Greetings TPWW readers! I've been asked to do today's news rather than Sundays, a request that stems from some server trouble here at The People's Wrestling Website. Needless to say, I'm more than happy to do this task any day of the week (especially Unforgiven Monday), so without further ado, here I am with the wrestling News and Rumors for Monday, September 25th!
The biggest piece of news coming out of WCW is the refusal of Pamela Paulshock to be in the bikini contest tonight unless she was promised to go over. This decision has really upset a lot of the women backstage in WCW, since they aren't pleased about having to put Pamela over. I think it's pretty unfortunate that Paulshock would put WCW in a position like this, but apparently she's been hanging around with Nash just a little too much.
Some more big news from "behind the scenes" in WCW is that according to a few sources, Jindrak and O'Haire are pushing hard to take the tag straps tonight on Nitro. Russo has been promising the belts to the young duo for a while now, although he is yet to deliver. A lot of people expect Russo to cave in and put Jindrak/O'Haire over in the battle royal, although several teams (namely Kronic and the Harrises) are upset about having to put the Power Plant tandem over. I think that Jindrak and O'Haire are immensely talented, and the past few weeks have really started to shine in the ring. Now if only we could get them on the mic sometime soon...
According to a few people who attended the recent WCW house shows in Texas, Lex Luger is looking HUGE and may have even bulked up a little since his last time on camera...if that's possible. He's also apparently dyed his hair a peculiar shade of blond, and looks like a gigantic version of Sean Stasiak. Yeah, that's a good image to have.
Speaking of Mr. Luger, rumor has it that he may be on hand tonight at Nitro or at Thunder, in order to do a quick, clean job to Goldberg. As pointed out a number of times by yours truly, Russo is trying to instill some more credibility in Goldberg after his disastrous heel turn, and a few jobs he's done recently.
Also supposed to be on hand tonight is Diamond Dallas Page. Word is that his match with WCW champ Booker T at the WCW house show in Amarillo, Texas the other night was tremendous, and may be brought back on TV as early as this evening.
At this point, although this is completely subject to change, Scott Hall is NOT scheduled for Nitro tonight. Russo could attempt to pull one of his infamous "New York Swerves" on all us Internet fans again, but as of right now, it does not appear that the former "Bad Guy" will be on hand tonight.
Berlyn (aka Alex Wright) is expected to return to WCW television sometime soon. The WCW Creative Team is working overtime to try and find some sort of angle that would make him seem more entertaining, but I'm not holding my breath.
Contrary to popular opinion, Dustin Runnels is not going to be appearing anytime shortly within WCW. As you may remember from a few months ago, Russo was all set to bring him back as "Platinum" an obvious rib on his Goldust character. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you look at it from my point of view) the WWF settled a lawsuit, and Russo backed down. They are now looking to create an angle/gimmick for him as they are for Alex Wright. So long story short, Dustin Runnels will NOT be on Nitro tonight.
Apparently, in addition to his match up with Booker tonight, Russo has signed a second "surprise" match within the Cage. Your guess is as good as mine is, but I would imagine Jeff Jarrett/Goldberg or Steiner/Awesome have got to be your top couple of choices.
In another little disclaimer here, Ric Flair will not be at Nitro. His angle last week on Nitro and the sit down interview on Thunder were just meant to keep people acclimated to his character, it doesn't mean he'll be back all the time.
According to WCW.com, a "huge enemy of Vince Russo will return tonight on Nitro." A viable contender may be Sid, who is currently all cleared to wrestle, and is simply awaiting an angle from Russo. Seems to me he and Russo have never been pals, and if Big Sid is looking for an angle, this may be it.
Also confirmed for this evening is Lance Storm taking on Sting, in what should be a good contest.
A lot of people in the WCW locker room are really starting to get upset with the tag team Kronic. According to most people, in addition to their poor workrate, bad interview skills, and "me first" attitude backstage, they also refuse to sell as much as they should in a number of matches involving Rey Jr./Juvi and the Harrises. They have also downright refused to job to the Filthy Animals tag team, as well as the Cat Ernest Miller. A lot of people are speculating that this may be why Jindrak/O'Haire are being considered as possible tag champions.
