HHH wants to turn face

[Guest Brian]

WWE NEWSWIRE FOR TORCH #732

 

*As Raw ratings continue to sink, there is growing discontent and

frustration among wrestlers with the power structure influencing

Vince McMahon. The lowdown on the Raw writing hierarchy right now, as

far as the wrestlers perceive it, is that even if an idea is

well-received by one of the writers, the rest will shoot it down if

it doesn't fit their political strategy. For instance, if an idea

were pitched to Steph that she seemed receptive toward, the feeling

is it will be shot down by Triple H. If Brian Gewirtz seems receptive

to an idea, the feeling is it will be shot down by Vince, Steph, or

Triple H. So the wrestlers are just plowing through their jobs,

trying not to create waves since there are no other full-time pay

options for most of them and gritting their teeth over Raw becoming

the Triple H show. Gewirtz might also be feeling the frustration of

being overruled since he used to stand up to Vince when it came to

certain ideas or concepts, but he seems to be doing less of that

lately. The feeling is that Vince ultimately has about 90 percent

influence on every idea that is implemented and that he only concerns

himself with the top acts and won't be bothered to dedicate much time

or energy to anything that isn't a top program. Wrestlers believe

that there are some who are given favored status by management and

will be given chance after chance to get over (such as Edge or Jeff

Hardy), while others won't be given a chance because Vince just

doesn't see anything in them or they're politically not part of the

right circle. "Either your chosen or you're not; your slot is already

determined, and no matter how hard you work or what you do or say, it

won't change because Vince has already made up his mind about you,"

says one frustrated wrestler.

 

*Triple H said he was not upset with Rob Van Dam injuring his throat

and even went so far as to say that he feels safe whenever he's in

the ring with him. "This is a tough business," Triple H said. "And

there are certain moves in the business that are high-risk moves.

When we do them, we take high risk, that's why they're called

high-risk moves. Every time that you do one, the odds go up that

something's going to happen. And this time, something happened. The

time was right and there it was. This has nothing to do with Rob. I

feel completely safe in the ring with Rob every time I'm in there

with him." RVD had a rep dating back to his ECW days of being a bit

reckless in the ring with opponents, sometimes causing injury.

 

*There was some legitimate tension between Brock Lesnar and Big Show

headed into Sunday's PPV. Of course, WWE didn't mind word of that

getting out because it might have added a few PPV buys if

internet-reading fans heard about it. Lesnar apparently wasn't

pleased with how Big Show's recklessness led to a rib injury at a

house show early this month. Show was said to be unhappy with how

stiff Brock was with him at Smackdown last week leading to that

gruesome welt on his arm. Neither Brock nor Show have been heralded

by management for their maturity. There are mid-card wrestlers who

don't get any breaks because of conduct much less delinquent than

what Brock and Show display at times. Show, as Ross has chronicled

during his Ross Report for the past couple of years, is difficult to

motivate and acts like a big 12 year old a lot of the time. Lesnar

isn't the most classy person in how he handles himself either, not

the least of which was the incident with Curt Hennig on the flight

from Europe. Brock has a jock bully mentality a lot of the time and

is still acclimating himself to the pro wrestling world where 22 year

olds don't reign as kings no matter how big their pushes or how

successful their amateur wrestling careers. Of course, all of this

meant WWE went into p.r. control afterward as Show complimented Brock

during a website interviewŠ

 

*Big Show offered high praise of Brock Lesnar for working through his

broken rib at Survivor Series during an interview with the WWE

website. "That exemplifies the fact that he's a superhero," Show said

of Lesnar. "Here's a guy with a broken rib, not fractured, but I'm

talking about broken clean in half. At any minute, any one of those

bumps that he did, he could had a rib shoved through his lung. But he

sucks it up, goes out there, throws around a 500 lb. guy like I'm 150

lbs., does the job. He did what nobody else in the business has ever

done to me. This goes back to (Hulk) Hogan slamming Andre (The

Giant). Not to put that kind of association to what we did, but for

Brock to do what he did, that was a real feat of superhuman strength,

no matter how much I helped him or not. There were a couple of things

we did out there that I didn't get a chance to help. And it was just

him with his strength. He's the manŠ I take my hat off to Brock

Lesnar. He's a tremendous athlete. No matter how young he is in this

business, he's years ahead. He's going to be one of the legendary

greats. And I believe that from the bottom of my heart. He's a great

friggin' guy. He's a great athlete. And he's one of the strongest son

of a bitches I've ever seen in my life."

