It is a most unpleasant rite of spring. WWE begins slashing payroll but cutting wrestlers who haven't been getting enough air time, or, in the case of people in the developmental program, haven't made enough progress. The money saved now will eventually be used, based on past history, on the annual Diva Search, one might think.

In the course of the last week and change, 4 developmental talents have been let go, plus two veterans who had been off television since the end of 2007. Those veterans, Dave Taylor & Balls Mahoney, could've been used as trainers for the developmental talents remaining with Florida Championship Wrestling. In fact, Taylor was last seen as a tag team partner and mentor to Scotland's Drew McIntyre on Smackdown before McIntyre was mysteriously shipped off to the Raw brand. Actually, McIntyre was banished to Heat before being farmed out in January, but you get the idea. Drew had been doing pretty well in this writer's opinion, but what possessed management to stifle his progress the way they did, I don't know.

These days, it's not a good idea to let an experienced hand like Taylor or Mahoney go. There's always the possibility that TNA could sign either one or both of them, depending on what co-owner Jeff Jarrett feels he needs at a particular moment.

Meanwhile, there's also change in the broadcast booth on Smackdown. Again. Less than 2 weeks after Mike Adamle was moved to ECW to succeed Joey Styles, and exactly 4 months after he'd been moved from Raw himself to Smackdown, Jonathan Coachman is out as color analyst for Smackdown, replaced by Hall of Famer Mick Foley. The rationale is very simple. Foley, like Jerry Lawler, Tazz, and John Layfield (whom Coachman replaced and was effectively traded for), brings a wrestler's perspective into the analyst's chair. Coachman simply didn't fit, even though he had been in the same role on Heat for a few years. It's likely Coachman may be shipped back to Raw and back to his old job on Heat, which in turn would be a disservice to Josh Mathews, who'd been sprung from limbo to replace Coachman in January. Mathews, well regarded as an announcer himself during his time on Velocity, was passed over for the ECW job in favor of Adamle, a wrestling newbie but a veteran sportscaster dating back to his days with NBC in the early 80's, because of the fact that Adamle and Vince McMahon have a mutual friend in NBC's Dick Ebersol, plus the fact that McMahon didn't want the brainy Mathews to simply be plugged in and be a Styles clone.

McMahon has been ripped for the Adamle move, and rightfully so, by critics and former employees alike. Bringing in Foley perhaps is a case of placating said critics, but I'd not at all be surprised to hear a chorus praising this decision.

As was demonstrated 2 years ago when Booker T morphed into King Booker, winning King of the Ring does strange things to people. William Regal had a rather quiet meltdown Monday, after his coronation was interrupted by Ken Kennedy, who felt he should've been in the tournament last week. He'd been advertised to return, but management held him back one extra week, despite having finished his movie job in Puerto Rico. At the end of Raw, Regal, feeling more besmirched than at any other time in his WWE tenure, decided that the fans, whom he felt disrespected him more than Kennedy did, and perhaps egged on the former US champion, didn't deserve to see the conclusion of the Triple H-Randy Orton title match. After the show signed off, Regal ultimately came down to the ring and ordered the end of the match, again because of the perception of disrespect. Clearly, Regal is positioning himself for a summer feud with long-time real-life friend Triple H, and liklier still to screw the Cerebral Assassin out of the title such that Hunter could take some extended paternity leave to be home with wife Stephanie for the birth of their 2nd child. A title run for Regal isn't out of the question, and it would be the cap to a 25 year career, as Regal himself hinted in promos on the European tour. Sounds to me like Regal may just get the title, and then retire. I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen.

It's been reported that not only would Great Khali take his leave after Backlash, but Edge may be going on an extended break to allow some nagging injuries to heal. If it means the end of Vicki Guerrero's reign of error as GM, so much the better. We will soon see if this is true. It also allows Undertaker some fresh opponents for his World title. Maybe by then they'll finally come up with a fancy name for his gogoplata figure four choke finisher......!