WCW finally unveiled its "huge, earth shattering surprise that would change the world of wrestling forever" last night. And what was it? Goldberg turned heel. I really don't have to say anymore than that, but I will anyway. But first, besides the "surprise" (And I'll use quotes every time I say "surprise") I thought the PPV was decent. In fact, if it hadn't been so hugely hyped, I might have thought it was a good PPV. The wrestling wasn't too great, as has been the case lately in WCW, but it had some good storylines and angles in the show. I actually like Goldberg turning heel, since it gives WCW that dominating heel that they have been lacking. However, when you hype something that much, no matter what it turns out to be, 95% of the time it will be disappointing for the simple fact that people will create their own impossible possibilities (does that make sense?) for what the surprise would be. This reminds me exactly of the Higher Power angle, where Vince turned out to be behind the hood. It was the obvious choice, no one thought it would happen for the simple fact that it WAS so obvious, but it happened anyway. Change the business forever? Vince McMahon can't do anything to stop it? Yeah, I bet McMahon is shouting "Damn you BISCHOFF!" right now. Yes, the hype definitely gave a lot of interest to the PPV and for WCW as a whole for this week, BUT, in the end, WCW has lost the trust of a lot of fans.
While we're on the subject of the "surprise," who started this "Shane McMahon is WCW's surprise" crap anyway? Honestly, people are way too gullible these days.
Our latest poll asks the obvious question, "Were you disappointed with WCW's 'surprise'?" As I'm typing this, the results are as follows:
- Yes, it was a complete disappointment - 57%
- No, I liked it - 12%
- I don't care for WCW - 30%
For those who are wondering, YES, that in fact was a stunt man who took the extreme Sting bump last night, being lit on fire and jumping off WCW's Nitro Vision onto the entrance ramp. Admittedly, that was a pretty good bump. The Maryland State Athletic Commission is apparently angry at the bump taken, however, although it did seem rather safe with the propped ramp.
WCW has all but finalized their deal with FOX, according to Dave Meltzer. Not much information at all is known about this situation, but as soon as we hear anything, it will be posted.
A&E; will air a Biography on Hulk Hogan this Tuesday, June 13 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
WCW now has its own trading card game, the "WCW Nitro Trading Card Game." It is created by Wizards of the Coast, who also create Pokémon and Magic: the Gathering trading card games. You can get more info on the game HERE.
WWF.com announced today that Sameul L. Jackson will be appearing on this week's WWF Smackdown! from Chicago, IL to promote his upcoming movie, "Shaft." If you need to promote a movie, the WWF is the place to go these days.
The WWF will also hold a press conference for the XFL, their upcoming football league, at the downtown Marriott Hotel in Chicago this Tuesday afternoon. Vince McMahon is expected to make several important announcements regarding the league. We'll have all the info from the press conference in the coming days.
The WWF will be holding the September 11 RAW is WAR and September 12 Smackdown! in the very same arena, the America West Arena in Phoenix. This is the first time the WWF has held two back to back television events at the same arena. The WWF decided to make the move when tickets for the September 11 RAW sold out in ninety minutes.
WWF.com has put up images and videos of the Rock's music video shoot for Wyclef Jean's upcoming video, "It Doesn't Matter." WWF Superstars will be airing a special on the music video this Sunday morning at 10:00 AM EST and you can check out WWF.com's photos and videos HERE.
Here are a few matches you can expect for tonight's RAW is WAR:
- X-Pac vs. Dean Malenko (KOTR Qualifying Match)
- Christian vs. Jeff Hardy (KOTR Qualifying Match)
- Stephanie vs. Lita (WWF Women's Title)
- Too Cool vs. T&A; (WWF Tag Team Titles)
- Crash Holly vs. Gerald Brisco (WWF Hardcore Title)
- Chris Benoit vs. Hardcore Holly (Intercontinental Title)
Bradshaw is currently filming a role in the upcoming USA Original Series, "The Huntress." A USA original movie to kick off the series will premiere on July 22, and the show will then become a regular series on the USA Network this summer. Bradshaw's episode will air sometime in August or September, according to WWF.com.
Crash Holly has recently received a new, larger contract by the WWF, according to Dave Meltzer. No word on the exact figures, but it is said to be much higher paid.
The Dupps are expected to appear on WWF television soon. They have been wrestling dark matches as of late at nearly every Smackdown taping. I got a chance to see the Dupps in action at the ECW show in White Plains, NY this past December, and I thought they looked pretty impressive. They are a tag team with an old dirty southern gimmick. Could be fun to watch.
ECW Anarchy Rulz, Acclaim's next ECW video game title, is expected to be released for the Sony Playstation and Sega Dreamcast sometime between August 2 and August 10. Although I got bored of ECW Hardcore Revolution in less than a week, I guess I'm going to still pick up Anarchy Rulz for the simple hope that it is even slightly different than Acclaim's other recent wrestling titles.
ECW wrestlers' paychecks have been a week late due to several recent happenings in ECW. Paul Heyman once again missed this weekend's ECW taping for business reasons. If the WWF does in fact show up on TNN, I can only pray that ECW gets picked up by the USA Network or even another decent network.
Super Crazy should be back in action soon when his work visa is finally worked out.
This Friday's ECW on TNN did a mediocre 0.8 rating, which is right at where the company has been for the last several weeks, after reaching constant ratings of over 1.1 just a couple of short months ago.
In site related news, Adam Kirk unfortunately will not be able to write his column, "Nevermore" this week due to personal reasons. However, he expects to be back next week.
On another unfortunate site related note, Tim Brechlin will be out of action until mid-July also due to personal reasons. Damn you, Tim. Just kidding, of course... Or am I? Mwahaha. :-)
That wraps it up for this one. Until we meet agayne (when was the last time Jericho said that?), enjoy Raw and/or Nitro... hopefully.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com