Former WWE Star Claims He Originally Came Up With Talking Smack

By Ryan Gray

The WWE Network series Talking Smack has been in the news for the last couple of weeks ever since WWE announced they would no longer will air the series on a weekly basis. It will, however, continue to air following SmackDown pay-per-views, meaning it will air at 11 PM ET Sunday night after Battleground.

Former WWE manager Armando Alejandro Estrada recently explained on Twitter that he pitched a similar show to Vince McMahon in December 2011 that he called "Smack Talk." Here's the story straight from Estrada:

In December 2011, I drove to a Smackdown taping in Indianapolis to have a meeting with Vince. Finally, after blowing me off for most of the day, we sat down in Gorilla before the taping and I pitched him an idea for a show. At the time, WWE was looking for ideas to create content for this vision they wanted to call "The Network". The show I pitched Vince was a non-wrestling show that would allow talents that don't get much mic time, the opportunity to pseudo-shoot and help get them comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. The show I envisioned was titled "Smack Talk" and I was to be the host. Vince smiled, said he liked the idea, shook my hand and said thank you. I drive home to Chicago that night thinking I was on to something. Little did I know I was about 5 years too early. RIP Talking Smack, you were a breath of fresh air!

Estrada was signed to a WWE developmental contract as a wrestler in 2004. He was called up in 2006 where he was the manager and mouthpiece for Umaga. In 2007, Estrada was announced as the General Manager of the ECW brand. He departed WWE in 2008, only to return in late 2010. He was shortly used as the manager of Tyson Kidd before being officially released again in 2012.

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