Hey yo. This is The Peoples' News and Rumors, and I'm Mike Christopher, your party host for this evening. There are a lot of things to go over in today's News and Rumors, from RAW/Nitro thoughts, to ratings, to all the days news. So, on that thought, let's get started.
RAW is WAR had several huge announcements, developments, character changes, and more. Last night, RAW was one of the best 2 hours of television that I have seen in a long time. Perhaps the most significant happening last night was, for all intents and purposes, downplayed to the point where it was almost unobvious as to what was going to happen. If you didn't pick it up last night on RAW is WAR, three of the four members of the McMahon family will not be appearing on WWF Television for a prolonged period of time. Here is how they were all written off TV:
Vince McMahon - Vince was more obvious than the other two members of the family that he will be off TV for a while. He came out at the beginning of the show, made a semi-face turn, announced that he is going home to "make babies" with Linda McMahon, shook the Rock's hand, and then caught one last final Rock-Bottom. Interestingly enough, Vince's story of "making babies", although blatantly not true to most wrestling fans, successfully wrote Vincent K. McMahon off WWF TV for anywhere from several weeks to two to three months, if not longer. From my own perspective, I see Vince returning on either one of two possible dates. The first could be two to three weeks before August's blockbuster WWF PPV, Summerslam, to spice that PPV up, much like he did with WrestleMania. However, if things are looking up for the WWF, my second option has Vince returning the RAW is WAR after Summerslam to start fresh, new angles. Although it is pretty obvious that Vince will be off TV for a while, he will most likely be at every live RAW and every Smackdown taping in the backstage area, running the show. On a final Vince McMahon note, I would like to personally wish "The Jackhammer" all the luck in the world in his current quest for a new member in the McMahon family. :-]
Shane McMahon - It is also relatively obvious that Shane McMahon has been written off WWF TV because of words spoken by Jim Ross last night on RAW is WAR. Ross, selling Shane-O-Mac's monster bump during the King of the Ring main event matchup this past Sunday night, said that the self proclaimed Giant Killer has "bruised ribs and a possibility of a punctured lung". I can neither confirm or deny what Jim Ross said, but I am pretty sure that Shane is OK after his bump from KOTR, and that was just a way of writing him, as well, off WWF TV. Currently, I am not sure how long Shane will be off TV, but I wouldn't rule out a return around the same time as The Big Show makes his return, because as we all know, revenge will be had! However, that was pure speculation just pure speculation on my part, so take it with a grain of salt.
Linda McMahon - Ahh yes, the "shrew" of a wife, as Vince has said so often on WWF TV, may have been the least noticeable McMahon to have been written off TV last night on RAW is WAR. In fact, I didn't pick up on this one myself until earlier today. Last night on RAW when Mr. Shawn Michaels announced that Mick Foley is the new WWF Commissioner, it surely drops Linda from any TV roles in the near future. Foley will be the "man in charge" this summer in the WWF, and we saw the beginning of that last night on RAW. With Foley in charge, if Linda needed to get something across to the fans, then she can do it through Foley. Therefore, Linda has officially been written off WWF TV. When will she return? I really have no idea myself, but I would guess around the same time that Vince, himself, returns.
Moving on to more of the important things that went down last night, as briefly mentioned above, the Heart Break Kid himself, Shawn Michaels, made his (brief) return to WWF TV to announce that Mick Foley has been appointed, by Linda McMahon, the Commissioner of the World Wrestling Federation. As for Michaels, this was a one time appearance for him. He'll be back, no doubt, in the future, but for now, he'll be a father and run his own Wrestling promotion. As for Foley, he is the new "man in charge" in the WWF, and will play the baby-face "booker" in the WWF this summer. No word on how long he will be in charge, but I am almost sure that upon Vince McMahon's return to TV sometime in the next few months, Foley and McMahon will probably battle (not in the ring, probably through two competitors) for the rights of "who is in charge" in the WWF. Again, that is again pure speculation on my part, and even if it does go down, it won't be anytime soon.
There were two other very interesting happenings that went down last night on RAW. The first of which was Tazz's return to the company, only to attack Rikishi Phatu instead of Chris Benoit, who put Tazz out of action a few months back, thus completely his much anticipated heel turn. Hopefully, as a fan of Tazz, I hope that we've seen the last of him paying his dues, which consisted of him jobbing to the likes of Crash Holly, and now he can move on to bigger and green pastures. I wouldn't be shocked to see a Tazz vs. Rikishi matchup sometime early in July, perhaps with Tazz even winning the Intercontinental Title.
The second interesting happening that went down last night was Stevie Richards new role in the WWF. During the "over the top rope take off your top" match, when Terri was supposed to take off her bra revealing her "puppies" to the world, Stevie made his way out with a big "CENSORED" sign, covering up Terri before anything could be exposed. Also, if I'm not mistaken, it looked like Stevie had a new haircut, which looked much shorter. We'll see how this role develops in the coming weeks, and it finally looks like Stevie will finally get the push he deserves.