 

*Hulk Hogan and WWE have an awkward working relationship due to

mutual interest in his book selling well. Despite failing to reach an

agreement with Vince McMahon on how he should be used for his

scheduled return to the ring this month, Hogan is still under

contract with WWE until January 14. With his book coming out this

week, and WWE sharing in the profits of the book, WWE's media

department has continued its full push for publicity for the book.

Hogan is working with the WWE media department on scheduling various

public appearances plugging the book. WWE wants the book to sell well

since it not only helps their bottom line today, but helps set up

more book deals in the future. After all, if Hogan's book doesn't

sell well, it's going to be difficult to convince the book industry

that books by lesser known names might sell well in the future. WWE's

has made some half-hearted plugs for Hogan's book on their TV shows,

plus is running a commercial plugging the book. There aren't any

planned Hogan appearances on WWE TV to hype the book, although WWE

did arrange his interview scheduled for this week with NBC's Today

show, among other upcoming publicity tour appearances. Part of

Hogan's book publicity included him being featured in USA Today last

week making football picks for NFL games this past weekend.

 

*Notebook: Triple H was at Raw on Monday. Before his injury the night

before had been part of the script for Raw. When WWE didn't know if

he would be released from the hospital in time, the show was

rewritten without him. Even though by late afternoon they knew Triple

H was going to be available for the show, they chose to keep him

written out of the show. There was some consideration to writing him

back in, and it may have even been discussed while the show was

taking place since the announcers plugged that he was headed to the

arena and "rumored to be showing up," but ultimately they decided to

go with their back-up script without him as part of it so that the

focus could be on Michaels and RVD insteadŠ Stephanie McMahon has a

rep for portraying herself as knowledgeable about virtually every

subject or craft that might come up, be it how to dance, walk, talk,

or wrestle, which rubs people the wrong way. "What, did she go to

college and major in Everything?" asks one wrestlerŠ Shane McMahon

was at the PPV on Sunday and attended Raw on Monday, his usual

routine. He doesn't attend TVs except the week of PPVs. He doesn't

have a defined role. Sources say Shane isn't thrilled with the power

Triple H wields, nor is he celebrating that his younger sister is

seen as much more involved and influential than he is. Shane has

become a sympathetic figure among the wrestlers since the perception

is he and Hunter aren't all that tight. His role backstage is

infrequent enough that he isn't seen as part of the day-to-day

backstage operations, and instead just pops in once a month to stay

familiar with things and help out with various tasks during the most

stressful weekend of the month for WWE (PPV weekends)Š Vince McMahon

has handled Jeff Hardy's recent motivation problems by being

positive, complimenting him on anything good he does. He praised him

a couple of weeks back for showing some of the passion he used to

show a couple years agoŠ Shawn Michaels appeared on the "No Holds

Barred" radio show and said the primary reason he agreed to appear at

Survivor Series was that it was held at Madison Square Garden. He

said he hasn't wrestled at MSG in five years and that the crowd

always appreciates hard work. Michaels said his goal in returning

this time is to help the younger wrestlers and then ride off into the

sunset. He said his back felt good the first two days after his

SummerSlam match, but said it started bothering him a couple of weeks

later. Michaels also said he regrets the Survivor Series incident

with Bret Hart, but said he and Vince McMahon felt they were trying

to protect the company. Michaels said his WrestleMania X match

against Razor Ramon is his favorite matchŠ

 

Scott Steiner was interviewed by the WWE website team and asked about

speculation that he'll be a problem in the locker room. "How the f---

do they know that?" Steiner rhetorically asked the interviewer. "If

they're not backstage, how do they know whether or not I'm a problem?

