WWE News & Notes from the 9/27 Observer

[Enigma 0]

Due to the increasing pressure on both the wrestlers and the company with the declining interest in the business, nerves are getting frayed, a fight broke out in the dressing room, and WWE advertised the return of Hulk Hogan (who, due to the legal fight with Marvel Comics over the Hulk Hogan name, was being advertised as simply Hollywood Hogan), Steve Austin, Mick Foley, and Stephanie McMahon for the 9/23 Smackdown show, billed as the 5th anniversary show from Phoenix.

 

The advertising was misleading, as plans were for Hogan, Foley, Austin, and Stephanie only to do taped salutes to five years of Smackdown. WWE sent a camera crew to Hogan's home in Orlando on 9/17, and spoke with him just about the show. They also did more filming with both Hogan and Jimmy Hart for potential use on the 24/7 idea.

 

While an Austin return has been considered likely at some point since Austin met with Vince McMahon on 8/23, when Raw was in Anaheim, right now there are no definitive plans for his return. Both sides have expressed interest in trying to come up with a good storyline that would bring him back, perhaps around December or January, to build an angle that would peak for WrestleMania. No storyline is believed to have been settled on, nor is it believed there has been anything more than discussions that coming up with an idea would be something both sides are interested in.

 

Austin told Vince he couldn't do anything until "Longest Yard" was done filming, which is scheduled for October, but could go to November. There also was nothing decided regarding the impasse contractually both sides were at when Austin's contract expired in April, largely Austin having the rights to use the name "Stone Cold Steve Austin" in non-WWE entertainment endeavors.

 

That probably explains the Bill Goldberg-Austin chasm after the two had been friends from their WWE days. Goldberg's idea was to start something up with a PPV show headlined by Goldberg vs. Austin, and Austin had been game for it, but now it's not happening. Without Austin, it weakens any attempt Goldberg or others can come up with to get something going. Potentially, and this is all pie-in-the-sky, the idea of a TV wrestling show with Hogan, Goldberg, Austin, Sting, and possibly Brock Lesnar (who would be a free agent next year), backed by a strong network, is everyone's panacea. Backed by anything else, there would be no chance, because the start up costs are unreal, and the only way to make money back is as TV programming because house shows would be losers and PPV will at best take time to be established. The other part of the equation would be Jerry Jarrett has most of the next level guys locked up, although who knows if they'd even be around by the time something like this could get off the ground.

 

There are not plans at the present for Hogan to come back, but his appearing on the show, and being featured prominently on TV clips this past week, is a major step on both sides. Hogan was not used at WrestleMania XX, clearly using the idea he would work for TNA as an angle to get the deal, a strategy Hogan used successfully in the past with XWF in November 2001 which lead to his February 2002 WWF return, but not this time. The McMahon family, besides Vince, was said to hate Hogan, and all except Vince were said to be strongly against his last return. The fact they'd go to him, even if it was just for an attempt to use his name to spike a rating, shows concern for Smackdown, which had done three of its worst ratings in history over the past two months. Like Austin, Hogan is likely angling for something at WrestleMania, and has started to throw his name around again, negotiating with Dream Stage Entertainment and New Japan.

 

Foley, on the other hand, is expected to return soon. He has a book being released in October, plus has come up with some ideas once again that he's pitched to creative. The question of advertising the return of all of them on the same night, against the season premiere of CSI (which, while the No. 1 show on television, has never seemed to have a significant affect on Smackdown ratings), seems to me almost a desperation move. A hyped return of Hogan alone, or Austin alone, should be enough that if anything would spike ratings, and there is no guarantee of anything at this point, that would be it. You'd still have another return "in the bag" for when you would need it, and with the state of the industry, you would. Also, in the cases of both Hogan and Austin, rather then just bring them back with an interview tease it would be better for a return to get them up and running in a storyline, to attempt to build some momentum.

