On a snowy winter afternoon in New York, welcome, everyone, to TPWW.net. [Bob Costas announce mode OFF] Unfortunately, just after getting hit with a huge blizzard here in the Northeast, even more snow is coming down as I type this. But hey, one thing that isn't coming down is the amount of wrestling news today (Yes, that sucked). Things have greatly picked up over the last couple of days, with lots of talk about ECW's PPV this Sunday, Guilty as Charged, a WCW sale, and of course, lots of WWF related news. So without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
As most hardcore ECW (and all around wrestling) fans may know, ECW brings us their yearly PPV this Sunday night, Guilty as Charged, live from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. So much talk has been surrounding this PPV because of several intriguing situations that come with it. First off, as most may have already heard, a big surprise is being announced for the show that will "change the face of ECW." A lot of possible outcomes of the surprise have been speculated, but I'll get into that later. Also, ECW is obviously struggling financially these days, so every move they make has been closely watched, adding even more interest to the PPV. And hey, let's not forget that this is ECW, meaning that fans who order (or attend) the PPV will surely get their fix of great wrestling action. But of course, if you won't be able to watch the PPV, why not have the next best thing? Be sure to stop by here at TPWW on Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST for LIVE match by match results of the show right HERE. I'll be attending the PPV, so of course, I'm VERY pumped for it.
There have been several rumors as of late that ECW may already have a network television deal on the table. However, as of now, apparently nothing has been signed or confirmed, but that could all change at any time. A few lead networks are said to be FX, ESPN2, and probably the least likely (unfortunately), the USA Network. But of course, there could be other networks that are interested in ECW programming, but for now, the three aforementioned are believed to be the frontrunners for ECW.
Now, we get to the big ECW "surprise" that has been talked about all week. What will it be? Several people have speculated that it will be the announcement of a network TV deal... Unfortunately, that's not the case. ECW owner Paul Heyman recently shot down those rumors, saying that the "surprise" will not be the announcement of a new TV deal or the announcement of an ECW change in ownership. However, he did confirm that the surprise will be talent related, meaning that we'll either see the return of an ECW superstar, or an appearance by a star from another wrestling promotion. As of now, all signs point to me believing that it will be the return of an ECW star. I'm doubting that a WWF star will appear at the ECW show, since the WWF is running a house show this Sunday night in California, all the way on the other side of the United States. Then, of course, the WWF will run Raw is War the next night, also in California, so if a WWF superstar were to appear at the PPV, it would obviously interfere with his WWF schedule, meaning that the WWF most likely wouldn't go for the idea unless they are feeling extremely generous. So, who will it be? My guesses for now are either Rob Van Dam or Sabu. Although a "return" of RVD doesn't seem so "huge," trust me when I tell you that the ECW crowd will explode when they hear a surprise appearance by Van Dam. And I can only imagine how much the crowd will mark out at the return of Sabu. I know I would. But of course, those are just two of my guesses, and it could be a whole 'nother person.
In terrible news for ECW fans in the New York area (probably ECW's biggest fanbase), as of this weekend, ECW will not air on the MSG Network. The reason is that ECW's contract with MSG ran out at the end of 2000 and ECW failed to renew it for another year. According to Dave Scherer, there is a fear that if ECW does sign with MSG for a year, it could hurt their chances at signing with another network. That really makes little sense to me, and this is definitely a huge, crushing blow to ECW. New York and Philadelphia are their two largest fan bases, and getting rid of New York (for now) is not a smart move at all in my opinion, especially with the PPV coming up this weekend in NYC. Hopefully a deal can be reached between ECW and MSG soon to bring ECW programming back to New York. I don't know how long I can go without it!
In even more slightly bad news for ECW fans, it has been announced that for now, ECW will no longer do monthly PPVs and instead will go back to their PPV every two months schedule. The next ECW PPV is scheduled for March. However, this situation could change if ECW finds a suitable television network.
As of now, a minimal number of good seats are still available for the ECW PPV this Sunday. Both balconies have been sold out, which is a good sign for ECW, but a few good floor seats are still available. Tickets range from $30-$150. You can buy tickets now at Ticketmaster.com.