That's a rumor, or a label that people try to put on me. But I always

keep to myself, I don't bother anybody, nobody bothers meŠ F--- no! I

don't talk to anybody, so how can I be a locker room cancer?" Steiner

is being truthful in the sense that he has kept to himself in his

early WWE appearances, not shacking up with any cliques or being

overly friendly and political. He has kept to himself for the most

part and not tried to cozy up or schmooze anyone in his few WWE

backstage appearancesŠ Shawn Michaels hasn't gone out of his way to

endear himself to the rest of the wrestlers despite being given a top

spot. He mainly hangs out with Hunter and William Regal. He isn't

unfriendly by any means like he was in the past when he was a

headliner, but it's still clear he considers himself like a "senior

in high school and part of the cool kid crowd" while most everyone

else are underclassmen who haven't paid the dues or formed the

relationships with management like he hasŠ William Regal might be

less popular among the rest of the wrestlers than Triple H because he

carries himself like a teacher's pet yet doesn't do anything special

as a performer to help explain his standing with management. He's

tight with Hunter and respected by Vince and Steph, and he takes

advantage of it by taking on a virtual player-manager role nowŠ

 

Jim Ross opened his weekly WWE website column by apologizing for the

comments he made on Raw last week about the American flag being the

only flag that should have been flying on Veteran's Day. Ross said he

should have known better "when the info came my way, but the bottom

line is I said it, and I will take responsibility for my mistake."

Ross's mistake was basically that other country's celebrate similar

holidays on the same dayŠ According to Ross, Survivor Series was the

the 137th event that WWE has held at MSG since 1985Š Kurt Angle and

his wife Karen are expecting their first child, a girl, sometime

before ThanksgivingŠ Former World Wrestling All-Stars Champion Nathan

Jones reached a verbal agreement with WWE, but apparently has not

signed a contract. Ross reported that Jones will likely start with

the company in mid-DecemberŠ WWE is also bringing in Gail Kim, a

female wrestler from TorontoŠ Chris Nowinski was featured on ESPN

College Gameday on Nov. 16Š Kanyon will likely be called up to the

active roster shortly after the first of the yearŠ Ivory needed

stitches in her upper lip following her brawl with Victoria on the

Nov. 11 RawŠ Big Bossman tore his rotator cuff while wrestling in

OVWŠ Rey Mysterio will have his knee scoped on Dec. 5 and will likely

miss only two or three weeksŠ Big Show commented to WWE on his rocky

career: "I've been from the penthouse to the outhouse in this

business. Right now I'm back in the penthouse. Hopefully, I will do

the things to make sure I stay at least in the upper floors. That's

just through hard work, remembering where I came from, remembering

the people who got me here, and busting my ass every night. You don't

forget the people who got you here. You stay humble and work hard.

That's what it's all about"Š

 

Source say that Raw ended at 11 sharp (or within a minute or so) this

week because TNN got upset with WWE for abusing their overrun

allowance and going too long without delivering strong enough ratings

to justify it. It's not clear whether the overruns are history, or if

WWE just overcompensated this week to make up for last week. TNN

spent tens of millions on rights to CSI as their franchise show and

WWE isn't strong enough now to get favorable treatment like in the

pastŠ Vince McMahon went back and forth for the two weeks leading up

to Survivor Series on who should come out of the event with both

world titles. The final straw that solidified Big Show getting the

win was probably Brock suffering the rib injury and needing time off

after the PPV. Both Michaels and Triple H were seriously considered

for winning the Chamber match, but not anyone else. The fear was that

Michaels either wasn't over enough or wouldn't be able to perform

enough to justify holding the title. Triple H was in favor of

Michaels winning, but McMahon wasn't entirely convinced it was the

right move. Vince is getting credit for at least heating out a lot of

ideas and arguments over the past week or so regarding the fate of

both World Titles at Survivor Series rather than just having one idea

and stubbornly sticking to it. Of course, in the end, by listening to

a lot of ideas, that means a lot of people feel their ideas were

rejected, but it's considered better than not appearing receptive to

even hearing other's ideas in the first placeŠSaturn was released

from his contract a couple months early and paid his remaining salary

in a lump sum. When he signed with WWE three years ago as part of the

mass jump from WCW along with Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, and Chris

