Hey there, and welcome to today's News and Rumors Report here at TPWW. There are definitely some interesting news items to discuss today, ranging from ECW's discussions with Cablevision, up to some No Way Out speculation. Before I get ahead of myself, let's head into the News and Rumors for this gorgeous Sunday afternoon.
A popular rumor around the Internet this weekend has been the idea that the WWF is making it known that they will not offer contracts to anyone who enters talks with WCW. This rumor is added to by the fact that Jim Ross recently stated that the WWF "isn't interested in signing anymore talent at this moment." Prior to Super Crazy and Steve Corino talking to WCW, the WWF was adamant that they would sign Crazy at the very least. It seems as though once they entered talks with WCW, the WWF lost all interest in signing them to contracts. I don't think it's fair for the WWF to play mind games like this with the ECW talent, who are only looking for a place to ply their craft…but that's just me.
In a funny tidbit, David Letterman's Top 10, from the other night was "Top 10 rejected XFL Team Names." Well, here they are: 10.Florida Felons; 9.Dallas Deadbeat Dads; 8.Richmond' Roid Rage; 7.Las Vegas Lapdancerz; 6.Washington major-league Ass*****; 5.Seattle Sex Offenders; 4.Philadelphia Parole Violators; 3.Cleveland Carjackers; 2.Detroit Guys-Who-Will-Have-To-Go-Back-To-Their-Jobs-As-Security-Guards-When-The-League-Folds-In-About-A-Month; 1.New York/New Jersey Ass Wranglers. They say any publicity is good publicity, right? …
An article in the Chicago Sun Times talks about the fact that the WWF is apparently looking for an advertising agency to assist with its image. Says the article: "In recent weeks, the WWF has quietly sent out questionnaires to a handful of ad agencies around the country, including Chicago shops, with the hopes of finding an agency to help guide it through some growing pains. Among the shops receiving inquiries were Portland, Ore.-based Wieden & Kennedy and Chicago shops Euro RSCG Tatham and Young & Rubicam, which recently launched a new campaign for NASCAR, another red-hot product. Currently, the WWF does all of its marketing in-house. The WWF is doing what some other hot-selling sports/entertainment products have done in trying to lasso a rollicking product: control the image before it gets out of control. And things are booming for the WWF's parent company right now, with revenue soaring and the successful (so far) launch of the XFL. But criticism has also mounted, including complaints about kids being badly injured while mimicking wrestling moves. Although many companies look for advertising help when they find their business on the ropes, several hot-growth products in the entertainment area--including, in recent years, NASCAR, the NBA and even ESPN--have turned to agencies to manage an image, even when a positive one is already firmly in place in consumers' minds."
Also according to the Chicago Sun Times this weekend, the WWF is 7,000 tickets short of breaking the Astrodome's record for ticket sales for their WrestleMania X-Seven PPV. Since there's a little over a month left to sell tickets for the huge event, and Houston has always been considered a "walk up" town, there's a very good chance that they will shatter the Astrodome's current seating record.
Here's what you can expect to see this evening on WWF Heat:
- The Undertaker vs. Christian
- Hardcore Holly vs. Haku
- Kurt Angle will be in attendance
- Perry Saturn and Terri will host Heat along with Michael Cole and Tazz
Though a contract has in fact been drawn up for Paul Heyman by the WWF, the ECW owner/head booker has yet to sign the dotted line. He's still committed to keeping ECW afloat, as he possesses a pay per view contract through 2001. Take it from a die-hard fan Paul, the contract with the WWF is as good as it gets from here.
Both Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley will be mixed into the WWF's current storylines, and despite Jim Ross's public denial on Friday, Mick Foley is expected to have a few more matches in the near future. They probably won't be matches with the main event echelon of the WWF, since the WWF is leaning towards using him for matches based around current storylines, and not titles (for example, Mick vs. Vince or Shane McMahon). He's stated publicly that he wants to make a brief return to the ring to help out his friend Al Snow, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him take on Vince with Al getting the commissioner role if Foley wins.
