By Shane McKinley, Torch specialist

I took a quick trip on my private jet to China's Huangshan Mountain this Sunday morning. I was standing on a mountaintop by myself. Doing some yoga. Drinking some green tea. My mind and spirit were as one. I was in deep mediation. And as just as I was about to reach nirvana, a thought popped into my head.

"Maybe this 'Kennedy got fired' business is a swerve."

My inner fan was awakened. I felt reborn.

I got my enlightened ass back to the states and hopped on my computer. The following are reasons why it is a swerve...and why it's not.

Why the Mr. Kennedy Firing is a Swerve

(1) It Can Work In A Storyline

There's the "kayfabe" storyline (meaning that this fake stuff is real) and the "Internet crowd" storyline.

Kayfabe storyline: Mr. Kennedy was brought back. Broke his wrist. Vince McMahon fired him. Kennedy took this as an insult. It was true what they said about Vince. He chewed up wrestlers and spit them out when they are no longer of use to him. Orton is actually a hero for facing up against the McMahons. Batista is just some poor slug doing McMahon's dirty work.

At Extreme Rules Kennedy prevents Batista from winning. Orton wins in a "WWE lucky heel" way. Mr. Kennedy is later "re-hired" through a special agreement with Vickie Guerrero, who someone manages to supersede Vince's authority on this (the nice thing about wrestling storylines is that not everything has to be air tight).

Internet Crowd Storyline: We lied about firing Kennedy. Get over it. We ourselves had a big laugh about how you guys were composing Kennedy emo love sonnets and writing stuff like "OMG Kennedy fiirreedd I cant beLIEve it Kennedy could have been the next Ric Flair this sucks donkey butt This is TNA's big break!"

(2) The Timing Of The Firing

If this was done on the Friday before the PPV, it would be too rushed. If it was done the Friday at the start of the Extreme Rules build-up, fans would forget about it. In this way, we are still talking about him but already moving on to different things. "Sucks for him. Let's move on."

(3) Batista vs. Orton at Extreme Rules Has Really Nothing Going For It

Not a hell of a lot of people are excited about this one. It's sad that WWE would be so predictable to throw the cliche of "the animal" who finally gets his grubby meat hooks on a scared heel inside a "chicken wire match." Works great for those who don't follow wrestling. But for those who do, there's really nothing gained in this match. Orton's keeping the gold. In this case, a "shocking development" would be actually appreciated. The whole "you had to be there" thing WWE does.

(4) Mr. Kennedy Would Be a Welcome Addition as a Heel

The main knock on Legacy is that they are not perceived as edgy. A livewire like Kennedy could add an interesting dimension to the male models. Hell, a feud with golden boy Cena would be intriguing.

(5) WWE doesn't need to lose more stars

Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker gone are hurting them. Smackdown is regularly whipping Raw's ass. Sure, Raw has MVP and Miz, but they are a work in progress in their roles. Way things are going right now Raw might need a special "Summer Draft" to get some guys in to keep ratings up. Or maybe better writing, better execution, and total elimination of Santino snorting like a pig, desperate for laughs. (Snorg Snorg Snorg. Ba da dum. Thanks, ladies and gentlemen. I will be here all night. Try the veal. It's delicious. I'm such a funny guy).

(6) It's Hard To Believe Mr. Kennedy Would Be Fired So Quickly

Really? Just like that? Mr. Kennedy is gone? Isn't this a bit abrupt?

(7) Mr. Kennedy Goes Straight At Randy Orton At Raw

Before Mr. Kennedy got injured, he was squaring off against...William Regal. Now he comes back to Raw and he's claiming to be the next WWE champion? It was a bit random. Perhaps this bit was to plant the seeds of Mr. Kennedy and Orton joining forces, or Kennedy being involved in a storyline that involved Orton. Re-live Kennedy's return on Raw.

(8) The "Wrist Injury" Was To Throw The Internet Crowd Off

If WWE had come out and "fired" Kennedy, the internet crowd would go bananas. "What were they thinking? What the hell happened?" However, when the "future endeavors" did came for Mr. Kennedy, we kind of saw it coming with the news of Mr. Kennedy injuring his wrist again. We felt anger at him for being injured ugh-gain and was somewhat glad to be rid of him. Thus, when the swerve did came, none of the internet marks would have seen it coming.

I mean, if you're not turning off the TV when Vince goes on an "Enos" frenzy, you can handle the fact that Mr. Kennedy is "fired" from WWE.

They have pulled off swerves like this before.

