====================================================================== ====================================================================== ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ / /\/ /\/ /\ / \ / /\ __ ___ / / / / / / / / \ / / / / \/ \ / / / / / / / / \/ / / / \ / \/ / / / / / / / / /\ /\ / / / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / /\ \/ / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / / /\ / / / / / \ / / /____/ /___/ / /___/ / \_____/ / /___/ / /__/ / \____\/\___\/ \___\/ \____\/ \___\/ \__\/ n a i d O ' s W r e s t l i n g N e w s Edition// 347 Date// April 30, 2001 Motto// "Continuing to get the news so you don't have to." Website// http://www.geocities.com/naidosnews Subscribe// naidoswrestlingnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Unsubscribe// naidoswrestlingnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com ====================================================================== Table of Contents//=================================================== naidO's daily note TOP HEADLINE Latest news & notes from the WWF, WCW & the rest of pro-wrestling Article// News & notes from Jim Ross's Ross Report Comment// Rounding The Squared Circle Remember... Affiliates ====================================================================== naidO's daily note//================================================== Hello to you and to those just joining. Tell your friends about the BEST newsletter around to subscribe today. Enjoy this latest edition of nWN! -Click for the WWF BACKLASH results: http://www.naidosworld.com/results_bl01.html -Well, it was one year ago today when naaidO's Wrestling News first made its way onto the internet with non-other than a Backlash recap. The edition has grown since then and I'm persoanlly proud of it. In that first edition, I said that I'd probably be the only subscriber but I was wrong, I picked up 149 friends along the way as well and for that, I personally thank each one of you for signing up. I want to thank each member who has emailed me for support, news and general thoughts on wrestling and I want to thank the writers who have come and gone and to Sam, Vile and Ted who are still here. Here's to hoping there's another year in me (and pro-wrestling for that matter). By my count, I only missed 18 days all year; Not bad. Let me know what you think of the new look and enjoy this anniversary edition... it's a DOOZY! Thanks for reading. naidO// ====================================================================== TOP HEADLINE//======================================================== Here is a list released by WWF.com of the WCW wrestlers who are now officially under WWF contract: Mike Awesome, Hugh Morrus, Lance Storm, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Shawn Stasiak, Johnny the Bull, Shane Helms, Shannon Moore, Evan Karagias, Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire, Mike Sanders, Mark Jindrak, Elix Skipper, Allen Funk (Kwee Wee), Lash Larue, The Wall, Kaz Hayashi, Jimmy Howard (Jaime Knoble), James Yun, Miss Hancock, Reno, Sam Roman (Kid Romeo) and Jason Boils (EZMoney/Jason Jett) Source// Jim Ross ====================================================================== News from the WWF//=================================================== -For those that missed Heat, Jerry Lynn made his TV debut defeating Crash Holly and capturing the Lightweight title. Keeping with Jerry Lynn, WWF.com reports: -Light Heavyweight Champ hosts RAW at WWWF NY Last night on HEAT, Jerry Lynn defeated Crash to become the new Light Heavyweight Champion. Tonight, he will host RAW IS WAR at WWF New York! -1wrestling.com reports Shane McMahon iss fine after taking a spectacular fall at Backlash off entrance way scaffolding. He was okay backstage immediately after the fall. -All new Diva photos from Hedonism! WWFDivas.com presents a collection of photos and videos featuring some of the Federation's most beautiful women, documenting their time in Jamaica's Hedonism! Click to see'em: http://www.wwfdivas.com/caribbean/index.html -May's Birthdays : May 2 - The Rock, May 2 - Big Boss Man, May 10 - William Regal, May 15 - Faarooq, May 16 - Goodfather, May 17 - Earl & Dave Hebner, May 21 - Chris Benoit, May 28 - Chaz, May 29 - Pete Gas -Insurrextion rocks Earls Court this Satturday This Saturday -- May 5 -- live from Earls Court, the Federation features Insurrextion -- the next international Pay-Per-View event. Head over to the Web site for more information: http://www.insurrextion.com/ Source// wwf.com, 1Wrestling.com ====================================================================== News from WCW//======================================================= -More on what Jim Ross said