WWE News & Notes

[haVoc 0]

- The Rise and Fall of ECW DVD which will be released on November 16th will come with a special Rob Van Dam action figure if you buy from Best Buy.

 

- WWE.com has an article up on RAW and Smackdown touring Great Britian togeter.

 

- Booker T is not working the European tour due to feeling ill and having a cracked rib.

 

- Today's Florida Today mentions how the Miami Dolphins are using Ric Flair's "To Be The Man, You Have To Beat The Man" quote as motivation for their game against New England this Sunday. .

 

- As reported previously, Pat Patterson worked with the RAW brand recently to view the product and come up with ideas on how to improve it. Patterson apparently has told Vince McMahon that one of the problems is Triple H dominating the brand too much. Word is that he told Vince that RAW needs more strong characters who are involved in the story.

 

- Many backstage are also starting to point fingers at Brian Gerwirtz for RAW's dropping ratings. Gerwirtz is said to write a lot of comedy and things that he thinks Vince McMahon will like. Of course, Gerwirtz has been at the helm of RAW's creative team during the ratings drop.

 

Credit: PWINsider.com

 

- The latest on Booker T is that he might have some sort of liver problem. Details are not known at this point. [WrestlingObserver.com]

 

The National Enquirer has an article up talking about how Steve Austin has filed a $125 million lawsuit against ex-girlfriend Tess Broussard.

 

The lawsuit claims that Broussard misled Austin about her name and porn past. The lawsuit also claims that Broussard lied about her 51 year old age and once put a gun in Austin's mouth due to jealousy over Austin having friends visit him. The lawsuit goes on to say that Broussard has been harassing Austin and his children, broke into Austin's home, used a knife to ruin his walls and furniture, and stole many of Austin's WWE Title belts.

 

Broussard's lawyer denied the claims and said all the charges were "fantasy from a desperate man." Broussard filed a $10 million lawsuit against Austin in the fallout of the Beverly Hills, California incident where she ended up stabbing Austin's business manager George Vrabeck after Austin attempted to give Broussard a $1.5 million check to end their attachment and move on.

 

Credit: PWINsider.com

 

I know Austin isn't with WWE in anymore... But the news been slow recently.

[Downhome 0]

Well, looks like someone might lose their job soon.

 

- As reported previously, Pat Patterson worked with the RAW brand recently to view the product and come up with ideas on how to improve it. Patterson apparently has told Vince McMahon that one of the problems is Triple H dominating the brand too much. Word is that he told Vince that RAW needs more strong characters who are involved in the story.

[geniusMoment 0]

Patterson is the only guy who could get away with that, Vince values his opinion more than anyone on the roster.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It's a sad day in the WWF when Pat Patterson is the voice of reason.

[Guest Loss]

It's a sad day in the WWF when Pat Patterson is the voice of reason.

Why so? He typically has been one of the few men who would speak the truth to Vince, but he's very careful about how and when he does it, which is why he's been able to maintain Vince's respect for so long. Knowing how Vince thinks, a seed will be planted in his head here, even if it takes him a while to act on it.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Patterson is an asset to the company. Moreso than Paul Heyman. Why hasn't he been on the RAW brand? Does he just work Smackdown?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Just his heavy responsiblity in the mid-90s cartoon WWF has turned me off to his input. But more power to him for saying things that need to be said. Too bad the root of the problem is Vince and Steph being in total control of the shows.

[geniusMoment 0]

Patterson first retired near the end of 95, he came back and wrote part of mania 12 and has been on staff ever since. However, he is getting old, and I do not think he wants full time "vince hours" anymore.

[Guest MikeSC]

It's a sad day in the WWF when Pat Patterson is the voice of reason.

Why so? He typically has been one of the few men who would speak the truth to Vince, but he's very careful about how and when he does it, which is why he's been able to maintain Vince's respect for so long. Knowing how Vince thinks, a seed will be planted in his head here, even if it takes him a while to act on it.

Well, Patterson was behind A LOT of the total crap of 1995 (I seem to remember him being behind the laughable UT/Yoko match at RRumble). He knows how to book finishes better than anybody --- but his overall booking seems iffy.

-=Mike

[iliketurtles 0]

Hey, Patterson scripted Rock/Hogan at Mania 18 (and most of Rock's matches)...so he's fine in my book.

[Black Lushus 0]

how can you knock a man that's been saying everything we all have been saying for almost 5 years now?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

how can you knock a man that's been saying everything we all have been saying for almost 5 years now?

That's pretty good since it usually takes the WWF a few years to catch up with the fanbase.

[Black Lushus 0]

no doubt! hey it's better than nothing though, at least at this point!

[razazteca 0]

Does this mean that Pat Patterson will face Kane on Raw this monday night?

