"Wow." That's the word that popped into my head after watching last night's night of wrestling. Wrestling fans all over never thought they'd see the day when Vince McMahon would open WCW Nitro, and there would be a simulcast on both Raw and Nitro with Vince McMahon mentioning that he has finally won the Monday night wars. It's really unbelievable if you think about it. If someone told me this would happen last year (or even last month, for that matter), I wouldn't have believed it. Not by a longshot. It's really amazing how big this is, and it should be a very exciting and interesting next few months for wrestling fans all across the world.
Vince McMahon cut several amazing promos last night, and played his role so well that it's scary. But then again, you have to take into consideration that much of what he was saying wasn't acting at all, and instead was what he truly felt. Vince has finally bought out the competition and he used both Raw and Nitro last night as a forum to gloat about it. Vince's announcement last night was one of, if not the most intriguing and interesting promos I have ever seen. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and I actually started to hate Vince McMahon and feel sorry for WCW. And I'll tell you now; it's a rarity for me to really get into the storylines as much as I was last night. When Shane McMahon appeared on the Titantron and made his announcement, I popped bigtime. Huge markout moment (there's that word again. When I use it, you know the show was good. :-)). Overall, the angle was so unbelievably well done that it's amazing. Last night was truly a great night for wrestling fans.
One thing that sort of bothered me about last night's shows was Vince McMahon's public humiliation and "firing," I guess, of several WCW wrestlers. The comment he made about Jeff Jarrett at the start of Raw really got me heated for some reason, because what McMahon said was probably true. And it really sucks for people like Jarrett who are trying to make a living in this sport to get screwed over by Vince McMahon's stubborn attitude. But, rumors are that WCW wrestlers were told that they would be given a clean slate and a chance to prove themselves all over again (I don't know how much of that is true), and that anything that Vince McMahon would say on the shows was strictly for storyline purposes. I'll believe it when I see it. Also, it was interesting to see how fans reacted to all the wrestlers Vince mentioned in his promo. The only overwhelmingly negative response was for Lex Luger. All others received a pretty good reaction from the WWF crowd, with the exception of Hulk Hogan, who got a mixed reaction. Good to see that Scott Steiner got a large pop too. Maybe that'll get rid of any doubt the WWF has about Steiner... or maybe not. As for Goldberg... wow. I'd be surprised if the WWF didn't try real hard to get him into the new WCW.
Shane McMahon reportedly had a meeting with WCW wrestlers last night in Panama City, according to Dave Meltzer, where he gave information on the state of WCW. Shane reportedly received an ovation from the wrestlers, and stated that he wants to make WCW as big or even bigger than the WWF. Also, Shane Mentioned that everyone will be given a clean slate and will once again get a chance to prove themselves (again, we'll have to see that first to believe it). Shane gave no start date for the new WCW, but did mention that it would be around 6-8 weeks before everything is set up and the show is ready to begin airing again.
Also, in an interesting note, WCW.com's main page has a message from their new "owner," Shane McMahon. The message reads as follows, courtesy of TPWW reporter Jeremy Bratcher: "Dear Fans, Just one week ago on RAW, Vince McMahon told the world that he is the most powerful man in sports entertainment. Well, I am happy to say that Vinnie Mac WAS the most powerful man in sports entertainment. Now, after successful negotiations by my legal team, I own 100 percent of WCW. Add that to m 25 percent of the World Wrestling Federation Entertainment and I am now the most powerful man in this business. As you know, I will be facing my father in a street right this Sunday at WrestleMania. After all is said and done, and I have beaten my pops within a breath of his life, he will then find out that our physical contest is just a small part of a larger battle on the horizon, that being the war between the WWF And WCW. Everyone thought WCW was finished. Vince sure did. But Dad, nothing is over. In fact, this is just the beginning!"
On the subject of meetings with wrestlers, Vince McMahon himself had a meeting with WWF wrestlers last night before Raw, according to Dave Scherer. McMahon basically thanked the roster for helping the WWF become what it is today, on a day that they actually were big enough to purchase their competition. Also, on an interesting note, Vince told the WWF wrestlers that he could have not bought WCW and let it go under, but there are people in the company with families to feed, and he couldn't let them be put out on the street like that. Vince also stated that he plans on making WCW as successful as possible, and doesn't plan on shutting it down anytime soon. Vince stated that there would be minimal swapping of talent with a few wrestlers occasionally going to the other promotions for an angle, but there would not be any interpromotional matches, at least for the time being. That's a good idea, in my opinion. It's better to keep the companies as separate as possible and build up to some interpromotional stuff later on, not right away. Because once they battle it out and the WWF wins (and the WWF will be booked to win), WCW's credibility will go down.
As of now, there is no confirmed timeslot for the new WCW show on TNN. If a time slot was finalized, it would have almost surely been mentioned on Raw or Nitro last night. However, there are very strong rumors that the timeslot will almost definitely be Saturday nights from 11PM-1AM, with the show most likely being taped on a Wednesday (or it may be live - that's not known yet). Obviously, the timeslot mentioned isn't the best timeslot at all. It really gets to me that TNN won't give up a couple of hours of primetime for a show owned by the WWF - a company whose shows are pretty much the only reason anyone watches TNN anyway. And what's even worse, it goes up against Saturday Night Live on NBC. Not good for me. I doubt WCW will get anywhere near the ratings the WWF is getting with a timeslot like that. But, again, the timeslot is not confirmed, so it could hopefully change at anytime.