Shifting gears to WWF news, the WWF held its weekly edition of WWF Smackdown last night and it was a rather noteworthy show once again. The main event for Monday's live Raw is War was announced, as Stone Cold Steve Austin will take on Kurt Angle for the WWF Title. Even though McMahon was seemingly "fair" as a referee on Smackdown, I think we can all sense that the evil owner has something up his sleeve for Austin's match on Raw. In an interesting side note on WWF title matches on Raw, Jamie Bicker sent word that the last time the WWF World Title changed hands on Raw was January of last year, where Triple H defeated the Big Show.
A few more participants for the Royal Rumble were also announced last night on Smackdown. In addition to the Undertaker and Kane, The Rock, Rikishi, Faarooq, Bradshaw, and Steve Blackman were announced as members of the thirty man over the top rope rumble.
Edge & Christian's "Stacker 2" commercial that aired last night on Smackdown was hilarious, as expected. Line of the day: "Stacker 2: It's like, SO the world's strongest fat burner."
Unfortunately for WWF fans, next Thursday's Smackdown! will be only 90 minutes long to make way for UPN's new show, "Gary and Mike," which will air at 9:30 PM EST. I have to say that this is a very smart move by UPN, since the new show, which has been hyped a LOT lately on Smackdown, will obviously get big ratings from fans tuning in to watch Smackdown from 9:30-10:00. And hey, if the show doesn't suck, UPN may have a big hit on their hands.
Last night's WWF Smackdown scored a 6.0 overnight rating, which translated to a 4.4 when the final numbers were released. That's a decent number, back around where the WWF was before the holidays.
Staying on the subject of ratings, Raw is War scored a decent 4.5 rating on New Year's night, off hours of 4.3 and 4.7. That is significantly up from last week's 3.8 Christmas night rating. In other ratings, WWF Superstars did an all-time low on TNN, scoring only a 0.6 rating. Livewire scored a 1.0, and Heat continued to struggle with a 1.7 on New Year's Eve.
In another big story that has been making waves over the past few days, Shawn Michaels recently commented on all the rumors of his return to the wrestling ring. It has been heavily rumored that Shawn Michaels will return for "one last match" (or even more) at WrestleMania 17 to take on - most likely - Triple H. In Shawn Michaels's latest column, he wrote the following about a rumored meeting with Jim Ross: "I did meet with J.R. and things went very well I think. All I can say about that is we'll see. I do need to get back into shape though before I do anything." However, Shawn Michaels also tried to downplay rumors of his return, saying, "I've done it and have absolutely no desire to do it again. I for one don't want that kind of demand on my time. In the immortal words of Al Snow...Pin me, pay me." To check out the full commentary, visit HBK's website at HBK-TWA.com.
Tracks for WWF The Music Volume 5 have finally been announced by the WWF Shopzone. The order has not been released, but the following themes will be on the CD: Triple H, K-Kwik, Tazz, Lita, Kane-Out Of The Fire, Eddie Guerrero, Billy Gunn, Raven, Chyna, Kurt Angle, Rikishi, Chris Benoit, Too Cool, plus a special song from The Rock. The CD is set for a February 6, 2001 release, but can be pre-ordered now at the WWF Shopzone.
The WWF will air their "Divas: Postcard from the Caribbean" FANatic series this month on Pay Per View. The show will be hosted by Mick Foley, and the preview is as follows, according to TV Guide: "The women of the World Wrestling Federation are spotlighted as they visit the islands. The Kat, Trish Stratus, Terri and Ivory are among the beauties profiled and photographed on the beaches of the Caribbean."
The Road Dogg is still under suspension by the WWF after showing up in a lousy condition at a recent Raw is War due, apparently, to substance abuse related problems. The Road Dogg will most likely once again be sent into rehab, as he has been in the past, so there is still a chance that he will return to the WWF sometime in the future.
We may see the return of Eddie Guerrero as soon as this Monday on Raw is War. Guerrero is healing well from his hamstring injury and is just about ready to return to the ring.
In the Lycos search engine's most searched-for words of 2000, the WWF ranked fourth. Thanks to Jamie Bicker for sending along that tidbit.