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

This isn't the first time Patterson has said something against HHH. Way back when Cena first came in and was feuding with Jericho there was a backstage skit with Cena, Jericho, and Vince. Patterson's plan was at the end of it was for Cena to slap Vince. But, HHH talked to Vince that it would be better for Cena to slap Jericho instead. When that happened Patterson got mad for HHH sticking his nose in so to speak.

 

I can understand why Patterson would be mad but, it did make alot more sense for Cena to slap Jericho instead of Vince seeing how Cena had a problem with Jericho for the last few weeks at that point and none with Vince.

[snuffbox 0]

Does this mean that Pat Patterson will face Kane on Raw this monday night?

Presumably in a bikini jello match

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Don't give them any ideas.

[Guest Archibald Mutombo]

Don't give them any ideas.

 

ROFLMAO!

 

[Eclipse 0]

Telling Vince that the brand is doing bad because of HHH is like telling a brick wall. It will NEVER get through to Vince. He fuckin vetoes anything and everything that is against HHH....

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

No, Vince will hear that from Patterson.

 

"Hmm, too much HHH..."

 

*later*

 

"Hey Steph, do you think there's too much HHH on the show?"

 

"No Daddy"

 

"Hmm..."

 

*Later*

 

"Pat says there is too much of you, Steph doesn't agree. What do you think Trip?"

 

"Well, they both have their points..."

 

"Uh huh"

 

"I'd love to step down right now and let other guys be the star of the show Vince, I really do. But who is there? Benoit? Jericho? Those guys are what, 5'10 at best? Benoit can't cut promos and Jericho can't work the right style. Besides, both they both had the ball and took it nowhere. I'm the only guy who's credible with the belt, and it's alot of pressure Vince, a lot."

 

"I know"

 

"I mean, sometimes I just break down and cry because there's a lot of weight being put on my massive shoulders"

 

"Yes. Yes. They are massive."

 

"And it hurts me to hear Pat say something like that. He was never in my spot Vince. Rock was. Austin was. Hogan was. And they're all gone. I'm still here. But does Patterson say anything about that? If I leave like they did, Raw would be dead.."

 

"No No, don't leave. Please."

 

"I'm tryin hard Vince"

 

"Listen... how about we'll keep the title on you until WM 22"

 

"Vince..."

 

"Oh right, the Flair thing... Ok, we'll keep it off and on you constantly until WM... 30"

 

"*Sniff* Thanks Vince."

[Dangerous A 0]

As bad as HHH is to the company, if he were to come down with a career ending injury, WWE wouldn't all of a sudden be better. There are a lot more long term problems with WWE than HHH. HHH is one of the prime reasons the product is stalling badly, but he isn't the only thing.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. Right now, with HHH on top, they don't feel the need to create a top star. He's been the top star on television for as long as I can recall (2002?) and that has seriously hurt them. The WWE has a lot of problems that aren't HHH related, I completely agree, but with him off TV they would be FORCED to elevate talent to a level beyond "contender for HHH". The feel "safe" with HHH there, they worst thing for us -as fans- is them feeling safe at a time when their business is dropping dramatically. With HHH gone they get in danger-mode, their backs are against the wall, and they have nothing else do to but go take the guys they have and use them better.

[Black Lushus 0]

So again I ask, if the WWE stopped limiting the in-ring product and let guys wrestle the style of a match we all know they can excell and excell well at, would that make things so much better that losing HHH wouldn't hurt them as much as we think?

[Guest krazykat72]

This isn't the first time Patterson has said something against HHH. Way back when Cena first came in and was feuding with Jericho there was a backstage skit with Cena, Jericho, and Vince. Patterson's plan was at the end of it was for Cena to slap Vince. But, HHH talked to Vince that it would be better for Cena to slap Jericho instead. When that happened Patterson got mad for HHH sticking his nose in so to speak.

 

I can understand why Patterson would be mad but, it did make alot more sense for Cena to slap Jericho instead of Vince seeing how Cena had a problem with Jericho for the last few weeks at that point and none with Vince.

The point of that was that Vince is someone only very few, select characters are involved with and to have a brand new character slapping him and not backing down would be taken more seriously then him slapping someone like Jericho.

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Even if HHH did get taken out of wrestling for good by injury, we'd just see thing revolved around Orton and Michaels, with everyone else being support for them for the next few years.

 

And RRR, HHH has been in the main event mix since June-July of 1999, excluding his time off for injury.

