______________________________________________________________________ __ __ __ __ _ ____ | | | | | \ | | | |/ _ \ | | | | | \ | | | / \ | | |/\| | | \| | | | | | | | | |\ | | | | | | /\ | | | \ | |__| |_| |__/ \__| |__| \__| [ n a i d O ' s - W r e s t l i n g - N e w s ] Edition 323 April 5, 2001 "I get the news, so you don't have to." http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naidoswrestlingnews ______________________________________________________________________ [Official newsletter & complement to:] http://www.naidOsWorld.com To subscribe: naidoswrestlingnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe: naidoswrestlingnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ______________________________________________________________________ [Table of contents] **Note from naidO **TOP NEWS STORY **Latest news from the WWF, WCW & ECW **[Column] Vile Thoughts **Parting chair shot **Affiliates ______________________________________________________________________ [Note from naidO] Hello to those just joining. Tell your friends about the BEST newsletter around to subscribe today! - Lots of stuff in the news today ladies and gents. As you know, SmackDown! is on tonight and it reads like its going to be a barnburner. If it's anything like Raw was, it'll be one helluva show I'm sure. The Vile returns to his usual Thursday pirch to sound off his thoughts, this time on Mania. Did he like it, not? Read on... - naidO nWN Founder - http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews ______________________________________________________________________ [TOP NEWS STORY] NBC execs have decided to drop-kick Vince McMahon's extreme football league, according to sources. "The minute the XFL season is over, the network is going to cut it," says a well-placed insider. "No question. The show is one of the biggest black eyes in NBC history." NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said recently the network would ax the XFL if ratings don't improve during the playoff games this month. "We all want to see it work," Ebersol told The Washington Post. "We have a two-year commitment … but it's going to have to show a marked swing in the ratings." But after last weekend's XFL ratings -- the worst yet -- Ebersol and boss Bob Wright have resolved to stop the bleeding, we hear. "They've decided that if it has to go to court, so be it," says the same source. Reps for NBC and McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, which have equal stakes in the TV venture, declined to comment. McMahon has vowed that, if NBC pulls the plug, the league will return next year, even without a TV partner. ______________________________________________________________________ [News from The WWF] **Official WWF Smackdown Preview: When Stone Cold Steve Austin united with Mr. McMahon at WrestleMania, it created a myriad of questions. When he also joined forces with Triple H on RAW, it created even more questions. This Thursday on SmackDown!, Jim Ross will interview the Texas Rattlesnake, and if anyone can get the answers to these probing questions, it's J.R. Why has Stone Cold done the things he has done? We could finally get some answers this Thursday on UPN! Also on UPN this Thursday, Triple H will challenge Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship. Plus, there will be two Handicap Matches -- the Undertaker and Kane will take on the Right to Censor, and Chris Benoit will take on Kurt Angle and Commissioner William Regal. In other matches signed, K-Kwik takes on Rhyno, and X-Factor -- X- Pac, Justin Credible and Albert -- will take on Billy Gunn, Grand Master Sexay and Steve Blackman in six-man action. Mr. McMahon is also expected to be at SmackDown!, this Thursday at 8/7 CT on UPN! Check your local listings for time and channel. **The Undertaker now has an official site, which you can check out at http://www.Undertaker.com **The plan for the main event at the Backlash PPV on 4/29 is Undertaker & Kane vs. HHH & Steve Austin. There will also be a Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle rematch, or a Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. Angle & William Regal match. The Rock will be off to shoot his prequel to Mummy **http://www.WWFBacklash.com has been remodled to fit the next WWF pay per view later this month. However, your ol' pal naidO has come in contact with an interesting "test" link, http://wwfbacklash.com/matches/wwftitle/index.html. Click this to see the WWFTITLE page of the site and there's an interesting match set up. Could we see an eight man tag? **The Coming Attractions web site listed a rumor that Dwayne Johnson is under consideration for the lead role in a proposed Duke Nukem movie by Dimension Films. **The following WWF videos & DVD were released yesterday: Divas in Hedonism (VHS) No Way Out 2001 (VHS) Royal Rumble 2001 (DVD) **The WWF FANATICS SERIES: BEST OF