 

Hogan has been gone long enough to where his return will create a buzz. He's the ultimate nostalgia act, since many wrestling fans see him as synonymous with their childhood. There is no secret to anyone it is at best a temporary deal, like it was for a few months in 2002, and will burn out. His return in 2003 was not nearly as successful, even though, that one, like this upcoming one, will give the illusion of success because it is guaranteed he'll blow the roof off buildings. Recently turned 51, Hogan's last run as being an effective long-term player ended around March of 1999. With an artificial hip and knee, as much as people will give Hogan tons of leeway physically if he can't perform because of who he is, that doesn't help him because his body has been shot for years. He's only worked one match in the last 16 months, the Tokyo Dome match with Masa Hiro Chono, and needed another knee operation when that was over. The only long-term effective usage of any of these guys is to give the rub and get someone else over. Long-term, they can even be a detriment, because their personalities will overshadow nearly everyone, and the last thing the company needs is to make its stars that go on tour appear secondary. Hogan did make Lesnar into a major player in mid-2002, as Foley did this year, helping speed up the rise of Randy Orton.

 

Internally, talent has been frustrated more as business has gone down. Besides the pressure leading to a brief altercation between Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero after Smackdown, there is tremendous heat on new Vice President of talent relations, John Laurinaitis.

 

A lot of it has stemmed from the fines both for being late and dress code violations, as well as the doctrine that because of their gimmicks, John Cena and Undertaker don't have to follow the current dress code of dress shoes, nice slacks, and a nice button up shirt (tie optional) whenever wrestlers are seen in public, which even means on long driving road trips when they arrive at 2 a.m. in a hotel lobby. It's been noted that it seems management is focusing on unimportant things while there are very important issues at stake. Laurinaitis is also 39, younger than some of the wrestlers and not much older than most in a crew where few are under 30. Most of the current crew were also actually better wrestlers, which may be a moot point in a management position, but that doesn't stop the criticism of "Johnny Ace" as a guy who was not a major wrestling star in the U.S., and got booking power in All Japan for his ability to charm Motoko Baba, and it is believed reached the top in the U.S. as management for his similar ability with Stephanie McMahon. Even though his predecessor, Jim Ross, was not a wrestler and the position guarantees heat from wrestlers because it is the person who does McMahon's dirty work with the guys, Ross was older and had been in management for years, plus Ross' wrestling knowledge was respected.

 

The Angle-Guerrero incident stemmed from the post-match angle on Smackdown in Spokane. In the contract signing angle, the plan was for Angle & Luther Reigns to knock Guerrero out of the ring. At that point, when Big Show then ripped up the contract for the Guerrero match and signed the Angle match, they both knocked Show down. They were supposed to beat down Show until getting good heat, at which point Guerrero would run in for the save, to set up the tag match. Guerrero ran back in for the save literally seconds after they went after Show, giving them no time to build any heat.

 

After the show, Angle started yelling at Guerrero about it and Guerrero got really mad. It escalated. The reports we got were that Angle shoved Guerrero first. Guerrero then went to attack Angle, but Angle grabbed him in a front facelock (as opposed to choking him in a guillotine), powered him to the ground and basically kept him there, more neutralizing him rather than trying to hurt him. Several wrestlers convinced Angle to let him go. Guerrero flipped out while being neutralized and when Angle let him go, they had to hold Guerrero from going after him again. Even with guys as big as Show and Reigns there on the spot, the feeling was nobody was going to physically break it up as they wouldn't be able to pry Angle off him against Angle's will. Even after they were separated, reportedly both continued yelling at each other as they were taken in different directions. Guerrero went to the locker room and Angle was called in to see Vince, where he reportedly started complaining heavily about Guerrero. Even though there have been signs of burn-out ever since the Germany tour (yes, that Germany tour) regarding Guerrero, and while it was never publicly said, that was part of the reason the title was taken off him, most of the locker room is sympathetic toward him because he's so well-liked and respected.

