"Another interesting note is that Triple H was said to be high on D'Lo pretty recently, surprising many when they found out he was going to be released. WWE was holding announcer tryouts a while back, but HHH pulled D'Lo from contention and encouraged officials to use him as an in-ring talent on RAW instead."
It was a ploy by the Evil H. He pulled him from the announcing try outs to guarantee that D'Lo would be fired! It is so clear that is what happened. HHH probably came up with that gimmick to get Teddy Long fired as well. But Teddy is a survivor and he kept his job.... for now.
January 4th 1999 - The day WCW injected itself with 10 gallons of Liquid Anthrax...AKA...The day Hogan "Defeated" Nash to win the WCW title in front of 40,000.
Originally posted by hayabusaSo HHH was "down with the brown".
Didn't Chynna already say this on the Stern show?
"No one's ever done a movie about flowers before. So there are no guidelines." "What about "Flowers for Algernon"?" "Well, that's not about flowers. And it's not a movie." "Ok, I'm sorry, I never saw it." -- Adaptation
Originally posted by asteroidboyAm I the only one that like D'Lo on Heat? I thought he was incredibly natural on the mic.
I though D'Lo did really well on commentary for Heat. I just didn't like that he was being wasted on commentary. Heat is now unwatchable without the mute button with Lita on it.
"Didn't Chynna already say this on the Stern show?"
There are some things you try to erase from your memory. You will not be forgiven for bringing this one back in.
"No one's ever done a movie about flowers before. So there are no guidelines." "What about "Flowers for Algernon"?" "Well, that's not about flowers. And it's not a movie." "Ok, I'm sorry, I never saw it." -- Adaptation
I actually like Lita on Heat. I liked D'Lo as well. So, HA. D'Lo in the ring was pretty unexciting, alas. I can only hope that once Lita fully recovers, she will be much better.
-eocs
Hip hop meets philosophical commentary (plus free music samples!):
You know what I don't like about the whole D'Lo situation. The WWE fired him because the whole "down with the brown" stuff wasn't catching on. Well, was that D'Lo's idea or the WWE's? If it was D'Lo's idea, then why is the WWE starting "back the mack"? And if it was the WWE's idea, why was D'Lo being fired for something they started. I realize that ratings aren't high and money is tighter, but ya know what i mean? "back the mack" isn't gonna work any better than "down with the brown"
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but does D'Lo look a little more out of shape than he has ever been? Maybe, it's just the tights he's been wearing, but I don't know, he looks a little more flabby. Maybe that has something to do with it.
I don't recall seeing anywhere that it was specifically and solely the "down with the brown" schtick that got D-Lo fired. That just seems to be the prevailing assumption because the smarks didn't like the gimmick.
Personally, I think it's because D-Lo hasn't performed up to the level he was at in his Euro champ days in a long, long time, to the point where he was all but dead weight, and expensive dead weight at that. I don't know their salary system, but I'd be willing to bet they pay their announcers a hell of a lot less than what D-Lo was making per year. So why NOT dump him, if that's the only thing he was really doing well lately?
Kansas-born and deeply ashamed The last living La Parka Marka: HE raised the briefcase!
Cool that HHH liked D'Lo, didn't help him much though.
As for the firing of D'Lo..I figured it is this simple:
WWE: here is a gimmick, its your final chance. D'LO (one month later): ok..but my heart isnt really in it.. WWE: buhbye!
It seemed to be the same deal as with Raven..give them one last shot to show their worth, to improve their in ring action and what not...if they don't show it (enough) they can go pack.
It's not necessarily a good thing to be good on the mic considering who is in charge of talent for the company, not that he would ever sabotage anyone to protect his spot... "No way in hell!"
Frank
(You thought Trip was the only snake in that grass?)
HHH probably tried to save him knowing no matter what he said, D'Lo was gone. This way, to the guys, he looks like he is fighting to keep them. Or, he knew D'Lo would never challenge him for the title and if "Down with the Brown" ever caught on, it would be another up and comer to squash.
Big brother representative: Now, Mr. Simpson, may I ask why you're here? Homer's Brain: Don't say revenge. Don't say revenge. Homer: Ummm... revenge? Homer's Brain: Okay, that's it. I'm outta here. [Sound FX: step step step step step... slam]
I think the reason D-Lo got released now was because his contract was up. Now I don't have contract info, but if I were to bet, I would say that this is the case. So he wouldn't have been "fired", they just simply chose not to resign him. The last angle was just probably to see if they could figure out a way to make use of him, and give themselves a reason to resign him.
It didn't work, and they weren't willing to sign a brand new contract to try something else.(or maybe D'Lo wasn't willing to sign a brand new contract to try something else, who knows.)
I think these last 2 are probably more realistic ways to look at the wrestler's employment model at WWE. Having done both, the mindset around "independent contractor" is very different than it is for "regular employee". "Getting fired" vs. "not signing another contract" feels very, very different. There are different business & legal considerations surrounding them. Being a regular employee is more like a marriage, being an independent contractor is more like being a roommate.
With absolutely no substantiating facts, I have the sense that Raven leaving may have been differently motivated than D'Lo leaving. But we'll never really know the answer to that one.
Even though I haven't read anything official on the WWE site I did notice that over on the Raw superstar page D'lo Brown's name has been removed, but so has Jackie Gayda's name. But to bring us back to a downer, Nash's name remains
I like Lita's announcing a lot more then her wrestling. Don't know how much that's saying... I also couldn't stand listening too D'lo and Coach, way too buddy buddy
Seeing how a bunch of HHH old friends (Road dog, Xpac) was been send packing, I wouldn't want to get to chummy with HHH. Maybe HHH can send D'lo a consolation prize of an ex girlfriend like he gave X-pac.
Was mentioned Three times, 3X, 3X. In the "Great Wieners" thread!
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