Hello and welcome once again to TPWW.net for the post Survivor Series edition of the news and rumors. Obviously there's much to talk about on the WWF PPV front today, including both notes of interest from the PPV and personal thoughts. Unfortunately, WWF PPV news seems to be the only thing worthy of discussing today, since wrestling news has seemingly taken the day off for some reason. Either way, now that I've revealed that this report won't be as lengthy as usual, here are today's news and rumors.
Contrary to what many others across the Internet have been saying about Survivor Series, I actually enjoyed the PPV for the most part. I've read negative comments on the PPV almost everywhere, claiming that the finishes were bad and the booking was uncreative. If last night's PPV was "uncreative," I'd like to see how exciting "creative" would be. The finish of both the Undertaker/Angle match and the Austin/HHH match were classic, in my mind, although the latter once again did not declare a clear winner... but I suppose that was somewhat expected. It was also great to see the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches return last night. Both matches were done well, especially the Hardys/Dudleys/RTC/E&C; match, which had the crowd on their feet both during and especially after the match. One major quarrel I do have now, however, is the horrible Road Dogg gimmick. I honestly cannot stand his entrance anymore. "Yeah, we get rowdayyy!" WTF? However, Road Dogg's partner, K-Kwik let his talent shine last night and looked pretty impressive up until he was knocked out by a Chris Benoit German suplex. Overall, I thought it was a fairly decent and solid PPV. For those who missed it and were unable to check out our live coverage last night, full results are available right now and can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Kurt Angle's "stunt double" last night was in fact his older brother, Eric Angle, which explains the striking resemblance. The WWF and Eric Angle have reportedly been attempting to work out some sort of deal but apparently were not able to work out anything... until tonight, I guess. The WWF definitely had me and everyone else fooled on that one. When Earl Hebner stopped the count, with all the talk of the Bret Hart "screwjob," I thought we had seen another one by Hebner on the Undertaker. Then when the "real" Kurt Angle entered the ring... man, I was pretty confused for a second there. :-)
The WWF did a tremendous editing job with the Triple H/Austin forklift finish. Obviously, Triple H was not in the car. It appears that the footage was done live, since Triple H was busted open when he was in the car the same way as he was in the match, but Triple H was obviously in a different car and the footage was being shot in another location with Triple H doing voiceovers. Anyway, once again, great editing job by the WWF to make it look as realistic as possible.
Speaking of being busted open, Lita was busted open the hard way last night during her match with Ivory after Ivory nailed her above the eye with a right hand. The blood was not planned and Lita was obviously tended to backstage after the match.
The following matches have been confirmed for tonight's Raw is War:
- The Rock & Chris Jericho vs. Rikishi & Kane
- RTC vs. The Dudleys - Tag Titles (If RTC wins, Dudleys can no longer use tables.)
- William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly - European Title
- Malenko, Saturn, & Guerrero vs. Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, & K-Kwik
- Ivory vs. Molly Holly - Women's Title
In a recent interview with LAW's Jeff Marek, Jim Ross stated that both Mark Henry and the Big Show are progressing well in Ohio Valley Wrestling. Ross stated that Henry is down from about 415 when he started to around 330 right now, but still has about five to ten pounds to go before he'll be able to return to WWF television. Henry recently worked a dark match on Raw is War, so his return is apparently not too far away. The Big Show, on the other hand, is reportedly only "halfway there," and has lost about 40 pounds, down from 480 to 440 right now. The WWF reportedly wants Show to slim down to 400 pounds or under. Their main concern is that if these big men should become fatigued in the ring, they run a risk of injuring not only themselves, but the other wrestlers involved in the matches.
THQ's WWF Smackdown! 2 for the Sony Playstation has shipped to all major areas in the United States, according to a press release by THQ, and should be available in most places by tomorrow. However, THQ is located in California, so it may take longer for the game to ship to certain parts of the US than others.
The WWF has redesigned Stone Cold Steve Austin's popular website, StoneCold.com. It features news, photos, audio, video, and more.
Billy Gunn is on the cover of the November edition of "Orlando Magazine," WWF.com reports. The magazine also features a lengthy article on Billy Gunn, who is a Florida native. If you don't live in the Orlando area and would still like a copy of the magazine, WWF.com provides the following information: "Send a check for $5 (payable to Orlando Magazine) to Orlando Magazine, 225 South Westmonte Drive #1100, Altamonte Springs, FL 32714. Indicate that you want the Billy Gunn issue."
As Corey Silvia mentioned in yesterday's report, the following is on tap for tonight's Nitro:
- Boogie Knights vs. Jindrak & O'Haire - Tag Titles
- Kevin Nash will form an alliance with DDP.
- Jimmy Hart will fight a DJ.
- Rick Steiner will be on Nitro.
- Ric Flair will have his booking shoes on, laying down some more matches for Mayhem.
- Lex Luger vs. Booker T
- Buff Bagwell vs. Shane Douglas
- Jun Jang vs. Jamie San
- Kwee Wee and Meng vs. Jim Duggan and Elix Skipper
- The Battledome guys will be on hand as well.
This past week's ECW Hardcore TV contained several noteworthy issues. The show began with a promo by Cyrus, who stated that he is a changed man now, and will do everything he can to help Jerry Lynn get back the ECW world title... Scott Hall's appearance was not actually aired on the show, but it was mentioned several times throughout the broadcast that "Scott Hall is now in ECW. Not just for one appearance. He is really in ECW." ... In a pretty surprising situation, the ECW tag champions, the Full Blooded Italians actually cut off Roadkill's beard. I found that pretty interesting. It definitely adds some heat to their PPV match on December 3rd in NYC. It's great to finally see some ECW angles actually being planned out and built up.
And with that, it's time to wrap this one up. As always, check out the other happenings here on TPWW today, including an updated Guess the Wrestler, a new edition of Ticking Time Bomb by Rob Harvey, and the other updates that can be found on our main page. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com