Benoit, all three opted for three year contracts instead of five year

contracts (which were offered) because they felt they'd have more

negotiating leverage in three years. Needless to say, he ended up

with much less leverageŠ Mick Foley is telling people that he didn't

really get an offer to be a secret consultant to Vince McMahon on

storylines, but instead meant it as a joke when he said it at a

speaking engagement last month. Last week's Newswire reported what he

said as if he were serious when he said it, which is how our

correspondent who attended the speech initially interpreted the

context of the commentŠ Jesse Ventura, who has talked about making a

return to WWE rings after his term of Minnesota governor expires in

two months, is now negotiating with MSNBC for a full-time hosting gig

in prime time to replace Donahue, whose ratings have been lousy since

his debut this summerŠ CNN aired a feature on pro wrestling on Nov.

15 during Aaron Brown's evening show. It's theme was that WWE's

popularity is down and now they are resorting to sleazy angles to win

back fans' attention, but those attempts haven't worked. Triple H

defended the recent angles saying basically that they always are

sleazy, even when business is good, but when business is good, the

risque angles are seen as gutsy and genius. Anchor Brown said McMahon

isn't the genius he was five years agoŠ In an interview with the Pal

Talk Radio Network, Shawn Michaels said he and Triple H were not in

favor of the necrophilia angle. "(Triple H) was in a very tough

position, and he does the same thing I have always done when Vince

McMahon tells you to do something, you do it even if you dislike it.

He didn't like it, but Vince McMahon asked him to do it, so he did

it"Š

 

Stephanie McMahon is on the cover of the upcoming WWE Magazine, plus

is the person featured in the magazine's centerfoldŠ Steve Austin is

advertised as doing a charity autograph session on Nov. 21 in

Coloniel Heights, Tex. to benefit the Boys and Girls ClubŠ Kurt Angle

told the U.S. Olympic website that he is more excited about his

eventual match against Brock than any other. "The people, who've been

watching the show, the one thing that they take notice to is, why

haven't Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar touched. That's because that will

be probably Š in my mind and in many other people's minds Š the

biggest match-up ever," Angle said. "When you talk about a Rock-Stone

Cold showdown, when you talk about a Hulk Hogan-Andre the Giant

showdown Š a Kurt Angle-Brock Lesnar showdown is of that caliber

except you're going to see a much better match then the other ones Š

and I'm not taking away anything from Rock and Stone Cold or Andre

the Giant and Hulk Hogan, but you're not only going to see a

professional wrestling match, you're going to see a wrestling match

that consists of amateur wrestling, pro wrestling. You're going to

see the brutality. You're going to see two of the world's best

athletes go at it - true, best athletes - so they're holding off on

that. You're probably going to see something like that at something

like, WrestleMania"Š

 

Ric Flair did introductions over the p.a. system for the New Orleans

Hornets last Wednesday night before their game against the Minnesota

Timberwolves. He wore his wrestling robe and did his whole "whooo!"

