The WWF once again taped its weekly edition of WWF Smackdown! last night from Fayetteville, North Carolina and from what I read, the show appears to be a very eventful and entertaining one. As always, if you'd like to have your Thursday night "spoiled" in terms of the WWF, head on over to our WWF Smackdown! Tapings results section HERE. Thanks, as always, to Mike E. for the results.
In a potentially pretty big story, Debra stated in a recent interview with WWFdivas.com that she would return to the WWF very soon, and almost definitely before Stone Cold Steve Austin's. Here are Debra's exact words... "I'm definitely returning back to the WWF. I've been on a leave. My return will definitely be before Steve's. So just look for me every week. I could pop in in a couple of weeks. ... right after [SummerSlam] I'm sure." You can check out the complete interview HERE.
On the subject of Stone Cold Steve Austin's return, there are several rumors going around that we may see the Rattlesnake make his return to WWF television on the WWF's first episode of Raw on TNN, which will be on Monday, September 25, I believe, as USA's final episode of Raw will be on September 18. Honestly, I think a return on the September 25 TNN Raw would be the most logical if the WWF really wants to start off their move from USA with a bang. It's doubtful that he'll actually be able to wrestle if he does in fact return on that day, but either way, Stone Cold's return will undoubtedly make a huge impact on the World Wrestling Federation and will most definitely boost the ratings even higher.
Chris Jericho will be in Toronto, Ontario on September 8 to film a commercial for Taco Bell, which will air in Canada starting October 9th. The commercial will offer Taco Bell customers in Canada to receive a free six foot poster of Y2J himself, Chris Jericho. Jericho also recently filmed a commercial for Chef Boyardee in the Bahamas, which is scheduled to air Thursday night on Smackdown!.
The Rock was named as one of the "Ton Tep Celebrities of 2000" by NBC's Access Hollywood last night. For those wondering, the Rock came in at number six on the list, beating out Faith Hill, Regis Philbin, George Clooney, and Jennifer Lopez. For those wondering, Britney Spears came in at number one on the list. Click HERE for more.
The NHL's Calgary Flames franchise is contemplating a lawsuit against the XFL over the XFL's New York franchise name, the "Hitmen." The Calgary Flames owned minor league hockey team also goes by the same name, the "Calgary Hitmen." As of now, the Flames are contemplating the lawsuit and whether or not they have enough grounds to actually play it out. In another small tidbit on this situation, the Calgary Hitmen were actually partly owned by Bret "The Hitman" Hart before they were bought out by the Flames.
Steven Regal was reportedly backstage at Monday's Raw is War, but obviously was not used, according to Dave Scherer. Regal recently signed a new contract with the World Wrestling Federation after being released from a stint in WCW. The WWF is apparently interested in actually using Regal when the time and ideas are right.
Vince Russo is apparently looking to pull out a huge show for this coming Monday night on Nitro, where Nitro will once again be unopposed by the WWF due to US Open Tennis airing on USA. WCW will once again bring back the infamous "Triple Cage," which originated in the WCW related movie, Ready to Rumble. However, this week's match will be a random tag team match, meaning eight random wrestlers will put into two teams of four each, who will battle it out in a race to reach the top of the three stacked cages. Definitely sounds like it should be good.
If you saw Monday's Nitro where Goldberg speared Shane Douglas, you may have noticed that Goldberg was bleeding from above his right eye after the spear. According to Dave Scherer, Goldberg somehow hit Shane Douglas's tooth, which cut him above the eye. Goldberg reportedly suffered a laceration, but was okay backstage.
Here's what you can expect for tonight's edition of WCW Thunder...
- Lance Storm & Elix Skipper vs. Kronic
- Interview with "nWo"
- Mike Awesome vs. Reno
- Rey Jr & Juvi vs. Jindrak & O'Haire
- Booker T vs. Mike Sanders
- Big Vito vs. Chuck Palumbo
- General Rection & Sgt. Awol vs. Harris Bros
- Sean Stasiak vs. Paul Orndoff (Arm wrestling match)
- Kevin Nash vs. The Cat
ECW's first "commercially released" home video, Extreme Evolution hit stores yesterday on both VHS and DVD. For more information on the video, click HERE.
Francine reportedly busted her head open and needed two stitches after she hit her head into the concrete floor while hitting a hurricanrana on Steve Corino at this past Saturday's ECW show in NYC, according to ECWwrestling.com. However, once again, Francine fought through the injury and even got into another "cat fight" with Dawn Marie afterwards. That's why she's called the "Queen of Extreme."
That wraps it up for today's edition of the "N&R.;" Be sure to check back again tomorrow for yet another news and rumors report. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com