ATH Knockout round 1: MItchkoobski vs Bounty Hunter

Danger_dave1

Well ladies and gentleman its been a few years since I hosted ATH,

Hope I'm not to rusty

Q: If you could fire one person in the WWE, who would it be and why would it have a positive outcome?

Good luck people

MitchKoobski

Kevin Dunn

Oh good jesus where do I start. Ever since this main joined the company he's been probabaly the biggest cause of the increased turn from a wrestling program into an entertainment program. I'd describe him as th evil devil on Vince's shoulder. Anytime Vince makes a decision, Dunn will be the one to go "Great idea boss!" and anytime Dunn doesn't like something, he'll make sure Vince doesn't like it either. Here's just a couple of examples of why Dunn is so bloody annoying.

• Jerry Lawler chose Lance Russell, an announcer from Memphis Wrestling and an old friend, to induct him into the Hall of Fame. Dunn shot it down saying no one would know who he is and replaced him with William Shatner, because at ONE TIME they had that segment on Raw.
• Every decision is about making non-wrestling fans tune in. "Looks it's The Rock's birthday!" "Look we have a guest host the week before summerfest!". As the executive for TV production he's been at the forefront at nearly all of these great ideas to spread to the masses. The more the years go on, the more and more genuine wrestling fans are feeling alienated watching the biggest wrestling, sorry 'entertainment', company in the world.
• Jim Cornette is quoted as saying Kevin Dunn is "the biggest enemy professional wrestling fans have". You're not allowed call it "professional wrestling" in the same room as him. The word "wrestling" is banned from the vicinity of Kevin Dunn, less you feel his wrath.
• WWE Diva Search. All Kevin Dunn's pet project. We ended up with maybe 2 or 3 divas that are still around, but nearly 3 years worth of horrible, horrible segments and a position that nearly killed The Miz's career before it started. Remember the segment where Maira Kanellis was eliminated? http://www.vbox7.com/play:3f322a64 WOW. Bunch of women tearing into each other like that on live tv. Nice one Dunn. The rumour floats around that the only reason this started is because Dunn is sexist and wanted to see a competition between women in bikinis on a weekly basis.
• HE NEARLY KILLED SHEAMUS' CAREER! It was Dunn's big idea to throw the cloak and crown on "King Sheamus" and stick him with that stupid gimmick simply because he didn't like Sheamus and thought the idea of him running away from people like The Mexus was funny.

I could go on and on listing all the different projects and horrible decisions and remarks he's made due to his hate of the term 'wrestling'. Why continue to let him be part of something he clearly hates to talk about, and is trying to turn it into everything a wrestling show isn't? We could actually start to turn the tide back towards wrestling if we got rid of Kevin Dunn. No more dance contests during Raw. No more 20-minute comedy segments with Kozlov instead of a 10 minute wrestling match. Get rid of Vince's right-hand-yes-man. We get rid of him, and Vince has lost the biggest hater of wrestling in the entire company. The writers start suggesting more matches instead of segments. There's no Kevin Dunn there anymore to shoot down their ideas and suggest a comedy or dance or guest segment instead.

Sack Kevin Dunn and give me back my World WRESTLING Entertainment!

Bounty Hunter

Mitchkoobski

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

Well ladies and gentleman its been a few years since I hosted ATH,

Hope I'm not to rusty

Q: If you could fire one person in the WWE, who would it be and why would it have a positive outcome?

Good luck people

Very Interesting and tough question as who could you fire where simply removing them from their position would have a beneficial effect on the WWE. For me the most important aspect is that as stated it would have a positive outcome for the company so firing a superstar wouldnt be a first choice, hense my opponents choice of firing the Executive Vice President, Television Production. However if you are firing someone in a backstage role it would be of equal importance who you replace them with in my opinion if it is to be a beneficial move at all. Therefore I also havent chosen to fire anyone who's role is not one most fans would fully know as tbh despite being a moderator of a PW board who reads untold amounts of news and opinions on the inner workings of the WWE I could not tell you exactly what Kevin Dunn has to do on a daily basis for the company for example. I dont know who he deals with most nor exactly what type of a personality / background would be most suitable as a replacement.

Therefore my choice of who to fire would be (not a wrester, nor a office employee) a member of creative or a trainer.

As far as the creative staff wiki lists the following as current crative writters on staff (although obviously others help out) Brian Gewirtz, Ed Koskey, Michael Hayes, Pat Patterson, Ranjin Singh & Tom Cassielo. Between them these men fall into 3 gatagories for me: a) people with a wealth of knowledge who would be better off changing role than being fired or have a very important job that removing them from it could affect current plans b)People whos roles (assistant writer) arent that important that changing them would make a major difference and c) people who also perform on screen roles so firing them outright would not be a prudent move at this time. Therefore although I might suggest people change roles or a new face comes in I dont think id suggest firing a member of the creative staff if i had to fire 1 person.