Bret Hart's contract, as mentioned previously here before, will expire on November 30th. Bret has the option to extend his contract for another year, although he's told many friends this may be it for him. Should he decide to renew the contract, WCW will have the option to resign him for the forth year.
In some WWF news, we're obviously coming off of a pretty solid pay per view event called Unforgiven. I thought the main event was very well done, and the Triple H/Kurt Angle bout, while not living up to the hype the WWF has placed on it, did entertain. The tag match within the cage was spectacular as always, as was the X-Pac/Chris Jericho match (with a clean finish, I may add). Some downsides include the Guerrero/Rikishi match, as well as the RTC/Acolytes & Dudleys fray. As cool as the Austin segments were (particularly the one with Kurt) what really stole the show for me was Raven's debut. I was hoping to see him pop up a little higher in the card, but in all honesty, I'm just glad to see him on television. Just my views, and I thought I'd share them with you.
X-Pac is expected to continue feuding with Chris Jericho, and move into the WWF Intercontinental Championship scene. Good news for 'Pac fans, bad news for me.
TNN's website is reportedly saying that they may feature a replay of Raw directly following tonight's show, ala Monday Nitro. We'll see if that develops, but seeing as how the WWF is the highest rated show on cable, it can't be a bad idea to show it twice.
Raven is scheduled for Raw tonight, and won't be feuding with Jerry Lawler, as is reported on other sites.
Debra, shortly after the marriage with four-time WWF champ Steve Austin, signed a prenuptial agreement. Definitely good news for Steve, because it can never hurt to be safe.
Some sites are reporting a return of the Big Show and/or Shawn Michaels tonight on Raw. From what I heard, neither will be on hand, although that is up in the air.
The following is a Raw is War preview, straight from the source - WWF.com
*Steve Austin's investigation continues
*Behind the scenes photos of Chyna's Playboy pictorial
*Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian in a Ladder Match (HELL YES!)
*Chris Jericho vs. X-Pac in a First Blood Match
When Hardcore Holly returns, he is going to undergo a brief face turn, in order for him to feud with the man who put him out of action, Kurt Angle. It seems like a slightly lofty position to put someone coming back from an injury in, but I like Holly, and I expect he'll do well.
Crash, according to WWF.com, will be hosting the party tonight at WWF New York. Sounds like fun.
There is a possibility that Billy Gunn will make his return to WWF television tonight. While he is technically cleared to wrestle, the WWF doesn't want to rush his return, and he is supposedly being sent down to Memphis for a few weeks to wear off the unavoidable ring rust. This was in Jim Ross's report the other day, although it may just be a swerve to keep the Internet fans on their toes - one never knows.
The much-hyped Chyna Playboy issue hit stands today. Hence, the WWF will be running even more promotional material tonight on Raw in order to whip them off the shelves in record time. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead with an issue of Playboy that had Chyna on the cover, believe me.
Lita may have been injured last night at Unforgiven, following the Huricanrana from the top of the ladder. She was apparently grasping her arm all the way back to the locker room, and complained of some discomfort backstage. I hope it turns out to be nothing serious, since she is definitely a very big part of any wrestling fan's Monday night.
The only piece of ECW news I uncovered is the fact that the Rumor Mill is running overtime with the talk of an ECW invasion angle tonight on Raw. The pieces all seem to be in place, and that would be the perfect way to pay Vince back for the major favor he did for the company this past week, but at this point nothing has been confirmed.
Well, that's all for today, friends. The pain just continues for my Patriots. They lost 10-3 to the Miami Dolphins, a team I lost all interest in years ago. Tonight my might Colts will do battle with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and I've got complete faith in my boys from Indianapolis. It should be a pretty solid game from where I sit, but of course I'm always biased when a game contains the Patriots or the Colts. And yes, I will be taping the game so that I don't miss the first episode of Raw on TNN. The things a wrestling fan must do... That pretty much does it for me. Hope you enjoyed my special Monday report, and I hope to see you again next week.
Corey Silvia
Corey@tpww.net