It's me, it's me, it's DDP, well not quite as ever. Yep, that opening sentence is only in because it annoys Rob Harvey, and if ever there was a reason for doing anything then that is as good as one as any.
The full list of wrestlers entered into the Royal Rumble is as follows: Al Snow, Albert, Big Show, Billy, Booker T, Big Bossman, Bradshaw, Christian, Chuck, Dallas Page, Faarooq, Godfather, Goldust, Jeff Hardy, Kane, Kurt Angle, Lance Storm, Matt Hardy, Maven, Mr. Perfect, Perry Saturn, Rikishi, Rob Van Dam, Scotty Too Hotty, Steve Austin, Test, The Hurricane, Triple H, Undertaker, Val Venis
Royal Rumble is this Sunday and coverage will as ever be provided by Triple A, assuming of course that no one phones him up, or he doesn't fall asleep.
It is doubtful that the boss's mood will be lightened by WWF.com referring to Tazz (you remember him, short, fat orange man, one half of the Tag Team Champions) not as a former ECW Heavyweight Champion, or even as Tag-Team champion but as an "announcer/interviewer". Still I suppose that one should be glad that at least he wasn't listed as 'a glorified jobber' which would perhaps be the best way to described the way that the WWF have used him.
But then this is the WWF, an organisation that thinks bringing in the talentless, elderly, manipulative, poisonous trio of Scot Hall, Kevin Nash and Hulk Hogan in a bid to boost the falling ratings is a good idea. And to think that people have complained about the work rate and moveset of Big Show and Undertaker. Baby, if you want poor work rate then these are the best three in the world at doing sod all in the ring. It seems that Vince is determined to reproduce every single mistake that brought down WCW.
Locker room moral is also said to have been hit by the news, and wrestlers such as Edge, who many consider to be on the verge of a main event push, has publicly expressed concern that his push may be effected by Nash, Hall and Hogan. Jim Ross in a press conference, as he has done in other interviews, seemed to wash his hands of the huge role that all three had the demise of WCW, blaming the locker-room problems on WCW management. Given recent issues such as hazing and bullying within the WWF locker-room, Ross had perhaps be a little more careful in his blind faith in the unity of the WWF locker room.
On a side note, it has been suggested that the desire to sign Hogan, Nash and Hall has been motivated as much by a desire to prevent either XWF or the WWA being able to use them to boost.
At the interview, Ross also discussed Scot Steiner, Randy Savage, Goldberg and Jeff Jarrett saying that the company would be interested in all, but with reservations concerning Steiner's health. Likewise, the issues surrounding Jarrett's departure for WCW remain to be solved. Ross reportedly got fairly arsey when asked about the subject although he claimed that he doesn't hold a grudge. There have been no negotiations with Savage, and according to Ross, Goldberg doesn't have a passion for wrestling.
Ross also confirmed that Dustin Runnels would play Goldust but that it is a one shot deal but he didn't rule anything out. There are also no plans to bring in Haku, D Lo Brown or Mark Henry at the moment but this might change.
Ross also discussed the cruiserweight division and claimed that they intend to push the division after the split. Likewise, he also reported that pigs were going to start flying after the split.
The split will also not likely occur before Wrestlemania, the initial date of January 7th having been put off for the return of Hunter Helmsley Growth Hormone.
Ross was also asked in context of Superstar Billy Graham about the WWF looking after wrestlers in their retirement. For those of you who don't know, Billy Graham has been seriously ill in hospital recently after suffering four burst veins stemming from advanced liver disease, which could have been fatal. Graham underwent several blood transfusions during the day as he had lost so much blood that due to a lack of circulation, he was in danger of losing his extremities. He's still suffering from mild edema and is in need of a liver donor. For those interested in sending him get well wishes, you can do so at superstarbg@aol.com.
According to reports, the Iron Sheik, who was scheduled on Opie & Anthony yesterday, was detained coming back from Canada at the airport in Rochester, NY because they believed he may have been a terrorist. Nothing beats racial stereotyping, eh?
Whilst I am not an expert on Japanese Wrestling, the big story this week has been the defection of a number of key wrestlers from New Japan to All Japan, including Keiji Muto, who many consider to have been last year's wrestler of the year. Other departures have included Kendo Ka Shin and Satoshi Kojima and six front office staff. Tokyo Sports reported that "Softbank" is the money behind the All Japan raids. The fall out of this is still happening. According to Dave Meltzer: "It is a possibility that this is an elaborate angle, since that is a New Japan historical gimmick, especially playing off the reality of what happened in 1984 when Riki Choshu (and this was not an angle) stripped New Japan of about a dozen wrestlers, went to All Japan, and ignited that promotion on fire. Due to the front office inner turmoil in New Japan, I'm guessing that isn't the case and there will be a lot more to this story soon. Much of this news will really break in Japan tomorrow in a big way although the news itself is out."
Well, that just about wraps it up for this report. I still don't have anything cheesy to sign off with, so till next time.
Da Moonax
Moonax@tpww.net