News and Rumors In The Wrestling Industry-July 5th, 2003
- Lita was recently featured in an article in the Miami Herald, talking about such things as her return, her neck, the Hardyz and Essa. Click the Link below to access the article in a printed version.
News In the Wrestling Business July 3rd, 2003
- There is talk that developmental wrestlers Seven and Travis Bane will be called up to the main roster soon. Bradshaw had the following to say in his recent column on WWE.com: "There is another tag team in OVW that will probably come up soon, Seven and Bane. Both are big guys and capable workers that deserve a break and hopefully will get it soon."
- Jazz dislocated her shoulder during last night's battle royal for the Women's Title, which is why she was eliminated from the match despite not being thrown over the top rope. She is, however, expected to return to action next week.
- The wrestlers who received their bonus checks last week were said to be very upset that the payoffs were much lower than expected.
- TSN in Canada cut some of the Test/Stacy Keibler segment from Raw on Monday.
News In the Wrestling Industry for June 28-July 2nd
There is some talk in WWE circles of sending Goldberg to Smackdown as a heel to feud with Brock Lesnar in order to refresh his character. No word on how serious these discussions are.
Officials are encouraging Linda Miles, who is the new valet for the Basham Brothers, to play up the dominatrix gimmick more.
Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin, who are formlerly known as Team Angle, will now be using the name "The Best Damn Tag Team Period", which is obviously copied fom the popular sports show on Fox Sports Net.
Although it was previously thought that a Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar WrestleMania rematch would headline the upcoming Vengeance Pay-Per-View, that may not be the case after all. Recent booking of The Big Show seems to indicate that he may be added to the match to make it a three-way.
Since "Rowdy" Roddy Piper has been released by WWE and upcoming house shows are still advertising a "Piper's Pit" segment with Vince McMahon, the decision has been made to have Brother Love (aka Bruce Pritchard) take his place at the shows.
It's now confirmed that Hulk Hogan and WWE have indeed decided to go their separate ways. Hogan first informed the company after Tuesday's Smackdown taping at Madison Square Garden of his decision to quit, but WWE chose not to make a public announcement since they were under the impression that they could try to talk Hogan out of it.
Crash Holly has officially been released by WWE.
The reason for "Stone Cold" Steve Austin not appearing on last night's RAW was due to a case of food poisoning. Jim Ross made the announcement during the show and was telling the truth. Austin's case does not seem to be too serious, but he was still unable to make the trip to Buffalo.
There is a degree of concern with how Zach Gowen will react to the sudden departure of Hulk Hogan because of their ongoing storyline, although it seems as though the focus has shifted from Vince vs. Hogan to Vince vs. Zach, so the transition will not be as awkward as it would have been otherwise.
To correct something that was poster earlier, Steve Austin is NOT suffering from food poisoning and was simply not written into RAW in order to put more heat on Eric Bischoff.
WWE.com posted the following statement earlier today: "WWE and Michael Lockwood, aka Crash Holly, have come to terms on his release so that he may pursue other interests. We wish Lockwood all the best in his future endeavors."
The plan for Steve Austin's return to RAW next week is for him to blame Eric Bischoff for getting food poisoning. That's why the 'food poisoning' excuse was used.
In case you didn't watch TNN's "100 Most Irresistible Women" special that aired last night, Stacy Keibler was the only WWE performer on the list, ranked No. 81. Halle Berry was ranked No. 1.
Hulk Hogan Speaks on Bubba The Love Sponge, click the link below to read the article
*~Man Behind HulkaMania Speaks~* News in the Wrestling World June 27, 2003
- Jim Ross will be appearing on Live with Regis & Kelly tomorrow to promote his new cookbook.
- Mick Foley has relaunched his website recently and as soon as i get a link that will take you right to it, i will post it. The link i have takes you to WWE.com
- Also pictures from the Rocks new film have been released on the net, check them out with the link provided as well.
- Headlines in WWE.com concerning Roddy Piper also in the news this week. So click the link below to get to them as well.
News In the Wrestling World June 26, 2003
- Mick Foley Talks About Returning, his Ceremony and more. Click the link below.
- The original plan of Vince McMahon vs. Mr. America at Summer Slam may now be changed to McMahon taking on Zach Gowen. This would be Gowen's first televised WWE match.
