, or have done, TNA has been able to keep its costs down.

Its original system of programing was comprised of weekly pay-per-view cable television shows. While it’s not unusual for a federation to air a monthly pay per view (ECW, WWF/E, and WCW used to all follow this practice, and WWE continues to do so today), not having a weekly network, syndicated, or cable show at the beginning was a radical departure from the usual practice of televised wrestling federations. The weekly TNA PPVs costed $9.95, much less than the monthly PPVs of its rivals. While this made it more difficult for TNA to pick up casual fans, it developed a small, hardcore viewership which loyally watched its products. After 111 weeks, TNA stopped the weekly PPV on September 8, 2004.

Here are some of the former WWE, WCW & ECW stars that are now with TNA Wrestling:

1. WWE’s Road Dogg Jesse James-Now known as “BG James“
2. WWE’s Christian-Now known as “Christian Cage“
3. WWE’s Gail Kim
4. WWE’s Jeff Hardy
5. WWE’s/WCW’s Jeff Jarrett-Kept his name and runs TNA
6. Jerry Lynn formerly of WWE/WCW/ECW 
7. Kevin Nash formerly of WWE/WCW
8. WWE’s Badd Ass Billy Gunn-Now known as “Kip James“
9. WCW’s Primtime Elix Skipper
10. ECW’s/WWE’s Rhino
11. WWE’s Kid Quick-Now know as Ron “The Truth” Killings
12. ECW’s Sabu
13. Known in WWE as “The Kid”, “The Kamikaze Kid”, “The 1-2-3 Kid” & “X-Pac” and in WCW as “Syxx”-Now known as Sean Waltman
14. WCW’s/WWE’s Shannon Moore-Now Known as “The Prince of Punk Shannon Moore“
15. ECW’s Simon Diamond
16. WCW’s Sting (What a surprise)
17. Last but not least ECW’s/WWE’s Dudley Boys-Now known as Brother Devon & Brother Ray “Team 3D“

Wow what a line up. Eventually I will be doing more on TNA Wrestling but this is just a small glimpse at the after life of some of wrestling well knowns after life in the WWE & WCW.

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