Hello and welcome to today's news and rumors here at TPWW.net. As usual, there's a lot to talk about in today's report. No fancy intro today, folks. My typing seems to be off right now, since it took me about five tries just to type "folks". Anyway, here are today's news and rumors.
To start, Monday's Raw had a few interesting things to talk about. The show centered around the "Steve Austin Appreciation Day" angle and that did make for some good TV, including, of course, the show's final segment. I never thought someone's singing could hurt my ears, but Stephanie's voice during the segment made me want to break something... my TV, I guess. However, Kurt Angle's milk truck was a great finish to the angle, since it was pretty much hilarious. I'm still laughing about when Angle was downing the milk like Austin, screaming "that's what I'm talkin' about!" The addition of the wrestlers' backstage comments was also great for a laugh. The "Green Lantern" gimmick is working for Shane Helms.
Speaking of the backstage segments, Shawn Stasiak's messups were actually not written and Stasiak actually did messup, according to Dave Scherer. The writing team loved it so much that they put it on TV.
Then, of course, we had another angle in the show involving Tazz, which I must comment on. However, this time, I'm not complaining... at least not yet. When every member of the alliance entered the ring, the man who stood out with his bright orange shirt was Tazz. I had a feeling that something was going to happen and of course, it did. Austin once again began to verbally abuse Tazz, but this time, he said "what?" about 15 times while doing it. "What kind of shirt is that? What? Is that an Austin shirt? What? Is this Tazz appreciation night? ... What?" Austin then proceeded to tear Tazz's shirt, revealing Tazz's old tanktop black wrestling attire. The attire that TAZ wore in ECW. Of course, I marked out for that, just like I marked out when Taz did his old black background, black towel backstage interview on Smackdown, finishing off with the phrase I hadn't heard in so long, "Beat me if you can. Survive... if I let you." Anyway, first we saw Tazz "out" of the alliance... then he was brought back in... now it seems like he's going to be out again? I'm really not sure where the WWF is going with this, but they have to be going somewhere. Is Tazz's "turn" finally here? Are they finally going to do something with the "second most popular" man in the alliance? There has been some talk of a possible third stable being formed, with Tazz splitting from the alliance along with others and leading it. If the WWF wants him to, Tazz can be a huge star. If given the opportunity, he can put together an awesome match in the ring and his mic talent is already well documented. Why else would the WWF make him an announcer? This angle has to be going somewhere and it's making me happy just thinking about it. I mean, the WWF can't just be doing this to embarrass Tazz in the ring, right? ...Right?
Vince McMahon reportedly loved Monday's Raw, especially the "Austin Appreciation" angle at the end of the show, according to Dave Scherer. Eh, can't really argue with him on that one.
Raw drew a 5.2 rating, the same as last week's rating. The show has been above the 5.0 mark since The Rock's return, but has been slightly dropping every week, despite some decent to good shows. I'm sure the WWF would have liked a number higher than 5.2, since they were coming off a PPV.
However, Raw actually set a new ratings record in the United Kingdom, according to 1wrestling, gaining 480,000 viewers in the UK, which is Raw's highest number ever.
Chris Jericho suffered a mild concussion during his match against Rhyno at SummerSlam, when he was gored on the outside while coming off the top rope. That probably explains his slip ups later in the match. However, Jericho was feeling better on Monday and was able to work Raw, and will also be able to work Smackdown if the WWF needs him.
Triple H was backstage at Raw once again this past Monday and was also backstage at SummerSlam. He is still slated for an October or November return date.
Scott Steiner recently posted a message on his web site, BootyDaddy.com, regarding his return to wrestling. The WWF is interested in bringing Steiner in, but he still is suffering from a leg injury. Steiner's message is as follows: "I've been laying low, watching everything unfold this summer. I spent some quality time off getting re-energized and I'm feeling mean again. I'm starting to miss the action and Lord knows it's missing me. It's near time for me to show everyone who the Genetic Freak is again and remind them all who has the most amazing body in professional wrestling. My freaks know, but there's a lot of trailer park trash out there who don't have a clue, and I think it's high time to educate. Keep your eyes open...the Big Bad Booty Daddy is on his way back...it may not be this week or this month, but it is coming soon."
