Welcome to the first news and rumors report of June 2000 here at TPWW.net. And as typical with June, the weather is once again beginning to heat up, which I can hopefully use as an excuse for all the damn typos I've been making lately. According to yesterday's news and rumors, it was "May 32, 2000." (Stupid, stupid stupidddddd.) Anyway, here are today's news and rumors.
In case you missed them on the main page, the ratings came in yesterday, delayed one day due to the Memorial Day holiday and of course, it was business as usual. Raw defeated Nitro with a 6.4 to Nitro's 3.0. In an interesting tidbit, Kid Rock's performance did a 7.0. Raw's overrun did a big 7.6, Flair vs. Jarrett did a decent 3.1. For an hourly breakdown as well as the weekend ratings, check our Ratings page.
The WWF brings us Smackdown! tonight on UPN. Here is a non-spoiler preview for the show:
- Too Cool vs. Hardys (Tag Titles)
- Kurt Angle vs. Bradshaw (KOTR)
- Chris Benoit vs. D'Lo Brown (Intercontinental Title)
- The Kat vs. Terri (Arm Wrestling match)
- The Undertaker vs. Road Dogg & X-Pac
- Chris Jericho vs. Hardcore Holly (KOTR)
- The Rock vs. Edge & Christian
- Albert vs. Crash Holly (KOTR)
- Triple H vs. Kane
Grandmaster Sexay will make a guest appearance on Shasta McNasty in an episode that will air on Tuesday, Jully 11 at 8:00 PM on UPN.
Stone Cold Steve Austin will be a guest on WWF.com's Byte This! audio show tonight from 6-7 PM EST. You can call in with your questions at 1-888-LIVEWWF (548-3993) or send an e-mail to bytethis@wwf.com. You can check out Byte This HERE.
There was a recent article in Variety about the Rock possibly seeking a career as a movie star. The Rock has been rumored to have received at least two other offers to star in a movie at an estimated $5 million dollars a film. But WWF fans, The Rock, of course, will continue his career in the WWF for at least another five years, as he has just recently signed a new contract extension.
Another meeting between Goldberg and WCW management took place this past week, where Goldberg was reportedly asked to make a heel turn sometime down the road. As of now, that seems very likely to happen with Goldberg joining up with the New Blood. Some may think this is a bad idea, but personally, I really like it. One thing WCW is missing right now is a dominating, convincing heel, and Goldberg has all the necessities to fill that role. Just look at the success the WWF has had with Triple H. I mean, nothing against Jeff Jarrett, but WCW just doesn't seem to have done anything HUGE with him lately. Yes, he is the world champion, but that's not saying a lot with all the recent happenings with the WCW title. On most of WCW's shows, he has just simply appeared for a few minutes towards the main event without any appearances prior to or after his matches, where we see Triple H being shoved down our throats week in and week out. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe what WCW is doing with Jarrett is not so bad after all. Anyway, next topic...
The buzz lately has been all this talk of a "huge surprise" in WCW that would "change the face of the sports entertainment world" and that "Vince McMahon couldn't even stop." Now, what exactly IS this almighty "surprise?" To be honest, WCW has done a GREAT job not letting anything leak out, therefor, everyone is in suspense, including myself, of course. All that is really known is that WCW executives did have a meeting in LA recently. Yes, one meeting was concerning the possibility of WCW being bought out by SFX, but that is far from being "signed, sealed, and delivered" and I doubt that would such a big surprise, and how would that fit in, considering Bischoff stated that whatever this surprise is, it will be revealed at the Great American Bash? Personally, I have one major guess, and I'm sure many have thought the same. Wasn't Paul Heyman in Los Angeles in meetings recently? Well, if you put the pieces of the puzzle together, maybe we'll see some sort of WCW/ECW alliance? Hey, that's the only logical thing I can think of that would be so "huge." But still, there are several pieces missing from the puzzle. Unless SOMETHING is leaked out, I guess we'll have to ultimately wait for the Great American Bash this Sunday to see what's up. Whatever the case, you have to applaud WCW's hype of this one.
Another story that has been all around this week is concerning WCW valet, Tammy Lynn Sytch. As the story goes, a vial was found in the women's locker room shortly after Tammy had been in the bathroom for a while, and she was later blamed and turned in by a WCW valet, rumored to be Kimberly. Sytch was asked to leave the show, and her segment with Miss Hancock was scrapped, and Chris Candido did the changed segment himself. As of now, Sytch is not fired from WCW. Sytch denied that the vial was hers and was volunteered by Chris Candido to take a drug test. Rumors are that Sytch was even "framed" and the vial was planted by someone who didn't like her backstage. This seems like one big mystery story to me, and as soon as we hear more, it will be posted.
Lex Luger and Elizabeth were reportedly asked to leave this past Tuesday's WCW Thunder tapings. Both Luger and Liz have been constantly complaining about their recent roles in WCW, and the straw was broken on Tuesday when Luger continued to complain about his scheduled segment, where he would run in and attack Chuck Palumbo, causing them to pick up the titles due to the "Titles can change on a DQ" rule in that match. Luger reportedly thought the segment would make him look "stupid" and continued to complain, before eventually being asked to leave, along with Liz, who was also very vocal with her role in recent weeks. As of now, both their matches have been scrapped from the PPV this Sunday, which were Liz vs. Kimberly and Luger vs. Palumbo.
On a somewhat related subject, why did WCW change Chuck Palumbo's name from "The Main Event" to "The Event?" Does that make any sense at all? I mean, I can handle "PerfecShawn" but "The Event?" WTF? That's really all I can say.
There have been rumors that WCW will move to the 9-11 PM time slot sometime in July. Those rumors are false, and no plans have been made to do so. Well, at least not yet.
Thunder drew a pretty good 2.8 rating yesterday, off hours of 2.8 and 2.7, most likely stemmed from the return of Goldberg. WCW is also pushing the Goldberg vs. Tank Abbott match this Monday like it was a PPV match. I just have a feeling that this week's Nitro could be a huge show, possibly the break out show for WCW, that is presumably if the "surprise" lives up to its hype. If it does, and this is as big as everyone says it is, WCW has some greener pastures ahead.
WCW's Tony Marinara, who was the young boss in the Mamalukes angle a few months ago, is now making a stint in ECW and will go by the name "Tony Mamaluke." Very original. Actually, you can catchy Tony on tomorrow's ECW on TNN, where he'll be going up against Mikey Whipwreck.
An ECW on TNN preview has been released on ECWwrestling.com. Reminder, ECW airs tomorrow night (Friday) at 8:00 PM on TNN. The preview is as follows:
- Kid Kash vs. Grimes
- Mikey Whipwreck vs. Tony Mamaluke
- The Sandman vs. Rhino (TV Title)
- Appearances by: Justin Credible, Francine, Rob Van Dam, Jerry Lynn, Scotty Anton, Tommy Dreamer, Cyrus, Jack Victory, Steve Corino, Simon Diamond, Swinger, and more.
That's all for today's report. Stop by tomorrow for more news, rumors, and more. Until next time, FU Pacers.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com