To start things off, I thought both shows were good last night, but honestly, I really enjoyed Nitro, although the feeling all across the 'net seems to be the opposite, stating that Nitro was a "horrible" show. I really don't see what was so horrible about it. The show had a GREAT opening match (Lance Storm *RULES*) and had a bunch of angles that kept me tuned in, including the WCW.com poll and of course, the Kidman/Torrie tape hype, although it turned out to be nothing at all, as expected. What was so bad about Nitro?
The actual results of the poll last night to determine Booker T's opponent were as follows, as of the last time I checked... Sting dominated with about 56% of the votes, while Goldberg was in second with only 20something% of the votes. Vampiro had 5%, Lance Storm had 4%, and the rest all had around 1 or 2%.
Goldberg suffered what is thought to be a shoulder dislocation at Nitro last night. However, the injury reportedly is not expected to keep him out of action for too long, as of now.
Scott Steiner was not at last night's show or at this past Wednesday's Thunder due to his recent marriage and honeymoon. Nash was also not at Nitro due to a taping of an unnamed television appearance, according to Bob Ryder.
A European title match between Perry Saturn and Crash (Holly) was originally scheduled for last night's Raw, but never took place due to Raw simply running too long. Ouch for Saturn and Crash.
Mike E. checked in again this week with results from the Jakked/Metal tapings and dark matches (untelevised matches) from last night's Raw. You can get all the results HERE. Also stop by later tonight for complete results of the WWF Smackdown! tapings.
One somewhat major and thought provoking incident coming out of last night's Raw was the match between Bull Buchanan and the Godfather, where the stipulation was if Godfather lost, he would have to give up pimping and his hoes, while if Godfather won, Steven Richards would have to stop censoring the WWF. Of course, Godfather lost and as Lawler mentioned last night on several occasions, the hoes are seemingly gone. So now, what happens with the Godfather? It'll definitely be interesting to see what the WWF does with him now. I mean, if he enters the ring by himself, will anybody care about him, considering his wrestling skills? Not me. Would anyone else love to see a return from Papa Shango, the Godfather's old witch doctor gimmick? It probably won't happen, but hey...
On the subject of the Godfather, WWF.com did a great online angle today, stating the following on their website: "Two of the Godfather's hottest hos ever are on WWFHo-Train.com right now! WWFHo-Train.com is currently featuring two of the Godfather's hottest hos ever. Head over to the Web site to see these sexy ladies." However, at WWFHo-Train.com, the site is completely censored by Steven Richards. Check it out for a pretty good laugh.
The Rock will be making another appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on August 23.
Chris Jericho will be getting married soon, according to his commentary on ChrisJericho.com. That's definitely great news and we wish Chris all the best.
On a sad note, WWF.com reported recently that Faarooq will be missing a few shows this week due to the death of his mother in law. Our condolences go out to Ron "Faarooq" Simmons and his family.
Rowdy Roddy Piper has been released by WCW, according to Bob Ryder. Piper apparently still had one year remaining on his contract, but has now been released. He has been sitting out with a bicep injury since earlier this year. It's definitely a shame, as I became an instant Roddy Piper mark on that Nitro a while back where Piper "quit," destroyed the "Powers that be" office, and the nWo reformed. That was honestly my favorite Nitro of ALL TIME. I mark out just thinking about that show.
The latest issue of WCW magazine features a great Q&A; session with Vince Russo. One of the interesting things mentioned in the interview is that Vince Russo mentions another reason why he left the WWF for WCW... He states that when the WWF added WWF Smackdown! to their lineup, Vince McMahon would not pay Russo extra to book the show. Interesting. Thanks to Rob Adely for that info.
This past Friday's ECW on TNN did a decent 0.9 rating, according to Dave Scherer, up from last week's horrible 0.7. Not bad, but definitely not anywhere near what it should be right now. I'm a huge ECW fan and hopefully something works out for the best for them come September.
ECW held a television taping this past Saturday in Peoria, IL, which featured an appearance by Smashing Pumpkins lead singer, Billy Corgan. Big thanks to Korey Peterson for sending this report: The show opened up with the announcer telling us that Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins would sing the national anthem. He came out, with a guitar, and got set to sing. But then Lue E. Dangerously came out with Corino and Scotty Anton. He told him to get out of the ring, and received a guitar shot to the head from Corgan for it. Then Corino and Anton got in the ring, but Tommy Dreamer and Jerry Lynn came out and cleaned house. Then they signed a deathmatch for later in the evening, Corino/Anton vs. Dreamer/Lynn. I believe this segment will air this Friday on TNN.
ECW Baldie, the "CEO of Hardcore," Vic Grimes recently stated in his commentary at VicGrimes.com that he would be wrestling in FMW in Japan in the near future. According to Grimes, "I am still pending a contract with ECW. As of now I am heading towards Japan to wrestle for FMW and others to further my career. I am also taking independent bookings in the United States. I hope I get the opportunity wherever I wrestle to show the world what Vic Grimes is all about!" Thanks to apwbobby for that info.
For all you entrance themes fans, I recently added the highly requested Filthy Animals theme, as well as Kronic's theme to our Entrance Themes section.
Corey Silvia is back with another great wrestling Q&A; session. If you have any wrestling related questions, Corey's your man. Adam Kirk is also back with another great edition of his column, Nevermore, featuring several reader thoughts on the Hulk Hogan situation and whether or not he deserves another chance at the wrestling business.
That wraps it up for today's report. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com