Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to TPWW.net for the first February edition of the news and rumors of the new year. The wrestling world has been filled with news of several roster changes as of late and today is no different, as the WWF, WCW, and ECW were all affected by roster changes. So without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
The WWF announced today on their website, WWF.com, that they have signed three former ECW world champions - Justin Credible, Jerry Lynn, and current ECW champion, Rhino. The signing of Justin Credible had been reported previously and word got out that the WWF was in talks with Rhino and Lynn, but it was only officially announced today by the WWF that they have agreed to join the company. According to Jim Ross, the WWF has signed Justin Credible and has reached verbal agreements with Jerry Lynn and Rhino. In an interesting tidbit, Ross said, "We're excited about them signing to our roster. But until their WWF future is absolutely etched in stone, they'll still be available for ECW. They remain available and will continue to remain available even after they sign with the WWF." Even so, with these recent signings by the WWF, you have to wonder what the future holds for ECW. Also something that I found interesting was that there was no mention at all of Yoshihiro Tajiri, who was said to have signed a letter of intent with the WWF. Apparently, it seems that a final deal is yet to be resolved there but we should have more information very soon, as it develops.
Another story that has been talked about a lot lately is whether or not WWF Smackdown's ratings on UPN will be hurt from their competition, Survivor on CBS and Friends on NBC. Surprisingly, Smackdown was not hurt as much as projected. The show scored a decent 5.5 overnight rating, down from their usual rating of 6.0 or so. However, that's nothing to be disappointed about. For those wondering, Survivor beat out Friends, scoring a 17.1 to Friends' 16.6.
Smackdown was preempted once AGAIN on UPN last night - this time in the Philadelphia area. David Forshey sent word that UPN aired the Philadelphia 76ers vs. NY Knicks game last night instead of Smackdown.
X-Pac is expected to make his WWF return very soon, possibly even as soon as this weekend's WWF house shows in the Carolinas. According to Dave Meltzer, X-Pac may be put into a feud with Chris Benoit upon his return.
On the subject of WWF house shows, on the heels of another very successful sellout at Madison Square Garden, the WWF is reportedly planning back to back shows at MSG for Raw and Smackdown in June after the King of the Ring PPV. MSG is almost always a guaranteed sellout for the WWF.
In another big story, various sources report that WCW has released five of their female superstars, including Major Gunns, Tygress, Paisley, Daffney, and Leia Meow. The move most likely comes from WCW's ongoing cost cutting attempts and from the fact that with Eric Bischoff running the company, the roles of women in WCW may be greatly decreased. This definitely comes as a surprise, since the women - mainly Major Gunns, Tygress, and Daffney - have been playing relatively big roles in the company as of late and it should be interesting to see how WCW explains their absences... if at all. On a related note, according to Dave Scherer, at least two of the released women have been reportedly contacted by other promotions (not sure which ones) looking to sign them.
Staying on the subject of WCW women, Stacy "Miss Hancock" Kiebler is still with the company, despite various reports of her release. In fact, according to WCW.com, Stacy was backstage at Nitro this past Monday with David Flair.
There are weak rumors that WCW may be interested in signing Dawn Marie soon. That could definitely be great for the company, but I'm not sure how great the possibility is now.
WCW announced yesterday that they will be cancelling their April PPV and "combining" it with their May PPV to make one big PPV. Here's what really happened... WCW originally booked their April PPV for April 15. However, they realized later that April 15 is Easter Sunday this year. When they attempted to change the date of the PPV, it was too late and all other Sunday dates had already been booked. So, that's the reason for our "Super PPV" in May.
In what may explain the recent "retirement" angle and his absence lately, Goldberg underwent minor shoulder surgery recently, according to various sources. As of now, not much is known about the situation, so his potential recover/return date is unknown at this time.
Wednesday's Thunder broadcast did a 2.2 rating.
There are rumors that WCW may be interested in bringing back the Television Title soon. Personally, I think it would be a good move for the company, since it would give other mid card wrestlers something to fight for and would add interest to their angles and matches.
Derek Bonk sent word that WCW.com has taken down the link to WCW's Hardcore Title history, which could be a sign that the title may be gone. The history can still be visited by clicking HERE. Interestingly enough, Meng's title reign is ackknowledged, unlike Chris Benoit's WCW world title reign when he jumped to the WWF, and it says that the title is currently vacant.
That just about wraps it up. Thanks, as always, for visiting and checking out today's report. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com