When Chris Masters was called up from OVW early in 2005, WWE decided that he merited some major hype. Video vignettes ran for weeks promoting him as one of these young stud phenoms that come along once every few years. His entrance was cool. He would kneel at the base of the ramp, a la Rodin's "The Thinker", then begin posing. He had an old school gimmick, daring anyone to break his full nelson, dubbed the Masterlock (naturally). It started with carny-style challenges to "planted fans" (who were actually local guys brought in for the shot), and after that got old real quick, Masters moved on to going after his fellow wrestlers, starting at the bottom of the card and working his way toward the main event. The list of victims started to resemble a who's who. Shawn Michaels. Ric Flair. Kurt Angle. Hacksaw Jim Duggan. I remember drawing comparisons between Masters and Ken Patera, who used a swinging full nelson during his heel run in the then-WWWF in the late 70's and had a similar challenge gimmick.

However, while Masters would get a couple of TV main events of note vs. John Cena, the only PPV main event he ever got was at New Year's Revolution in January 2006, as he was one of five challengers facing Cena in the Elimination Chamber. The only blemish on his record leading to that event was having his real name blurted out by Vince McMahon on Raw a month earlier, when then-GM Eric Bischoff was put on trial, then "fired". The alliance Masters had formed with Carlito began to dissipate in the chamber, when Carlito turned on him and eliminated him, leading to Cena winning the match. Cena would lose the title a couple of minutes later to Edge, but that's another story. Masters, however, would never come close to headlining another PPV.

Masters would disappear for a few weeks, not so much because of an injury, but if memory serves me, he was hit with a 30 day suspension during the summer of '06. You might recall that shortly after a slightly shrunken Masters had returned, he was royally dissed by Triple H in an on-air skit. Eric Bischoff had returned for one night only, and was back to his old, evil self. DX would get the better of him by the end of the night, but backstage, they did a bit with Masters, who said he would write a book about nutrition or something to that effect. HHH laughed that off. That, in hindsight, might've been the beginning of the end for Masters. Even though he got a renewed push, he was no longer one of the foundation pieces the company was counting on. The Masterlock would lose its mystique. On Tribute to the Troops, Army Sgt. Jose Avila, with a little assist from JBL (disguised as Santa Claus), was able to get out of the Masterlock. Heel interim GM/Executive Assistant Jonathan Coachman dismissed that and said the Masterlock still hadn't been cleanly broken. That would last for only a few more weeks before Bobby Lashley finally broke the full nelson.

Masters was moved to Smackdown in the June draft, but got nowhere close to the main event. Instead, he was in a middling feud with the returning Chuck Palumbo, alternating with Kenny Dykstra as the weekly punching bag for Palumbo. Masters' last TV match was a clean pinfall win over Palumbo on the 10/26 Smackdown. One week later, he was placed on suspension for the 2nd time in three months, this time set down for 60 days. However, someone remembered that Masters had done 30 back in '06, did the math, and 5 days later, Masters was gone. Three strikes, and out.

Masters is now accepting independent bookings. There were the usual people on internet newsboards who immediately assumed Masters might get a call from TNA. I doubt that will actually happen, given the present climate in the industry in relation to drugs. If anything, Masters might turn up somewhere, like maybe Ring of Honor or Japan, but not before the calendar turns to 2008. He goes from performing before thousands on national television to smaller venues like high schools and converted concert halls before a couple of hundred fans. He's still got a lot of time left, as he's only in his mid-20's, but Chris Mordetski (Masters) needs to consider how the business is changing right before his eyes. J. Jonah Mushnick constantly whines about the growing number of wrestlers dying too soon, usually because of the drug culture within the business. In Masters' case, it's time to heed the warnings.

Stuff worth noting: Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, turned up in the ESPN broadcast booth during Saturday's Miami-Virginia game at the Orange Bowl, the last game ever at the venerable Miami stadium where Johnson starred as a defensive lineman for the Hurricanes in the 90's. Unfortunately, Miami lost. All Johnson talked about was his movies, specifically "Game Plan", still in theatres, and the remake of "Get Smart", out next spring.

Former WWE & WSX wrestler Aaron Aguilera, last seen in an Alltel commercial over the summer, has landed a new gig as a trainer on CMT's new series, "Trick My Trucker", a spin-off from the similarly titled, "Trick My Truck". Well, it's something.

During Saturday's Ohio State-Illinois game on ABC, announcer Brad Nessler teased to his broadcast partners, Paul Maguire & Bob Griese, that he had bodyslammed Joe Lauranitis (Road Warrior Animal) en route to the booth after doing the cold open on the field. Like that was really going to happen. Joe's son James is likely to win some awards (he's up for the Butkus & Lombardi Trophies, to be handed out next month), and could turn pro after this season is over or stay in school for his senior year. My brother wondered if wrestling might be in James' future if the NFL doesn't pan out for him. Maybe, but I don't see it happening until maybe 5-10 years down the line. If he goes pro early, he could be a top 10 pick next April, and I know a few teams that would love to have him.