 

The company is well aware of Guerrero's issues with depression and has tried to help him out including Vince McMahon telling him directly they don't believe the ratings, buy rates, and attendance declines were his fault. Guerrero does have a temper, which is something of a family trademark as brothers Chavo and Mando were, in their day, quick to get into fights, usually with people much bigger than they were. Last year there was an incident at a Smackdown taping backstage involving Guerrero and Charlie Haas. As a babyface, he lost his cool when even a few fans heckled him hard at house shows on more than one occasion in recent months. There was also heat between Guerrero and Angle stemming from the 8/17 Smackdown match in Hamilton with Guerrero & Mysterio vs. Angle & Reigns, where Guerrero apparently believed they weren't letting him look strong enough. As noted last week, there were people who knew him who felt he needed to be given some time off, but that he himself would never ask for it. Although it is only in selected markets, it is the Smackdown events in the Hispanic markets, with Guerrero and Rey Mysterio, which are the most successful for the product and why Smackdown greatly outpaced Raw at the box office last month. As has been noted, if you take the Hispanic viewership, the strongest demo by far, away from Smackdown, you've got a 2.0 rated show (that is not taking the viewership away and figuring by a national number, but taking the Hispanic viewership away and also dividing by the non-Hispanic homes). It behooves the product to have an almost unbeatable Hispanic star for that reason. Guerrero's popularity flattened when he lost the title to JBL, particularly when people realized he didn't lose it to build to getting revenge on JBL, but that the racist beat the Hispanic idol in their feud when it was time to switch partners.

 

Angle is respected as a wrestler and performer, but in some circles, there has been bitterness built up with him, particularly of late with the feeling that he and Undertaker are working together as the two top guys in the Smackdown brand to protect each other to build for a WrestleMania showdown. Angle was able to convince management to have Guerrero, the babyface who had just lost his program to JBL, lose clean to the ankle lock at SummerSlam. There was a lot of second-guessing that finish being so clean, particularly after Angle got the second win in their 2/3 fall match on television, although that one was due to outside interference. In reality, the company problems are far deeper than who wins and loses these matches and whether or not Guerrero gets pushed, but with business bad, everything is second-guessed and pointed at as far as what are the reasons fans aren't as avid. One company higher-up noted that Angle was the last guy anyone would want to start something with, and probably the last guy to start something with anyone. But the frustration on all accounts has gotten out of hand. When they had the house show in San Diego last month, there was some fear backstage Angle was going to go after Konnan over a non-wrestling related dispute and possible misunderstanding.

 

Angle has become a lot more of a controversial character to some. For years, Angle was thought to be a great athlete who was naive to the political aspects of wrestling. Unlike most, he could get away with it because management loved him for his ability, and the fans took to him like a major player, so he was locked into a top spot. But he was outmaneuvered at times, and his career could have used better direction, particularly when the business got hot. Understanding that, he's become more aggressive in how he's been used and has spoken up now that he has more knowledge of how things operate, although some have felt Angle's knowledge is still of only a few years, and he overanalyzes the minor problems when it's the big problems that have caused the declines in business: But he's thought of internally as a lifer, in that whenever his career ends, likely due to his bad neck, they'll want to keep him around as either an agent or a trainer, as welt as to do P.R. He has studied the business, but still only has six years experience and only with one system. There is the natural frustration of being a headliner while things are good, and seeing them crumble the way they have. With Guerrero, he has many issues facing him, and both are key people in a stressful situation with the business going down and their own fears because both of their bodies are in constant pain and starting to give out after years of being superior athletes.

 

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Jamie Noble was fired on 9/14. No reason was given publicly. There had been discipline problems with him of late and attitude issues. It clearly has built up for a few weeks since Noble & Chavo Guerrero beat Paul London & Billy Kidman in a non-title match, to set up a tag title program. Granted, Guerrero got the concussion the next week, but it would have made sense for Noble to be working against Kidman before the turn, and they dropped it, so at that point I guess there was handwriting on the wall.

 

Steve Austin has filed a multimillion dollar countersuit against Tess Broussard, his former girlfriend, alleging slander, extortion, and embezzlement. Broussard is suing Austin for $10 million, claiming the incident where she is accused of stabbing a business manager of Austin's with a steak knife at a Beverly Hills restaurant was a set-up on her, claiming the manager stabbed himself and claimed she had done it. She also is suing over alleged injuries suffered in a car accident last year, where she suffered a foot injury, and alleging other mistreatment during their relationship. Have I mentioned she's nuts of late? She was interviewed in this week's National Enquirer and claimed Austin invited her to dinner to work things out and get back together (which would explain why Austin's manager had a cashier's check for $1.5 million to give to her if she would stay out of Austin's life from that point forward). She said a man jumped her, threw her against a wall, and handcuffed her. She then saw Austin's manager knock silverware all over the title, throw dishes on the ground and yell, "She stabbed me."