To simplify all of the above, If at this exact time I was asked to fire one person I wouldent fire someone I wasnt sure how to adequetly know how to replace in the WWE office, nor would I fire someone a superstar who could draw money or one whose removal from the roster would have minimal effect (as obviously this is sort of a debate and my change has to be somewhat impressive enough to garner some votes). I also wouldent fire a current member of creative as although the creative process and who has influence could be tinkerd with unless I could bring in the BWE writting team im not sure if despensing with the wealth of experience some of those writers have would be a smart move. Finally im also going to be realistic with who I could get in to replace whoever I was to fire and not suggest bringing in Paul Heyman or someone similar.

So instead I would fire someone who in losing them the company would be relatively unaffected and someone who fills a position where there is no questions about the type of person that would be needed to replace them. I'm going to fire a trainer called Adam Birch aka Joey Mercury.

This is a man who after an injury retired from wrestling in 2008 not that anyone noticed then returned to the WWE in 2010 before promptly getting Injured. At this point despite imo him never being the greatest of wrestlers and there being a number of better candidates for the job the WWE kept him on as a trainer. He is someone the company owes very little after taking him back and seing him through injury not to mention the fact that he previously failed the companys wellness policy and underwent rehab on the companys dime.

I would replace him to the benefit of the company both by bringing someone better to the role and by saving the company money. How would I do this? By making William regal take his place as a trainer. regal would be the perfect choice imo as he is already being transitioned by the WWE away from the ring as an announcer and yet has such a wealth of wrestling knowledge and experience that it would a crying shame if he wasnt used in such a role. Much like Finnlay among others used to Regal the man credited with training Bryan Danielson could easily replace Mercury as a trainer while still performing another on screen role and this switch imo would be beneficial as a whole to the company.

Ok so I think I outlined alright why I wouldnt fire certain members of staff at this time given my level of knowledge and why I picked my own choice alright and yes I know there was no mention in the question of replacements but tbh if you dont replace a non wrestling talent like my opponents choice of kevin Dunn for example you would be left with the WWE having no Executive Vice President, Television Production and although I couldnt tell you exactly what that role entails I doubt the WWE would be better off if you just fired him.

MitchKoobski

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

So instead I would fire someone who in losing them the company would be relatively unaffected and someone who fills a position where there is no questions about the type of person that would be needed to replace them. I'm going to fire a trainer called Adam Birch aka Joey Mercury. This is a man who after an injury retired from wrestling in 2008 not that anyone noticed then returned to the WWE in 2010 before promptly getting injured. At this point despite imo him never being the greatest of wrestlers and there being a number of better candidates for the job the WWE kept him on as a trainer. He is someone the company owes very little after taking him back and seing him through injury not to mention the fact that he previously failed the companys wellness policy and underwent rehab on the companys dime.

It's not fair to criticise him for suffering an injury. Injuries are unpredictable. He wrestled for a good 18 months after being let go from his WWE contract. Retired or not, they definitely saw something in him to bring him back up to the roster and place him with CM Punk's stable. They didn't even leave him in developmental for a while. They deemed his performance strong enough to get him straight onto the roster. Plenty of wrestlers have come out of retirement before. I don't think it's fair either to use his rehab as part of the company's offer as reason to fire him AFTER he gets clean.
They've given him the training job while he recovers from his torn pectoral muscle he suffered back last summer. This way he keeps his job, WWE get another trainer and he's wrestled worldwide for nearly 14 years so he has plenty of experience to share with the rookies in developmental. And he was a trainer while in OVW after being let go in 2007.

I would replace him to the benefit of the company both by bringing someone better to the role and by saving the company money. How would I do this? By making William regal take his place as a trainer. regal would be the perfect choice imo as he is already being transitioned by the WWE away from the ring as an announcer and yet has such a wealth of wrestling knowledge and experience that it would a crying shame if he wasnt used in such a role. Much like Finnlay among others used to Regal the man credited with training Bryan Danielson could easily replace Mercury as a trainer while still performing another on screen role and this switch imo would be beneficial as a whole to the company.

I still think Regal has plenty to give in an on screen role, even at least one more feud before he retires from the ring. Regal can easily transition into a trainer's role without having to replace Mercury. Once Mercury's injury is healed and he's ready to go again, then let Regal replace him while Mercury returns to the active roster.


As far as replacements goes, WWE is a corporation. There's always someone waiting in the wings to take their upper's place. Firing Kevin Dunn leaves room for someone who actually likes wrestling to take his place. It's nearly impossible for me to name a replacement if you wanted one, because they're replacing the TV Production role. Vince could want to handpick someone from the entire television industry, not just WWE. It's a dream situation at this point, but when Kevin Dunn does eventually go I'd like to hope he'll be replaced with someone who actually appreciates wrestling. Firing a trainer who can easily return to the active roster after his injury seems like a fruitless decision imo. You don't need to fire him to make Regal a trainer.