earlier, WCWW is scheduled to have its first television taping on June 13th. No venue as of yet has been announced, but it is thought to be in the small Jersey arena teh Soveriegn as previously reported. It appears that the first program will air on June 16th in the 11 p.m. timeslot on TNN. -Chris Kanyon has updated his online commmentary in which he has mentioned that as of April 23, he has been released from his AOL Time Warner/WCW contract. Now he is a free agent. He also said that he is confident of making it to the WWF. He said that he wants to join the new WCW or WWF, but he may have to take a pay cut to do so. He said that he is willing to take the pay cut since working with the WWF has always been his dream. He also said that WCW had turned into a very negative place under Time Warner and that there was a lot of politics and rivalry backstage. Source// wwf.com, 1Wrestling.com ====================================================================== News from the rest of pro-wrestling//================================= -Syndicated wrestling columnist Ric Russso reports that the Armstrong family is forming a promotion called "Southeastern Championship Wrestling, which will run a training school and conduct shows out of the Avalon Sports Arena in the Florida Panhandle. They are looking to book top indy names, as well as members of the Armstrong family (Patriarch Bullet Bob, Road Dog Jesse James, Brad, and Scott Armstrong). They run their first show this Saturday night and have TV in the Pensacola area. -ABC news has a story on their website ttoday talking about a recent Wake Forest study where it was pondered as to whether people who watch pro wrestling are more likely to be violent when dating. They asserted that wrestling fans are more likely to be physically and emotionally abusive. My contention would be that people who do those kinds of things would logically be more apt to be wrestling fans, and that wrestling does not cause the behavior. The study also implies that kids who watch wrestling are more likely to engage in tobacco use and substance abuse. Click to read it, http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/wrestling010429.html Source// 1Wrestling ====================================================================== Article//============================================================= News & notes from Jim Ross's Ross Report -Another busy week for yours truly. Afteer two days of TV tapings in Denver, I had meetings in Los Angeles on Wednesday with some of the WCW talents. Those talents that I have met with include Chavo Guerrero Jr., Chuck Palumbo, Sean O'Haire and Reno. I also met with some legal people with other potential WCW talents, and I thought the meetings went well. Certainly some great prospects from purely a physical standpoint. Palumbo and O'Haire have great genetics. Both are 6' 6", and each is around 260-270 pounds. Both are also extremely athletic, and I had a great time conversing with them. I also like Chavo Guerrero Jr.'s work. I've known his father for many years, as he comes from a great wrestling family. His uncle Eddie is on our roster, and he is a great light heavyweight contender. Reno went through the WCW Power Plant, and he seems to have a very good attitude. He has kept himself in good physical condition, so we will see how he does when we get started later this year. -Next week, I plan on meeting with The WWall and Miss Hancock at the WWF Headquarters prior to leaving for London for next weekend's Insurrextion Pay-Per-View. The following week, on Wednesday, May 9, I have a meeting in Florida with the Florida-based WCW talents and other meetings I plan on having with other talents in Florida those days as well. -We are still having a tentative start ddate for taping our first WCW show on June 13 for a June 16 launch. The start is totally dependent on the television deal being finalized, which looks like it will be on TNN on Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET. -I talked to The Rock this week. He is ddoing very well in California working some ridiculously long hours getting ready to continue producing 'The Scorpion King.' He will be a part in the premiere of 'The Mummy Returns' this week, but things are going well. He is looking forward to getting back in the WWF ring, which looks like it will be at some point this summer. -It was good to see former ECW standout Tommy Dreamer at Bassman's UPW show. Tommy has lost significant weight from what I observe. I certainly hope that he will be a part of either WCW or the WWF in the near future. We are looking forward to doing business with Tommy. He is a class guy and a real standup guy, and he is certainly one of the most dedicated and loyal guys in the