 

For Taboo Tuesday, besides fans picking opponents for HHH for the world title, they are supposed to pick an opponent for Chris Jericho for the IC title, tag title opponents, as well as pick a stipulation for Eric Bischoff vs. Eugene.

 

The actual numbers for Unforgiven live at the Rose Garden in Portland was 6,562 paid and $472,400. There were 1,149 comps, and between that and other guests, the total tickets out were 8,313, but the actual turnstile total in the building was 7,305 (basically meaning 1,000 people who had tickets or comps didn't come).

 

Karam Gaber, the Egyptian Olympic gold medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling at 211 pounds that we wrote about last month, has not talked with WWE since winning the gold medal. He went back to Egypt where he received a hero's welcome. He is scheduled to come to the U.S. in late October. WWE is planning on sitting down with him and making him an offer at that time. The person who probably wants him in the company more than any other is Kurt Angle. Angle did an interview with T.J. Madigan of the Calgary Sun last week where his main complaint was not the problems in the company, but how NBC treated the wrestling coverage in the Olympics. He felt the prime time coverage was geared too heavily toward female viewers, who like gymnastics, and that boxing and wrestling aired past midnight. Angle stayed up to watch Gaber, sand said, "Oh, he's awesome. The quicker he can come in, the better it will be. The longer you wait, the less impact he will have. I just hope everybody is smart enough to realize the big match will be between him and me. One Olympic gold medalist against another. If they don't put him on Smackdown, then I don't know what WWE is thinking." Angle also admitted he hated doing the General Manager character this summer. "I didn't like my character and I didn't like doing it. They wanted me to be angry all the time. It was one-dimensional, and I have a lot more dimensions than that. I didn't enjoy it, and I was just itching to get back in the ring." He gave the impression he's thinking past his current program with Big Show, saying he's more looking forward to doing programs with Undertaker and John Cena. When asked about winning the title back, he said, "I see no reason not to (give me the belt). I consider myself the best wrestler on Smackdown."

 

Jackie Gayda mentioned in a newspaper interview with the Ottawa Sun that she had just gotten engaged to Charlie Haas. It's legit, and the latest example of two people booked together in a wrestling angle that quickly wound up together. They are scheduled to get married next year, but not in a wrestling ring. Haas proposed three weeks ago to Gayda at her townhouse in Orlando. Haas even asked for permission from Gayda’s parents first.

 

At this point, No Mercy has JBL vs. Undertaker in the Last Ride match for the title, Kurt Angle vs. Big Show, John Cena vs. Booker T in match No. 5 for the U.S. title, Eddie Guerrero vs. Luther Reigns, and probably Spike Dudley vs. Rey Mysterio and Paul London vs. Billy Kidman.

 

Updated numbers of SummerSlam have it up to 385,000 buys.

 

As noted, many were upset at Tom Prichard's firing. He was considered very well as both a scout for talent (he frequently attended independent shows looking for talent) and as a trainer. He was not as good working in the office, which was what was said internally, as noted last week, as the reason for his dismissal.

 

To show how well planned out Raw was this week, at about 12:30 on Monday, while Gene Snitzky was doing drills in class taught by Tommy Dreamer and Dean Malenko (Danny Davis is on vacation) in Louisville, Dreamer got a phone call that Snitzky was being written into the show and he was needed in Tucson. He got out of the ring and rushed to the airport. Somehow, there was a problem with his connecting flight and he wasn't going to make it in time. When WWE got the word, they sent Vince's private plane to wherever he was stranded to fly him in and he made it on time. Apparently the idea was for him just to be an unknown job guy in the ring and never seen again.

 

The usage of Gangrel (David Heath) and Viscera (Nelson Frazier) as part of JBL's entourage is an interesting step by WWE. The company has for the most part only wanted to use people on long-term deals. Both men at this point were only brought in for a one week program and the handicap match with Undertaker was scheduled to be the blow-off for both. I wonder why they wouldn't at this point try to put together maybe a two month program for Sting. Granted, he's not the answer to any problems, but it's just something different to spice things up.

