Hello everyone, and welcome to The People's News and Rumors for this Friday, January 26, 2001. A lot of news out there from a former ECW World Heavyweight Champion making his return to the World Wrestling Federation to the full XFL announce team, so lets get to the N&R; for 1/26/01.
I guess I'll start off with the biggest news of the day... According to 1Wrestling's Dave Scherer, former ECW World Champion, Justin Credible has signed a 3 year deal with the World Wrestling Federation with a down side guarantee of at least 6 figures. According to Scherer, Credible (who competed in the Federation as Aldo Montoya and PJ Walker) was given Paul Heyman's full blessing to jump to the WWF and will use the Justin Credible name and gimmick. Rumor has it that Credible may even debut on Monday's Raw is War broadcast, and the official word on his signing could come as early as this afternoon in Jim Ross's Ross Report.
Scherer also mentioned that the WWF may not be done signing ECW talent, and one must wonder "Who's next to sign with the WWF?" Jason Powell of the Pro Wrestling Torch stated that ECW Unified World and Television Champion, The Man Beast, Rhino has been offered a contract similar to Credible's. One also must consider the possibility of "The New F'N Show" Jerry Lynn possibly signing as the WWF's Jim Ross has also mentioned that the WWF has had interest in the former Mr. JL.
With all this talk of the WWF bringing in new talent, WWF.com has reported that the WWF has indeed signed "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton to help develop talent in their Memphis farm system - Memphis Championship Wrestling/Power Pro Wrestling. Definitely a smart move, as Eaton is regarded in the business as not only one of the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time but a legendary performer who can help develop talent.
Moving on, according to Scherer, last night's Smackdown scored a 6.4 overnight rating, which placed UPN in third place in the ratings race. Should be interesting how Smackdown does next week in the ratings as CBS will be debuting its ratings juggernaut, Survivor 2 in its normal time slot (Thursdays at 8). That would be the reasoning behind the "Smackdown: Xtreme" hype last night on Smackdown.
Nothing earth shattering on last night's Smackdown, as all it really did was slightly further angles that we saw on Raw... From the Austin/Triple H program to Kane/Taker vs. Haku/Rikishi, the WWF is more or less setting up the No Way Out PPV. Speaking of the No Way Out PPV, with Austin feuding with Triple H, one must assume that we'll be seeing a Rock/Angle main event at No Way Out, but then again, who knows?
One news bit coming from Smackdown last night was that Vince McMahon announced Austin and Triple H will have their "Final" match at No Way Out, with the contract signing coming this Monday on Raw. So be on the look out for that.
For those who would like to know, the XFL announce teams have been announced, and they are as follows:
- NBC (Team 1): Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play, Jesse Ventura as analyst along with sideline reporters Mike Adamle and Fred Roggin.
- NBC (Team 2): Jim Ross on play-by-play, Jerry Lawler as analyst, and Jonathan Coachman on the sidelines.
- UPN: Chris Marlowe on play-by-play, Brian Bosworth as analyst, and Michael Barkann and Chris Wragge as sideline reporters.
- TNN: Craig Minervini on play by play, Bob Golic providing analysis and Kip Lewis and Lee Reherman (of RollerJam and American Gladiators fame) on the sidelines.
For those wondering, here is the TV schedule for the XFL: NBC will carry a live game in prime time every Saturday night at 8:00 PM UPN will have a live game at 7 PM on Sundays (starting 2/11... First week, UPN will have a 4 PM broadcast), and TNN will be carrying a Sunday afternoon game at 4 PM starting on 2/11.
Moving on to some WCW news for today, WCW.com has reported that both Chris "Fallen Angel" Daniels and Mike Modest have accepted contracts with the promotion after their incredible "try out" match up on Nitro. Congratulations to both Modest and Daniels on making it to the big leagues so to speak, and I'm sure that they'll be important parts in the already re-emerging cruiserweight division.
Speaking of the Cruiserweights, there has been talk on WCW Live of a possible Cruiserweight tag team division which would feature the likes of Rey Mysterio Jr and Kidman, Three Count, Knoble and Karagias, and the Jung Dragons. Now, even though it would produce some great matches, I'm not sure if it would be the smartest move for WCW. Why not just center the regular tag team division on the Cruiserweights? They make up a good portion of it, since NBT, The Insiders, the Mamalukes, and Kronic are the only true heavyweights in the division.
WCW World Champion, Scott "Big Poppa Pump" Steiner may be in a bit of legal trouble once again... Apparently, during his run in in the Chris Daniels/Mike Modest match on Nitro, Scotty kicked an EMT who Scott apparently thought was part of the show. However, he was not. I doubt this will go far if Steiner is charged with anything, but it's an interesting note nonetheless.
For those wondering, Wednesday's Thunder did a 2.2 rating with hours of 2.3 and 2.1, according to Dave Scherer.
Really no update on the ECW front aside from the news of ECW wrestler, Justin Credible signing with the World Wrestling Federation. With Credible and possibly Rhino going to the WWF, ECW's future is still in jeopardy, and other than possibly Paul Heyman, no one really knows what is going to happen.
On a final note, according to 1Wrestling and WrestlingDownUnder.com, IGeneration Wrestling will once again be running a tour of Australia coming up in March, featuring the in ring return of the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior, along with stars such as Curt Hennig, Greg Valentine, The Nasty Boys, and Tatanka will be headed down under for a tour of Australia from March 16th to the 25th.
Well, that's about it for today... Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back through out the weekend for more news, rumors, and gossip from the wrestling world.
Ry
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