routine. At one point during the game, an arena blimp floated onto

the court. As arena workers pulled it off court, the arena played

Flair's "whoo!" over and over to entertain the crowd. The Minnesota

TV broadcaster said on the air that Flair was the most popular person

in the arena. ESPN Sports Center gave Flair prominent coverageŠ

Justin Credible had to be helped from the ring at last week's Raw

tapings after a bump in a match against Tommy Dreamer, but he was

okay afterward. Justin isn't endearing himself to management with the

way he carries himself backstage, which is like a victim. A lot of

wrestlers-probably most-gripe in some form or another about their

push or their pay, but Justin wears his emotions on his sleeves. His

loss of muscle hasn't helped persuade management to push him harder,

either. He's said to be quite depressed over his fall from grace from

ECW Champion and Paul Heyman's pet project to a virtual jobberŠ One

of the reasons Raven isn't pushed may be because he's seen as someone

who would speak up against ideas that don't make sense and call a

spade a spade when it came to Hunter's political maneuverings. Hunter

likes working with people such as Booker T, Chris Jericho, and Rob

Van Dam, wrestlers who for the most part don't make waves and go

along to get along. "Just a facial expression from Hunter in reaction

to an idea is enough to influence Steph to be against something or

Gewirtz to not even bother bringing it up at a meeting," says one

sourceŠ Nov. 9-10 ratings: Velocity-0.6; Confidential-0.6; Heat-0.8Š

Tough Enough drew a 1.5 rating on Nov. 7Š The Neilsen quarter hour

ratings for Nov. 14 began at 3.2, built to a 3.6 at the end of the

first hour, and then held steady at 3.7 the entire second hourŠ

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

As Raw ratings continue to sink, there is growing discontent and

frustration among wrestlers with the power structure influencing

Vince McMahon.

 

This is the dirtsheet eqivelent of "There is dissention in the nWo!" As in, they say this same line every goddamn week, and nothing ever comes of it. We get Vince is evil, RAW is struggling, wrestlers are angry. We get it.

 

 

 

 

 

For instance, if an idea

were pitched to Steph that she seemed receptive toward, the feeling

is it will be shot down by Triple H. If Brian Gewirtz seems receptive

to an idea, the feeling is it will be shot down by Vince, Steph, or

Triple H. So the wrestlers are just plowing through their jobs,

trying not to create waves since there are no other full-time pay

options for most of them and gritting their teeth over Raw becoming

the Triple H show. Gewirtz might also be feeling the frustration of

being overruled since he used to stand up to Vince when it came to

certain ideas or concepts, but he seems to be doing less of that

lately. The feeling is that Vince ultimately has about 90 percent

influence on every idea that is implemented and that he only concerns

himself with the top acts and won't be bothered to dedicate much time

or energy to anything that isn't a top program

 

This is pretty much every writer saying: "It isn't *my* fault. It's...HIS fault." It's pathetic, and I don't really know who to believe anymore.

 

 

"Either your chosen or you're not; your slot is already

determined, and no matter how hard you work or what you do or say, it

won't change because Vince has already made up his mind about you,"

says one frustrated wrestler.

 

"Oh yes, it's not *my* fault Vince won't put me in the ME. He doesn't like me."

 

Unless this is RVD, Benoit, or Jericho, they're probobly full of it. Vince has always been pretty willing to give guys a second chance, and this just seems like BS.

 

 

Triple H said he was not upset with Rob Van Dam injuring his throat

and even went so far as to say that he feels safe whenever he's in

the ring with him. "This is a tough business," Triple H said. "And

there are certain moves in the business that are high-risk moves.

When we do them, we take high risk, that's why they're called

high-risk moves. Every time that you do one, the odds go up that

something's going to happen.

 

The best promo man in the business, ladies and gentlemen.

 

 

Lesnar

isn't the most classy person in how he handles himself either, not

the least of which was the incident with Curt Hennig on the flight

from Europe. Brock has a jock bully mentality a lot of the time and

is still acclimating himself to the pro wrestling world where 22 year

olds don't reign as kings no matter how big their pushes or how

successful their amateur wrestling careers. Of course, all of this

meant WWE went into p.r. control afterward as Show complimented Brock

during a website interviewŠ

 

Yes, because we all know what a gentleman Hennig is. Welcome to hell Brock, as you've made everyone in the locker-room jealous, and every little thing you do will get you heat with somebody.

 

Shane McMahon

was at the PPV on Sunday and attended Raw on Monday, his usual

routine. He doesn't attend TVs except the week of PPVs. He doesn't

have a defined role. Sources say Shane isn't thrilled with the power

Triple H wields, nor is he celebrating that his younger sister is

seen as much more involved and influential than he is. Shane has

become a sympathetic figure among the wrestlers since the perception

is he and Hunter aren't all that tight.

 

Why is this news? If he doesn't *do* anything, why should we care? Let's focus on people who actually effect the creative process.