John Cena being #30 at the Royal Rumble. Nobody, and I mean nobody, called that. I originally wrote that I couldn't see the point of a Kennedy fake news fake firing report, but I can see this as a way to bring in Kennedy in a real shocking storyline. Part of wrestling is pulling the wool over fans eyes and tricking them with "magic" (e.g. great Smackdown bit with Jericho dressing up like a Mysterio fan and attacking Rey during his entrance...I usually fast-forward through entrances).

9. WWE.com tells lies often

Let's not forget the whole "Jeff Hardy was found unconscious" bit they splashed on WWE.com (along with the most "dude, I'm totally wasted" pic they found of Jeff) at one Survivor Series. I wouldn't put it past them to put up a fake firing report and then "shock the world" with Mr. Kennedy at Extreme Rules. When writing the "Mr. Kennedy is fired...fired," I knew that I had to take the Kennedy firing at face value since the original report came from www.wwepropagandisallwedo.com

(10) WWE can keep this under wraps

Jim Ross might comment on his blog about the firing of Kennedy. That's dandy. That doesn't mean he's in the know. Remember this is the same WWE HOF'er in which WWE didn't even bother to tell him that he was moving to Smackdown. Why? Leaks. Mind games. Dominance.

Okay, Here are the reasons why a swerve won't happen and why the firing is legit.

Why It's Not A Swerve And Kennedy Is No Longer Employed By WWE

(1) Vince

It doesn't matter if a guy can punch through brick walls or is a top star, if Vince doesn't like them no more; more often than not they are usually gone. If they are not jiving with the WWE universe, out they go. WWE will always sacrifice a star or two to keep themselves as top dog. Kennedy showing up in TNA would be a blow.

(2) It's not a shocker that Kennedy was fired

If he's not rehabbing through an injury, he's either getting busted for violating the Wellness Policy or mouthing off and making WWE cronies upset. And perhaps some backstage Kennedy bad mojo we, as the internet crowd, don't know about. They are cutting their losses with the firing of Kennedy.

(3) They only kept Kennedy as long as they did to promote "Behind Enemy Lines"

They did give Kennedy a long leash during his injury rehab. You had to feel WWE was frustrated with just how injury-prone Kennedy was with the news of Kennedy getting injured.

(4) WWE is too simple nowadays for a swerve like this

One of the main reasons why the Kennedy swerve wouldn't work is because WWE appeals to the casual fans. The swerve, as it is laid out, is fairly complex to work out in storylines.

(5) The swerve storyline (mentioned above) gives way too much of a push to Kennedy

Is it really smart to give Kennedy this much of a push? Siding him with Orton? Is Kennedy really "loyal" to WWE?

(6) It can't work in the storyline sense

It is stretching in the kayfabe sense to say that a guy is fired...and then somehow "re-hire" him with Vince running things. Plus Raw already got enough heels at the moment.

(7) They had no conclusion to the Flair-Orton interview

So they trotted out Kennedy and had him spout off lines about never becoming WWE champ blah blah blah.

(8) Kennedy really did injure himself and Vince was pissed

As stated before, WWE probably wanted to cut their losses and invest into someone more reliable and controllable. Like this.

(9) WWE.com isn't paying Kennedy leaving really any attention

Typically when a guy gets future endeavored, WWE stops mentioning his name on all of their programming and website content. The reason why wwe.com is not talking much about Kennedy being fired is not because they want to pull of the swerve, it's because Kennedy is really fired and there's no point talking about a guy who isn't employed by the WWE anymore.

(10) Vince didn't like Kennedy's chin fuzz

Yep, that's the main reason WWE got rid of him. Hornswoggle and Santino will help bring in ratings.

I guess at this point right now Batista vs. Orton is so dumb that I'm more excited thinking up swerves than the actual match itself. I get a kick thinking up swerves and possible storyline developments (Batista joins legacy, Shaq on Raw). Every fan does that. It's a part of watching wrestling. Because Batista vs. Orton garbage sure isn't doing the trick.

I'm going with an 89 percent chance that Kennedy is fired for real. Probably soon Kennedy will be on WMRK 1080 on the "Dr. Cheesenuts and The Product Of Vince's Semen Super Show" and ripping on WWE.

So which is it? A swerve? Or the real deal? Sound off in the discussion posts below and make sure that you explain your arguments with logical reasoning.

And remember to do some yoga in your spare time. What am I, the Diamond Dallas Page of Internet writers?

Email is mckinley.torch@gmail.com

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