Hey there, everybody, and welcome once again to TPWW.net, The People's Wrestling Website. Although wrestling news seems to have slowed down a bit today, there are still a few interesting notes to discuss. So without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
Both the WWF and WCW brought us their weekly Monday night shows last night. Raw really seemed rather mediocre again and its purpose was to pretty much keep angles rolling on without any major happenings, with the exception of Eddie Guerrero's return. As for Nitro, a few new angles were developed and there were a few good matches thrown in as well. The WWF mainly continued their Vince/Trish/Stephanie saga and the Triple H/Austin and Rock/Angle/Big Show feuds, while Nitro saw newly crowned US champion Rick Steiner reunite with his brother Scott, turning on his partner Kevin Nash in Nitro's main event. Nitro also saw the return of Chris Kanyon, who attacked DDP in the crowd, with the help of Jeff Jarrett. For those who did not catch the shows last night, full reports are available on the site. The newest member of the TPWW staff, Fred Venturini checked in with his first of hopefully many great Raw reports. You can check it out by clicking HERE. For those who wish to check out Nitro's results, those are available HERE.
As mentioned, Eddie Guerrero made his return last night on Raw, attacking Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho with the help of his Radical buddies. Guerrero definitely looked a lot different and more bulked up. He had been out for a few months with a nagging hamstring injury and has now been cleared to return to the ring. As we saw last night on Raw, he's expected to start a feud with Chris Jericho probably over the Intercontinental title.
Both Monday night shows took a drop in the ratings last night. Raw scored yet another 5.0 rating, off hours of 4.6 and 5.4. That's down from last week's strong 5.4 rating for the show. On the other end, Nitro scored a 2.3 rating off hours of 2.6 and 2.1. That's down from last week's 2.6 rating.
Although I've defended it in the past, I have to say that the WWF product really is getting very stale right now. Even Jim Ross himself agrees, stating the following in his latest Ross Report: "I will agree, we need to reshuffle the deck and become more creative and unpredictable with our storylines. As we speak, steps are in place to do that." Ross mentioned that the WWF booking team is now comprised of Bruce Prichard and Michael Hayes, with Vince McMahon ultimately overseeing everything. I've heard that Shane and Stephanie McMahon have also done their share as of late on the WWF's booking team. The WWF definitely wants Paul Heyman badly to come in and help not only their wrestling match booking, but probably a few storylines. As much as I'd hate ECW to go down, if that ends up being the case, Paul Heyman in the WWF would at least be the next best thing.
As much as I hate to see talented wrestlers like Taka Michinoku (especially) and Shao Funaki used as comedy acts, I have to admit that this angle is definitely almost perfect for them (in the WWF, at least). The stuff with Edge & Christian last night was great. For those wondering, it's none other than Shane McMahon doing the hilarious voice overs for the Japanese heroes.
The "no physical contact" clause in Austin and Triple H's "contract" was technically broken at last night's Raw, after the show went off the air. Prettyboy was in attendance and sent along this report: "I was in at Raw last night and after the show went off the air, Triple H and Kurt Angle were still laid out in the ring while Austin celebrated. Austin opened a beer and left it right in front of Triple H (who was still out cold). When Triple H awoke, he picked up the beer and climbed to the top rope shooting birds at fans and drinking the beer (imitating Austin). But he didn't realize that Austin was right behind him. When he got down, Austin kicked him in the stomach and stunned him, then left the arena. The WWF probably won't mention it on TV because it will ruin the storyline going right now. Then Triple H got up at the same time that Angle was getting up. He reached out his hand to shake Angle's. He shook hands with Angle then kicked him in the stomach and Pedigreed him. Then Triple H left the arena and the show ended."
Several WWF superstars have been suffering from minor injuries. The following are a few of the injuries, according to Jim Ross: The Rock is suffering from a minor neck injury, but will not miss any action. D-Von Dudley is suffering from a shoulder injury, but also will not miss any time. William Regal is still suffering from a neck injury, which is the reason he hasn't been in the ring lately. However, he is reportedly improving, but will be held out of action "until further notice." Tiger Ali Singh is also suffering from a neck problem as well as a concussion, meaning the WWF will keep him and Lo Down off TV "until further notice," according to good ol' JR. Perry Saturn is suffering from a lower back injury, but also probably won't miss any action. His Radical partner Dean Malenko still hasn't been cleared to wrestle, but his return to TV indicates that he should be ready to go again within the next week or so. Remember Gangrel? Well, he should be back in the WWF by mid-February, according to JR, after being out of action with a neck injury.
Chyna's edition of Playboy sold more than 1.3 million copies, according to JR. That's a lot more than Sable's copy, which did about 800,000, if I'm not mistaken.
XFL did a pretty good rating on UPN Sunday night, scoring a 4.2 overnight rating, which translated to a 3.1 when the final numbers were released. As for NBC, the 10.3 overnight rating translated to a final rating of 9.5, which is still very strong. We'll see if the XFL will continue their ratings streak as the weeks go on.
The WWF's stock is down today, at 16 1/2 at the time of typing this, down 1 3/10. Like much of the stock market, the WWF's stock is definitely unpredictable.
The man known as Tazz will be on WWF.com's "Byte This" this Thursday at 6 PM EST. You can check out the show HERE. Hopefully someone calls in and mentions the good ol' "Save Tazz" petition. As if everyone on the 'net hasn't already heard about it.
Moving on to WCW news, "The Franchise" Shane Douglas has a broken hand and may miss a few weeks of action, according to WCW Live. The cast he was wearing in last night's match against Rick Steiner was legit and Douglas apparently lost the US title to Steiner due to his injury.
It looks like we may end up seeing Super Crazy in WCW when everything's all said and done. At a recent independent wrestling show, Crazy was telling fans that he should be on Nitro in a few weeks, according to Buck Woodward.
Ric Flair's stable of himself, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Jeff Jarrett, Lex Luger, Buff Bagwell, and Animal will apparently be called "The Magnificent Seven."
I'd like to welcome the newest members of the TPWW staff, Fred Venturini and Jessica Williams. Fred will provide excellent weekly Raw is War reports, as well as his weekly XFL column, XFL Blitz. Jessica will provide weekly results of MTV's WWF Heat every Sunday night. As you know, we here at TPWW thrive on your feedback, so feel free to check out their reports and send along any feedback you wish. For those wondering, the top 10 list applications should be completely looked through very soon, as well as the TPWW Games applications. We also will most likely put up the much coveted columnist application soon, so be on the lookout for that.
With that said, it's time to wrap this one up. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com