Robert Hesselbein sent along the following update on the news of the Rock purchasing part of a NASCAR racing team. To put it shortly, it appears that the deal will not be reached: "I wrote to you about the Rock and NASCAR a few weeks back. Here is what Jayski's had to say about it in it's update today... Sadler announcement and 'The Rock' Fell Thru: Crew chief Jim Long has left Bessey Motorsports, leaving the NASCAR Winston Cup team without a crew chief as well as a sponsor. The group, owned by Joe Bessey, fielded the #60 Power Team Chevy in 2000. Power Team, however, has announced that it would not return as a sponsor for the upcoming season. Long, 43, served as crew chief for the team and driver Geoffrey Bodine in 1999-2000. He previously worked for owner/driver Ricky Rudd (’97-98), Lake Speed (’96) and Kyle Petty (’94). He left the group shortly after the season-ending NAPA 500 at Atlanta. (Kingsport Times News)"
Rumors of a WCW sale continue to run rampant. It has been reported that an announcement of a WCW sale is expected anytime now, most likely sometime this month. There is even a chance that a deal may be announced on January 15 on Nitro, according to Wade Keller. As of now, it is believed that Eric Bischoff's "team" are the frontrunners for the buyout, if it does in fact take place. However, remember how many times we've heard that a buyout is imminent and nothing happened. For what it's worth, it is being said that both sides are extremely close to reaching a deal.
In a related story, according to various reports, on this morning's "Bubba the Love Sponge" radio show in Florida, Bubba announced that WCW has been sold to Mandalay Sports in conjunction with Coca Cola. He also stated that Hulk Hogan will return to the company for $3-$4 million a year to be a booker and part time wrestler. Right. As of now, for whatever reason, I really doubt this story's validity. I would take it with a grain of salt and like I said, I personally doubt that it's true.
Glacier is expected to make his WCW return this Monday night on Nitro. There are rumors that he will be involved with Norman Smiley in some sort of comedic role, which explains why WCW announcers have been allowed to bash him during the promo videos that air for his return.
A couple of more matches have been announced for WCW's next PPV, "WCW Sin" on January 14. Below is the current card:
- Goldberg & Sarge vs. Lex Luger & Buff Bagwell
- General Rection vs. Shane Douglas - US Title, First Blood Match
- The Insiders vs. Two Natural Born Thrillers - Tag Titles
- Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Shane Helms - Cruiserweight Title
- Crowbar vs. Terry Funk - Hardcore Title (Still not "signed")
- Team Canada vs. The Filthy Animals
Quick prediction for the PPV's main event... Sarge turns on Goldberg, but Goldberg somehow still picks up the win against three men. Hey, just a prediction, so leave me alone if I'm completely wrong. :-)
Wednesday's WCW Thunder scored a 1.8 rating. That rating is decent when you consider that WCW had been off television for a couple of weeks.
Vampiro apparently had a "near death" experience sometime on Wednesday night involving an emergency crash landing for an airplane. Below is what was posted on the Insane Clown Posse's official website, InsaneClownPosse.com... Thanks to everyone who sent along a link to this: "Last night in Guadahala Mexico, Vampiro and his family (wife and daughter) stepped onto a plane that was headed to there home town of Montreal. Moments after there departure, stuff started flying off the front part of the plane. The plane was f-in’ falling apart in the sky! The Pilots had no choice but to make a crash landing. They decided to circle around in the air and dump out all of the plane’s fuel which took an hour and a half... That way the plane wouldn't explode into flames if they crash. Everybody on the plain was in complete terror. Vampiro held onto his wife and baby so hard that nothing would break his grip. Finally the plane landed with no front wheel to support it and it slid along threw the grass and mud completely off the airports landing strip. All the passengers survived. They were quickly forced to jump down the emergency slide and were taken to safety. Vampiro and the rest of the passengers were all givin’ tranquilizers to calm them down and that's when Vamp called me. I haven't heard from him since then, and that was last night. All I can tell you is that he and his family are just fine. When Vampiro and the rest of the passengers all got off the plane they were quickly rushed by the media and press. I’ll tell you more as soon as he calls me back. Wow. That sh-- is crazy. Thank God they're OK."
And finally, Scott Hall was finally released from prison on Tuesday after unfortunately spending the holidays behind bars. As a side note, no, Scott Hall is not expected to be ECW's surprise. Paul Heyman reportedly has no further interest in using Hall in ECW. Definitely an unfortunate situation.
Aaaaand that just about wraps things up. Be sure to stop by this Sunday night for live coverage of ECW's Guilty as Chagred PPV. If anyone wants to send along feedback, my e-mail address is listed below. Thanks, as always, for reading and until next time, later.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com