Posted by Bobby Spade on 12/20/2007 at 01:05 PM

Internally, the feeling on Mr. Kennedy is that his current program with Shawn Michaels is a "sink or swim" opportunity for him. The feeling is that if doesn't rise to the occasion to stand out in his program feud with HBK, he'll be relegated to mid-card status for the foreseeable future. According to one source, he's listening to pretty much anyone and everyone for advice on how to improve in the ring, including creative team writers. He used to be very close with Steve Austin, but Austin said in a recent interview that he is listening to too many people. Kennedy is said to have little confidence in his own instincts as a performer, which might explain why he's often trying new things and different finishers in his matches as of late.