Welcome once again to TPWW.net. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend. I definitely did. Anyway, it's Tuesday, which of course means... Monday night thoughts, news, rumors, etc. So without further ado, here are today's news and rumors.
I thought both shows were decent last night. I thought Nitro improved a lot this week, and the Goldberg return definitely helped a lot. But a question: If Goldberg was driving the Viper, who was driving the Monster Truck all this time? Anyway, like I said, it was great to see Goldberg back, and as stated last night, he is booked to take on Tank Abbott next week on Nitro. I don't know what it is, but Tank Abbott's "tough guy" gimmick really hasn't been believable over the last few weeks. He just doesn't seem "invincible" anymore. I guess this all started when he did the job to Sid a while back. Also, it was good to see Scott Steiner actually pick up a good old fashion clean victory over Shane Douglas. Was that the only match with a clean finish? I wasn't really keeping track. Also, you know I have to mention the title changes again last night. I mean, it's good in a way because it is unpredictable, but in the same manner, it really does hurt the credibility of the belt. If somebody just "gives" the belt away like Nash did, it obviously shows how much meaning it has. Hopefully we'll see Jarrett hold the belt for more than a week this time. Hey, maybe he'll even have a Triple H-like title reign. That would definitely put him way over and would stabilize him as a solid big heel in WCW. Anyway, I thought Nitro was pretty good last night, and it shall receive a B in the grade books.
On the Raw is War side, the WWF also put forth a few major happenings including an official return by Kane, who now looks to possible be added to the main event picture at King of the Ring. I guess there really is no official main event set for the pay per view as of yet, but I'm sure everyone can get a rough idea in their minds as to what it will possibly be. Maybe even another four way match? Only time will tell. Kid Rock's performance was pretty good, although I don't know how well it was backstage when they heard him yell out "F*CK" clearly. Of course, the almighty WWF censors were late as always, and ended up censoring the next five seconds instead. Edge, Christian, and Kurt Angle are my ideal favorite wrestlers. I've always loved those types of arrogant heels, and I always will. Raw gets an A- this week.
The fun didn't stop last night in Vancouver after the cameras stopped filming Raw is War. Thanks to TimYeunk for sending this live report of what happened after Raw went off the air. Big thanks also to No1gk and Lindsay Britton for sending the same: "First of all, I sat right behind the WWF crew, who were watching NITRO during commercials! Anyway, I could tell when RAW went off the air because I saw their monitors show the Titan Sports thing in the corner. After it went off, Rock People's Elbowed Triple H and HHH rolled out of the ring, and some kid ran into the ring and tried to low blow The Rock and Kane actually stomped the kid a couple times, and Shane actually punched the kid, before security took him away. Then everyone left and The Rock and Undertaker had a conversation about Poontang Pie, with the Rock asking Undertaker what his favorite pie was, and The Undertaker replying. Afterwards, The Undertaker left and The Rock was left alone in the ring. He talked for a little about how Vancouver was "The People's City", then he finally left to a huge ovation. Overall a great show, just thought you might want to know some of the things that happened that most people didn't see."
TV Guide has released a special WWF cover edition of this week's issue, which will include four different WWF Superstar covers including The Rock, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Tori. You can check out the covers HERE.
Six WWF Superstars will be nominated for the "Favorite Pro Wrestler" category in the FOX Teen Choice awards, which will air sometime in late August of this year. Stone Cold Steve Austin won the honor last year. This year, the nominees are The Rock, Triple H, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho, Edge, and Chyna.
Rey Mysterio Jr was originally scheduled to face Lt. Loco (Chavo) last night on Nitro in the MIA/Filthy Animals Lumberjack match, but a decision was later made to have Disco take his place, as Rey Jr still does not have medical clearance to wrestler. However, he should be fully cleared sometime in July. It's a good thing WCW didn't rush his full time in ring return, as they would have definitely risked having Rey Jr further injure himself.
Lance Storm was at the arena at last night's Nitro with his wrestling gear. However, it was only to do a photo shoot. He should officially debut soon, and I, among several others, can't wait for it.
On to some international news for today, followed by more news tidbits...
