Hey there! Eddie here, and I can’t believe it, but I am doing another News and Rumors report! Wow, it was about time! ‘Nuff said, I gotta keep you awake.
The WWE presented that one show on Monday nights that they call “RAW.” The show saw Triple H win a #1 Contendership match against Rob Van Dam with Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest Referee, and as a result The Game will take on HBK at Armageddon. (Surprise, Surprise!) Elsewhere on the show, Jericho and Christian defended the titles against Booker T and Goldust in what was the match of the night in my opinion, and we saw two pretty good women bouts. Oh yeah, Scott Steiner showed up and it looks like Stephanie McMahon and SmackDown! has the advantage of the “Who gets Steiner” deal for the moment, as Steiner left RAW w/ Stephanie herself. If you need a full report, and you don’t feel like heading to the main page, click here.
The ratings are in and RAW scored a 3.3 rating! That’s the second lowest score ever in 5 years when RAW has aired on a regular Monday night, with the show a couple weeks ago being the lowest in all 5 years. Things have gone really bad rating-wise and you got to wonder what the McMahons and Co. have in mind. A change is needed, and hopefully one will start soon, especially with RAW. In other rating numbers, Velocity drew another low 0.7 and Confidential disappointed once again unfortunately with a 0.6. Though it should be noted both aired on Thanksgiving weekend and Confidential was a repeat. On the other side of things, Tough Enough III (also on Thanksgiving) scored a 1.3 rating, which is what the show usually does. No Sunday Night Heat rating as of this writing but the week before that, Heat did a very solid 1.4 number which was a pleasant surprise.
Jim Ross has been reporting in his Ross Report for quite some time now that Rey Mysterio needs his knee ‘scoped. Rey is finally getting the procedure done this Thursday and will be out of action for about a month. The latest on that is that he’s expected back in the ring for the WWE sometime in January. I’m sure Jim Ross will keep us updated on Rey’s condition through his Ross Report. Rey’s Armageddon absence will be explained with an injury angle most likely on SmackDown!. Let’s wish Rey good luck and a speedy recovery!
Now to something that has made it to the Internet through many sites as rumors have been running wild on Stone Cold Steve Austin and his return to the company. Without a doubt, Austin rumors have been around for a while, but it seems that they’re most believable and serious as of this writing. Here’s the deal … 1wrestling.com brought it to everyone’s attention that apparently Steve Austin and the WWE have indeed been in contact as of lately and the two sides have talked recently. The rumor has it that the WWE as a company, meaning all staff from writers to ring crew, has been acting as if Austin will be returning sooner or later, and rather sooner. Things are at the point where people are now talking on-line which brand he will make a return to. Most are saying that if Austin does indeed return to WWE TV, it’ll be on the SmackDown! brand due to he problems he has with the creative team, including main writer Brian Gerwetz, over on RAW. This leads to a whole new rumor that The Rock will go to RAW as a result, but let’s not get into that too prematurely. The bottom line here is that The Rattlesnake might be making a return soon, but face it, as of now, there’s NOTHING official.
One rumor about Austin is that he might make a return on the special RAW 10th Anniversary show. The WWE has contacted A LOT of people to ask them if interested in making an appearance and it seems that we might see some old-time favorites make a return for good! Everyone from Hulk Hogan to Bret Hart and Steve Austin are rumored of being in talks with the company about an appearance. I wouldn’t be so hot over it for now, but it is a special occasion and I would expect the WWE to put up a great show, so keep checking for updates on that situation.
Just to clear something up, as the confusion on-line has been bothering me. The RAW Special WILL BE on a Tuesday night. Not only is that stated at the official site when you vote for your favorite RAW moment but Michael Cole mentioned it on SmackDown! either last week or two weeks ago, after a RAW Retro clip aired. I’m not so sure why is everyone so crazy over this and why is it confusing so many people? The WWE would rather have the show on a Tuesday night and run a regular Monday-night episode. That way they get to not miss an episode of regular RAW TV and also give TNN a really really really big rating on Tuesday night! Also, the celebration should get its own night because let’s face it, the feelings of sorrow and reminiscing will be all over us, so let’s give it a separate night and enjoy.