Bounty Hunter

Mitchkoobski

MitchKoobski wrote: »

It's not fair to criticise him for suffering an injury. Injuries are unpredictable. He wrestled for a good 18 months after being let go from his WWE contract. Retired or not, they definitely saw something in him to bring him back up to the roster and place him with CM Punk's stable. They didn't even leave him in developmental for a while. They deemed his performance strong enough to get him straight onto the roster. Plenty of wrestlers have come out of retirement before. I don't think it's fair either to use his rehab as part of the company's offer as reason to fire him AFTER he gets clean.

Not criticising him meerly stating a fact and further elaborating to show that the company owe him nothing if anything its the other way round. This is asking who I would fire not who the company would and tbh I never thought he was that great and now think that there would be many better suited for the role he currently occupies.

They've given him the training job while he recovers from his torn pectoral muscle he suffered back last summer. This way he keeps his job, WWE get another trainer and he's wrestled worldwide for nearly 14 years so he has plenty of experience to share with the rookies in developmental. And he was a trainer while in OVW after being let go in 2007.

Yep the company have been good to him so there should be no ill will if he was let go because simply put there are better options than him. I dont know if I have enough information personally to say the same for Dunn. I couldent describe exactly what goes into the job of Executive Vice President, Television Production, do you?

I still think Regal has plenty to give in an on screen role, even at least one more feud before he retires from the ring. Regal can easily transition into a trainer's role without having to replace Mercury. Once Mercury's injury is healed and he's ready to go again, then let Regal replace him while Mercury returns to the active roster.

There is nothing to stop regal from doing both though, hense why I cited the role Finlay used to have. The man trained Bryan Danielson so he must know a thing or two and wethere he has potential to be used elsewhere or not this would be an imporvement on how he is currently being used imo and wouldent cost the company extra which im sure would appeal to them.

As far as replacements goes, WWE is a corporation. There's always someone waiting in the wings to take their upper's place. Firing Kevin Dunn leaves room for someone who actually likes wrestling to take his place. It's nearly impossible for me to name a replacement if you wanted one, because they're replacing the TV Production role. Vince could want to handpick someone from the entire television industry, not just WWE. It's a dream situation at this point, but when Kevin Dunn does eventually go I'd like to hope he'll be replaced with someone who actually appreciates wrestling. Firing a trainer who can easily return to the active roster after his injury seems like a fruitless decision imo. You don't need to fire him to make Regal a trainer.

There isnt any point in firing someone from an important role unless you have someone who could fill that void. I dont know what kind of a person would be needed to fill Dunn's spot nor the full qualifications they would need so I wouldent fire someone like that having a huge affect on the company potentially. Personally I'd remove someone who I would think wouldnt hurt the company through their loss while bringing in someone who would benefit the company by their arrival in their place.

Where is your info based, off the sources i doubt mention why Vince has been happy with him in such an important role for so many years do they? its hard to make a balanced judgement imo about someone if you only hear the negative.

MitchKoobski

It's hard to garner information about Dunn simply because he doesn't like being a public figure. On the coporate website, his is the only profile without a picture to show you who he is exactly. As the Executive Producer for TV Production he basically controls the TV shows. He controls the camera cuts, the segments, tells announcers what to say, the majority of say in the card (as far as I'm aware, could be wrong). Besides HHH when he's there, he's basically become Vince's right hand man in creative meetings and at the TV shows.

My info is coming from multiple stories over the years from Jim Cornette, former creative team members and those who have interacted with Dunn. You're only hearing the negative because nobody has any praise to heap upon him. The nicest thing I could say is that his work with video promos has been impressive, but thats it.

Bounty Hunter

Mitchkoobski

MitchKoobski wrote: »

It's hard to garner information about Dunn simply because he doesn't like being a public figure. On the coporate website, his is the only profile without a picture to show you who he is exactly. As the Executive Producer for TV Production he basically controls the TV shows. He controls the camera cuts, the segments, tells announcers what to say, the majority of say in the card (as far as I'm aware, could be wrong). Besides HHH when he's there, he's basically become Vince's right hand man in creative meetings and at the TV shows.

My info is coming from multiple stories over the years from Jim Cornette, former creative team members and those who have interacted with Dunn. You're only hearing the negative because nobody has any praise to heap upon him. The nicest thing I could say is that his work with video promos has been impressive, but thats it.

In my first post I mentioned all the options when picking who to fire and how there are a number with a wealth of experience and knowledege that although I wouldent be a huge fan of them I wouldent fire outright as they could have something to offer in another position, sounds like thats what you think of Dunn and his Video promos. We hear all bad yes but then why does he have a job and such an important one at that, obviously Vince values his imput even if soundites of that imput can be used against the man.

If anything the WWE is always given huge credit for their production values and from your above description of Dunn it seems you may actually give him credit for that and yet youd fire him.

Interestingly you chose to omit countering my arguement again with your last post though. I guess then with my last post in this topic I should thank you not only for a good debate (twas fun) but also for leaving it looking like you agree with how I last defended my suggestions. :cool:

Bounty Hunter

Mitchkoobski

Congrats Mitch despite my argueing it above yours was a much better choice hense the 70% vote. Your in the quater-finals. I'll try and get the next match up soon