Andy sent this in: "In the UK, Channel 4 (a terrestrial channel who have bought the rights to show Sunday Night Heat and some WWF PPVs) have been treating WWF fans here with appalling contempt. All WWF programming is heavily edited (including PPVs), Heat has not got any hint of a regular time-slot (sometimes often going out at around midnight) and the Channel 4 presenters continue to make fun of WWF fans live on TV, describing the WWF as 'slapstick' and ripping on it for being 'fake', amongst other 'jokes'. Despite lots of complaints, the station refuses to change its ways. Could you get UK fans who are tired of Channel 4's treatment of WWF fans, and US fans who can sympathise with us, to visit our national campaign at www.geocities.com/c4willpay/ and drop a quick message to help support us."
Thanks to Emilio Bernocchi of WrestlingMania.it for sending this in: "WCW programming is about to start airing on Stream Sports, an Italian digital channel broadcast via satellite in Italy. Stream (http://www.stream.it), partially owned by Rupert Murdoch, is the second biggest satellite and cable company in Italy, and currently carries soccer, movies, American sports, etc. Currently WCW in Italy is shown on "Italia Uno", a free national channel, but the shows are edited down to just 30 minutes of matches. Not with standing a 5 month delay in the airing of the shows, those Nitro recaps constantly average around 1 million viewers each week. Stream Sports, however, is going to carry Nitro and Thunder in their full length, with pay per views to follow if the ratings are good. Each of the shows will be cut into two 1-hour programs which will be shown daily, most likely at 15:00 with an encore at 22:30. A recap of the week (probably WCW Worldwide) will be shown on Saturdays. Stream is expecting a considerable ratings surge from the airing of the wrestling shows, and might consider carrying the WWF also if the WCW shows are a success. The new wrestling programs on Stream should start approximately at the beginning of July."
I received a TON of e-mails yesterday and today in response to the WCW Australian tour tidbit that was posted in Sunday's report. As of now, I honestly do not have much info on the tour, other than what was already mentioned. However, as soon as we hear anything, it will be posted right here or on our newsboard. To re-iterate, WCW is expected to make an Australian tour in mid-October. The schedule is as follows: October 7 - WCW Nitro, Brisbane. October 9 - WCW Thunder, Melbourne. October 11 - WCW House Show, Perth. October 13 - WCW House Show, Sydney.
Matt J sent along this tidbit on WCW color commentator Mark Madden: "When I was watching Nitro, I noticed that during the Luger/Awesome run-in Mark Madden said that Luger looked like Ed Belfour with that protective shield over his face. The irony is that even though Madden's remark makes him sound like a simpleton in regards to his knowledge of hockey, Madden is actually a hockey analysist for Fox Sports Pittsburgh. In fact, after he was jumped by 'Sherman' Tank Abbott on the first Nitro of the Bischoff/Russo regime, Fox Sports thought it was really funny and showed the footage on their show. They even made a few jokes that Madden 'should put on a shirt, for christ's sake.'"
Do you have any news tidbits or results? As I added near the bottom of this page, if you do, you can send them along at news@tpww.net.
Rumors have been floating around as of late that Joey Styles and Paul Heyman recently had a backstage argument at an ECW show and have a "shaky" relationship. However, those rumors are completely false, according to Dave Scherer and Styles and Heyman are on good terms. Definitely good to hear that.
An official website has been opened for the kings of the streets, The Baldies. You can check it out at TheBaldies.com.
We've unfortunately encountered a problem with the Q&A; section here at TPWW, which is why there was no update to the section this past weekend. Derek Sabato, who runs the Q&A; page, wanted me to ask everyone to re-send their questions if they sent anything this past week. Also feel free to send in any new questions. All questions may be sent to Derek at WCWFEasyE@aol.com.
I finally saw Gladiator yesterday, and I have to say that it's AMAZING. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time and I definitely recommend it. Thanks to "The" Nick for recommending it.punk
There really hasn't been much going around in the wrestling world lately, but I have a feeling things should start heating up very soon, in regards to the whole TV situation, where the future of all three major promotions are in the air. Hey, could we even see WCW on the USA network sometime soon? You never know. Anyway, I think Tim Brechlin is back in action, so he may be here bringing you the Wednesday report tomorrow. Whatever the case, one of us will be here tomorrow. Until next time, later.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com