Welcome to the first edition of the N&R; in October 2000 here at TPWW.net. There are a few notes of interest in the wrestling world this weekend, which I'll do my best to cover in today's report. That's honestly all I have to say in today's intro. But hey, at least I didn't totally skip it like I've done the last few times. Anyway...
The PTC is at it again, and has persuaded another major WWF advertiser to pull its ads from the WWF's Thursday night show, WWF Smackdown. The latest advertiser to bow down to the Parents Television Council is food giant, ConAgra, which is the parent company of products such as Chef Boyardee, Crunch N Munch, Slim Jim, and several others. One thing that interests me about this situation... Chef Boyardee, Crunch N Munch, and Slim Jim all have used wrestlers in their commercials. Chef Boyardee is possibly the most notable, as they have used Mankind, Big Show, and most recently, Chris Jericho, while Crunch N Munch has used Too Cool and Rikishi, and Slim Jim has used, of course, the Macho Man Randy Savage.
This past Thursday's WWF Smackdown! received a strong 6.2 overnight rating, which translated into a 4.7 rating when the final numbers were released. Smackdown helped UPN to a third place network television finish, only behind NBC, which did a huge 17.7 on Thursday for its Olympic coverage, and ABC, which did an 8.0 for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."
There are rumors that "Mr. Ass," Billy Gunn will be back on television very soon. He was cleared by doctors to return to the ring this past Sunday, and is basically ready to return to the ring. In his latest "Ross Report," Jim Ross stated that we may see Billy Gunn back on television as soon as this week. However, there is also a possibility that Gunn will work dark matches this week, which of course, will not be seen on television. If this does in fact happen, it'll be to help Gunn get back into good condition in terms of getting the "feel" back in the ring.
As was mentioned in a previous report, the Undertaker recently suffered a groin injury, which is said to be not as serious as his previous, which sidelined him for several months. As of now, the WWF may keep the Undertaker out of in-ring action until their next PPV, No Mercy, on Sunday, October 22.
On the subject of returns from injuries, Tori is rumored to be back by the WWF's November PPV, Survivor Series. According to Jim Ross, Tori is looking better than ever, and has somewhat of a new look to her in terms of hair style and a leaner body. Tori has been out of action recently due to a shoulder injury.
Chyna was on the Howard Stern show this past Friday and had a few interesting things to say. Thanks to Jon Farrer for this report: "Chyna is on Howard Stern right now and she admitted that she is still dating HHH and that he is a buttman. She also stated that her mom kicked her out at 15 because she is crazy. She also insulted Nicole Bass saying she was useless to the company. The callers are being pretty rude but Stern is defending her. She has also stated that she spends only 45 mins a day in the gym. Insulted Nicole Bass again calling her ugly. Her and HHH are not ingaged but are living together. Angry Black came in with a arm wrestle challenge, Stern basically told him to get lost. That's about the highlights."
The new WWF Heat comes to us tonight live on MTV, from WWF New York in Times Square, NY. Two pre-taped matches will air on the show, with commentary from Michael Cole and Tazz. Tonight we'll see Eddie Guerrero defend his Intercontinental title against the Road Dogg and we'll also see The Dudleys take on Right to Censor in a table match. The show will be hosted live from WWF New York by soap opera actress Rebecca Budig and MTV's DJ Scribble. It'll also feature an appearance by Stone Cold Steve Austin and the band Disturbed, who will be performing Austin's new theme. It's definitely a packed show, and it should be a good one.
The WWF will reportedly sign Al Snow, Lita, and K-Krush, who has been working dark matches at WWF shows recently, to new long term contracts in the next few days or weeks, according to Jim Ross.
WWFDivas.com has been redesigned and relaunched with a new look, new photos, and a few new features. You can check out the WWF's official divas website at HERE. On a side note, we'll be debuting our own new women of wrestling section soon, so be on the lookout for that.
WCW fans in the United Kingdom once again receive WCW Nitro... Thanks to Hollywood Hasney for sending the following: "Thursday, 28th September was the date of the first showing of WCW Nitro on Bravo. They showed it for two hours, uncut, at 10:00 PM. But the Nitro shown was over a week out of date (It was 24 hours after Fall Brawl)."
This past Wednesday's WCW Thunder scored only a dismal 2.0 rating. That has to be a huge disappointment, considering Nitro left us with a cliffhanger of who the WCW champion was and the ratings were considerably lower rather than higher.
ECW presents Anarchy Rulz to us tonight on PPV. Our own Corey Silvia has written a great preview of the show, along with predictions. You can check it out HERE. Also be sure to check out Corey's column, Jerichoholics Anonymous every Saturday here at TPWW.
You may have noticed that the site has been experiencing technical difficulties lately. Several people have not been able to connect to the site in the last few days, due to our server going down. However, after several calls to our server's host, the problem was resolved and the site is obviously back up now. If you attempt to log onto the site but are unable to get in, please try a gain in a few minutes. Hopefully the server difficulties are behind us for now.
With that note, it's just about time to wrap this one up. Be sure to join us tonight for LIVE coverage of ECW Anarchy Rulz starting at 8:00 PM EST. Corey Silvia will be here with his weekly edition of the N&R; tomorrow, due to a request by myself because of the server problems we've had recently. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com