Three WWE Characters Already Scrapped, Where Was Lilian Garcia?, JBL's Wife

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— WWE did not air a follow-up vignette featuring a new mysterious character on last week’s episode of SmackDown, who is of course WWE developmental wrestler Hade Vansen. It was no accident, as the character has already been scrapped, reports PWInsider.com.

WWE originally had plans for Vansen to be involved in an angle with Undertaker. Following the initial promo on the 12/12 SmackDown, Vince McMahon pulled the plug on the proposed angle. McMahon doesn’t want new talent from developmental getting involved in major angles before they can be tested. I believe Vansen has yet to even work a single match before a WWE crowd, including dark matches and house show events.

SmackDown writer Michael Hayes brainstormed the character as he wanted a new opponent for Undertaker to work with. As a result of McMahon’s decision, two other characters planned for the storyline have been dropped as well.

Kevin Thorn and the large, masked WWE developmental wrestler Black Pain were going to be associated with the Vansen character in some form. Both Thorn and Black Pain were brought to last week’s television tapings and informed their new characters and direction were being scrapped.

WWE’s original plans called for the creation of a dark character with cult-esque overtones, similar to TNA wrestler Christopher Daniels’ former “Fallen Angel” persona.

Vansen was signed to a WWE developmental deal in May 2007 following a tryout during a European tour. He missed most of the past year following a knee injury, and returned to action a few weeks ago at Florida Championship Wrestling. Black Pain was signed to a developmental deal earlier this year out of the World Wrestling Council promotion in Puerto Rico. Thorn has not appeared on WWE television in over a year. In the meantime, he’s been appearing on Florida Championship Wrestling shows every now and then.

— Conspicuous by her absence tonight on Raw was ring announcer Lilian Garcia. SmackDown ring announcer Justin Roberts filled in for her on the show with no explanation given via commentary. Not to worry Lilian fans, she simply had the night off.

Two weeks ago, Lilian posted her WWE schedule on her MySpace account (www.myspace.com/liliangarcia) for the end of the year and through February. The only date left off the schedule was for tonight’s Raw in Toronto, so her night off was planned well ahead of time and it was not a sudden decision.

For what it’s worth, she usually takes a vacation around the winter holidays, so that could explain her absence from tonight’s show. Additionally, she hasn’t missed a single Raw or pay-per-view appearance since June 2007 when she was taking time off to recover from a skiing injury in which she tore the ACL in her right knee.

Lilian will be back handling her regular ring announcing duties at next Monday’s Raw taping in Manchester, New Hampshire.

— John Bradshaw Layfield’s wife, Meredith Whitney, has been honored with a powerful nomination. She is being considered for the title of CNBC’s Power Lunch “Power Player” of the Year. People can vote for Whitney at CNBC.com.

See video of Lilian getting thrown in a bowl of pudding (>>)

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