Sean “Syxx-Pac” Waltman responded to his “NWA-TNA release” with a statement several days ago. Sean basically stated that he did do a very unprofessional thing by not letting the NWA-TNA crew know he will no-show an event only 30 minutes before the event itself, however, he excused himself with the fact that he was in Vegas celebrating his engagement and woke up too late on the day he was supposed to make the call. Sean also stated that he left the company, he wasn’t released and he wasn’t happy with the direction they were taking especially the Vince Russo return to TV. Waltman also went out to say “F*** HIM!” about Vince Russo… Easy now.
Britain’s “The Sun” recently caught up with Sting and there’s a very nice interview available up on their site. Sting talks about his return to the ring with the WWA as well as everything from past to present and the current WWE product. Visit the site by clicking here, or check out the webchat.
Here is the latest form the PWTorch Newsletter that came out the end of last week:
* As many “backstage rumor” sites have been reporting, the PWTorch also confirmed that Nidia has been dating Eric Angle, the brother of Kurt Angle, for several months now. Eric is still working for OVW, and I would guess the 2 met there. You might remember Eric Angle with his brief appearance at the Survivor Series 2000 PPV and the RAW on the night after, when Kurt Angle was the WWF (back then) Champion and had a program with The Undertaker.
* Eddie Guerrero is being praised for his will to remain alcohol-free and the way he’s dealt with his attempt to remain sober. Rumors have it that he reads a book on sobriety in order to keep up with his praised progress.
* Though Scott Steiner has mainly kept to himself backstage at WWE events, he does have friends in the company. The “examples” used are Chuck Palumbo and Rikishi.
* Ron Simmons might be offered a spot as a road agent very soon. I’d say it’s about time, as Ron has not been in the shape to wrestle lately and his experience is plenty for him to take such a position.
* Trish Stratus has been gaining a reputation of working stiff as of lately, and particularly her “kicks” have been the problem. Trish has started using “The Chick Kick” among other close moves.
And here’s some news and notes from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
* There are currently no plans for an Undertaker return. ‘Taker’s wife, Sara, recently gave birth to their newborn child and ‘Taker has been taking time off so he can be alongside his wife for the occasion, as well as recover from some nagging injuries that have been causing him trouble for a while. The Undertaker will also have an elbow surgery to remove some chip bones, so he will probably not return until the Royal Rumble, 2003 for sure. It’s rumored that upon his return he’ll be thrown in the mix to feud with The Big Show, whereas Brock Lesnar, who’s expected to have regained the WWE Championship by that time, would feud with another superstar, probably Kurt Angle or Chris Benoit, over the belt.
* Sean Waltman is still married to his wife of 12 years but is in the process of getting everything on their divorce papers finalized and official. Waltman will then marry longtime friend and now fiance Joanie Laurer, AKA Chyna. As far as Waltman’s relationship with Laurer’s ex-boyfriend, and friend, Triple H, the latest is that there hasn’t been any fall out of source of Waltman’s relationship with Joanie, but the two aren’t as close anymore. For example, when Triple H was in Los Angeles several weeks ago, he didn’t even call Waltman.
* This has been touched on already but just for those who might have missed it, reportedly there’s some frustration going on backstage from WWE staff about Vince McMahon and the lack of long-term booking. Apparently, whoever gets to talk to Vince about storylines last gets to have the storyline done that way. Some people are even questioning if McMahon has lost confidence in himself, which can’t be good for WWE.
* Well, folks, as if we didn’t see it coming, there are some people backstage who feel that Brock Lesnar losing the WWE Championship in an under-card match at the PPV and then splitting up with Paul Heyman was just another political move by Triple H to make sure his program was on top of Brock’s. If that is true, things are really sad.
* In another interesting Brock Lesnar update, the decision to take the title away from him was not made due to his rib injury, as the decision was made by Vince and Stephanie McMahon two weeks before the PPV. That comes off rather strange to me, but as we can see, Brock will be getting some time off at least, so hopefully he heals fast.
* Felina, AKA Gail Kim, who the WWE signed recently will be making her debut to the SmackDown! brand in December. Though the women’s division is on RAW, Felina caught Paul Heyman’s eye and he wanted her on his show, therefore she’s going to SmackDown!. Look out for her debut soon.
* As you already know, the special “RAW 10th Anniversary” wasn’t even planned as the original plan was to have a RAW 500th show celebration but those plans got scratched. The rumor has it that the WWE could have changed their plans due to Monday Night Football doing a similar kind of thing this year.
