Although this is my first official News & Rumours update, I'm sure all of you who visit TPWW on a regular basis know who I am so I'll spare the long intro. My future updates will be very random since I'm just as lazy. All the usual WWE news will be posted but hopefully along with a lot more news from around the globe as well as big updates from the UFC and Pride MMA organisations. Anyway, on with the news.
As you all know by now, former WWF superstar Davey Boy Smith passed away last week. The preliminary reports are that it was a heart attack caused by use of steroids over the years. Dave Meltzer is reporting that Sid Smith, the father of Davey, thinks his son didn't die of any drug use and wants to investigate the possibility of murder. This is truly sad. Today in Calgary will be the second funeral wake for Davey, which is reported to be attended by several WWE superstars. From everyone here at TPWW, our thoughts and prayers go out to Davey's family and friends at this tough time.
Last night on Raw saw the return of Chris Benoit strangely enough on the Raw brand. Whether the company is going to start trades or something now is up in the air but either way, it's not the right time to do any trades or any interpromotional matches but of course, nobody from the bookers to the fans seem to care because the product has been piss poor ever seen the draft. Jim Ross recently claimed in the Ross Report that contrary to believe, the company has no idea what to do to get fans interested in the product again. Well obviously he hasn't been reading any reports or columns but this is one of those things that turns the fans away. When you can't live up to stipulations, how can you expect the people to care about them? This all brought to you by those fine people who screwed up such angles like the WCW invasion and the crusierweight division!
The person who pushed over the ladder during the Rob Van Dam vs. Eddie Guerrero match last night was indeed some jerkoff Canadian fan. Reports are that he was telling his buddies to take pictures because he was going to do a run-in. What a prick! If the entire locker room ran out at that point and beat him within an inch of his life, I wouldn't feel sorry for him in the slightest. In my book, what he did is at the very least worthy of an assault charge if not attempted murder. After all, wrestlers put their lives on the line every night for our enjoyment. There is always one fan that ruins it for everyone though. It's no wonder the media thinks wrestling fans are a bunch of jerks.
The story going around today is that WWE have split their writing teams for each brand now. Brian Gewertz is on the Raw brand and Michael Hayes is on the Smackdown brand. Stephanie McMahon still works on both shows (no surprise there! CONFLICT OF INTERESTS!!! CONFLICT OF INTERESTS!!!) and Vince McMahon still the top man meaning he is overseeing everything. I have heard conflicting stories about which brand Paul Heyman will work with but with Brock Lesnar being part of the Raw brand, it seems sensible to keep him there.
The latest news on Bill Goldberg is that all negotiations with New Japan Pro Wrestling and Pride are off and that he is regularly talking with Vince McMahon about the possibility of signing with WWE. Personally, I think it's probably his best option at this time as a man of his age with no past fighting experience would be somewhat stupid to try and break into the Mixed Martial Arts world especially when is in a very strong negotiating position with WWE. Only time will tell what Goldberg does though.
Diamond Dallas Page met with Dr. Lloyd Youngblood two weeks ago in Texas for confirmation on his back injuries. He was told that he has severe damage to the C-5, C-6 and C-7 vertebrae and that his C-3 and C-4 have almost been fused together. In other words, his injuries are a lot worse than the similar injuries suffered by Steve Austin and Chris Benoit. He has been told he can wrestle as long as he can take the pain but has been advised to retire. At 47 years of age, that advice might not be a bad idea.
Speaking of Chris Benoit, Jim Ross reported last week that WWE expects him to be back full-time by the end of June, which is very good news. Hopefully he gets a strong push on his return or else he'll probably be lost in the shuffle along with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle.
WWE Confidential debuted this past Saturday on TNN and was reportedly a very controversial show. Shawn Michaels finally admitted that he was indeed in on the Montreal screwjob at the Survivor Series in 1997. So he really lied for 5 years about it on every possible media appearance including his RF Video shoot interview and the backstage footage from Wrestling With Shadows? What a shocker!!! In case you aren't aware, I'm being sarcastic. Gerald Brisco also admitted to being in on the finish of the match which also seemed to prove Pat Paterson's involvement as he was the one who suggested the finish to Bret Hart as well as Triple-H's who can be seen on the WTS movie arguing with Bret's wife Julie. Anyway, it's all out in the open now so hopefully we can move on although I would bet my left foot that is never going to happen. The show did not air in the UK and I'm waiting on Sky getting back to me with an official reason why. I'll be sure to post their reasons here when it arrives.
Although WWE has had many problems selling out buildings across America recently, they managed to sell out all their tickets for their June 15 show in Honolulu, Hawaii in just two hours. They have also sold over 46,000 tickets for their Global Warning tour of Australia thus far.