The WWF writing team is apparently working on coming up with a new character and program for Diamond Dallas Page, but have been stumped thus far, according to Dave Scherer. DDP has been severely "de-pushed" lately, being absolutely squashed by the Undertaker repeatedly and even losing to the Undertaker's wife, Sara on Raw. The WWF has apparently not been "feeling" his character and as mentioned, are trying to come up with something new for him. Also, DDP may require surgery on an injured knee, according to WCW.com, which posted the following message: "WCW.com has learned that Diamond Dallas Page will undergo an MRI test today on his injured knee. Doctors suspect that Page tore the meniscus in his knee. If that is the case, and if surgery is required, DDP will miss ring action for approximately one month. WCW.com hopes to post results of the MRI on Thursday."
As Jim Ross mentioned at Sunday's SummerSlam PPV, WWF PPVs will no longer air on DirecTV from now on, depending on whether or not the WWF settles a new deal with the satellite company. The contract between the WWF and DTV ran out with SummerSlam and the WWF is apparently trying to get more out of their new contract with DirecTV. However, since the WWF is the most purchased event on PPV by far, DirecTV feels that the WWF is using their "PPV monopoly" to gain leverage. So, for now, next month's WWF PPV, Unforgiven, will not air on DirecTV. However, in the end, I'm pretty sure that something will be worked out, since both companies are losing (a lot of) money from this situation. The WWF posted the following on their web site: "Unforgiven Pay-Per-View not available on DirecTV - While we continue to make every effort to distribute our monthly live Pay-Per-View events through every possible channel, please be aware that as of now, WWFE's Unforgiven Pay-Per-View on September 23, 2001, will not be available on DirecTV. Please contact your local cable operator or satellite provider for availability in your area. Our first priority is to the millions of our loyal Federation fans. We will continue to update all of you on any change in the situation with DirecTV."
X-Pac apparently hates his current theme music, according to Dave Meltzer, so the WWF is working on getting "Down With the Sickness" by Disturbed to be X-Pac's new theme music. OK, they're going to use that for X-Pac and they're using "Bodies" for Stephanie McMahon, so why can't they get the rights to use Rob Van Dam's old ECW theme, "Walk"? That had to be probably the greatest wrestling theme ever. Oh well.
Tomorrow, August 24 is the birthday of a man who has done so much for this sport we all love... Tomorrow is Shao Funaki's birthday. And it's Vince McMahon's birthday too.
Thanks to TJSchuler for sending the following note: "Today I was flipping through the channels and I came to 'The Peoples Court'. I was really bored so I decided to watch, and the following case came up. Basically this guy wants to be a pro-wrestler. He signs up to a wrestling school for $3800 over about six months (after that time he can train there all he wants free of charge). So he signs up and trains to become a wrestler for about seven months. He only pays about $900. The trainer takes him to court to try to get the money owed. The trainee's argument is basically this - he though he would be making big money right out of wrestling school, so he felt as if he was not trained well enough, due to the fact that he made less than $75 a match (usually he made between $15 and $51). The trainers evidence is a video tape of the trainee working a match. The trainee is actually a pretty good wrestler, although he looks like a poorly ageing Bill Clinton, and sounds like Matt Hardy with a speech impediment. He says that he shouldn't have to pay because he's not making as much $$$ as he expected. Needless to say, the trainer won and got the $2900."
Smackdown comes to us live once again tomorrow night from Denver, Colorado. Depending on whether or not we receive a satellite feed, Mike E will be providing live results of the show right here at TPWW for those of you who won't be able to catch the show on TV.
It's just about time to wrap this one up. Thanks for stopping by and until next time, later.
Triple A
TripleA99@aol.com
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