WRESTLEMANIA will begin airing May 2nd and continue for the rest of May. **The promotional poster for Judgment Day has been released. The poster features Austin and Triple H. It can be viewed at http://www.indemand.com/frames.asp? page=events&item=may&content=eventlist.asp&month=may It's small, but you get the idea. **Val Venis got married in mid-March when the WWF was in Toronto. (Cred: 1wrestling, wwf.com, ultimo, lwn) _______________ [News from WCW] **Tickets to "Shane McMahon Presents - WCW" at the Sovereign Bank Arena are tentatively scheduled to go on sale Saturday, April 14 at 10:00 AM. The event is scheduled for Wednesday, May 9. The Sovereign Bank Arena seats about 10,000 for a concert, so it is a smaller building than the WWF typically runs. To see the ticket details (no cost has been posted yet) click, https://xe.ticketmaster.com:444/gen? _template=/templates/tm/te/production/html/purchasePage.jsp&event_id=2 00327CAB8EABBE **According to 1wrestling.com and Brandon Davis, Ric Flair appeared on WFNZ 610 AM in Charlotte, NC this morning. Flair took callers and traded barbs with another guest. Flair said he was writing a book. He also says he believes another major wrestling promotion will start up soon. Flair said he and Arn Anderson have had talks about possibly forming a regional promotion in Charlotte. http://www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=3777 **The hammer came down again yesterday as many of the wrestlers from WCW who have 90-day cycles and whose contracts were not picked up by the WWF were told today that they were officially being terminated at the end of their current cycle. There is no official list yet. The wrestlers who fit into that category have been officially told. These may just be the wrestlers that the WWF has expressed no interest in and the ones on the bubble haven't been given the word yet. (Cred: 1wrestling, ultimo, lwn) __________________ [In other news...] **A comment made by Joey Styles to SLAM! Wrestling has been taken out of context and created a stir online. The comment on SLAM! by Styles is: "I am not doing interviews because I have left the wrestling business." Styles says the comment was really "I am not doing interviews because I am no longer in the wrestling business." Styles says he is no longer in the wrestling business because the company he worked for went under, not that he has retired or quit. Styles says whether he continues in the business is not up to him, but prospective employers. He says when his career in wrestling continues, an appropriate announcement will be made. http://www.1wrestling.com/news/newsline.asp?news=3772 **According to 1wrestling.com, Scott Hall will be making an appearance at the upcoming Intense Florida Wrestling show in Sanford, Florida at the Sanford Civic Center on April 13th. He fought John Tenta aka Earthquake at the last show, but it is not known whether this will be a rematch or just an appearance. **Ted Turner has grown increasingly frustrated with his lack of involvement in running AOL/Time Warner, and the New York Post is reporting that he is considering leaving the company by the end of the year. Turner remains the largest individual stockholder, but has been stripped of his ability to make decisions. To read the New York Post story, click http://www.nypostonline.com/business/28098.htm (Cred: 1Wrestling) ______________________________________________________________________ [Column] Vile Thoughts - by The Vile Wrestlemania X7 was a unique event in the fact that it was consistently inconsistent. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with a great deal of the undercard. First off, there was bad execution in more than one of the matches. It seemed like everyone had been too busy partying over the triumph over WCW instead of reviewing matches. Test allegedly laid out Saturn and Malenko with the big boot in his match against Guerrero. Problem was, he missed them by a country mile. Ron Kittle missed curve balls by less when he was in the majors. Also, a memo to Eddy: It's one foot in front of the other, buddy. Ivory just looked god awful in her match. The punches she was throwing looked more like Joe from the Three Stooges. I know it was a squash match, but have a little pride, will ya? As for the gimmick battle royale, if the WWF ever decides to do it again, I swear I will take my Johnson and slam it in a sliding door wall. That was without a doubt, the worst match I've ever seen, Ding Dongs included. As for the redeeming values of this show, there were a few. (1) Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle giving us a great scientific match. Some great moves and counter moves, and a classic handfull of tights to win it. (2) Triple H and Undertaker in a great grudge-type matchup. One thing: Who decided that it was "Crucify the referees night?" (3) Edge's mid-air spear of Jeff Hardy, although TLC2 couldn't