The most prominent name being tossed around for the WWF's rumored wave of contract releases is D'Lo Brown. Brown isn't happy with his current station in the WWF, and feels he could get much farther in WCW. The WWF is interested in releasing people who want to go first, and then get to the actual firings.
Brandon Tomblin sends along the following notation on the No Way Out card: "Rumors have been flying over the internet that the WWF will add a 4 corners match for the Intercontinental title at No Way Out. The match will pit Chris Jericho against Eddie Guerrero, X-Pac, and Justin Credible."
According to the popular television ratings site Zap2it, the XFL ratings for the Los Angeles Xtreme vs. Las Vegas Outlaws on the overnights saw the show finish in last place with a 3.5 rating, another 31% drop from last week. This is surprising, since last night was perhaps the best out of the past three week's of televised games. Things look pretty bleak for the XFL, which is continuing to drop lower and lower each week.
In a related bit, Lorne Michaels (SNL's Executive Producer) was apparently less than thrilled with the lead in Saturday Night Live got from the XFL game last night, and was engaged in conversations with several big name execs from NBC about the floundering league. Does this guy ever shut up?
Here are the top ten sports and recreational video releases, courtesy of Billboard.com:
1) Tony Hawk: Skateboarding Trick Tips - Vol. 1
2) WWF: The Rock: The People's Champ
3) Rodeo: Bullbusters All-Stars Of Rodeo
4) WWF: Armageddon
5) WWF: Divas - Post Cards From The Caribbean
6) WWF: Survivor Series - The Rules Have Changed
7) WWF: Chris Jericho - Break Down The Walls
8) MLB: World Series 2000
9) WWF: Tables, Ladders & Chairs
10) WWF: Most Memorable Matches '00
Lance Storm has updated his Internet commentary, this time writing about ECW wrestlers who are being asked to take WCW try out matches. Long story short, he feels that the ECW superstars should work the dark matches as a try out, rather than letting their ego get in the way. I agree partially on that. Guys like Tajiri, Super Crazy, and Rob Van Dam have earned their reputation in this sport. They don't need to wrestle dark matches like local indy jobbers, because they're much farther along than that. Notice how the WWF signed four excellent wrestlers in the last month? That's because they don't reward guys like Rick Steiner with big pushes, and then ask some of the best workers in the country to "try out" in order to make the team.
There is some growing dissent backstage in WCW, since a lot of the younger guys are questioning why over the hill wrestlers like Dustin Rhodes, Rick Steiner, and Animal are getting such powerful pushes, while they are kept stagnant. You're not alone, boys.
The Road Dogg hasn't signed a contract with WCW yet, but it will most likely be one of the first orders of business once the Fusient deal is complete. It is expected that he'll come in feuding with Jeff Jarrett as a face, which is a little higher than I'd like to see him on the totem pole, but that's all right.
ECW has apparently had talks with Cablevision about buying ECW and keeping the company afloat, but they have been greatly exaggerated recently. The discussions never got past the preliminary stage, with the Cablevision executives not coming to terms with Paul Heyman. The talks are finished and not ongoing, so chances are Heyman just crafted the story to keep ECW on the tongues of the Internet columnist, as well as to give it a little hope. Things aren't looking good for ECW, and Heyman should take that WWF contract while it's available, in my opinion.
The big news at today's New Japan PPV show at Tokyo Sumo Hall was the announcement by Antonio Inoki that he had received a fax from Mike Tyson's attorney saying that Tyson would be facing a Japanese pro wrestling champion in June. The hint was made they would hold a tournament of the top guys and the winner would get the match with Tyson. This is obviously a huge news story in Japan, but I can't help but imagine what Mike Tyson actually competing in a wrestling match would look like. We saw him throw a punch at Wrestlemania 14, but how well can he wrestle a full match, in Japan no less?
That's it for this week. Hope you all enjoyed this jam-packed edition of today's News and Rumors, and enjoy the remainder of your weekend. I'll see you back here next weekend with the News and Rumors, as well as my column on Saturday. So until next weekend, later.
Corey Silvia
Corey@tpww.net