- WWE officials are said to be very high on Randy Orton, as was evident by his involvement on last night's RAW. They apparently see him as a future Rock-level superstar due to his athleticism and charisma.
- Lita's autobiography is tentatively scheduled for a September 16th release, and Steve Austin's is set for an October 21st release.
- Former WWE Hardcore Champion Pete Gas was in attendance at last night's Smackdown taping in New York City. He was seen visiting with the crew members during the show and posing for pictures with fans.
- Apparently, the interest in the outcome of the Triple H/Kane match from RAW was very high, since the quarter-hour rating for the overrun delivered a strong 5.0 rating.
- There is said to be a dramatic change in the morale of those wrestlers in the Smackdown locker room as of late. The majority of the wrestlers have been complaining, some openly, about their lack of push on the show.
The writers and the road agents are taking most of the blame, since most of reluctant to go to Vince McMahon, as they fear it will jeopardize their future with the company
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During a recent interview on the LAW radio show, Jim Ross stated that the reason Paul Heyman has been kept off television is because of some sort of neck injury.
He actually injured his neck at a house show before Christmas, but continued to work because he wanted to work the WrestleMania main event in order to let Brock Lesnar deliver his "payback" in storylines.
There are several rumors going around as to what the company plans to do with him should be return as an on-screen character. One scenario, which is the most likely to happen, has him managing The Big Show and Charlie Haas/Shelton Benjamin and feuding with the babyface duo of Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle.
Based on Jim Ross's words, Heyman isn't set for an exact return date and could return anywhere from tonight's Smackdown taping through August.
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USA Today has an article on Zack Gowen, click the link to read what they had to say about this amazing performer.
News in the Wrestling World June 25th, 2003
- The wrestlers who took part in the Mick Foley tribute on RAW last night began pounding beers during the commercial break, which caused some concern from wrestlers regarding the condition of the ring. They came to the ring to wipe the beer up with a towel and the refs were sure to warn the participants about it.
- Lita starts charity, organizes fund-raiser
Lita, aka Amy Dumas, has founded an organization to support animal-related causes, and shell be participating in a celebration and fund-raiser on Saturday, July 19 in Aberdeen, N.C.
- Roddy Piper and Vince McMahon were both interviewed for HBO's "Real Sports", which will air a segment on wrestling deaths tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST. Piper reportedly said some controversial things that made several WWE officials unhappy, including Vince McMahon himself.
- The decision was made prior to the 6/5 Smackdown that if Rey Mysterio was unable to compete due to his groin injury, that Ultimo Dragon would debut on the show and immediately be put over for the Cruiserweight Title. This obviously motivated Mysterio to work the match, because he would be losing his opportunity to win the belt.
- Next year's Summer Slam will take place at the SkyDome in Toronto.
- Mark Jindrak was told all week that he would be debuting on the 6/16 RAW as the fourth member of Evolution, but it was postponed for some reason.
- A Brock Lesnar DVD is scheduled to be released on August 12th.
- At tonight's Smackdown taping in New York City, a fan was injured during a segment involving Vince McMahon and Zach Gowen. Vince was mocking Zach by walking with his cane in the ring. He proceeded to throw the cane into the crowd and it accidentally hit a girl in the front row. Vince went over to check on her and she was eventually taken to the back for medical treatment.
News From the Wrestling World June 24th,2003
- The latest word on Brock Lesnar is that he will be at this week's Smackdown taping at Madison Square Garden.
- Ultimo Dragon, who is set to make his WWE television debut at this week's Smackdown taping, has been impressing officials at recent house show events. He has been competing in four-way matches with Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio, and Jamie Noble and is said to look as good as ever.
- Trish Stratus was a hit at Niagara Falls this past weekend. Read the article by clicking the link directly below.
- The current plan for the RAW brand house shows in July is to have them headlined by Kevin Nash and Rob Van Dam versus Triple H and Ric Flair.
- USA Today is planning a story for tomorrow on Zach Gowen's WWE debut.
- La Resistance will now be signing the French national anthem before their matches.
- Look for the America's Most Wanted/Christopher Daniels & Elix Skipper cage match for the NWA Tag Team Titles to open this Wednesday's NWA-TNA PPV. The reason being that it's much easier to start the show with the cage already set up in the ring due to the amount of time it takes to set it up. It also allows the match to go on as long as planned since there won't be any worrying about other segments running longer and taking time away from the match.
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