Hey. This is The Peoples' News and Rumors, and I am your host for today, "The CR" Mike Christopher. I never thought I'd be lucky enough to have the honor of doing this, but none-the-less, I'll be here for the next few weeks helping out Triple A in Brechlin's absence. Anyway, there is a lot of News going around today, including a lot of stuff from the Ross Report, so let's get right to it.
As I just stated, the weekend edition of The Ross Report is online, and there are plenty of noteworthy news-bits included in his report this week. The report is in my own words, and I've incorporated my own thoughts on certain subjects as well.
The first thing JR goes over this week is giving an update on the multiple injuries to WWF superstars at the present moment. The list is huge, so I'll break it down into individual tidbits:
- Everybody's favorite pimp, The Godfather, is currently suffering from a twisted ankle, and is doubtful for the weekend house shows. At this point, he is questionable for this coming weeks Television.
- This past week, Eddie Guerrero bumped heads with Dean Malenko, and has a nice sized lump on his forehead. At this point, he is NOT expected to miss any television.
- As has been reported over the past few weeks, Jeff Hardy is continuously suffering from stomach pains. He is currently under doctor's care, and is toughing this one out, as he will not miss any television. Jeff Hardy is one of my personal favorites, and I truly hope he does not turn out to be a modern day Shawn Michaels, where his career was ended early because of injury.
- The Undertaker is still not at 100% from pectoral surgery, but he decided he could not sit on the sidelines anymore, and that is why he is currently on television. He's one tough dude.
- The Big Show is continuing rehabilitation is his knee, and is working out vigorously. He should be released from doctors care with the next two weeks. Expect him to make his in-ring return no later than July's PPV, Fully Loaded. Revenge will no doubt be on the mind of this big man, as he will most likely try to get back at Shane McMahon upon his re-entrance into the Federation.
- JR comments that Tazz's bicep is healing well, and he could make his return at the King of the Ring PPV, or the next night on RAW is WAR. Tazz is also another one of my personal favorites, and I can't wait to see him back in action. Maybe they won't job him out this time?
- Viscera is finally making progress on his injured shoulder. As reported here at TPWW.net a few days ago, a brand new gimmick is in line for the big man. It looks like somebody has taken a liking to this giant, and he will be getting a bigger, more expanded role within the company.
- As reported last week, "Mr. Ass" himself, Billy Gunn, is in the process of healing from his rotator cuff injury he suffered a few short months ago. September looks like the month where he will once again grace the WWF ring. Hopefully, he has worked on his personality and mic skills in his time off, so that he can be re-packaged and finally have a successful singles career.
That wrapped up JR's injury update. There were some other key notes contained in his weekly report, and here they are:
JR says that the WWF Cookbook is developing rather well, and is around 200 pages! It contains great recipes added by WWF Superstars and other employees, and it also contains personal stories, photos, plus more! The cookbook is expected to be released this fall.
Mick Foley's new Christmas book is due out this fall, just in time for everybody's Holiday shopping. Everyone's favorite color commentator, "The King" Jerry Lawler, did a lot of artwork for the picture book, and JR says it looks "superb".
JR shot down the rumor that WWF superstars were intentionally being passed over for movie deals and that the "bigger" WWF Superstars were instead being offered for the spots. That did sound kind of ridiculous to me as well.
JR commented that Steven Regal is looking great in Memphis, and is expected to once again be added to the WWF Roster. There isn't an exact date, but Ross thinks it will be sometime around Summerslam. Although I loved "The Real Man's Man" theme music, I hated the gimmick, and I hope I never have to see that again.
As has been reported all over the Internet over the past couple weeks, Bull Buchanan is impressing a lot of people in the WWF, and it was rumored for a while that he would sign a brand new contract with the company. Well, JR confirmed that he has just signed a brand new, multi-year contract. No monetary figure is known at this point.
Speaking of WWF Superstars signing new contracts, Brian Christopher, a.k.a. Grand Master Sexay, is expected to sign a brand new, multi-year contract with the WWF as well. Also, JR said that Torrie is all set to sign a brand new contract with the WWF as well. Great news to hear.
