Hey there, and welcome to today's News and Rumors Report. I'll be your host for this afternoon, clueing you in to all the wrestling happenings and newsworthy information out there on the Internet today. There are some interesting stories out there today, and since I have no idea what to do for an intro, let's get to them…
The biggest story circulating today is the fact that Tommy Dreamer was backstage at a WWF house show in Springfield, Massachusetts last night. He was presumably there visiting old friends like Tazz and the Dudleys, although there is good reason to believe that he may be snatched up by the WWF shortly as well. Chances are he'd receive an office position if he signed, since the WWF isn't certain how long he could go on in the ring.
Heat is set to be a major show this evening, and here are some things you can expect:
*K Kwick will host the show from WWF New York
*Test will defend the European Title against Raven
*Chris Jericho will defend the Intercontinental Title against Perry Saturn
*Dean Malenko will defend the Light Heavyweight Title against Funaki
*Justin Credible vs. Grandmaster Sexay
As of right now, the WWF creative team still hasn't thought up a new name for Rhino. It was confirmed in the Ross Report that Terry Gerin wouldn't be competing under the name Rhino, although there are currently no new ideas on the table. I don't know why they don't just stick with the moniker of Rhino…they'll be hard pressed to find one that fits the big man any better.
As is the standard news on Sunday afternoon, the XFL's ratings continue to plummet. This week they're down an estimated seven percent to a putrid tally of 2.6. That should result in a 2.3 final rating later this week. Guess that Rusty Tillman/Jesse Ventura "feud" isn't working out too well, eh?
In a related story, the XFL has apparently decided to place cameras in the cheerleader's locker room in a desperate attempt to get the ratings of the floundering league up. I usually don't buy into the whole argument that Vince has "no morals or ethics", but I'm a full subscriber to that theory now.
There is a very good chance that the duo of Yoshihiro Tajiri and Jerry Lynn will join their former ECW alumni Justin Credible along with X-Pac in a dynamite heel stable. I'm one step away from praying for this to happen. If alongside X-Pac (an office favorite) Tajiri and Lynn have a very good chance of making the big shows consistently, rather than jobbing on Heat and Jakked all the time.
As has been much publicized, the WWF has been running a schedule for house shows stating that Raven will be accompanied by Tori at all further shows. This means that the "ninja girl" will most likely be revealed as Tori in the near future. Then again, the WWF may just be doing this to swerve us all…they've taken similar routes in the past.
The current plan for tomorrow's Raw is to have William Regal and Kurt Angle take on The Rock and Steve Austin in the main event. Triple H is also scheduled to make his return from last week's epic match with Austin, possibly during the main event itself. The WWF is definitely getting behind William Regal recently, who is one of the best reasons to watch the WWF today. With the innate charisma this man has, it was ludicrous of WCW to let him go.
It looks like Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit will be added to the Wrestlemania card before long. Benoit will be the face and Guerrero to heel in this excellent feud. Edge and Christian vs. The Dudleys and Haku/Rikishi vs. Undertaker/Kane are also expected to be announced shortly.
According to various reports, Justin Credible has been using Gangrel's Implant DDT as a finish in his recent house show bouts. As you'll remember, Credible's finish in ECW was the Spinning Tombstone dubbed "That's Incredible." The WWF recently banned the use of the Tombstone, which is why Credible's added this new move to his arsenal. This should also serve to fuel the speculation that Gangrel is on his way out of the company.
On the WCW side of the fence, EZ Money will be getting a WCW tryout match this Monday in Greenville, South Carolina. EZ Money has reportedly got himself into much better shape since his last televised match, adding twenty pounds of muscle to his already built frame. There is no way WCW can go wrong by signing Money, since he is one of the best high flyers in the business today. Hopefully WCW will pick up Julio Dinero to wrestle with him, since these two are definitely good enough to wrestle in either of the big two.
In addition to EZ Money, there is speculation that Kid Kash will be offered a try out match with WCW shortly as well. The WWF really seems to be dropping the ball when it comes to signing lightweight talents. WCW's Cruiserweight division is obviously worlds stronger than the WWF's right now, and it doesn't seem like Vince is doing anything to remedy that problem.
Elix Skipper's mystery partner in the Cruiserweight tournament will be none other than Kid Romeo, the WCW Saturday Night jobber with the horrible vignette from a few weeks back. The two will be taking on AJ Styles and Air Paris in the tournament match up. There are current plans to have him join the Team Canada stable, although that is a hotly contested issue backstage. Some of the creative staff is in favor of it, while others remain vehemently against. We'll get you an update as it arrives, as usual.
Bam Bam Bigelow, M.I. Smooth, and Norman Smiley are all penciled in to be at the Nitro/Thunder tapings tomorrow evening. While Smiley can be entertaining at times, I don't understand why these three are being given so many shots at television time recently…none of them really bring much of anything to the table at this point.
Despite appearing on Nitro last week, Johnny Swinger is yet to be signed to a WCW deal. The higher ups in WCW promised they'd get back to him about a contract, but as of now they haven't done so. Even though he has some apparent leanings towards WCW, Swinger is still technically a free agent at this point.
Contrary to previous reports, Dusty Rhodes will not be on hand at Nitro tomorrow. He was originally scheduled to take on Jeff Jarrett to get some measure of revenge with him after the hilarious "American Dweem" impersonation he did a while back. The deal fell through last week however, and Big Dust will not be present on Nitro.
The Sandman was involved in an IWA Hardcore Wrestling card last night in Charleston, Indiana. He dropped a match to Mad Man Ponda, who is headed to New Japan later this month. He'll be receiving a rematch against Ponda on May seventh, in an I Quit Match.
The wresting documentary Beyond the Mat will apparently begin airing on the premium channel Starz next month. I dropped the Starz/Encore package a few months back, but it looks like they're getting the rights to some pretty good movies recently.
Paul Heyman is expected to make a major announcement about the future of ECW very shortly, possibly before Wednesday of next week. It is expected that he will cancel the pay per view, and that ECW may officially close its doors for good. Paul Heyman is a fighter to the very end, but my friends, the end is here.
Hope you all enjoyed this week's report, and thanks a lot for reading. Tonight marks the long awaited day of the Sopranos season premier and I'd advise you all to check it out if you're fortunate enough to have HBO. It's definitely one of the best shows on television today, and tonight's episode is a two-hour special from what I hear. Anyhow, thanks for stopping by this afternoon, and I hope you'll check the N+R out again tomorrow.
Corey Silvia
Corey@tpww.net