 

Terrence Risby from UPW, who fought a K-l fight against Jerome LeBanner and was quickly knocked out, is one of the first 20 of the 50 finalists who will be taken to the "Tough Enough" casting call on 10/15 and 10/16 on Venice Beach. At least one other MMA fighter has already made the first 20, and they are looking at others.

 

Velocity is being moved from 7 p.m. on Saturday nights to 11 p.m., and it started with almost no publicity in the new time slot on 9/18. What is interesting is that is the same time slot that TNA was looking at to put Impact on FSN.

 

Matt Hardy's knee, after major surgery, is uncomfortable, but he's doing aggressive rehab and is ahead of the projections when it comes to recovery, although he's still five to seven more months away from returning.

 

Christy Hemme of the Diva Search, under the name Sunni Hemme, appeared in a before & after ad for Trimspa recently, where she lost 25 pounds. The current version was in between those two versions, larger and more pumped up that the skinny version in the ad, but in better cosmetic shape than the before picture. She has been a juggy dancer on "The Man Show" and has modeled in magazines like Maxim, Muscle & Fitness, Stuff, and Rolling Stone.

 

The Houston Chronicle noted that WWE has booked Reliant Stadium for a Smackdown taping on 3/26 because the Toyota Center was booked the same night.

 

Mick Foley did an appearance in Hobart, IN with Dick Butkus at a local hospital, with both talking about their respective knee problems. Foley talked about ending his career and in hindsight felt it was the right move. "I got out at the right time. If I had stuck around another year full-time, I'd probably be in a lot rougher shape. I saw the writing on the wall." He said he has a bad back and bad knees, but doesn't complain much about because he knows it goes with the territory, but said climbing stairs is not very pleasant.

 

The WWE web site had a story on HHH's title win saying at nine, he's tied with The Rock and trails only Ric Flair (16) and Hulk Hogan (12) for the most world title reigns in history. HHH said something like how great Flair's record was and how he could care less when it comes to Hogan, which shows that the decision to put Hogan on TV was made at the last minute, because he wouldn't have dissed him in that manner on that day if he knew he was going to appear. By our records, Lou Thesz has at least 12, and you could make the case for a few more based on what you consider and how you count, but then again, Flair's real number is a lot more than 16. At the very least, the number is 18, and a more accurate number would be 21.

 

Speaking of Ric Flair, he's been bothered by a groin pull, although he's kept it quiet and is still taking all the backdrops and suplexes every night like he's not hurt, including at the house shows. This has been the case for some time. There was concern this weekend that even though he wasn't telling anyone, when they saw him after his match the first night on the tour and given his age and how much they've been working him (and how many bumps he takes on TV), that they are about to finish him for good. He was limited enough that on 9/18 in Waco, they had Batista work most of the match in a tag bout with Flair, which never happens, and even held Flair out of doing the run-in during the HHH-Randy Orton finish. Of course, that only got him motivated, and word was on 9/19 in Tyler, he totally took over the show, did everything to prove he wasn't hurt, claimed he wasn't feeling a thing and outshone everyone on the card.

 

Sports Illustrated mentioned Carmella DeCesare's escapade at the bar and her arrest in a note on Jeff Garcia. Once again, no reference to WWE was made, although they did show a photo of her with rich heiress Paris Hilton.

 

For the week ending 9/12, the 9/6 episode of Raw finished No. 18 in the ratings combining all shows of any kind, both broadcast and cable, among teenagers.

 

Although there are rumors flying regarding Teddy Long being dumped as a General Manager, there are no plans in that direction. Of course, at some point, it will happen, just like everything does, but it's not on the drawing board.

 

The Kansas City Star this past week reported that former area sports anchor Todd Romero is negotiating a WWE announcer deal. The company has had bad luck of late in trying to recruit good looking sportscasters (Todd Grisham, Marc Lloyd, and Jonathan Coachman all fell into that category) and teach them some wrestling and put them on the air. The only one with potential to actually be decent is Josh Matthews, with little broadcasting background, but a lifelong fan.

 

Molly Holly was working an independent show this past weekend selling autographed photos of her, Bob Holly, and others trying to raise money for a gravestone for Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood.