As for Monday Nitro, I wasn't able to catch most of the show, but from what I understand, Nitro was basically building to WCW's next PPV, Bash at the Beach. Upon reading the results, Jeff Jarrett successfully defended his WCW Heavyweight Championship in the much anticipated 4 Corners match on Nitro. Also of note, it looks like newly employed Lance Storm has aligned with Billy Kidman. That team could be great, considering they are both GREAT ring technicians.
Speaking of Nitro, we did not see the debut of The Great Muta... or did we? There have been many rumors going around, and even the likes of Wade Keller is reporting that the man who hit Vampiro in the laying him out, and then placing the Sting mask on him, may have just been The Great Muta. Ed Ferrera, current WCW booker, is the one who proposed the partnership between Muta and the former KISS Demon. This could also work out nicely.
The ratings for last night's RAW and Nitro programs are in, and both shows have improved from last weeks bad numbers thanks to the NBA Finals. RAW scored a composite of 6.4 off hours 5.7 and 7.0, while Nitro scored a composite of 2.8 off hours 3.2 and 2.4. Thanks to Dave Scherer for those numbers.
Moving on to all of today's news and rumors from the Professional Wrestling world, it is my duty to inform you of some bad news, just in case you missed it as announced last night on Nitro. Ric Flair's father, Dr. Richard Reid Fliehr, passed away this past Sunday, with Ric at his side, at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, NC. He was 81 years old. The entire staff of TPWW.net sends out their condolences on this tragic even for the Flair family...
Staying with WCW News, Dave Scherer reported today that there was a "buzz" going on in the backstage area last night at Nitro that Vince Russo will be returning shortly to the company. I know that I would personally love to see Russo work with the current booking staff of Terry Taylor, Ed Ferrera, and Bill Banks, as a booking committee, so that there would be a nice mixture of both Sports Entertainment and actual wrestling. More on this story as it goes down...
Dave Scherer also reported today that Konnan will be getting surgery on his arm, which he injured a few weeks ago. I hope that Konnan has a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. No word on how much TV he will miss.
Moving on to some WWF news, Dave Meltzer reported today that Chris Jericho was named the sexiest Manitoban, according to a poll in the Winnipeg Sun. Jericho just edged Winnipeg Blue Bombers football player Troy Westwood and Guess Who's Burton Cummings. So, if Stephanie McMahon got to kiss the "sexiest Manitoban", what is she complaining about?
I'd like to shoot down a rumor that has been floating around the Internet very quickly today. It has been rumored that Rena Mero, formerly Sable in the WWF, wants to come back to the WWF. I would just like to point out who ridiculous that is. Does anybody remember how she left the WWF last year? Let me make this perfectly clear, Ms. Mero will NOT be returning to the WWF anytime soon, and probably never. The only reason this whole rumor started up was because Rena was on a radio show recently, and said that if everything was worked out, she would consider returning to the WWF. Again, even if she wanted to come back, it won't happen. Besides, us men (and women?) have Trish Stratus for eye candy now :-]
In today's top story, The WWF and Viacom won their lawsuit against USA over the rights to WWF Television come this fall. So, it appears that Raw, Warzone, Heat, and other WWF Programming will be moved to TNN come this fall. In the only good news out of this situation, at least for me personally, is that it allows ECW to get out of their current contract with TNN, and look elsewhere for their programming. As of now, the two top candidates for ECW are still the USA Network, who just lost the rights to WWF Programming, or the Fox, where their shows will be broadcasted on FX. In some other good news on this whole situation, I will be dedicating my column this week to this entire situation. It will be up on TPWW.net sometime either later tonight or tomorrow. So, stop by later for that.
Moving on to some ECW notes, even though Raven was offered a WWF contract, it appears that ECW wants Raven to remain in the company until his current contract ends in August, now that both sides have settled their disputes, and now that Raven has lost some weight, gotten back in shape, and solved his personal problems. I would look for a September debut for Raven in the World Wrestling Federation.
Well, that wraps up today's edition of The Peoples' News & Rumors. Again, remember to check out my column either later tonight or tomorrow dedicated to the whole WWF Television situation. For those interested, this week's Fantasy League card is up at my site, 5StarWrestling.com, which features several championship matches, the finals in the Hardcore Championship Tournament, Goldberg's debut in the Heavyweight Division, and more. Cast your votes now by clicking the above link. I'll be back on Saturday for another edition of the Peoples' News & Rumors. Until then, I'm out. Later.
Mike Christopher
TheCR@tpww.net
AOL Instant Messanger Screen Name: CorpReport
5StarWrestling.com