Hello once again and welcome to TPWW.net for the Saturday edition of the news and rumors. There has been lots to talk about in the world of wrestling over the last few days and of course, I'm here today to cover everything to the best of my ability. So without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
The big story over the last few days has been the rumor that Rob Van Dam has "quit" ECW due to a salary dispute with the company, and has even filed a lawsuit against ECW. The rumor claimed that Rob Van Dam had already been in negotiations with the WWF and was offer a $300,000 contract. However, these rumors have been completely shot down by ECW owner Paul Heyman and Rob Van Dam himself. Rob Van Dam had the following statement on his website, RobVanDam.com, today: "I just got back from Thailand shooting the movie, BLACK MASK 2. It's going to be one hell of an action-packed movie and RVD is one of the main stars! While I was gone, my ears were ringing. Somebody been talking about me? The anonymous letter that was printed about me on all the websites recently was about as accurate as a wonderful piece of literature written by PWI's Dave Rosanbitch. B.S. about the alleged meeting, B.S. about the supposed money offer and, as of right now (Saturday, Nov. 18), I am working for ECW."
Another rather big story that was mentioned on WWF Smackdown! this past Thursday is that Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura will be an announcer for XFL games that will air on NBC this coming season (begins February, 2001). For those who may be thinking otherwise, Ventura is not inexperienced with announcing football games, as he has announced NFL games for both the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the past.
It appears that Rebecca Budig, co-host of WWF Heat on MTV, has quit working with the WWF due to creative differences, and will no longer be a part of Sunday Night Heat, according to Dave Scherer. Budig was reportedly not happy with the WWF due to creative differences and as of now, it appears that they are through.
Thursday's WWF Smackdown! pulled in a 4.8 rating, down from last week's 4.9.
For all you theme music fans, the WWF is expected to release "BACKLASH - WWF The Music, Volume 5" sometime in February on both CD and cassette, according to Dave Scherer. At this time, there is no confirmed track listing for the CD, but when there is, it will be reported here.
Over at our TPWWGAMES.com site, we have recently added a great clip of the Dudley Boyz putting Jeff Hardy through a table with the devastating Dudley Death Drop (3D) in WWF Smackdown! 2 for the Sony Playstation. That video, courtesy of IGN PSX, is now available in our SMACKDOWN! 2 VIDEO CLIPS section. Please follow the link to the appropriate video clip to view the Dudleys nailing the 3D on Jeff Hardy through a table. (1.64MB .MOV FILE) For those who want to view screenshots of the 3D through the table, click HERE to view two screenshots, once again courtesy of IGN.
Also over at TPWWGAMES.com, we have begun asking everyone to send in their WWF No Mercy creations for posting on our site. For more information, click HERE.
In another rather interesting story on the video games front, it appears that Stone Cold Steve Austin will be a hidden character in THQ's WWF Smackdown! 2 for the Sony Playstation, which is currently scheduled for a November 20/21 release. Austin will need to be unlocked before you'll be able to use the Rattlesnake in the game. That is somewhat of a disappointment, but there is a slight chance that THQ may change that before the final version of the game is released.
Tori will be cleared to return to the ring on December 3, but may be back on television even sooner than that, sometime shortly after Survivor Series. Tori was last seen on WWF TV a few weeks ago at WWF New York, slapping X-Pac.
WWF fans "down under" in Australia now receive both WWF Raw and Smackdown! less than one day later after the shows are aired in the US. Darren Phillips from Australia sent the following: "Here in Australia we usually get RAW 2 weeks behind schedule and Smackdown 8 hours behind. Well as of last Tuesday night that has all changed. Our cable network played 2 episodes of RAW back to back and caught up to just a few hours behind. RAW will now air Tuesdays at 5pm, just 5 hours after the US airing and Smackdown will remain on Fridays at 8pm, just 8 hours behind." Thanks to WWF Fanatic Matt and Matthew Davies for sending along similar stories as well.
Mick Foley recently spoke at the College of New Jersey. He had a few interesting things to say, and Ron sent along this report: "I go to The College of New Jersey and Mick Foley came to speak on Wednesday the 15th. He made a lot of jokes and it was a great time. In particular he spoke about his pride in his writing success, the absurdness of the PTC and censorship, and he told a lot of hilarious stories about being on the road with Bob Holly, Al Snow, Steve Austin, and DDP. He said he felt Shawn Michaels had nothing to do with the Bret Hart Survivor Series fiasco. He said, besides the WWF, out of all the federations he has been in, his favorite one was every one... except WCW. He also said he doesn't have the emotional desire to wrestle right now. He finished by signing copies of his books."
Wednesday's WCW Thunder scored a 2.35 rating, off hours of 2.5 and 2.2, according to Dave Scherer. That is up significantly from last week's 2.0. WCW should go to the UK more often!
The card for WCW's upcoming PPV, WCW Mayhem on November 26, was announced on WCW Worldwide today. The card is as follows:
- Booker T vs. Scott Steiner - World Title
- Goldberg vs. Lex Luger
- Jeff Jarrett vs. Buff Bagwell
- Lance Storm vs. General Rection - Canadian Title
- Kevin Nash & DDP vs. Stasiak & Palumbo
- Crowbar vs. Reno vs. Vito - Hardcore Title
- Boogie Knights vs. Konnan, Kidman, & Rey Jr.
There were new tag team champions crowned at the WCW German PPV this past Thursday. Due to a Disco Inferno injury earlier in the night, General Rection took Disco's place, teaming with Alex Wright to defeat WCW Tag Team champions, Jindrak & O'Haire.
In another noteworthy situation, in a match for "control over WCW," The Cat defeated Mike Sanders to apparently become the new WCW commissioner. Hopefully we'll hear more on both of these situations on Nitro this Monday.
ECW has reportedly chosen to NOT air the footage of Scott Hall at the ECW TV taping this past Saturday, where he lost to Big Sal and defeated Justin Credible. ECW will apparently treat Hall's appearance as a tryout, and feels that there is no reason to air the footage on Hardcore TV this week. Don't ask me.
The card for the upcoming ECW Massacre on 34th Street PPV looks like this so far, according to Dave Meltzer:
- Rhino vs. Spike Dudley - TV Title
- FBI vs. Doring & Roadkill - Tag Titles
- Tommy Dreamer vs. CW Anderson
- Simon Diamond & Swinger vs. York & Matthews
- More matches will obviously be added to the PPV.
Big thanks to Alec Aslett & Matthew Sherlock for also holding TPWW signs on this past Monday's Nitro in London. It's greatly appreciated!
Finally, on a sad note, condolences go out to the family of Joseph Calleja, better known as Kid Rock's "sidekick," Joe C, who died this past Thursday at his home in Michigan at the age of 26. Calleja had suffered from a condition known as celiac disease, a digestive disease that resulted in his short height and required him to take 60 pills a day and be monitored by a machine two times a day. As some may remember, Joe C. was a huge wrestling fan and actually appeared on Raw recently along with Kid Rock, even costing Edge & Christian a match. MTV has posted on article on this unfortunate situation, which you can read HERE.
That's all for today's report. As always, thanks for reading and be sure to join us for free, live coverage of WWF Survivor Series this Sunday beginning at 8:00 PM EST. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com