 

Chris Candido, trying to make a comeback, has talked about going to OVW to kind of prove his stock once again under the eyes of WWE officials. Candido and Jim Cornette have a long history since Candido's first push as a wrestler was in SMW when Cornette was owner. It was Cornette who suggested making Tammy Sytch, under the name Tammy Fytch, into a wrestling manager and started her as a performer (and she was a natural from her first interview). Sytch was Candido's girlfriend who was moving to Knoxville to attend college with him while he pursued his wrestling career. Well, in hindsight, what at first seemed like a great introduction of talent wasn't a happy story years later.

 

The plan for U.K. PPVs are that No Mercy airs live on Sky Sports 2, Taboo Tuesday airs live on Sky Sports 1, Survivor Series airs live on Sky Sports 1, and Armageddon will be a live PPV on Setanta Sports. It appears that in 2005, all the PPV shows will air on Sky Box Office, so no more free TV specials in the U.K. of what we pay for in the U.S.

 

At the Raw in Tucson, when HHH and Batista hit the ring, they started doing old Superstar Billy Graham posing shots. Off the air, Hurricane also did the same thing, since they knew Graham was at ringside watching. Don Frye, just back from months in Japan doing Godzilla, was also at the show but not introduced.

 

William Regal is coming down with Flair-itis. Even though he's a babyface, he's uncomfortable and wants to work heel. He was booked all weekend against Rodney Mack. The first night he wanted to go heel because Mack is from Lafayette, LA, and figured he'd get cheered, and also said the only reason he's a face in storyline is because of Eugene and with Eugene out for a while, he has no reason to be a face. As it turned out, Mack didn't get cheered. He then asked to referee the women's match with Nidia and Trish Stratus, a role Val Venis was doing, instead of working as a face with Mack, in Tyler, and the show was tweaked.

 

Tyson Tomko suffered a knee injury in Waco. When he got to Tyler, he couldn't work on it at all, so his match with Hurricane was canceled. That's also why he was limited to a run-in at the Raw tapings.

 

Due to what happened with Superstar Billy Graham, there is talk of doing public service work promoting organ donation with Victoria and Graham as the main spokespersons.

 

There was some buzz about Tom Prichard being in the office on 9/16. All it was is Prichard had asked for a meeting with Vince McMahon, I guess to give his side of whatever the story was, and that was the day it was arranged. No word on what happened.

 

The live Raw on 9/6 in Wichita Falls drew 3,800 paid and the Smackdown tapings on 9/7 in Tulsa drew only 2,800.

 

9/17 Raw in Bossier City drew 3,400 and $110,000. 9/18 Raw in Waco drew 2,100 and $68,000 for the first show in the market in almost three years. 9/19 Raw in Tyler, TX drew 3,000 paying $95,000. 9/19 Smackdown in Memphis was the success of the week, drawing 4,600 paying $120,000. The gate was about four times what the local promotion did a few weeks back with Jerry Lawler & Jimmy Hart vs. Terry Funk & Cory Maclin, but the local promotion (4,831) actually had slightly more paid attendance. It was the WWE debut in the new Fed Ex Forum. Still, by today's standards, this was a very successful show, and they had Lawler promote the hell out of it on his TV, and used him in an interview on the show.

[slimm44 0]

The Hogan return angle was already done when he came back with the nWo and then became Hulk again.

[CanadianChick 0]

Last year there was an incident at a Smackdown taping backstage involving Guerrero and Charlie Haas.

 

Anyone have details on this? Seems to have slipped my mind.

[The Mandarin 0]

Molly Holly was working an independent show this past weekend selling autographed photos of her, Bob Holly, and others trying to raise money for a gravestone for Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood.

 

 

company has had bad luck of late in trying to recruit good looking sportscasters (Todd Grisham, Marc Lloyd, and Jonathan Coachman all fell into that category) and teach them some wrestling and put them on the air.

 

Coach is a pretty bad announcer, but I'll be damned if he isn't one of the best heel actors in WWE. I'd put him above Kurt Angle right now.

