Hey Hey, I'm back on this Friday, June 16 and as the weather seems to be heating up, so is the wrestling world, as I'm here to bring you all the news, all the rumors, and all the gossip that I possibly can in today's edition of the People's News and Rumors. There's whole lot of news out there ranging from a rather bizarre story about Vince Russo to some great news for the fans of Y2J, Chris Jericho.
Let's start off with the World Wrestling Federation today, and you have to give the WWF credit as the put together yet another great edition of Smackdown. From what I saw, the WWF seems to be throwing guys like Benoit, Angle, and Jericho in with the bigger names, which is definitely a smart move by the WWF, as they are back on the track to success so to speak, not relying on the 'Taker, Rock, Kane/McMahon-Helmsley Faction feud to carry the promotion. I also loved the Dudleys/DX and Venis/Rikishi segments... The whole dumpster angle adds a great twist to what seemingly was a lackluster feud between the two teams, and also is great for nostalgic memories for the fans of the original heel New Age Outlaws. I definitely see a Dumpster match up at the King of the Ring between the Dudleys and the Degenerates. On the Rikishi/Venis feud, it's great to see these brawls between the two on Smackdown each week, it's done wonders for Val's persona, and only adds more dimension to the character of Rikishi.
And as always since it's Friday, here's the Smackdown rating courtesy of Dave Scherer... Smackdown did a 4.6 rating, with an over night of 6.2, which placed UPN into third place in the overnight rating, edging CBS, FOX, and the WB.
Tazz's official site, Tazmission.com, has updated its "Ask Tazz" interactive feature. So if you're a fan of the Human Suplex/Wrecking Machine, I'd advise you to check it out.
Some news on young, up and coming star, Bull Buchannan... WWF.com reports that the Bull has signed a new 3 year deal with the WWF. It looks like the WWF sees something in Buchanan and hopes that he can go a long way. Personally, as long as the WWF totally disassociates Bull with the Bossman (IE some what of a new look), he may be on his way to stardom.
Reminder, the 9th Wonder of the World, and Eddie Guerrero's Mamacita, Chyna will be appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. Now, the Tonight Show usually airs at 11:30 eastern, but I'm guessing it'll be a little delayed due to Game 5 of the NBA Finals on NBC between the Lakers and the Pacers.
WWF.com reports that next Friday, the 23rd of June, two of the WWF's Divas, The Kat and Lita will have a photo shoot all day long at WWF New York in Manhattan. So if you're in the area, check it out.
WWF.com also reports that there is a possibility that the People's Champion, the Rock may be hosting MTV's TRL once again in the near future. The last time that Rock hosted TRL, he was pretty successful, and since Rock is the hottest thing in the wrestling business, it'd be a smart decision by the folks over at MTV to have the People's Champ as a guest host of TRL.
WWF.com has reported that Chris Jericho's Band, Fozzy has signed a one album deal with MegaForce. Now as any Jerichoholic knows, Fozzy is Chris's 80's Metal Band which has been highly promoted on Y2J's website, ChrisJericho.com. The album is slated for a Fall release, and if you want some more info on Fozzy and its Album deal, click HERE.
Quick plug for TPWW's Fantasy Tournament... this tournament is definitely a great one as we give you the chance to chose the winners of the King of the Ring based on the real brackets. So if you have not been one of the over 1500 people who have already voted, click HERE to vote.
Moving on to some WCW news on the status of Vince Russo... Here's the story as told be TPWW's own Triple A... Vince Russo may be gone from WCW, according to a report in the Pro Wrestling Torch. According to the reports, Vince Russo has become extremely frustrated with current situations in WCW and may have gone as far as to "quit" the company sometime yesterday. However, reports are that Russo was talked into calming down and taking a couple of days off to clear his mind and rethink his decision. Russo is apparently extremely frustrated with the lack of a ratings turnaround in WCW, Standards and Practices vetoing and censoring angles in WCW, specifically the entire Vampiro/Demon situation mentioned yesterday and the censoring of Kevin Nash on Thunder with his references to the movie "Deliverance." Another situation is the reported disagreement between Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff over Lex Luger, Elizabeth, and Kimberly. Eric Bischoff apparently wants to bring the three back, but Russo does not want to, as he feels that it would be removing the example that he set for others in the locker room. Hulk Hogan is apparently siding AGAINST Russo in this situation and his backstage power is reported to be as high as ever recently. As of now, it remains a possibility that this may be a work, given the rumors of a "company split" angle where Russo and Bischoff split WCW into two. However, signs point to this not being an angle at all. We should have more on this story as it develops.
Big Ry back once again, and in some related news to the Russo topic, expect Nitro to be booked by a committee with Terry Taylor, Ed Ferrera, Bill Banks, and the Disco Inferno. Expect them to follow Russo's current direction in story lines, thus don't expect anything drastic on this Monday's Nitro and Thunder.
For those of you who are wondering, Thunder scored a 2.5 rating on Wednesday night. Not the best rating for Thunder but considering it went up against the NBA finals, it's some what decent.
Dave Scherer reports that WCW has released one of Scotty Steiner's Freaks, Shikira due to the fact that she wouldn't go down to the Power Plant and learn how to take bumps. Interesting situation here, as WCW has been pushing for their valets to learn on how to take bumps, which is all fine and good, but what happened to the good old days when valets just stood there and looked pretty?
It's pretty much guaranteed that Lance Storm will be debuting this upcoming week, either on Nitro or Thunder. I'm definitely curious on what kind of direction WCW will point Lance into as the man who is Calgary's Greatest Athlete will definitely be a great asset to World Championship Wrestling.
Reminder, ECW airs yet another edition of ECW on TNN this week, and we are sure to see some great wrestling action as Jerry Lynn challenges Justin Credible for the ECW World Title, and Kid Kash takes on EZ Money. Should be an excellent show, and as always, ECW airs on TNN tonight at 8 PM.
Well, that wraps it up for today. If your wrestling crave isn't fixed yet, check out my column, The People's Column. Hopefully that will help your wrestling craving for this weekend, so until next time, Ciao...
Big Ry
BIGRY214@aol.com