Hey, hey. Welcome to TPWW once again (?) for today's news and rumors. This week has probably been one of the most "active" in recent memory, in terms of wrestling news. There is a lot to talk about today, so without further delay, here are today's news and rumors.
The big story over the last couple of days has been the WWF's release of Brian "Grandmaster Sexay" Lawler. The following was posted on WWF.com regarding the release: "WWFE Inc. releases Brian Lawler - World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. terminated its contract with Brian Lawler (Grand Master Sexay) Monday as a result of his arrest on charges of possession of illegal drugs when he crossed the Canadian border." Since then, there have been many reports regarding the situation. One report states that he was caught with a muscle building drug that was legal in the United States, but illegal in Canada. He was reportedly found not guilty of the charges and was let go, but the WWF still would not take him back. However, another recent report in the Calgary Herald stated that Lawler was caught with methamphetamine, marijuana, and cocaine in his possession as well. The report states that Lawler pleaded guilty of cocaine possession, but the other charges were dropped. He was ordered to pay $50 to the Victime Fine Fund and make a $500 donation to the Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Program, and was let go. He will be allowed to wrestle in Canada in the future and will not have a record from the arrest, according to Dave Scherer. However, the WWF has stood by their choice to not let Lawler back in, although anything can change in the near future. This comes only a few months after Lawler's father, Jerry "The King" Lawler left the WWF due to the firing of his wife, Stacy "The Kat" Carter. It's not known where this will leave Scotty Too Hotty, Grandmaster's tag team partner, who was just recently cleared to wrestle after an injury and was expected to make a return to the WWF in around three weeks or so.
In a related story, according to Dave Scherer, there are rumors that Jerry "The King" Lawler is in Stamford, CT today to speak to the WWF's head of production, Kevin Dunn, about a possible return to the company in his old broadcast commentator position. Reports are that Lawler's former broadcast partner, Jim Ross has been pitching the idea of bringing Lawler back to his old role as a WWF Raw and WWF PPV commentator. Reports are that if Lawler's meeting with Kevin Dunn goes well, Ross has asked Dunn to take the proposal to Vince McMahon. No word on where things will go from there, or whether or not Vince McMahon will be able to keep his ego in check and let Lawler back in. Personally, I have been a HUGE fan of Paul Heyman's commentary and I really hope he isn't replaced by Lawler. Plus, I think it would be a big morale crusher for Heyman, but when has the WWF cared about morale of former ECW employees? I'm hoping Lawler is brought back to his role as WWF Smackdown color commentator along with Michael Cole, so Tazz will FINALLY be able to return to the ring again. Just thinking about what's happened to Tazz's wrestling career sort of makes me sick, so I'm going to end this rant for now.
According to various reports, the WWF has sent a contract to Rob Van Dam to work in the new WCW. The contract is reportedly being looked over by RVD's lawyers, and it's all but confirmed that RVD will be in the WWF's owned WCW once it starts up in a few months or so. However, rumors are that RVD will be put on a "zero tolerance" policy, meaning if he "screws up" in any way once, he will be let go without any second chances. Rumors are that the WWF will use this policy for many of the wrestlers they have signed for WCW who have had a "bad history". Rumors are that during the WWF-ECW invasion angle a few years ago, Rob Van Dam did not get along well with a few WWF higher ups backstage, which is why there may have been a bit of original hesitation to sign him to WCW.
On the subject of wrestlers signing with the WWF's WCW (still seems weird to type that), reports are that Buff Bagwell has also signed a multi-year contract to work for WCW once it starts up. Bagwell's WCW contract reportedly expired in March this year, but he signed an extension to work the final WCW Greed PPV. That extension expired this month, so Bagwell was free to sign with the WWF's version of WCW. You have to wonder if the pop Buff received during the Raw/Nitro telecast when McMahon mentioned him had anything to do with his signing. If so, it doesn't look like Lex Luger will be in WCW any time soon... or ever.
Staying on the subject, Bob Ryder has reported that Booker T has accepted a buyout from AOL/Time Warner for his WCW contract, and is now free to work elsewhere, obviously meaning that he will end up in the WWF's version of WCW. Booker T's signing has been a top priority for the WWF and it's obvious from the way he was booked on the final WCW Nitro, winning the WCW title from Scott Steiner. Rumors are that Booker's buyout was around 50% of what his contract was worth. That's not confirmed, but there have been reports that that's what AOL/Time Warner has been offering their wrestlers.
Rumors are that Diamond Dallas Page may be the next big name to accept a contract buyout and sign with the new WCW. He has also been a name that the WWF has been after. Also, it's expected that Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson will be a part of the new WCW when it starts.
