Coming off another monumental Monday night, welcome to The People's Wrestling Website, TPWW.net... Wasting no time in getting started, these are the people's news and rumors...
Lots of news out there, and like always on Tuesdays, I'll start off with some ratings news. Dave Scherer reports that Raw scored a 5.1 rating this week, which is up from last week's 5.0, while Nitro remained the same as last week with a 2.5. I'm surprised that Raw didn't have a rating of at least 5.5 with the big main event of Rock/Austin v. Rikishi/Angle being announced on Friday, and the huge swerve that saw Triple H turn heel as the show came to an end.
Starting off with some WCW news, the main event of the Mayhem PPV has been announced as WCW champion, Booker T will defend his title in a cage match with a straight jacket hanging on top of the cage. The first person to grab the straight jacket will be able to use it on their opponent. Should be interesting to watch to say the least, and with Scotty Steiner as the focus of Mayhem ads in a straight jacket, it's almost a given that Steiner will take the title from Booker. But then again, didn't we all think Scott was taking the strap at Havoc?
Two other matches announced for Mayhem... Lance Storm challenges United States Champion, General Rection for the US title in a match that will be Storm's last shot at Rection and Rection's last match with Storm. Also announced, Lex Luger "is next," so to speak, as The Total Package faces Goldberg at Mayhem in hopes that he'll be able to end Goldberg's streak.
On the topic of Luger, his confrontation with Mark Madden at the start of Nitro where he made fun of Madden's weight was not planned by the bookers, as Lex took it upon himself to go over and bad mouth Madden due to the fact that Mark mentioned that Luger has gained 1% body fat to his almost perfect physique.
Last night, WCW brought back a man who definitely thinks "positive," and no, it's not Positively Kanyon, rather the author of Positively Page, DDP, Diamond Dallas Page. Definitely a smart move in my book, as Page is definitely a hard worker who could play a nice role in the main event picture. Quick thought... did anyone else notice Page's Foley like attempts at a cheap pop?
On the subject of DDP, did anyone actually care about Page, Bagwell, Rick Steiner, and the Cat's little battle with the guys from BattleDome? I really don't know what WCW was thinking here especially at the 9:00 PM time slot, as I doubt that there is at the most a good 5% of wrestling fans who are fans of the show BattleDome.
The LAW is reporting that WCW's buxom ring announcer, Pamela Paulshock may be list on the chopping block as WCW may possibly release Paulshock after her 90 day contract cycle is up. Due to the fact that WCW brought in another interviewer last night for Thunder, there could be a good chance that Paulshock could suffer the same fate as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and be released.
WCW booker Johnny Ace will be returning to Japan in late January to make an appearance at an All Japan event at the Toyko Dome in Toyko, Japan, according to the Law. Don't worry though, Ace will be back with WCW after his appearance.
Here's the Thunder Preview for tomorrow night:
- Jaime Noble (Jaime San) vs. Evan Karagias
- Crowbar vs. Reno - Hardcore Title
- Konnan vs. Disco Inferno
- Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. David Flair
- Kevin Nash and The Natural Born Thrillaz vs. Shawn Stasiak & Kronik
- Lance Storm vs. Meng
- Booker T vs. Mike Awesome
- Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lex Luger
On the WCW sale front, Broadcasting and Cable Online recently had an interview with WWF CEO, Linda McMahon in which Linda stated "We're definitely not buying it" to the question of whether or not the WWF would buy WCW. Due to negotiations breaking down and Linda's statement, odds are almost every wrestling fan's dream of a WCW/WWF PPV may be off for now.
Moving on to the WWF, and what a swerve it was as Triple H was revealed to be Rikishi's "accomplice" in the Samoan's war against Stone Cold Steve Austin. It definitely came out of the blue, as Hunter nailed Austin with Helmsley's weapon of choice, the sledgehammer and then repeatedly struck Austin with a loaded glove which busted the Rattlesnake open. Again, definitely a swerve if I ever saw one with HHH, who was receiving some amazing face pops as of late, turning back to the bad ass heel that he was for most of the year.
With Triple H turning, the idea of a Triple H/Kurt Angle match at the Survivor Series could still happen, but it's not as likely as one would have thought previously. I wouldn't be shocked to see Rock and Austin teaming up against Triple H and Rikishi as the main event with Kurt Angle possibly fighting the Undertaker or someone along those lines.
In some not so great news, Dave Scherer reports that Triple H has some sort of leg injury and was reportedly in pain backstage before the show. As one could clearly see, he was not 100% during the 8 man tag between DX and the Radicals, and during his run in during the main event.
I guess congratulations are in order to the new WWF tag team champions, Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather, The Right to Censor. I'm not sure if it's the smartest move by the WWF as the RTC doesn't have the amount of heat as it did during its first month or so in existence. I personally thought that the Dudleys would be the team to take the titles off the Hardys.
If you're wondering, the woman who aided Crash Holly last night was indeed former member of Team Madness, Miss Madness 99, Mona. Like Lita did, Mona definitely has gotten a new look upon her debut, in which she is connected to Crash, possibly as another Holly cousin.
The LAW reports that Sexual Chocolate, Mark Henry is now down to about 340 lbs and has lost in the area of 75 lbs during his OVW stay. Great to hear, and it seems that Mark will remain in Ohio Valley Wrestling until his in ring ability improves. Henry's fellow OVW mate, the Big Show is still at 451 lbs.
Last night saw the return of Vince McMahon as the Genetic Jackhammer made his triumphant return, preaching that we, the WWF viewers are going to elect the next president of the United States. That's definitely true as this election is going to be one of the closest in history, and it's almost like every vote does count. I guess Vinnie Mac's return was just a way to top off the Smackdown Your Vote campaign, which even though wasn't as successful as the WWF hoped, was definitely somewhat successful.
Judging from the advertisements last night, the release of THQ's No Mercy for the N64 console is almost here. The sequel to the highly successful WWF Wrestlemania 2000, which I still play to this day, will be hitting stores next week, according to our own Tim Brechlin, anywhere from the 14th of the month to the 16th. It's definitely going to be another hot seller from THQ and the WWF, and I'm definitely picking it up on release.
Finally, a quick ECW note - ECWWrestling.com has a great poll up as we, the fans of ECW get to pick the first ECW PPV to be released on VHS and DVD. To vote, click HERE. Currently in the lead, my pick, the first ever ECW PPV, Barely Legal, which occurred in May of 1997 as Terry Funk defeated Raven in the main event to win the ECW World title.
That does it for today on this election day in the United States. I really don't have anything else to say, so until next time, ciao...