Welcome (back) to TPWW.net for this early Saturday edition of the News and Rumors. There are a few interesting pieces of news to comment on as always, so without further delay, on with the news and rumors...
This past Thursday's WWF Smackdown! received a somewhat disappointing 4.0 rating, which is definitely the lowest Smackdown rating in recent memory. I don't recall Smackdown reaching below 4.0, so this could very well be the lowest rating ever for Smackdown. But then again, my memory isn't perfect and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. Smackdown's quarter hour ratings are as follows: 3.3, 3.5, 3.9, 4.1, 4.2, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5. Numbers courtesy of Bob Ryder.
As always, Jim Ross recently updated his Ross Report, which included several interesting notes of interest. I'll try to cover what I feel were the most notable pieces of news from the report. In this week's report, Ross mentioned something that should probably excite a lot of people. He stated that Chyna has been in California all week doing a photo shoot for Playboy magazine. I'm honestly not sure whether or not it will be a revealing shoot, but from what I've heard, the shoot will be non-nude. However, if I find that to be incorrect, I'll post a correction.
Mick Foley should be back from his promotional tour of Southeast Asia this Monday for Raw is War. It'll definitely be great to have Mick back, since both Raw and Smackdown this past week seemed to be missing his presence.
Billy Gunn is expected back in action at around the end of September, according to JR. There's a chance he may be able to make it in time for the September 24 PPV, Unforgiven.
Tori will undergo shoulder surgery sometime next week in Birmingham, Alabama to repair her separated shoulder. Ross reports that she is expected to be out of action for two to three months, but will be back on television before that in the corner of Degeneration X.
Steven Regal may be on his way back to WWF television. He is reportedly impressing many in Memphis, and could make a return to WWF television very soon if he continues to impress, according to Jim Ross. Hopefully the WWF will have something better than the "real man's man" gimmick this time.
The Rock will be on the cover of the August issue of Jane Magazine, which hits newsstands this Tuesday, according to WWF.com.
Since there isn't a huge amount of news to report today, I thought I'd just throw in a few notable wrestler birthdays coming up in the next few weeks or so. This past Thursday marked X-Pac's b-day, while yesterday was "The Chosen One" Jeff Jarrett's. Here are other notables:
- July 15 - Jesse "The Body" Ventura
- July 18 - Al Snow
- July 22 - Shawn Michaels
- July 27 - Triple H
- July 29 - Scott Steiner
- For more, click HERE.
It was announced on WCW Live recently that WCW will hold a United States championship tournament this Tuesday night on Nitro (Remember that Nitro airs Tuesday this week due to a movie on TNT). The following matches will take place in the tournament to crown a new US Heavyweight champ:
- Lance Storm vs. Buff Bagwell
- Shane Douglas vs. Billy Kidman
- Mike Awesome vs. Positively Kanyon
- Vampiro vs. Great Muta
Scott Steiner is getting married this weekend, according to Bob Ryder. Steiner was originally scheduled for this week's Nitro and is reportedly attempting to postpone his honeymoon until after Nitro. Who says Steiner doesn't care about WCW?
Diamond Dallas Page may be back on WCW Television any time in the next couple of weeks. He is reportedly scheduled for the WCW House Show on July 29 in Moline, IL according to Dave Meltzer, so there's a chance we may see him back on TV before then.
Buff Bagwell's mother, Judy Bagwell is also scheduled to be at both Nitro and Thunder this week, according to Wade Keller, so it appears that WCW will build a story around her to build up a feud between Buff Bagwell and Positively "Funniest angle in WCW" Kanyon after Kanyon apparently hit the Kanyon cutter on her this past Wednesday on Thunder.
ECW put on a tremendous show last night on TNN, but I guess every show at the ECW Arena is great. The show did a great job in actually debuting new angles that don't revolve around Cyrus and the Network and also did a great job to hype up this Sunday's ECW PPV, Heatwave 2000. In case you missed last night's show, you can check out my weekly report HERE.
Our latest poll asks "What do you watch wrestling for the most?" At last count, "Interesting Angles" was in the lead with 38% of the votes, while "Great Wrestling" was a close second with 35%. "T&A;" is at third with 17% (I didn't know that many people liked that team), and "Entertaining Interviews/Promos" comes in fourth with 9%. If you haven't yet, you can vote for the poll at our main page. By the way, I was kidding about the T&A; comment. (Just in case)
Derek Sabato updated the TRIVIA section this week with five new questions and last week's potential prize winners. For your chance to win any of these great PRIZES, try your luck at this week's trivia, or the other interactive games here at TPWW, including Guess the Wrestler and Guess the Theme.
That wraps it up for today's report. Thanks, as always, for reading and hopefully everyone has a good weekend.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com