On the heels of WCW Slamboree and preparing for tonight's Monday Night programs, it's Monday, May 8, and you're at TPWW.net. Now, that made absolutely no sense. Anyway, here are today's news and rumors.
The Rock will not be on Raw tonight or the WWF Smackdown tapings this Tuesday, as the time has finally come for him to film his role in "The Mummy 2." The Rock will be in Morocco filming the role until Saturday, and will return to action at the Sunday WWF House Show in Columbus, Ohio. In the Rock's absence, I've heard that the WWF may plan to once again stack up RAW this week, as they continue to pull in monster ratings. I've heard that Chris Jericho may play a prominent role in tonight's show.
In an update on Tazz's bicep injury, Tazz was thankfully told that he would not require surgery on the injury, and he is expected back in action in about six weeks. If he had actually gone through with surgery, he may have been out for over three months. This is definitely good news, and hopefully Taz(z) is reworked into a new, bigger angle upon his return.
In another injury tidbit, Chris Benoit was mentioned as having a broken cheekbone at Saturday's UK PPV, WWF Insurrextion. Benoit's face was swelled up and he reportedly had a black eye, but he does not in fact have a cheekbone injury. Rather, he was hit in the eye during his match against Chris Jericho on WWF Smackdown, where he lost the Intercontinental Title.
Here is tonight's Code Red RAW is WAR preview:
Triple H will announce his "plans" for Judgment Day
Edge & Christian vs. The Acolytes - Tag Titles
Eddie Guerrero vs. The Godfather - European Title
Too Cool vs. The Big Boss Man & Bull Buchanan
The Hardys vs. Dean Malenko & Perry Saturn
The McMahon-Helmsley regime, Chris Jericho, Rikishi, The Big Show, and the Dudleys are all expected to be at tonight's show.
WCW has put on two solid PPVs in a row, the latest being WCW Slamboree, which was a great show last night. Highlights from the show include David Arquette turning on Diamond Dallas Page and siding with Jeff Jarrett and the New Blood, as Double J regained the WCW World Title and proved once again that he truly is the "Chosen One." Sting (thankfully) did not come down from the rafters, as the show took place in Kansas City in the same arena as the Owen Hart tragedy, which took place almost one year ago. Also, we saw Kanyon take two vicious bumps from Mike Awesome, one during their match earlier in the night where Kanyon landed hard on his head and neck and in the main event where he was thrown off the cage on to the entrance ramp (more on that later). We also saw David Flair make his return to WCW, also turning on his father, Ric Flair. Up and coming WCW star, Chuck Palumbo made his WCW re-debut dressed as the Total Package, Lex Luger. The two should have a feud coming up. Of all the guys you could have had him mimmick, did it HAVE to be Luger? In a hilarious segment, Hugh Morrus stated that he did not want to be referred to as Hugh Morrus ever again, and it was a name just used to make him look like a joke. He stated that he wanted to be known by his real name from now on... Hugh G. Rection.
On the subject of Kanyon's bump, WCW will (for some reason) do an angle where Kanyon is injured from the bump he took from the cage onto the ramp from Mike Awesome in the main event. Kanyon is actually fine, but will be off television for about five weeks. According to Bryan Alvarez, a segment is expected to air tonight where Kanyon will be shown in the hospital, unconscious from his bump. The only logical explanation for this angle is to make Mike Awesome seem extremely dangerous, which is definitely a good mood. Hopefully others will be willing to take bumps from him.
In another minor injury report, Scott Steiner apparently had a tooth knocked out during his match against Hugh "G. Rection" Morrus.
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In a little sidenote, I scored 7 out of 9 as far as Slamboree predictions, with the only matches I predicted incorrectly being Ric Flair vs. Shane Douglas and the Hardcore Title match.
Diamond Dallas Page suffered a minor back and shoulder injury on Saturday night while getting the feel of the Triple Cage, according to Bob Ryder. Page reportedly fell from the second cage to the bottom cage, landing on his back and shoulder. He had a chiropractor flown in on Sunday, received treatment, and was able to compete in the main event without a major problem.
Rick Steiner and Juventud Guerrera are also expected to return to WCW on tonight's Nitro.
Here is what is being promised for tonight's WCW Nitro:
- Jeff Jarrett will be at the show alongside David Arquette.
- We will receive an update on Kanyon's condition.
- Kevin Nash will once again target Vince Russo.
- Goldberg may POSSIBLY make his return to confront Tank Abbott.
- Ric Flair will confront his son, David Flair
- Terry Funk vs. Smiley & Ralphus. If Smiley & Ralphus fail, they will be fired.
Something that may have caught your eyes is that WCW.com previewed a possible return by Bill Goldberg. Here is their official statement: "For weeks, Tank Abbott has called Goldberg a wimp -- we're not sure that's the wisest move. WCW.com has learned that Goldberg's music cued and ready to go. Will the WCW phenom finally show up tonight to answer the former-UFC star's challenge?" It is definitely not confirmed as of yet, but what better time for Goldberg to return than now, considering it's the night after WCW Slamboree?
ECW scored a rather disappointing 0.8 rating this Friday, which is below what they started at on their first week, 0.9. Maybe the weather had something to do with that.
Super Crazy was unable to attend this weekend's ECW shows, as he was not let back into the United States. According to Dave Scherer, Crazy's paperwork was not in order and he was not allowed to re-enter the country. However, ECW attorneys are working on resolving the issue and he will hopefully be back in time for Sunday's PPV.
That about wraps it up for today. I unfortunately didn't get to borrow Ry's ECW Hardcore TV tape, and thus did not get a chance to snap a pic of the sign we had on the show. Hopefully we'll remember tomorrow, and I'll have a pic of the sign in tomorrow's report. With that said, hopefully everyone enjoys tonight's Monday Night shows, whether it be Raw, Nitro, or both. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com