Hello and welcome to the returning edition of the news and rumors report here at TPWW. I am aware it's been well over a week since I last updated, but with all excuses aside, there are some important events or happenings to catch up with which will take up much of this report.
One of the biggest shocks last week was when WWE.com announced the return of Vince Russo to the WWE's creative department. In the past Russo stated he would not return to the then WWF unless he had full control of the storylines (obviously full control under the direction of Vince McMahon, because no one will have more authority then he will). Later the next day, rumors went wild that Russo was already demoted and that he may have quit the company. The story that we believe to be true is that the other WWE writers did not like Russo's creative ideas and went straight to Vince McMahon. McMahon supposedly had second thoughts about Russo's role, and as far as we know, Russo is playing the role of an "advisor" to the writing teams of both Raw and Smackdown. Russo is still with the WWE. For those wondering, there has been no suggestion that Russo will ever appear on camera, nor should anyone count on it. However, with the Russo character somewhat be familiar to the fans of the old WCW in its final year, he always could be put on WWE TV.
In what turned out to be a huge surprise for those watching Raw last week, The Rock made a return to the WWE in light of the situation that took place with Stone Cold Steve Austin the week before. The Rock made his appearance on Raw and at the King of The Ring, but it now seems Rock will not return (assuming he is not on Smackdown this week) until his originaly scheduled return, July 11th. Until then, The Rock will continue to take time off before his return and then to eventually start filming for the movie "Hellorado." For the record, though Rock does return on July 11th, his return won't be that long as he has that next movie to film.
Triple H will undergo elbow surgery sometime this week. The elbow has been bothering him lately and at first, it was hoped he would be able to work through it, but that is no longer the case. He will be out of action for a few weeks, but should be able to wrestle by the next Pay-Per-View.
The WWE held a press conference yesterday to investors concerning their fourth quarter financial numebers. The information is courtesy of WWECorpBiz.com. To sum it all up, WWE is losing out, obviousy due to the bad storyline progression, the Stone Cold Steve Austin situation (though that is only a recent problem), competition, and more. One fact that stands out is the price for Pay-Per-Views has increased while the attendance for them has decreased.
Other news items that came from the news conference included the status of Steve Austin and The Rock. Austin is currently suspended for his conduct, which may sound silly since Austin is the one who chose to leave himself. The Rock is splitting his time between WWE and his movie career.
Supposedly, Vince McMahon was prepared to go back to using the WWF initials in the event that the final appeal vs. the World Wildlife Fund was won. This is the rumor even though the company has already put a lot of time and money into the new WWE name. However, McMahon's final appeal went nowhere, and the company will stay as WWE.
There are rumors circulating Kurt Angle may be portrayed as an "old fashion" wrestler. The idea is to have him be the champion while defending the belt against both faces and heels. I haven't heard too much to believe that this will happen. This very well may be an idea the WWE has for Angle eventually and not necessarily be the plan for him at this time though.
For the most part, The Rock's behavior backstage at Raw was positive. There were some weird reactions from certain individuals claiming The Rock is "faking" his good attitude, while most believe he has not let his new career get to his head.
The reason Shane McMahon maynot be backstage at WWE events at present is because he too is unhappy with the direction of the company. There are also suggestions that he too may not know exactly how to solve the company's current problems. Just for the record, Shane still has a big role with WWE as he is in charge of the company's media department.
Torrie Wilson may be involved in some "raunchy" segments as a result of some heat that her soon to be husband Billy Kidman may have with WWE. The rumor is that WWE wanted Kidman in a storyline with Wilson, but had no interest in doing so.
Raven will still be part of WWE despite the stipulation that he will not perform on Raw anymore since he lost his match to Tommy Dreamer. He will supposedly wrestle exclusively for Sunday Night Heat. Just a quick sidenote, when Mr. McMahon stated the loser of the Raven and Dreamer match will not be on Raw anymore, how many of you figured he would wrestle on Smackdown?
A few weeks back, X-Pac made a fuss backstage before Raw since he did not want to wrestle on Heat. The reason it is believed he didn't want to wrestle on Heat is because Michael Hayes is the writer of the program. It has been revealed that X-Pac is the one that cut off Hayes' hair and as a result of that, Pac believed Hayes may book him to look bad on the program.
The Hurricane gimmick may very well be dropped since many of the agents of WWE are not fond of it. Rather then playing the superhero character of The Hurricane, Shane Helms (Shane is his real name) may return to his original WWE/WWF character of Gregory Helms. For the record, Helms debuted with WWE as Gregory Helms, then became Hurricane Helms before going to the superhero gimmick. Getting back to the dumping of the superhero angle, with Nidia unmasking him two weeks ago, that could very well be the excuse used why he isn't a superhero anymore despite the fact he did get the mask back. Again, I don't read Smackdown spoilers so I am unaware of what will happen on Smackdown.
WWE Raw finished with a 3.7 rating. Speaking of WWE TV, the Divas Undressed special originally scheduled for this past Tuesday night was rescheduled to this Saturday night (or Sunday morning technically) at Midnight. TNN asked WWE to "tone down" the program. As Scherer mentioned in his Lariat column, I do believe this may be the start (or continuation) of TNN being upset with WWE due to the decreased ratings.
The upcoming WWA European Tour has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland were all included as part of the European Tour. It is unknown at this time whether this tour will be rescheduled or not. This is the second time in recent months that WWA cancelled a big tour like this. I hate to say this, but as more time passes, the future of WWA looks worse then it did when it started.
Though Smackdown was taped in Chicago (I live in the south suburbs), I did not attend the event due to my work schedule and other happenings in what I call a life. With the recent attendence figures, I am sure a lot of people have better things to do rather then go to a live wrestling event; its a damn shame though isn't it?
Our top ten writer Michael Blazkowski is currently under the weather. I wish not to reveal what exactly is wrong, but he has been off the computer and his top ten list will be delayed for a few more days. Michael should be allright though, however, if you would like to e-mail him a "get well" message, you may do so by e-mailing him.
That is going to wrap it up for this edition of the news and rumors. Before I go, I would like to return the favor to one of my closest online friends, being Joe Balrog. He recently bought the domain TheBalrogsLair.com and the site is looking great. Despite the domain being new, the site has been on the 'net for over six years, and to this day isn't involved with any of the politics involved with the newsboards and the newsboard "whore" reporters. I'm not sure when the next news and rumors report will be, with this being late in the week, there may not be a lot of news for a weekend edition. We shall see. Until next time.
Martin Hawrysko
MHTPWW@hotmail.com
AIM: INGAME21
Previous News Update >>> McMahon and Ross speak about Austin situation, Diamond Dallas Page announces retirement, update on The Rock's hollywood and wrestling careers, NWA-TNA to debut "X-Title," and more. >>>
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