Yo. My name's Mike, and I'm still trying to find out what the hell the song "In da' wind" is all about. Not so confusing, however, is the glorious wrestling news I have to impart upon you all. Gather round my children...and learn.
NWA Main Event star Chris Champion suffered what the NWA Main Event website is calling a major stroke. He has been transferred from a hospital in Shelbyville, Tenn. to a Nashville hospital called St. Thomas. The thoughts of TPWW and its staff go out to him and his family, but if you (the reader) would like to send your thoughts, NWA: ME have provided the following address:
Chris Champion C/O:NWA Main Event Wrestling
P. O. BOX 60688
Nashville, Tenn. 37206
Moving onto the latest "Big Story Beginning", Eric Bischoff and the always-loved Stephanie McMahon were made general managers of RAW and SmackDown! respectively. Although Steph's new clothes may make her "cute" as opposed to "scary", they do nothing to cure several storyline gaps. One, what happened to the whole "Stephanie is banned from TV" angle? Two, why would Vince still hate Shane for his part in the Invasion and yet be so over Steph's transgressions that he'd give her control over something like 50% of his TV? Well, minus Confidential. Three, why would Stephanie be given the role of making SmackDown! great as opposed to, say, anyone else, since the last two times she was in charge (Trips and hers era and the InVasion) she did everything possible to make the shows completely about her (in a storyline sense, of course). Assuming they answer these questions, this angle could...Who am I kidding? When do they EVER answer such questions?
Speaking of the SD!GM, rumors continue to float saying that Mick Foley was considered to be in Steph's role instead. Also in Internet speculation, I'd just have to assume (read: total opinion) that a feud with the other McMahon kid, "Mr. High-Spot" himself Shane McMahon, will occur at some point, allowing the feud to turn from Heel Steph and Heel Bisch to Heel Bisch and Face Shane, a much better feud to rally behind. Although actually, in a perfect world, we'd use the great trick of "allowing fans to take sides" and make BOTH sides the face, at least, in their fans eyes. That's when the split will REALLY begin.
After the pure speculation of the last paragraph, here's something that ISN'T speculation. Bunches and bunches of developmental talent were released as WWE cut ties with Les Thatcher's special promotion. As a result of the split with HWA, people such as EZ Money, Mike Sanders, Steve Bradley, Race Steele, and others were sent packin'. This is probably just the beginning of the rumored roster cuts, as some TV talent is expected to be released soon as well, if memory serves.
Being a WWE Champion is one thing, but being the WWE Locker Room Videogame champion is a completely different story. The perks and privileges, the money, the fame, the power, all of it is beyond a normal champion's wildest dreams. One of afore said perks is the honor of reviewing whatever game WWE is currently pushing. Booker T., the 5-time, 5-time, 5...anyway, he reviewed Test Drive. Check out his thoughts here, sucka.
Billboard released their 10 top selling sports videos for July 20th. WWE videos hold only 2 of the top spots. WWF videos hold 6 of the top spots. This obviously must mean that WWF is so much better then WWE, right? Oh, and WWE/WWF videos hold exactly zero of the top spots on the 10 top video rentals list, the 10 top video sales list, and the 10 top DVD list. You know who does hold a spot though? Darrin's Dance Grooves. Guess he's better then either version of the company.
This week's Rock Spotlight shows that he's currently...OH MY GOD HE'S WRESTLING! Praise the Lord! In fact, he'll even be at, not just this Pay-per-view (at which I will be too), but the next one (which I won't be at) as well. Even better, the promotional picture for the event has him on it! Joyous occasion, indeed.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that many believe Triple H may be *gasp* manipulating the storylines to avoid people becoming new stars. Oh, and there was a discrepancy in the 7/1 RAW ratings. It seems that instead of the ABYSMAL rating of 3.4, the Jeff Hardy versus Undertaker match actually got a quarter-hour rating of 4.16 and a overrun rating of 4.36, making the segments the highest rated of the show. I wonder if anyone in management is now questioning their post match treatment of young Jeffery's push now?
WWE stock hit a 52-week low at $10. Vince is still considered, and I quote (myself) "Filthy f***in' rich." However, in a cost-cutting effort, they decided they'd fire all their cruiserweights. Wait, nope, not just yet, but watch yourself Yoshihiro, your time is almost up!
Vengeance is this Sunday, and the card according to the official website is as follows:
The Undertaker
Rob Van Dam v. "2002 King of the Ring" Brock Lesnar for the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Jamie Noble w/Nidia v. Billy Kidman for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
"Hollywood" Hulk Hogan & Edge v. Christian & Lance Storm for the WWE Tag Team Championship.
Booker T. v. The Big Show in a no DQ, no count-out match.
"Bubba Tough" Bubba Ray Dudley & Spike Dudley v. Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero
*also*
Will Triple H choose SmackDown! or RAW?
So if you can make it to Detroit, do it. If you can't, but can make it to the World, go hang out with Dawn Marie and that Torrie girl. If you can do neither, just settle for the PPV, available at all good cable and satellite providers everywhere.
As always, Jimmy Ross has his report up, and out of it we learned that Christopher Kanyon and Mike Awesome will be back on the road soon, getting back up to their performance levels. Also, Shannon Moore (Go 3Count!), The Island Boys, Mr. Bull Buchanan, Shelton Benjamin and Victoria are being brought up to the big leagues. Also, as seen on RAW, Johnny the Bull is already up and on TV. Additionally, Jackie Gayda (think the disaster of a match a few weeks back) and Linda Miles (the other TE winner) are both being based in Louisville for "practices and TV". They'll still be booked on the road, at times, though, so we may have not yet seen the last of them before they get turned into a redneck manager. Finally, Ross says to expect a surprise or two at Vengeance. I would damn sure hope so.
On that same note, Jeremy Borash's "From The Inside", the NWA-TNA version of Ross' Report, had these notes: Goldylocks has a strong I-net following, a new dude named Red will debut in the opener of the next show against Low-Ki, and starting next week they'll be moving from Municipal to the Fairgrounds, still in Nashville. They claim it has to do with cost-cutting (that seems to be going around) and trying to relive that ECW vibe.
Hey, this next paragraph is about videogames, it should be up after Booker T. to keep the flow right. Eh, this report has no flow anyway. So the game WWE WrestleMania X8, available now on GameCube, features box art with Austin, Hogan, and "Everyone's favorite wrestler" Rob Van Dam. Now, THQ, the game's publishers, have changed the recent crops of the game overseas with a version that features box art with The Rock, Hogan, and "Everyone's favorite wrestler" Rob Van Dam. The next crop of boxes over here will probably feature the same art, which you can see here. In case anyone's wondering, Austin is still in the game and there are no plans to change it otherwise. Of course, if they took out Austin, they'd have to add in a new character. X-Pac, anyone?
Okay, so this report is a little short. So now, for the next page, I will entertain you with my amazing poetry. First, a Haiku. Kidding, folks, I'll just let ya' out of class early and y'all can go smoke behind the school or somethin'. Peace, folks, I'm out.
Michael Blaszkowski, (Boomer Sooner!) Hehe...
E-mail questions, comments, and other feedback to threePunk@tpww.net.
AIM: threePunk2002
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