hold a candle to the original. (4) Green Bean and The Brain making an appearance, and in the dark recesses of our minds, we know they were doing some big time sucking up. (5) Shane McMahon, looking like Evel Knievel not once but twice, including that spectacular leap across the ring. And of course, (6) The main event. One of the best endings to a Wrestlemania. I have to admit, I was stunned at first, because I really didn't think Vince would ever try it, but it makes perfect sense. You could make Stone Cold a heel, but who would care? Everyone would still love him. Therefore, there is only one option: to make people hate him. How to do it? By aligning SC with the one man everyone hates: VK McMahon. Some people booed him on Sunday, but Monday sealed the deal. From Austin bad mouthing the fans, to him calling VK "Mister" McMahon to having his hide saved by HHH, to the three of them drinking beer in the center of the ring. The seeds are now in place. SC could become one of the most powerful and hated personalities in wrestling; EVER. The only question will be how long will it last? Will they make Austin a "suckup", or a "corporate champion", or someone who will go along for the ride until it no longer serves his purpose? Only VK knows for sure. As for the WCW guys at Wrestlemania, I have one question: Couldn't they get these guys some better ducats? I mean, if they would have been any further from the action, they could have watched it at Terry Funk's ranch. And lastly, it's a big game Saturday night as LA and SF fight it out for the XFL western division championship. It should be a good one. More heel turns, More camera girls getting nailed by wayward XFL players out of bounds, and more Shane McMahon daredevil stunts. Later!! ______________________________________________________________________ [Parting Chair Shot] Remember, tell your friends about nWN - naidO's Wrestling News today! **Missed any TV Shows? Go to the following link to read the results: http://www.naidosworld.com/tvshows.html Also, be sure to check out the NEW internet home of nWN, http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews for all your archived stats, tv shows, wrestling links, terms and PPV's, and most of all PICTURES! - naidO nWN Founder ______________________________________________________________________ [Affiliates] **http://www.paywindah.com **http://green_mist.homestead.com **http://www.geocities.com/dsherelo **http://www.tommydreamer.net **http://www.stephaniebellars.com **http://www.PaulHeyman.Net - BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF nWN and make it your official newsletter!! Email naido@hotmail.com with your website's address for consideration. ______________________________________________________________________ [News gathering links] **1Wrestling/Dave Scherer/Bob Ryder @ http://www.1wrestling.com **Wrestling Observer/Dave Meltzer @ http://www.wrestlingobserver.com **The Law/Dan Lovranski @ http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com **UltimoWrestling/MrWolfson/CBrown @ http://www.ultimowrestling.com ______________________________________________________________________ [Ads] **ESW - The number one E-Fed on the face of the Earth! The ESW: Extremely Suicidal Wrestling! http://www.geeksoft.net/gin/gfed2/gfed.cgi?lid=1204 **Call The KLiQ Hotline For Daily Pro Wrestling News & Rumors. This call give you the most updated Pro Wrestling News that matters. This call is FREE and allways will be you can call from the US and Canada the # 1-888-561-4391 ! Give it a call. REMEBER it's 100% FREE YOU WILL NEVER BE CHARGED ______________________________________________________________________ [nWN Staff] Founder & Editor: naidO - naido@hotmail.com Columnist: Sam Jerry - SAMJERRY@aol.com Columnist: The Vile - vile316@yahoo.com Columnist: Ted Cabata - tcabata@roanoke.edu ______________________________________________________________________ [Disclaimer] naidO's Wrestling News was founded on April 30, 2000 and is owned and operated by naidO. He, nor this newsletter is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Turner Broadcasting's World Championship Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, or any other wrestling organization. Nor the people (staff members), wrestlers, or any other talent in the wrestling. News is gathered from various sources around the net, including newsgroups and are believed to be of public domain and truthful (uh huh). As long as proper credit is given it exempts nWN and it's staff. I (naidO) am just promoting their organization/website. nWN is not responsible for content on affiliate websites or where they may link to including mp3's, warez, kiddie porn and/or other unlawful content. This exempts myself & this newsletter (nWN) from all legal disputes. Anything taken from this newsletter requires written consent from naidO Copyright © 2000, 2001 naidO. All Rights Reserved