Hello, everyone out there in Internet land and welcome to TPWW.net for the Tuesday edition of the news and rumors. There is a lot to talk about today, as always, so let's not spend too much time on this pointless introduction paragraph and let's get to today's news and rumors.
Jumping straight into the ratings, last night's Raw is War scored a strong 5.4 rating off hours of 5.0 and 5.8. The 5.4 rating definitely has to be good news for the WWF, since Raw had been scoring repeated 5.0 ratings on shows that were not preceded by a pay per view the night before. Overall, nothing really stood out as spectacular to me on last night's show. What it truly was, was a two hour Smackdown promo. The angles all built in to Smackdown this Thursday and Jim Ross said the words "Smackdown! Xtreme" about 3,000 times.
On WCW's end, Nitro did a decent 2.6 rating, matching last week's number. In a surprising note, the show did hours of 2.7 and 2.4, which means that Raw didn't detract from many of Nitro's viewers in the second hour. The show's highest rated segment saw Dusty Rhodes make a huge return along with his son, Dustin Rhodes. That segment did a 3.1 rating. It was definitely good to see Dusty Rhodes back on Nitro and the crowd definitely was the loudest they have been in a long time for that. However, although we may see Dusty in WCW for a few more shows in the near future, all indications are that Dusty's Nitro appearance will not be a regular occurence, and it was only used for last night to help put the returning Dustin Rhodes over. I think it worked.
In other ratings, WWF Heat on MTV scored a 1.1 rating, which is expected considering they were up against the Super Bowl. Both Livewire and Superstars did high morning ratings of 1.3.
For those who are wondering, the Superbowl on CBS did a 40.5 rating, which is down from last year's 43.3 that ABC did with the game. Of course, the slightly lower rating is expected this time around, since the game was horrible. Friggin' Giants. Also, CBS did a huge 25.6 rating for the season premiere of Survivor after the game. Believe it or not, the 25.6 rating may have been a bit of a disappointment for CBS, considering last season's finale did a huge 28.6 rating. What does this all mean for wrestling? It means that with Survivor airing on Thursday against Smackdown, the WWF is definitely looking to boost up their viewership and quality of shows.
Which leads me to this theory... What if The Rock defeats Kurt Angle for the WWF title at tonight's Smackdown taping? It'll surely add a lot of interest in Smackdown AND Raw the following Monday. Plus, it'll add that much needed unpredictability that the WWF has been lacking over the last few months. But of course, the WWF could just do the same predictable thing and have Kurt Angle look weak, but somehow win.
While we're on the subject of "Smackdown Xtreme," be sure to check back later tonight for complete match by match results of tonight's taping from Columbus, Ohio by TPWW's own Mike E.
This is something interesting that I was thinking about today... Mike E. sent along word that the WWF will return to Uniondale, Long Island on February 13 for a Smackdown taping. Of course, as many of you may know, Uniondale is Mick Foley's hometown. So, being that it's his hometown and the WWF wants to boost its ratings this month, would anyone else here be surprised to see a return by Mick Foley? But hey, it's just speculation on my part and is by no means confirmed. Just a thought.
The WWF has released Mideon, according to Wade Keller. Mideon had last been seen on major WWF television as "Naked Mideon" and had just recently adopted a new gimmick, Tex Slazenger, which he was using in dark matches and on Jakked/Metal tapings. Mideon reportedly had a clause in his contract that stated that the WWF could release him as long as they provided him with a compensation package, which he did receive. Mideon had been a very popular figure in the WWF locker room and it may sadden a few of the wrestlers backstage that he's gone.
The WWF has launched a new web site for "The 9th Wonder of the World," Chyna. It can be visited at WWFChyna9.com.
The Big Show will be a guest on this Thursday's "Byte This!" show on WWF.com. The show begins at 6 PM EST on Thursday and can be viewed by clicking HERE.
Kurt Angle is the next WWF superstar to write his own biography. According to an interview with WWF.com, Angle's book, which is is scheduled to begin working on in the next few weeks, is set for a late summer/early fall release date. Half of the book is expected to focus on Kurt Angle's rise to fame and his experiences with the Olympic Games, while the other half is expected to focus on his WWF tenure in the last year or so. Angle reportedly had his doubts about writing an autobiography at such a young age, but realized that so much has happened to him that he could fill an entire book with already. Angle will reportedly hire a professional writer to help him with the book. It was also mentioned that the book will not be called "It's True" or any variation.
This year's WrestleMania will reportedly be extended to four hours, according to Dave Meltzer. The show is expected to run as normal, with possibly an extra half hour added on and a half hour post show recap to end it. As soon as more information is available, it will be posted.
Birthday wishes go out to Hardcore Holly, who celebrated his birthday yesterday, January 29.
Yoshihiro Tajiri has reportedly not yet signed an official contract with the WWF, according to Dave Meltzer. However, reports are that he does intend to sign very soon. Tajiri is apparently bitter at WCW for whatever reason, stating that he wants to be a star and the WWF is the place to go for that, not WCW.
As for Super Crazy, he reportedly does have interest in WCW and was expecting a call from them to ask him to wrestle a dark match at Nitro last night. However, the call never came and Crazy's future is still up in the air.
In other ECW news, reports are that both Steve Corino and Julio Dinero were backstage at last night's Nitro for unknown reasons, according to Dave Scherer.
There were several injuries at last night's WCW Nitro. Both Lance Storm and Crowbar were injured in their match against each other with the same move. When Crowbar attempted to give Storm a hurricanrana but was rolled into the Canadian Maple Leaf, he reportedly kicked Storm in the eye, causing it to swell up backstage after the match. Crowbar also injured his shoulder on the move. However, both men are thankfully okay and probably won't miss any significant action.
Shane Douglas suffered an injury to his wrist after taking a suplex by Rick Steiner in their match last night, according to Dave Scherer. Douglas's wrist was reportedly swollen backstage, but Douglas plans to work through the injury.
One half of Kronik, Bryan Clark, was also apparently injured at Nitro when he was buster open with a chair shot by Animal. Clark was busted open on the back of his head and needed six stitches to close the wound, according to Dave Scherer.
And with that, it's just about time to wrap this one up. Thanks for reading as always. In a site related note, our hits have once again greatly increased this month, as they have seemingly been doing each month. Your support is greatly appreciated and on behalf of the entire staff, we thank you for continuing to visit TPWW regularly. We really do appreciate it. Until next time...
Triple A
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