I'm sure a question on a lot of people's minds last night was how last night's shows would do in the ratings given the recent huge news. Well, as expected, Nitro received a big ratings jump, scoring a 3.0 rating (hours of 3.1 and 2.9), up from the 2.1 rating they have been doing the last several weeks. Raw, on the other hand, scored another rather disappointing 4.7 rating, off hours of 4.1 and 5.3. That is very surprising, but not shocking. In an interesting note, Raw defeated Nitro in the airing of the McMahon simulcast, scoring a 4.4 to Nitro's 3.5.
In another interesting note, according to several reports, Shawn Michaels was scheduled to make an appearance at Raw last night, as had been widely rumored for days. However, because of the addition of the McMahon simulcast, HBK's segment was cut out of Raw and instead, will air on Smackdown this week, which will be taped tonight.
Also, according to Dave Scherer, a Shane Douglas vs. Rick Steiner match was scrapped from Nitro to make room for the simulcast. Shane Douglas was reportedly not even at Nitro last night, and given his not-so-good past with the WWF, things aren't looking good for The Franchise.
Jerry Lynn was reportedly backstage at Raw last night, so there's a chance that he'll debut at anytime now.
In a dark match before Raw last night, former ECW wrestlers Chris Chetti and Johnny Swinger went at it, with Chris Chetti picking up the victory. Weird to see Swinger getting a WWF tryout match (if that's what it was), when he has been on WCW programming recently. Thanks to TPWW reporter Mike E for that note.
Also, on the subject of dark matches, according to Dave Scherer, before Nitro went on the air, Mark Jindrak defeated Jason Jett, and Hugh Morrus & Konnan defeatd Disqo and Mike Sanders.
khaus515 sent word that after Raw went off the air, Stone Cold Steve Austin rose to his feet and drank beers for about ten minutes, then went up to the Titantron and took a camera man's video camera. Afterwards, he celebrated for another few minutes and the show was over.
As you may have seen last night on Raw, Mick Foley made his return to the WWF, with the excuse that he signed a few contracts with Linda McMahon saving his job. Also, you may have noticed that Foley plugged his new book, "Foley is Good," which hits stores on May 8. Foley once again wrote the book, which is 450 pages long, by hand. WWF.com put up a recent article on Foley, where he gave his comments on the book. They are as follows: "In some ways it's a continuation of 'Have a Nice Day!' in that it follows the last year and a half of my career," Foley said. "As much as I've read other sports books, I don't think I've ever seen a real good account of when an athlete or performer realizes that his time is up. I think I do a good job of telling people what that feels like. There is some commentary that some people may think is a little controversial in regards to backyard wrestling and drug use. I also write quite a bit in defense of the WWF, where I do something that I think has been needed for a long time, and that is standing up and saying, 'Our show is not bad for kids. We don't lead to children dying or pervert their minds.' I understand that a lot of our fans already know that, but I think I describe it in great detail and I think that non-fans can learn an awful lot. And don't forget there's plenty of good stories and Al Snow jokes in there. And for some reason I can't quite explain, Test has become a target. Test takes the brunt of the blows." Also, it was mentioned that Foley will have two more children's books on shelves soon, featuring WWF superstars as children. The books are already written and illustrated, but won't be out until 2002. To check out the article in full, click HERE.
On the subject of Mick Foley, it was also announced that he will be the special guest referee in the Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon match at WrestleMania. Below is the current, and most likely final card for WrestleMania this Sunday, April 1:
- The Rock vs. Steve Austin - WWF Title
- Triple H vs. The Undertaker
- Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon - Street Fight, Foley as Ref
- Dudleys vs. Hardys vs. E&C; - Tag Titles, TLC 2
- Chris Jericho vs. William Regal - Intercontinental Title
- Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
- Raven vs. Big Show vs. Kane - Hardcore Title
- Test vs. Eddie Guerrero - European Title
- Ivory vs. Chyna - Women's Title
- Tazz & Acolytes vs. Right to Censor
- The infamous Gimmick Battle Royal
It appears that the XFL continuing until next season is no longer a sure thing. According to a recent article in the Associated Press, NBC Sports president Dick Ebersol said, "We want it to work ... The evidence through 75 percent of the regular season is not promising ... We have a two-year commitment ... but it's going to have to show a marked swing in the ratings in the postseason for it to have a real shot beyond this year, just from an advertising standpoint." Ebersol also said that a decision about the league will be made by April.
However, according to a recent article by the Associated Press, XFL president Basil DeVito said that with or without NBC, the XFL would continue next season. DeVito stated that the league had a plan before NBC stepped in, and the plan will be in effect if necessary. The WWF is apparently hoping that UPN and TNN stick with the XFL next season. Also, it was mentioned that there will be an announcement by June whether or not the league plans to expand to 2-4 new teams by 2002-2003. To read the article in full, click HERE.
It's just about time to wrap this one up. We've noticed a huge boom in traffic over the last few days with the WWF's purchase of WCW, so I want to thank everyone who has visited TPWW. WrestleMania week continues on TPWW this entire week, leading up to live coverage of the big PPV on Sunday night. Ry is putting together a great WrestleMania history/facts package, similar to the popular Royal Rumble history package he did a couple of months ago. That should be posted very soon. We have a few more WrestleMania related features set up, so be on the lookout for those. These have definitely been a big few days for the wrestling world, and with WrestleMania coming up this Sunday, things don't look to be slowing down at all. Again, thanks for checking out today's report, as always. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com