While we're still on the subject, there really has not been much else to report on other WCW big names, including Goldberg, Scott Steiner, Sting, and Ric Flair, among others. As the days go by, it's becoming more and more apparent that Goldberg will NOT be a part of the new WCW, and it definitely is a big shame, since he was probably their biggest name and biggest draw by far. The story is that he is currently receiving a huge sum of money from AOL/Time Warner, and basically has no incentive to take a huge pay cut to work for McMahon's WCW. Unless Vince McMahon is willing to shill out a lot of money for Goldberg, which he probably (maybe definitely) isn't going to do, Goldberg really has no reason to take a huge pay cut.
As for Scott Steiner, there has been a lot of talk that the WWF is interested in him, but again, he'd also have to accept a buy out of his contract from AOL/Time Warner to be able to work, and since he still has a leg injury right now, he also does not have much of an incentive to sign. Hopefully the WWF is able to get Steiner, since he's a huge asset to the company, in my opinion. As for Ric Flair, there have been rumors that the WWF has been interested in him, but again, it would be a matter of him taking a buyout from AOL. He definitely does not have many years left in the ring, if any, so I'm not sure if he has an incentive to sign either. As for Sting, the thought is that there is basically no chance of seeing him in the new WCW right now. He has personally stated that he has no interest in working for it, so unless something changes, we've seen the last of Sting in any of the "big two".
One major issue that has been delaying the start of WCW has been the WWF being unable to get a time slot on TNN. The rumored time slot has been Saturday nights between 11PM and 1AM, but that has not been made clear by TNN yet, and I'm sure the WWF would like to get a better slot. There are rumors that the WWF has had a growing concern over being able to gain a time slot, and as a last resort, have considered changing one of their current shows on TNN (Livewire, Superstars) into the WCW show, according to Dave Scherer. Again, that is simply a last resort, and hopefully the WWF is able to find a better time slot on TNN.
On a related note, according to Bob Ryder, rumors are that the reason TBS and TNT decided to cancel WCW programming was to allow the WWF to purchase the company, since they probably wouldn't have been able to due to problems with Viacom, who had an exclusive television deal with the WWF, and would not have liked their programming airing on TBS/TNT. If the WWF had not shown interest in purchasing WCW, in all likelihood, WCW would have been bought out by Fusient and Eric Bischoff and would still be airing on TNT and TBS right now. I won't even begin to say how angry that makes me. WWF IS EVIL.
Last night's WWF Smackdown scored a 4.2 final rating, according to Dave Scherer, up from last week's 3.9. This should allow the WWF to breathe a little easier. On a related note, the Stanley Cup Finals on ABC drew only a 3.2 rating. Monday's Raw also scored another 4.2 rating, the same as they did last week. That has to be a bit of a disappointment, given the much higher quality of recent shows.
The WWF continued the "stalker" angle last night on Smackdown with the Undertaker and his wife, Sara. No word on who the person is behind the angle, but a few names that have been thrown around have been Kane, Paul Bearar, or even Triple H. I doubt Paul Bearar for some reason, but it wouldn't shock me. Kane sounds like the best choice to me, personally, meaning that's who I would like to see behind the angle most. Should be interesting to see where the WWF goes with this one. Also, for those who are wondering, that is the Undertaker's real wife, Sara, in the angle.
Many people have been wondering why Stephanie McMahon seemed really emotional during the Triple H injury clips this past week on WWF TV. According to Dave Scherer, reports are that Triple H and Stephanie are an actual real life couple now.
As of now, a few matches pretty much confirmed for King of the Ring are Steve Austin taking on Chris Jericho for the WWF title, and Kurt Angle vs. Shane McMahon. I'd expect at least another couple of matches or so will be added to the card in addition to the actual King of the Ring tournament. The WWF still has about four weeks to build up to the PPV, which takes place on June 24 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
There are rumors that Hulk Hogan has signed a deal with Universal Studios to start his own wrestling company. According to Dave Scherer, the promotion will start on August 8 and will tape a few shows in hopes of finding a television deal, rumored to be with Fox SportsNet. Rumors are that Rena "Sable" Mero is a name who will be a part of Hogan's promotion. Not much else is known at this time.
It's just about time to wrap this one up. Fred Venturini is back with his followup edition of The Right Angle, discussing ten things he'd like to see no more of in wrestling, a few name change ideas submitted by readers, and more. I definitely suggest you should check out if you haven't yet. As always, thanks for reading. Until next time, later.
Triple A
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