[JoeDirt 0]

As a follow up on yesterday's story concerning Pat Patterson being very vocal about feeling that WWE needs to pull back on HHH's push, there are a number of people within WWE who feel that this issue could escalate, possibly to the point where Patterson would leave WWE. In essence, Patterson reportedly feels that HHH is over-pushed and as top guy has not "made" any new talent, other than Chris Benoit, into top guys. And even with Benoit, looking at how he has been pushed since losing the title, you can even make a case that he was important while he was champion, but much less so now. Then there is the one-month title reign of Randy Orton to consider, which many WWE people have told me they felt was “HHH cutting out Orton’s legs from under him”. Whether it ends up being that way or not time will tell, but Jess McGrath and Mike Johnson made an interesting point on this subject on this week's Elite Radio when they said that since HHH is now "office" and part of the McMahon family, he should push himself just under the top slot and be something of a safety net if a guy they are pushing at the top gets hurt or holds WWE up for money. It's possible Patterson feels the same way, and frankly that makes perfect sense to me. H does not need to be pushed as the top guy and certainly doesn’t need to dominate Raw the way he does. As the major financial indicators have shown, Raw business is definitely slumping right now and even when he wasn't the champion earlier this year, HHH was still the most focal point of the show (not to mention very influential in the booking process), so he definitely shares some of the blame for Raw’s current state and according to sources close to the situation, Patterson is the only one in the company willing to stand up and say that.

From PWInsider...

[Downhome 0]

I said it earlier...

 

Well, looks like someone might lose their job soon.

[Dangerous A 0]

Necessity is the Mother of Invention. Right now, with HHH on top, they don't feel the need to create a top star. He's been the top star on television for as long as I can recall (2002?) and that has seriously hurt them. The WWE has a lot of problems that aren't HHH related, I completely agree, but with him off TV they would be FORCED to elevate talent to a level beyond "contender for HHH". The feel "safe" with HHH there, they worst thing for us -as fans- is them feeling safe at a time when their business is dropping dramatically. With HHH gone they get in danger-mode, their backs are against the wall, and they have nothing else do to but go take the guys they have and use them better.

To add a little to that is Vince needs to let go of his fascination/fetish of big guys who can't work and start pushing guys who can deliver in ring goods first. If the style is going to change up to where in ring work is a focal point, they need guys who can execute as opposed to big monsters who can drive trucks into cars really fast.

 

Guys like HHH and Taker "could" be used to elevate if they find the right person/s, but their unwillingness to move away from the top has hurt things dramatically. Add to that uneffective multiple pushes for guys like Big Show and you have a problem. WWE is in desperation mode right now. They are now "killing" characters (Taker, Paul Bearer), doing abortion angles, breaking out tranq guns, etc. These angles reek and the public isn't buying it. I mean, Taker was already "killed" less than a year ago to build to WM20 and they did the car crash stunt with Shane/Kane around this time a year ago. They can't even put a year statute of limitations on angles, which shows just how bad things have gotten creatively.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Even if HHH did get taken out of wrestling for good by injury, we'd just see thing revolved around Orton and Michaels, with everyone else being support for them for the next few years.

 

And RRR, HHH has been in the main event mix since June-July of 1999, excluding his time off for injury.

I didn't say "main event mix", I said "top star". HHH had to share the main event with Austin and Rock and Taker in those days. Now, even when HHH doesn't have the belt, he is still the focus of the show. And as long as that is happening, they're fucked. It's a serious issue, and it'll be dismissed as Typical HHHate by a lot of people, but the man needs to go. There is no alternative. He needs to be gone and gone for a very, very, very long time. Like Shawn Michaels long time. Like, "he's gone and never coming back so lets not make any plans regarding him and not worry about protecting him" long time.

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

Even if HHH did get taken out of wrestling for good by injury, we'd just see thing revolved around Orton and Michaels, with everyone else being support for them for the next few years.

 

And RRR, HHH has been in the main event mix since June-July of 1999, excluding his time off for injury.

I didn't say "main event mix", I said "top star". HHH had to share the main event with Austin and Rock and Taker in those days. Now, even when HHH doesn't have the belt, he is still the focus of the show. And as long as that is happening, they're fucked. It's a serious issue, and it'll be dismissed as Typical HHHate by a lot of people, but the man needs to go. There is no alternative. He needs to be gone and gone for a very, very, very long time. Like Shawn Michaels long time. Like, "he's gone and never coming back so lets not make any plans regarding him and not worry about protecting him" long time.

I was just pointing the 1999 thing out to show how long he's been a top guy. Regardless of whether he was the 'top star' since then, he's still been a main event player for five years, and as such, 3H is beyond stale on top, and there is nothing fresh to do with him. That's why it would be great if 3H was gone for, as you said, an HBK amount of time. They could, not that they necessarily would, elevate a bunch of talent, and, after 3H has been gone for a few years, he could be brought back, and he'd be fresh again. Sadly, this is never going to happen, for all the obvious reasons.