TNA releases Angelina Love due to work visa issue

TNA Wrestling has released ex-Women's champion Angelina Love (aka Angel Williams) from the company, reports PWInsider.com, in what amounts to a stunning blow to TNA's Knockouts division.

The TNA Knockout and one half of the The Beautiful People tag team had a work visa that was either about to expire or had already expired. Without a valid work visa, TNA can not legally employ the Canadian national anywhere in the United States, making her an effective non-entity.

Love's release comes at an inopportune time for TNA. The entire concept of a women's tag team title was built around the notoriety achieved by The Beautiful People faction of Love and partner Velvet Sky. Without Love and her heel skill set, the act no longer exists. Since Love can't even get a final write-off, TNA won't get a fair resolution of her storyline.

If/when Angelina Love can get her visa issue resolved, TNA could still bring her back into its fold. Of course with Love now a free agent, WWE would also have the same opportunity. Ultimately though, Angelina Love has to take care of her own legal concerns before she can resume her path to pro wrestling stardom.

Nick 'Eugene' Dinsmore released by WWE

Nick Dinsmore, better known by his WWE persona Eugene, has been released by World Wrestling Entertainment. The announcement via WWE.com came only four days after the only televised match of his comeback attempt, a loss on "WWE Raw" in a contract on a pole match against The Miz.

Dinsmore was supposed to come back not only as a wrestler but as a trainer/mentor for younger wrestlers. There's no shortage of reasons though that the comeback could have failed so quickly. Dinsmore appeared on television out of shape in a company that repeatedly stressed the need for its stars to be in prime condition. His status as a "three strike" violator of the WWE wellness program also came to public light via Pro Wrestling Torch.

What may have (or at least should have) doomed Dinsmore though was the character he portrayed in the first place. WWE's take on a mentally challenged person was woefully out of place in today's political reality. It was especially out of place in a week when the death of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver brought the real-life challenged back into the public spotlight.

With WWE CEO Linda McMahon reportedly considering a run for the United States Senate, the presence of Eugene would have been a continuing public embarrassment. No matter how or why it happened, the Eugene character had to go. WWE took the easy way out and bumped the real life Dinsmore out with him.

Ricky Ortiz released by WWE

Smackdown brand wrestler Ricky Ortiz has been released from World Wrestling Entertainment. Ortiz (real name Richard Young) had been assigned to Smackdown in this year's supplemental draft but made little impact on the brand. His final match was a half minute televised loss to The Great Khali.

Ortiz made a more notable impact back on the ECW brand under a motivational speaker persona, making constant affirmations for wrestlers and fans to "rally up." Ortiz carried a towel for his ring appearances which in turn became known as the rally towel.

Ortiz worked babyface (sort of) on ECW but turned into a heel (sort of) upon arrival to the Smackdown brand. After a decent opening outing against Jeff Hardy though, he was quickly put on the backburner, left to lose to other wrestlers until his eventual release.

The main problem with Ortiz in WWE was that the booking never really clarified whether fans were supposed to support or oppose him. Left in an untenable position, the only truly surprising thing about Ortiz's release is that it took place on a Saturday. Apparently, Friday evening releases just aren't obscure enough anymore.

WWE releases Brian Kendrick

World Wrestling Entertainment has released former tag team champion Brian Kendrick, according to a Thursday announcement via WWE.com. Kendrick's last match was a quick non-title loss to U.S. champion Kofi Kingston on Raw.

Kendrick rose to WWE prominence as a beloved and skilled tag team champion on the Smackdown brand with Paul London. Both wrestlers were eventually drafted to Raw where they briefly were tag team champions again but with less time available for quality matches there, they never replicated the same success.

After London fell into the quagmire of WWE politics, Kendrick was drafted back to Smackdown where he was refashioned as an arrogant heel called 'The Brian Kendrick' paired with the mysterious enforcer Ezekiel Jackson. After a brief run near the top of the card though, Kendrick fell on the wrong side of WWE politics too and quickly tumbled down the Smackdown ranks.

Kendrick was redrafted back to Raw again where he worked an ongoing storyline search for a new tag team partner, never actually finding one. The storyline was quietly discarded though with Kendrick simply being jobbed out until his release. Whatever else may be said of him, Kendrick retains his wrestling talent and should find the going good for him on the independent circuit or Japan again.

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Candice Michelle released by WWE

Former WWE Women's champion Candice Michelle is the newest prominent wrestler to be released by World Wrestling Entertainment. She had been switched to the Smackdown brand at her own request but never got to debut there. She indicated her readiness to return from injury just a few days before her late Friday release. The lightly used Sim Snuka was released the same evening.

For a time, Candice Michelle seemed the next Trish Stratus in the ring, rising from Diva Search contestant to Women's champion before a series of injuries derailed her ascent. Michelle was never able to regain her previous wrestling form even during her brief periods of activity over the last year. WWE's switch to TV-PG also likely blunted her TV-14 appeal.

Michelle comes from a modeling background so it wouldn't be too surprising to see her go back in that direction. However, with TNA now more free than WWE to take advantage of the provocative aspects of her persona, it wouldn't surprise me either to see the Go Daddy Girl end up there.

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Umaga released by WWE

"The Samoan Bulldozer" Umaga (real name Eddie Fatu) was released late Monday by World Wrestling Entertainment. Umaga's departure comes after two straight losses to CM Punk, the latter of which occurred just the previous day in a pay-per-view Samoan strap match.

The release of the Smackdown star comes just 10 days after the also surprising departure of Mr. Kennedy but with even less of an obvious explanation. While Kennedy's recurrent injuries and a final match issue with Randy Orton paved the way for his departure, there is no known obvious circumstance that would have led to Umaga's release.

Umaga has had injury issues but not to the same degree as Kennedy. His work as a savage big man character just below the upper card level has virtually never been criticized. In fact, with Umaga just recently being allowed to talk, there were avenues for expansion of his character that will now go unexplored.

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The only thing that I can speculate at this point about the reasoning for this is that it could be the start of a far ranging series of job cuts in WWE due to budget issues. With PPV buyrates coming in below WWE's expectations, we may not have the seen the last of surprising exits.

As for the now former Umaga, another stint in TNA couldn't possibly be more obvious as either an ally of Samoa Joe in a fully formed Nation of Violence stable or as an archrival. This skilled agile big man with WWE creds should have no problem finding work in TNA.
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Mr. Kennedy released by WWE

Just four days after finally returning in the main event of Raw, Mr. Kennedy has been officially released by World Wrestling Entertainment. The departure is a stunning development for the wrestler whose return had been hyped by WWE for weeks.

Kennedy had come into WWE with a world of potential, someone whose mic skills literally became his gimmick. The real life Ken Anderson though has suffered numerous injuries in recent years, including a reported wrist injury suffered during last Monday's Raw.

Whether the latest injury triggered his release isn't immediately known. Considering the release didn't make any sense with the weeks of Kennedy hype that came before it, something sudden and unexpected must have caused what took place tonight.

What happens next in the career of the now former Mr. Kennedy depends largely on whether he can overcome the injuries that have plagued him and the reputation for being injury-prone that now follows him. The potential is still there for him in TNA and perhaps even back to WWE, if he can only find a way to realize it.

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