 

One

of the reasons Raven isn't pushed may be because he's seen as someone

who would speak up against ideas that don't make sense and call a

spade a spade when it came to Hunter's political maneuverings

 

Scott, the Titantic is sinking and you've got a pail. I suggest you get on the lifeboat marked, "TNA"

 

Source say that Raw ended at 11 sharp (or within a minute or so) this

week because TNN got upset with WWE for abusing their overrun

allowance and going too long without delivering strong enough ratings

to justify it. It's not clear whether the overruns are history, or if

WWE just overcompensated this week to make up for last week. TNN

spent tens of millions on rights to CSI as their franchise show and

WWE isn't strong enough now to get favorable treatment like in the

past

 

Wow, that Viacom thing sure working great, huh Vince? U-S- who?

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Bah 3H already no sold death.

Why is this comment posted every 3.5 seconds on this board?!?

Because they're all a bunch of smart marks.

 

(Points to crowd with cane)

 

 

Smaaaaaaaaart Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaark

 

 

 

You know what a mark is...?

Honestly, could I ask - what was the point of that?

 

 

I almost wish HHH would get another face run. It would justify so much of what I feel about RAW.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Bah 3H already no sold death.

Why is this comment posted every 3.5 seconds on this board?!?

Because they're all a bunch of smart marks.

 

(Points to crowd with cane)

 

 

Smaaaaaaaaart Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaark

 

 

 

You know what a mark is...?

Honestly, could I ask - what was the point of that?

 

 

I

If your referring to my comment, then obviously you havn't watched enough Brian Pillman promos.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

I know it's a Pillman promo. I don't know why you needed to use it in that context. It's not like you're the most consummate anti-smartmark I've seen.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

I know it's a Pillman promo. I don't know why you needed to use it in that context. It's not like you're the most consummate anti-smartmark I've seen.

I don't know why you had to waste my time bringing it up. Other than to spew more useless dribble on to this board.

 

 

You got TOLD~!

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

So you contribute so much to this board? Really?

 

Wow, a repressed 18 year old 'told me off'. I feel so insulted. </sarcasm>

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

So you contribute so much to this board? Really?

 

Wow, a repressed 18 year old 'told me off'. I feel so insulted. </sarcasm>

No, it's just TOLD~! There's no off.

 

 

You got it again, bitch.

 

 

Oh, and what have you contributed except reminding me of how pathetic the mentally handicapped can be if not cared for.

[Guest Mulatto Heat]

Such frustration! I suggest seeing a psychiatrist. Evidently there's a lot of anger in you.

 

Was that a flame in there too? To quote a certain someone: "That HAS to be an offense!" At least try to be somewhat creative. Ohh, a bitch, never heard that one before!

 

I shall take the high road now, and end this scintillating conversation. Have a nice day.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

Such frustration! I suggest seeing a psychiatrist. Evidently there's a lot of anger in you.

 

Was that a flame in there too? To quote a certain someone: "That HAS to be an offense!" At least try to be somewhat creative. Ohh, a bitch, never heard that one before!

 

I shall take the high road now, and end this scintillating conversation. Have a nice day.

Who are you talking to?

 

 

You got TOLD~! No one cares what you had to say.

 

 

 

What a maroon.

[Guest netslob]

anyway, to get back on topic, i personally would LOVE to see HHH turn face. no really, it would give me the utmost pleasure to watch him fall flat ON his face, and make an even bigger asshole of himself. yeah, Trips, the crowd'll LOVE to cheer you...just like last time...

 

*struggles to stifle laughter*

 

i tell ya, i just LOVE watching Vince Mcmahon fail. it couldn't happen to a better person.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

anyway, to get back on topic, i personally would LOVE to see HHH turn face. no really, it would give me the utmost pleasure to watch him fall flat ON his face, and make an even bigger asshole of himself. yeah, Trips, the crowd'll LOVE to cheer you...just like last time...

 

*struggles to stifle laughter*

 

i tell ya, i just LOVE watching Vince Mcmahon fail. it couldn't happen to a better person.

Yeah it could. It could happen to Ted Turner and AOL Time Warner.

 

 

Oh wait...