Hello once again and welcome to The People's Wrestling Website, TPWW.net for the Wednesday edition of the news and rumors. As usual, there's a lot to talk about today in the world of wrestling. For some reason, my computer is emitting an unbelievably annoying "squeaking" noise right now so if at any point in today's report it sounds like I'm going to SNAP, you know why. Do any of you computer experts out there have any idea what the problem could be? Anyway... here are today's news and rumors.
The WWF held a special Thanksgiving edition of Smackdown! last night from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I was told that the show was a pretty good one, and as always, for those of you who can't wait until this Thursday night, match by match results of the tapings are available by clicking HERE.
In a recent appearance on the John Boy and Billy Radio show, Mean Gene Okerlund stated that Hulk Hogan was spotted with Vince McMahon last week in Florida, according to a report by Scott Colter and 1wrestling. Honestly, I would think absolutely nothing of this, since not only is Mean Gene's news credibility horrible, common sense leads me to believe that we won't be seeing Hulk Hogan back in the WWF anytime soon... but of course, "anything can happen in the WWF."
And staying on the subject of wrestler return rumors, there have been rumors recently that Sabu would be returning to ECW. However, according to Dave Scherer, these rumors have been denied by Paul Heyman, who stated that he has no interest right now in bringing Sabu back to ECW. For those who don't recall, Sabu's relationship with ECW was practically severed when WCW reportedly "signed" Sabu while he was still under ECW contract. WCW eventually decided against signing Sabu due to obvious legal reasons, Sabu returned to ECW for one night, walked out, and has not been in ECW since.
There are various injuries to report on the WCW front... During last night's WCW Thunder taping, during a tag match featuring Crowbar & Mike Awesome taking on Bam Bam Bigelow and Reno, all four men were injured, according to Dave Scherer. Crowbar reportedly received the worst of the injuries, tearing his abdominal muscle after missing an Asai moonsault to the floor. However, Crowbar will still wrestle on the PPV this Sunday. Great heart there. Also, Reno suffered a broken nose after Awesome and Crowbar executed a double team move on him, which saw Awesome powerbomb Crowbar off the top rope onto Reno through a table. Awesome was also injured, reportedly suffering some sort of shoulder injury, and Bam Bam Bigelow may have suffered a minor elbow injury.
It appears that Sting will be out for 3-6 months after undergoing elbow surgery, according to Dave Meltzer. It's a definite shame, since Sting is one of the most "over" wrestlers in WCW. Sting's absence is the obvious reason for the Scott Steiner attack angle, as Corey Silvia mentioned previously here at TPWW.
WCW Nitro may be receiving another new set in a few weeks, according to WCW Live, WCW.com's audio show. That is obviously a good thing and hopefully it'll be a breath of fresh air for WCW. Sadly, all previous attempts for something "new" have fallen stale after a few weeks.
Tickets for WCW Starrcade on December 17 in Washington, DC went on sale this weekend. So far, only 1,000 tickets have been sold.
All the rumors of a cast member from the hit TV show "Survivor" appearing on a wrestling show may finally come true as soon as this Sunday at the WCW Mayhem PPV. It appears that Susan Hawk of Survivor may appear alongside radio personality Mancow in his match against Jimmy Hart, according to Dave Scherer. Gee, what a way to add interest in her WCW appearance. Susan Hawk reportedly appeared on Mancow's radio show today and had a verbal exchange with Jimmy Hart.
Having Triple H be Rikishi's "accomplice" in the Austin run-down angle was reportedly a last minute decision, according to Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch. In the past, the WWF had set up a future goal in their storylines and worked from there, but now, they are apparently booking from week to week, which explains the recent seemingly spontaneous angles.
The WWF has reportedly told their wrestlers, specifically former DX members, that they are not allowed to use the infamous DX crotch chop, according to Wade Keller. The WWF is definitely taking this "toning down" situation very seriously, yet the Parents Television Council continues to act like completely ignorant morons.
Lita did in fact need stitches backstage at Survivor Series after being busted open by Ivory during their Women's title match. However, Lita will be back alongside the Hardy Boyz on Smackdown!, wearing a bandage over her eye.
The XFL is featured in the new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, "The 6th Day," according to various e-mails I've received. Joe from Omaha sent along the following report: "Yesterday I went to see the movie "The 6th Day", starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and at the beginning of the movie (takes place in the near future), they have a pro football game going, and the league was none other than the XFL. They even had the real XFL logo everywhere, like on the banners. It was also an indoor game. By the way, It's a good movie, go see it!" Big thanks to TravisBHH, TaZz Sez TaP OuT (excellent screen name), and Skatebrd45 for sending along similar stories.
Mick Foley has been appearing on various media outlets to promote his new book, "Christmas Chaos." Danielle sent along the following: "Mick Foley is going to be on Dee Snider's morning show on Radio 104 on Thursday promoting his new book, 'Christmas Chaos.' I don't know what time he is going to call in, but the show starts at 7:00 am and ends at 10:00am. If you don't get that station, you can listen to it thru the Yahoo! Broadcast HERE."
In ECW news, ECW does not have any live shows planned before the December 3rd PPV, Massacre on 34th Street. Honestly, ECW seems to be extremely disorganized right now. It appears that they're taking a "nobody's watching, so we don't have to try until we get a network" approach right now. ECW was unbelievably great before their move to TNN, and although they don't have a national television network now and morale is understandably low, they still receive a lot of loyal viewers on their Hardcore TV show. ECW angles just seem to have no continuation or chemistry right now. But as I've stated, this situation is somewhat understandable, considering Paul Heyman is trying hard to find a network and various talent raids have weakened the company greatly. ECW puts on unbelievable live shows... why that doesn't translate to television is somewhat beyond me.
Over at TPWWGames.com, TPWWGames staffer Jeremy Snyder has written a great review of THQ's WWF Smackdown! 2: Know Your Role, which you can read, along with several other video game newsbits, by visiting TPWWGAMES.com.
Now that the shilling is complete, it's time to wrap this one up. But first, I want to wish a very happy Thanksgiving to everyone here in the States. Enjoy the Turkey... or if you're a vegetarian, enjoy whatever it is you'll be eating. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving to all, and until next time, later.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com