 

Speaking of Ric Flair, he's been bothered by a groin pull, although he's kept it quiet and is still taking all the backdrops and suplexes every night like he's not hurt, including at the house shows. This has been the case for some time. There was concern this weekend that even though he wasn't telling anyone, when they saw him after his match the first night on the tour and given his age and how much they've been working him (and how many bumps he takes on TV), that they are about to finish him for good. He was limited enough that on 9/18 in Waco, they had Batista work most of the match in a tag bout with Flair, which never happens, and even held Flair out of doing the run-in during the HHH-Randy Orton finish. Of course, that only got him motivated, and word was on 9/19 in Tyler, he totally took over the show, did everything to prove he wasn't hurt, claimed he wasn't feeling a thing and outshone everyone on the card.

 

Shit like this is why I love Ric Flair. He may be one of the worst wrestlers on the show, but he's the.. oldest.. and.. uh... his tired routine is still.. mildly interesting.. at times.

 

..WOOO!

[GreatWhiteNope 0]

Molly Holly was working an independent show this past weekend selling autographed photos of her, Bob Holly, and others trying to raise money for a gravestone for Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood.

 

That depressed the hell out of me.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Last year there was an incident at a Smackdown taping backstage involving Guerrero and Charlie Haas.

 

Anyone have details on this? Seems to have slipped my mind.

I can't remember if it was Chavo or Eddie. Apparantly one of them believed Team Angle (Haas I would guess) were being too rough on his arm in the match which was injured going in. I do remember the arm was a focal point of the match.

[2GOLD 0]

Molly Holly was working an independent show this past weekend selling autographed photos of her, Bob Holly, and others trying to raise money for a gravestone for Mike "Crash Holly" Lockwood.

 

That depressed the hell out of me.

 

Wish Vince would buy it for him. That would be a class act by Vince and give him some major brownie points in my book.

[BUTT 0]

When they had the house show in San Diego last month, there was some fear backstage Angle was going to go after Konnan over a non-wrestling related dispute and possible misunderstanding.

Why was Konnan at a WWE house show?

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Speaking of Ric Flair, he's been bothered by a groin pull, although he's kept it quiet and is still taking all the backdrops and suplexes every night like he's not hurt, including at the house shows. This has been the case for some time. There was concern this weekend that even though he wasn't telling anyone, when they saw him after his match the first night on the tour and given his age and how much they've been working him (and how many bumps he takes on TV), that they are about to finish him for good.

 

Thank the Lord!

 

Although there are rumors flying regarding Teddy Long being dumped as a General Manager, there are no plans in that direction.

 

Whew! That's good to know.

 

William Regal is coming down with Flair-itis. Even though he's a babyface, he's uncomfortable and wants to work heel

 

Damn it, I thought Regal was doing great as face.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

"William Regal is coming down with Flair-itis. Even though he's a babyface, he's uncomfortable and wants to work heel"

 

Damnit damnit damnit. That promo he did on Heat seemed very heel turnish in nature (something like "Of course Eugene will win. Why wouldn't he, he has me in his corner!" with a devlish grin) and I hoped they would not go that route.

[Enigma 0]

When they had the house show in San Diego last month, there was some fear backstage Angle was going to go after Konnan over a non-wrestling related dispute and possible misunderstanding.

Why was Konnan at a WWE house show?

Konnan always visits WWE shows backstage when they come to San Diego.

 

Konnan and Mystero used to do that back when they were in WCW.

[Guest Mickey Al]

Angle, heh...

[SuperJerk 0]

Austin told Vince he couldn't do anything until "Longest Yard" was done filming, which is scheduled for October, but could go to November.

One to two months of filming for a bit part? Yikes.

[clean rob 0]

The plan for U.K. PPVs are that No Mercy airs live on Sky Sports 2, Taboo Tuesday airs live on Sky Sports 1, Survivor Series airs live on Sky Sports 1, and Armageddon will be a live PPV on Setanta Sports. It appears that in 2005, all the PPV shows will air on Sky Box Office, so no more free TV specials in the U.K. of what we pay for in the U.S.

Ah balls. Anyone have any more details on this, will a deal with Sky be running out or something? Seems a bit of a daft time to be doing that now that all of us Sky subscribers have the wrestling channel.