That was the conclusion of the Ross Report. There is a lot of other News out there today, so let's get to it...
Former WWF Superstar Ken Shamrock will be filming an episode of TSN's "Off the Record" in Toronto dealing with the continuous violence in sports. The show will air this coming Thursday. Speaking of Shamrock, there has been a lot of speculation as to what his current situation is. First off, last I heard, he was NOT going to be fighting in the UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is, however, looking to fight 2 or 3 shoot, or real, fights this year. If Shamrock does return to the WWF, it will not be before 2001.
The early estimated buy-rate is in for the WWF's last PPV, Judgment Day, and for the WWF's standards, it is not looking well. It is estimated that the PPV only did 400,000 buys, which is a 1.05 buy-rate. That is the lowest number for a WWF PPV in a while. The only reason I can see why it did such a low number was because many fans were skeptical of whether or not the Iron Man Match between The Rock and HHH could have amounted to anything. However, most feel that they proved us wrong and put on a great match, so it's unfortunate that the fans shied away from the PPV because of those feelings. Thanks to Dave Meltzer for that number.
Dave Meltzer is also reporting that the WWF plans on giving Chris Benoit a more cocky attitude in his character, so that when he makes his eventual face turn, it will mean more to the fans. I like this idea, mainly because right now Benoit isn't getting a lot of heat, and he could really use some. Benoit is one of the hardest working wrestlers in the business, and I hope that he can develop the persona needed to make it in the WWF.
Last night, Chyna was on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Chyna came out after Samuel L. Jackson. She, Jay, and Jackson had a conversation about wrestling in general. Jay asked her about her back hand spring flip, and Chyna said that it was something she and Steve Austin had been fooling around with at a non televised show, and she finally decided to incorporate it into her arsenal of offensive moves. Jay also asked her if the high-heels she wore in the ring gave her opponent an advantage, and Chyna answered saying that it's to her advantage because it hurts the guys more when she kicks them in the nuts! They went on to promote the King of the Ring PPV, and Chyna stated that this year there may be a "Queen of the Ring". Chyna came across as a great professional on the show, and I enjoyed watching it.
To end today's WWF News, here is the ever so infamous DirecTV RAW is WAR preview.
-WWF RAW 9-10pm: The Rock, Undertaker and Kane plot their revenge.
-WWF War Zone 10-11pm: King of the Ring preview.
Moving onto some WCW News, according to Dave Scherer, at a licensing show in New York this past week, which involved major players from all three federations, Goldberg had a confrontation with WWF Champion, HHH. Apparently, Goldberg got in HHH's face and said some pretty nasty stuff regarding things HHH had said about Goldberg in the past. HHH, thinking Goldberg was just working the crowd, replied saying "what's up?". Goldberg said some more stuff and then stormed off, coming across as very unprofessional. Stephanie McMahon, who was accompanying HHH, was shocked. Interesting stuff.
In an interesting tidbit, Dave Meltzer reported that last week on WCW TV when Terry Funk fought Chris Candido, and it led to them fighting on a farm in some horse pens, the horse involved in the match was given a tranquilizer before the match, but still panicked and kicked Funk and Candido. I actually watched that on TV, and believe me, it did not look good. Ouch.
In a quick ECW note, we've all heard about the incident involving The Sandman at Pensacola this past week. However, Dave Meltzer is reporting that there is more to this story. Apparently, a fight broke out backstage between Jack Victory and the Sandman, where Sandman poked Victory's eyes, and Victory repeatedly head-butted the Sandman. Other than swelling to each man's head, no serious injuries occurred.
Well, that wraps up today's News and Rumors here at TPWW.net. I'll be back sometime later this coming week, probably Monday or Tuesday. Until then, I'm out. Later.
"The CR" Mike Christopher
TheCR@tpww.net
AOL Screen Name: CorpReport
5StarWrestling.com