Heyyy, welcome to today's edition of the news and rumors here at TPWW. Once again, if you're reading this, you're seeing the site on the new server that we recently moved to. Everything seems to be running perfectly smooth as we're in the second day of the server switch. There are a few things that still have to be transferred over to the new server, including our message board, but that should be done within the next day or so. With site news out of the way, here are today's news and rumors.
The WWF announced the King of the Ring brackets tonight on WWF Heat on MTV. They are as follows:
- Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy
- The Big Show vs. Christian
- Rhyno vs. Tajiri
- Perry Saturn vs. Edge
The brackets are a bit interesting and could make for a few decent matches, especially Angle vs. Jeff Hardy and Rhyno vs. Tajiri. The above four matches are expected to take place on this week's TV, so two of them will take place on Raw while the other two will take place on Smackdown. As of now, it seems that everyone is expecting Kurt Angle to go far in the tournament, but you have to wonder. Does Angle really need the tournament win again? In my opinion, it would not help further his career at all, and if he lost, it wouldn't hurt him either. Also, since Angle will also be taking on Shane McMahon at the PPV, you have to wonder if Shane McMahon and his WCW crew will have something to do with costing Angle a berth in the final four at the PPV to add heat to their match. Plus, it wouldn't hurt the WWF to elevate Jeff Hardy by having him go far in the tournament.
On the other hand, we have a match between Rhyno and Tajiri, which I'm sure a lot of ECW fans... and WWF fans for that matter, are really looking forward to. This match could definitely be a great one and it appears that WWF officials are high on both of these men. I don't think anybody's expecting Tajiri to go far in the tournament, let alone get by Rhyno, but hopefully he's given the opportunity to have a strong showing in the match.
As for The Big Show vs. Christian and Saturn vs. Edge, it wouldn't surprise me to see both Edge and Christian advance and eventually have to face off against each other, since the WWF has been teasing a breakup of the duo.
The Undertaker's "stalker" is expected to be revealed soon, possibly before the King of the Ring PPV or at the PPV itself. There has been a lot of speculation about who the stalker will be. We already know that Vince McMahon has been doing the voice of the stalker, but whether or not he'll be revealed as the man behind it is another story.
In an update on WCW's roster, with the recent WCW signings, WCW's roster now looks like this: Diamond Dallas Page, Booker T, Kanyon, Buff Bagwell, Billy Kidman, Torrie Wilson, Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, Hugh Morrus, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Kaz Hayashi, Yang, Jaime Knoble, Evan Karagias, Mark Jindrak, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Shawn Stasiak, Mike Sanders, Elix Skipper, Kid Romeo, Johnny the Bull, Reno, The Wall, Kwee Wee, Lash LeRoux, Jason Jett (EZ Money), and Stacy Keibler.
But of course, that most likely will not be the final roster. The WWF surely may be looking to sign a few more stars (Tommy Dreamer has been a name that has been thrown around most often) and will most likely even send a few of their own wrestlers to WCW (Test has been a major name). In fact, according to Wade Keller, the WWF reportedly recently notified several of their wrestlers that they will be transferred to WCW once they complete their already scheduled WWF appearances and WCW starts up. Triple H apparently was considering the idea of jumping to WCW to give it a big boost, but that was before his injury. When he returns in October or November, it's almost a lock that he will remain a WWF wrestler.
In an update on a few of WCW's other wrestlers, the WWF has not had any talks with Jeff Jarrett. His AOL/Time Warner contract expires in October and he is being paid considerably less than other WCW main eventers due to the fact that he signed during WCW's Bill Busch era of incentive-based contracts.
Also, the WWF has not contacted Rey Mysterio Jr yet because his AOL/Time Warner contract doesn't expire until early 2002. However, Mysterio has stated that he would be willing to negotiate a Time Warner buyout if the WWF was interested in signing him.
On the booking situation, rumors are that former WWF and WCW booker, Ed Ferrara passed on an offer from the WWF to be a booker for the new WCW, since he believed that he would have been given a long punishment of some sorts for leaving along with Vince Russo a couple of years ago.
Gr8171787 sent word that when visiting www.kevinnash.com, it directs to the WCW.com web site. WCW may have owned the domain and when the WWF purchased them, they purchased their Internet domains as well. The same thing happens with www.billgoldberg.com, nitrogirls.com, nwowrestling.com, and www.mshancock.com.
Stone Cold Steve Austin has apparently been showing signs of being "stressed out" from the WWF schedule, according to his colleagues. With The Rock and Triple H out of action, the load on Austin's back has significantly increased. Austin apparently recently snapped at Raven at a recent event during a pre taped skit in the locker room, according to Wade Keller. Raven reportedly came out of a nearby shower wearing a towel and Austin got upset that he did so with his wife, Debra around. Austin has also lost his temper a few times when working with Triple H on plans for their segments. However, Austin continues to be praised backstage for his recent effort in the ring.
The WWF is dominating the Billboard Top 20 recreational sports videos list, holding 11 of the 20, including the top two with WrestleMania X-Seven and Divas in Hedonism. In a related note, ECW Barely Legal is at number ten while ECW Deep Impact is at number 14. XPW has a video at number 13.
Triple H, William Regal, X-Pac, Justin Credible, and Albert often travel together, forming a new "clique" of sorts. However, unlike the old clique (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, X-Pac, and Justin Credible), this new "clique" is said to be pro-management instead of anti-management.
The WWF held a house show last night in Toronto, Ontario, which featured a cage match between Steve Austin and Chris Jericho. To check out the results, as well as over 50 photos from the event, please click HERE.
Jessica Williams has written her weekly WWF Heat report, which featured guests Perry Saturn and Terri. To check out the results, click HERE.
FreeCheeba@aol.com sent along the following: "I have a pair of VIP King of the Ring tickets in Sec. 2, Row EE(5th row) that I will not be able to use. I was wondering if it would be possible to mention this on your site as I am selling for face value which is $625 or I will accept the best offer."
It's just about time to wrap this one up. As always, thanks for reading, and be sure to stop by for another news and rumors report tomorrow. Until next time...
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com
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