Welcome once again to today's news and rumors here on TPWW.net. There are a few interesting stories once again developing today and I'll try to touch base on everything as well as a few site related notes. So without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
*** UPDATE *** TNN officials plan to cancel ECW on TNN effective September 22, according to a report in the Pro Wrestling Torch. ECW will air its final show on September 22, Friday night on TNN. According to Wade Keller, a TNN spokesman stated that TNN would be cancelling the show because "ECW has failed to meet some of the criteria of the agreement, including ratings performance targets." Give me a break. However, Paul Heyman has been meeting with several representatives for a potential new home for ECW television, including most notably the USA Network, among other such as FOX and ESPN2. This decision by TNN obviously comes due to the recent signing of the World Wrestling Federation to air on TNN and the obvious resentment by the WWF to share the spotlight with another wrestling company on the same channel. However, I guess you can't blame them. This story definitely does not have as much of an impact as it could have if the WWF remained on USA, as this still opens several paths for ECW to go through. TNN disrespected ECW, ECW took shots back out of frustration. ECW and TNN obviously weren't meant to be together.
Sunday Night Heat will debut on MTV this October, according to an article in the New York Post. The WWF and the USA Network have a different deal regarding the WWF's Heat broadcast, and thus will move the program from USA at a different time to Viacom owned MTV.
Another interesting story developing from the fallout of the WWF/Viacom/USA trial is that the USA Network announced that they would airing two hour movies to fill Raw's Monday 9-11PM time slot starting next September. However, this, by no means, means that the USA Network will not sign a deal with ECW. It is still a very likely possibility that ECW will be signed to another time slot sometime very soon, and personally, I think that would be the smartest thing to do for both sides involved. I think a Tuesday primetime timeslot would definitely be ideal for ECW. Hopefully everything works out for the better for ECW.
The WWF's stock has enjoyed a surge with the news of their legal victory over USA, rising as high as 20 3/8 today and currently at 19 15/16 as of 5:00PM.
A correction from yesterday's report: Raw is War will CONTINUE to air on TSN, as the WWF still has a remaining three years on their contract with TSN. This means that Canadian viewers will have Raw airing on two channels simultaneously in most cases and will no longer have to deal with TSN's edits or pre-emptions.
Hardcore Holly suffered a severely broken upper left forearm during his match against Kurt Angle at the Smackdown tapings this Tuesday in Hartford when Angle landed his knee on Holly's arm attempting a moonsault. According to an article on WWF.com, Holly will undergo surgery tomorrow in Dayton, Florida, where he will have a titanium plate and screws inserted into his forearm. Holly is expected to be out of action for ten weeks, but hopes to be back in six. Holly will also require another surgery to remove the plate one year from now. According to the article, Holly had no hard feelings towards Kurt Angle, who actually drove Holly to and from the hospital among several other deeds.
Speaking of King Kurt, he will be on WWF.com's Byte This! 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.
Here is the non-spoiler version of tonight's WWF Smackdown card. If you'd rather not know tonight's card, simply skip to the next paragraph.
- Rikishi & Eddie Guerrero vs. Val Venis & Chris Benoit
- The Godfather vs. Bull Buchanan
- Kane vs. Christian
- Undertaker vs. Edge
- Crash Holly vs. Al Snow - Hardcore Title
- Triple H, Road Dogg, & X-Pac vs. Chris Jericho & The Dudleys
WCW Thunder did a 2.4 rating with a 4.1 share (4.1% of households watched), off hours of 2.4 and 2.4 this past Wednesday. Another mediocre rating, although slightly down from previous weeks.
The final buyrate for WCW's Great American Bash PPV was a 0.2, according to Dave Scherer, which is still relatively low, but is still a 25% increase from WCW's May PPV.
Shane Douglas was feeling much better today after suffering a neck stinger after receiving a DDT from the Wall at the WCW Worldwide/Thunder tapings on Tuesday. The Franchise is expected back for the July 9th WCW PPV, Bash at the Beach (possibly even sooner) for his match against Buff Bagwell.
Jerry Flynn has been released by WCW, according to Bob Ryder.
Scott Steiner will be getting a new "surprise freak" soon, according to Wednesday's WCW Live broadcast on WCW.com.
In some site related news, we will be debuting some great new columns on TPWW over the next few days, possibly even as early as tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that. Also expect a few great new WWF/WCW results reporters to make their debuts on TPWW very soon. Our Trivia, Top Ten List, Q&A;, Feedback, and Guess the Wrestler sections should also be back very soon.
That wraps it up for today's report. Until next time, enjoy WWF Smackdown.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com