The latest on the Jerry Jarrett's NWA-TWA group is that they have announced signings of several new talents. Former WWF superstar and MMA fighter Ken Shamrock has signed a 26 show deal (basically a one year contract) and will be allowed to do no hold barred fights which was a stumbling block in his WWE talks. He is tentatively scheduled to fight Tito Ortiz at the September UFC PPV. Former ECW world champion and WWF light-heavyweight champion Jerry Lynn had just signed a deal too. The group has also signed Francine and Elektra formerly of ECW as well as Alicia Webb (Ryan Shamrock from the WWF). Former WCW announcer Mike Tenay and Don West, who is most known for his work on the Home Shopping Network have been signed as the company's announcers. The hardcore midgets who recently worked the World Wrestling All-Stars tours have also been signed. Reports are that they have either talked or wish to have talks with Scott Hall who was recently released from his WWE contract. Other names reportedly signed to the show are Shane Douglas, Konnan, A.J Styles, Brian Christopher, Disco Inferno, Road Dogg and the Harris Twins.
NWA-TNA debuts in Huntsville, AL on June 19 at the Von Braun Center. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.com and the Braun Center box office. The shows will also air on pay-per-view all over the Unites States on various cable and satellite providers at 8pm EST with an encore presentation schedule for the following Sunday at 12pm EST.
Onto some independent news, Elix Skipper, formerly of WCW and WWE is the final participant in CZW'a Best of the Best tournament at the ECW Arena on June 8. The other participants in the tournament are Tony Mamaluke, Ruckus, Trent Acid, Jodie Fleisch, Johnny Storm, M-Dogg 20, Johnny Kashmare, Jason Cross and Nick Berk. I have only ever seen five of these wrestlers work before but it sounds like a hell of a card to me.
The UFC has signed Vitor Belfort vs. Chuck Liddell for a fight on June 22. Although no venue has been announced and UFC president Dana White refused to comment on rumours, it is believed that the show will take place at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas and will be the first television taping for a new UFC weekly television show that will air on Fox Sports. Dave Meltzer has reported that the following fights are also scheduled for the tapings:
Robbie Lawler vs. Steve Berger
Benji Radach vs. Nick Serra
Tony Fryckland vs. Rodrigo Ruas
Joao Marcos vs. Josh Thompson
Aaron Spratt vs. Zack Light
More on UFC, their next PPV event will be their first ever show in Europe. UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England on July 13. The show will air live on Sky Box Office in the UK and on tape delay later that night in the U.S and Canada via the usual outlets. The main event for this show is a much-anticipated rematch between Matt Hughes and Carlos Newton for the UFC welterweight championship. The rest of the card is as follows:
Mark Weir vs. Eugene Jackson
Frank Mir vs. Ian Freeman
Leigh Remedios vs. Genki Sudo
Tony DeSouza vs. Gilbert Castillo
Elvis Sinosic vs. Renato Babalu
On the last UFC show, Ricco Rodrieguez mentioned after his win against Tsuyoshi Kosaka that everyone knows he would be facing former heavyweight champion Randy Couture for the title in England but that doesn't appear to be the case. It seems the UFC are taking the old WWE way of explaining fighters leaving their organisation and that is to ignore it completely. Josh Barnett's failed steroid test and he heavyweight title situation has not been addressed yet and was avoided by everyone with the exception of fighters on the last show as was lightweight champion Jens Pulver's contract negotiations and then departure. This has caused a lot of heat between the company and fans and both the Barnett/heavyweight title and Pulver/lightweight title situations should be addressed sooner rather than later.
On paper, it looks like a very good show and the 5,000 seat building is reportedly very close to a sell-out two months in advance which is a very good sign for the UFC in the UK. Their weekly TV show that airs on Sky is getting over 4 times the number of viewers expected and has been extended from one hour to two hours. For those of you in the UK who don't know about it, you might want to check it out. It airs every Thursday night at 10pm with early morning repeats. By the way, if anyone from the UFC wants to send me some comp tickets for the show, I'm easy to find!
Maxfighting.com reported that Dream Stage Entertainment has made official plans to sign Don Fyre vs. Mark Coleman to a fight at Pride PPV on June 23. Coleman is the man who handed Frye his first ever loss in MMA at UFC 10 and I'd wager that this is Fyre's time to get that revenge win. Frye is coming off a win against Ken Shamrock while Coleman's last fight was a loss to heavyweight champion Rodrigo "Minotaruo" Noguiera.
Cheap plug time! Be sure to check out my latest column, which is a feature on the late Davey Boy Smith and feel free to send any feedback directly to me or on the TPWW Forum in the Site Feedback section. Any news about local events, TV and radio appearances, etc can be sent to either myself or Martin for future updates.
Rob Harvey
RobHarvey@tpww.net
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