* The WWE paid $500,000 for the building of the Elimination Chamber, which means it was the most expensive wrestling structure ever. Due to the high cost and everything it took to gather it all together, the WWE will probably keep it and make the match an annual event. Some inside people weren’t happy with the move and thought the WWE was spending too much money for nothing, calling the whole ordeal a “WCW-like” move.
* Survivor Series was a legitimate sellout with 17,930 people, of which 15,500 paid a total gate of over $1.25 millions, which is a new record for NYC wrestling events, and the highest paid gate ever for non-WrestleMania wrestling events in North America. Woo, what a sentence.
The WWE is coming up with a second Anthology CD, which is planned for a release the week of WrestleMania XIX as it stands right now. It’s entitled “WWE Anthology II: The Saga Continues” and it features 3 discs again. Disc #3, which has the “Now” (current) themes is not clear yet as things will be decided around release date. To see the tracks of the first two CDs via our Headlines Newsboard, click here to go directly to the post.
Rumors have it that The Rock and Vin Diesel were battling it out for the role of “Venom” in the sequel of Spiderman. The Rock, however, and the WWE have reportedly asked for a very high price, which pretty much took Rock out of the bidding.
In some bad news for Australian fans, WWE PPVs will no longer be aired in the country. The WWE and Main Event could not reach a deal for the PPVs, therefore they will not air next year. Main Event stated that the price the WWE demanded was too high. Stay tuned if there’s to be a possible turn of events.
TBL Updates:
– God this site has so many updates now, what is this?! Are we now a big-time site or what?! When do I get paid?
– Well, I really have no choice but to start with MY column 🙂 With that said, The Prime Cut has been updated and in it I talk about Ric Flair. To be clear — I don’t diss him, nor am I a smark, just read yourselves!
– The RAW Wishes by Joe Balrog (Yay, he wrote … I’m not sucking up either *cough*) are up and it’s hilarious stuff. Got to agree with Mr. Balrog, RAW has just a bit too much Triple H. But just a smidge.
– Speaking of RAW, Monsterbowler has updated his RAW Review, where he grades RAW. Isn’t that nice?
– Joe has posted the TBL Express for Thursday, which you can find here. Also, check out the main page for more news and a SmackDown! Report.
– Matt’s Trivia has been updated and Matt hits you with a set of new questions. I hit you with the link — Matt’s Trivia.
– “Mr. PTR”® (the “Mr. PTR”® nickname, association, logo, usage, and rights as copyrighted and created by Michael. All credit to Michael B. INC.) has updated his column and holly shit, it’s all out war at this site! Well not really, but Adam takes a look at Tom Zenk’s column and has some pretty un-anti-atagonist (ha!) remarks — click here. I can see Michael and myself opening a beer and reading a PTR between Adam and Tom… We’re waiting for that! *sigh* Give the people what they want damn it!
– My good friend Chris Reynolds is back with another edition of The Razor’s Edge, where he talks about the situation from the past to the present with tag teams. A very nice read!
– Steve Ashfield and his Not So Regal View are back and get this… His title is NOT in all capital letters this time!!! A shocker, I know *nods head* In his latest column he gives a run-down of today’s superstars with some of his own thoughts. Another very nice read!
– Do you really need to read columns unless they’re either called The Prime Cut or Unspoken? Of course you do! So then what makes those 2 special? They are written with a lot of heart … and usually at 3 AM.
Well, that will do it for this News and Rumors report. This will probably get posted on Thursday, hope you enjoyed it. I’ll probably be back for another update soon, depends how we work things out with Martin and Michael. We are not exactly on a schedule right now, but that makes it better because one of us always goes all out in these reports. I’m guessing, Michael Blaszkowski, the God of News and Rumors reports and our very own TBL Necrophilia expert, will be back with another one soon, as soon as this weekend. If not, good ol’ Martin will do his thing. All right, that’s it for me, I’m going to make like Austin and split … whoa, wait, never mind. See ya later!
Eddie
*** Note From Martin *** Adam Gorzelsky has been busy creating a new and better design for Pardon The Ring for a few weeks now. As of this writing, the project should be finished this weekend, which at that time, we would have a new PTR session. An update on PTR will be given in this weekend’s News & Rumors report.
