It's been a long time, but I am finally back and ready to continue with the news and rumors. Ok, I'm not sure I am ready though. I started writing this last night and had no idea where to begin at since I've been so behind on the news the last few weeks. To be honest with you, I'm still not sure I know how to start this off, so I guess I'll get started and see where the ending will take us.
Raw took place almost a week ago and is surely distant memory for most. Probably the most important highlight of the night was the return of Shawn Michaels as he is now the newest member of the nWo. Stone Cold Steve Austin pinned Ric Flair in an one on one match making Flair Austin's personal assistant. Bradshaw won the Hardcore title and the King of The Ring qualifying matches began. It was a pretty good show I though, definately better than what we have seen a few weeks ago.
Smackdown was the show which I really enjoyed this week. Its a shame Edge will be hurt, but it looks as if they are going to (somewhat) push Val Venis (does anyone seriously call him Big Valbowski?). I hope they do push Val. The battle royal to start the show was something nice and fresh, but I kind of thought the last two men would end up being Hogan and Triple H. The main event match was allright, the ending with Hogan and HHH respecting each other was nice. I enjoyed the Kurt Angle and Hardcore Holly match, and I hope they decide to push Holly. All in all, it looks like the splitting of the creative team is starting to show.
Going back to Shawn Michaels, one would assume he will be back on TV for good for the next few months, or as long as the nWo storyline continues. Even though he should be on TV, as of now, he will not be wrestling. That may change at anytime as WWE officials would like to see Michaels wrestle once more as they believe his last match wasn't a proper farewell match. Eitherway, Michaels as a fulltime competitor will not happen since his back is screwed up and at best, he may have a few matches here and there, but I think realistically, one or two more matches are in the future for him though. The later is my personal opinion.
The other question that is up for debate is, will the nWo be a face now, or remain as a heel function. The most logical answer would be as a heel function since its the nWo, but rumors lately have suggested that Nash may turn face once he is ready to compete again. On Monday night, all Michaels did was come out and did nothing to hint he is a heel. That may all change Monday, but we should know the answer then. I personally hope they are heels, that would be more entertaining I believe and is the reason why the nWo exists in the first place. Booker T is expected to turn face soon and go on his own, but if the nWo is for whatever reason to stay as a face, I would assume Booker T will stay nWo. I personally believe they will be heels, and in the upcoming weeks, Booker T will either quit or get kicked out and turn face. We are seeing signs of that already with Booker T defending Goldust in the last two weeks.
Jim Hellwig, now legally named The Warrior said some controversial things concerning The British Bull Dog, Davey Boy Smith. Among some things included saying that he died because he chose to and the things he did in his life were his choice and that is what killed him. Warrior showed no sympathy for Smith. Warrior also mentioned Hulk Hogan is not a hero, and that he would never work for the WWF (WWE) ever again. The full commentary can be read by clicking here.
Chris Benoit though a Smackdown superstar now, will most likely become a fulltime Raw wrestler according to 1Wrestling. A storyline would have to be explained for that, but it may be explained through some sort of trade between Ric Flair and Vince McMahon which I believe has not happened yet.
Walter Frank the XWF owner is still attempting to put the XWF on television. The latest bit of info according to PWTorch is that he is or was willing to pay a TV network to air the five episodes that the XWF taped last year sometime. Frank has a few other options too according to the Torch. Personally, it doesn't look like XWF is that much closer to going on TV then it was last year.
The NWA-TNA promotion will have a battle royal (they are calling it a gauntlet match) for their debut PPV, and some people are under the speculation that is the reason Smackdown had a battle royal on their program this past week.
In other NWA-TNA news, Scott Hall signed a contract with the promotion and will now wrestle for them. Whether Hall has learned from his last mistake from WWE, who knows, my money is that he hasn't, but I sure hope he has. Either way, it may not matter since NWA-TNA will probably allow more crap from Hall then WWE would since NWA-TNA need the bigger stars and Scott Hall definately helps (depending on your point of view).
The main event match with Hogan and Triple H on Smackdown was edited for TV. Some spots that didn't look too good were taken out, mostly to make the match appear better on TV. The Hurricane and Jamie Knobles backstage segment which had crowd noise was not shown to the live audience that were at Smackdown.
In Jim Ross' latest Internet report, he commented on the latest situations for both Triple H and Edge. Triple H's elbow locked up last weekend and x-rays came out negative for major damage. But he may have some fragments in his elbow which is why it might have been locking up. His MRI done on Wednesday has been sent to Dr. Andrews for further study.
The latest on Edge is he has a tear in his shoulder, however, surgery is not currently needed. He may need it in the future but for now, will undergo therapy for two weeks before weight training again, and should be back in a month.
Kane should be back in about two more months assuming everything goes right.
If you are interested in becoming a fulltime columnist or a results reporter for this website, please click here for further information. TPWW may only hire once or twice a year so now is your chance so if you are indeed interested in working with this site, now is the time to apply. With that said, I will complete this report with a few words about The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith.
I have not had the chance to comment on the unfortunate passing of The British Bulldog. Despite the fact that he had many personal problems, I did not the man and was not there to see the problems he went for. Anytime someone passes away, it is a shame, and Davey Boy Smith is no different. He passed away unexpectedly, and just think, about two weeks sooner, he wrestled his first tag team match with his son. I could not help but feel bad for him in the final years of his life, as the personal problems with his family and drug addiction took its toll on him. It's a damn shame that he had to pass so young. Even though I may not have been his biggest fan, I did enjoy watching him when he wrestled for the WWF. I wish nothing but the best for the family and friends of Davey Boy Smith. RIP British Bulldog.
Martin Hawrysko
MHTPWW@hotmail.com
AIM: INGAME21
Previous News Update >>> Shawn Michael admits to knowing about the '97 Survivor Series screw job, NWA-TNA information, Steiner and Golberg updates, and much more. >>>