When Val debuted in 98 in WWE as a "porn star", a lot of effort was put into establishing his risqu� gimmick, as the attitude era-style in your face booking was in full force. From Venis envy, to the Money Shot, right up to the Kaientai feud, Val was being heavily pushed as a legit ladies man, as well as a guy that could get it done in the ring. Yet what was he allowed to do" He has FOUR singles titles with WWE, yes, FOUR. Over 10 years of work with the WWE (Including development), and he's won 4 titles. So what is it I find so odd about that fact" Watch the guy in the ring. Watch him against Lance Cade this week on WWE.com. Then read this column, it all goes full circle.

He has everything needed to be a top wrestler in the WWE, or anywhere else. He has a deep and established repertoire, with numerous signature moves, from the reverse figure four, the fisherman's suplex, the flying splash, the Venis grind punches (A very People's elbow/Knuckle shuffle-type move, IE, very marketable), etc.

In addition, his mannerisms are just as recognizable as anything HHH or Cena does, from the hand shaking, the crowd appeal before the towel removal, the licking of his thumb, etc. Val Venis is a very recognizable, marketable wrestler.

Back to the title wins, let's examine if any of them mean anything in the end. Here is a list of the wins in order of chronology, with notes from me:

February 14th, WWF NO Way Out: Venis vs. Shamrock

This was part of the stupid Russo-era Ryan Shamrock angle, which was supposed to end with Ryan getting with Ken, in a romantic sense, but Ken was disgusted by the angle, and ended up leaving over it. Val's win was a plot device to turn Ryan on Ken, nothing more. He lost the title a month later to Road Dogg on March 15th, with no real build up or feud to account for it.

December 12th 1999, WWF Armageddon: Venis vs. Brown vs. Bulldog

Venis wins the Euro title off Bulldog with not much of a buildup, besides a match on Raw the week before against D'lo, and the Bulldogs short Euro championship run, there was no rhyme or reason for this title win. He did have it for almost 2 months, until Kurt Angle took it off him at am un-televised event, only to turn it over to Jericho at Wm2000.

July 5th, 2000 WWF Un-televised event: Venis vs. Rikishi

Venis won the IC title, but turned it over to Chyna of all people in late August (August 27th) somehow (I can't find a record of how, if anyone else knows, please reply to fill in this gap) to further the Chyna push that resulted in the infamous "Good Housekeeping" match.

2000 and 2001 for Val were low points in his career, from the ridiculous Right to Censor angle, to his terrible accident while weightlifting, where gym equipment fell over on him, resulting in Val fading off of the card. During this time, he almost lost his job, due to a new direction for the WWE, a more "realistic" and less controversial time. This was the time when the most important issue was if Billy Gunn should be "The One" or "Mr. Ass", an echo of the later "Big Valbowsky" debacle, where announcers were banned from using the name Val Venis.

From November 18th 2002 to May 5th 2003, Val was part of one of the COOLEST angles EVER, with the Chief Morley persona. Now he was in essence the practical Manager of day-to-day operations for Raw under Bischoff, and was using his real name, and a very realistic character. He was able to develop many new moves here, and put focus on underused ones, such as the reverse figure four. This angle in MY eyes should have been the time to elevate Val to the main event, altering his character to a more Ric Flair/Recent HHH-style one. I mean, Val was basically doing a more realistic, and kayfabe version of the "MacMahon-Helmsley Era" angle, where this time it wasn't about HHH using his real life situation of control as a gimmick. Chief Morley was a super believable angle.

This also resulted in his holding his only tag title in WWE, with Storm, which came about due to the injured Regal. Morley joined Storm's anti-American stable on March 10th, tagging with Storm against D-Von Dudley. It wasn't until the 24th that Morley was officially recognized as a tag champ, he never won the title, he replaced the injured Regal.

From there, after Storm's de-push, which started with Booker T, and then Goldberg squashing him in early May 2003, Val just kind of faded away. He made an appearance in a singles match on February 23rd to lose to Orton on Raw, but besides that, Val's presence in early 2003 wasn't felt very strong.

From there, it's been almost exclusively Heat appearances for Venis, right up to the present. Why do I feel that was a mistake" FIRST off, Val and Storm are arguably two of the most OVER wrestlers in Canada, I can attest to that PERSONALLY, having been blessed with getting to see them team here in Newfoundland as massive babyfaces, winning with a Storm-executed Hart Attack (MARK out moment!!). During both the tagging with Storm, and even more so, the earlier "Chief Morley" persona, Val had EVERY ability to move up the card to the main event. Great in-ring work, great selling (Watch him sell the leg against Cade on wwe.com, its awesome!), and his new shaved-head look is fantastic.

In summary, Val Venis is a great talent that was around 13 years of ring experience, and hes being wasted giving wins to other wrestlers that will likely be gone, while Val will still be around. Why is Val still on the roster" Because like Holly, he is a great talent that WWE knows they cannot allow to slip away. Imagine Val in a Chief Morley-style angle with TNA" Jarrett has a past with Val, and so does Christian. MONEY in the bank there, two ready made feuds, AND name recognition for TNA. How much would TNA have to spend to get Val from WWE" I am no insider, but I doubt WWE is paying him anymore than they are Funaki, so that's not a lot.

Christian/Venis tag team anyone"

by Thomas Covenant ..