business. -Molly Holly worked with Victoria out inn California. Not a bad match. Victoria is coming along, and of course Molly is a breath of fresh air as far as the ladies are concerned here in the Federation. -Edge and Christian worked with Nova andd Frank Kazarian. Nova had an excellent tag team match, and Edge and Christian did their share to contribute to the success of UPW's event. Top to bottom, everyone worked hard on Wednesday night's show. -It was also good to see Josh Wilcox, LAA Xtreme's tight end of the XFL, who has done some work with ECW in the past. I'm thinking Josh could be a prospect for the WCW roster this summer. It would certainly be nice, especially since the XFL is coming back next year, if Josh is a part of WCW. He loves the business, and he may be a good hand down the road. We are considering Wilcox joining WCW right now, and we will be discussing it more in the next few weeks. -I also had a very positive meeting thiss past week with Rob Van Dam and his representatives. I enjoyed meeting Rob and his wife, along with his agent. I felt like we had a very productive meeting. It was certainly a good opportunity for me to get to talk to Rob and understand his goals. We also addressed some of the perceptions that people have regarding Rob. He has unbelievable talent, as I'm sure many people will agree. He is young and healthy, and I hope that out of that meeting last week in L.A. that we will come to terms with Rob, whether it be in WCW or in the WWF. One of the most positive meetings I had all day was with Rob, and I think that it's just a matter of hammering out a deal that makes sense with everyone involved. If he does come on board, I believe he will be a major player as far as our positioning of him is concerned. -I was also impressed on Wednesday with the athletic background of Sean O'Haire. At 6' 6", 275 pounds, he doesn't need to get any bigger. He has a great frame and great genetics at 28 years old. He has three black belts, and a lot of upside. We just need to get him in the ring and keep him busy. Same goes for Palumbo. This young man spent four years in the Navy, and he understands accountabilities, responsibilities and structure. I really think that both these guys -- because of their size -- have a great opportunity to be big players in WCW going forward. Let's take a look at the injury situation in the Federation: -Rikishi has been cleared to return to wwork from his eardrum injury. When he returns has yet to be determined. -Eddie Guerrero is still having some prooblems with his elbow, and he will be getting some physical therapy treatments on his elbow and will not be missing any time in the ring. -K-Kwik has pulled a muscle in his back.. He has been having some problems getting healthy from rib and back injuries. His x-rays were negative, and he will also be working through the pain. -Scotty 2 Hotty has been doing well. Conncerning his injured neck, it has been giving him more pain on some days than on others. He has an MRI scheduled on Tuesday, and he will see his orthopedic specialist on Friday. He has no return date yet, but we will know more after his two doctor visits this week. -Taka Michinoku is doing physical therappy on his shoulder, which I still believe that somewhere down the road will have to be surgically repaired. -Kurt Angle will be inducted in the Amatteur Wrestling Hall Of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in June. That's going to be a great day for Kurt, and we will be following that on television as well as here on the Internet. -The last day of shooting for Tough Enouugh will be May 11. The show is scheduled to begin airing on June 21 on MTV for the one-hour special. There will then be 12 half-hour shows airing after that. I understand that there will be some very unique and provactive television. Al Snow, Tazz, Jackie and Tori have all done a wonderful job working with these people, and I think that those four Superstars will get a jump-start, as far as their efforts are concerned, through their efforts on Tough Enough, as I've that the product will be some fun television for all involved. -Looking back at some of the WCW businesss, I have some very positive meetings with Diamond Dallas Page, Scott Steiner, Johnny Ace, Arn Anderson and Fit Finlay. I've met some people with a lot of passion and desire to make WCW a very competitive group. There were a lot of questions about how much damage the WCW logo and name has sustained in the past couple of years, but we believe it can be rebuilt. I'm sure a lot of people believed we should have started a different brand instead of WCW. They may be right, but right now we are steering the course. -I'm going to be spending a great deal oof time in restructuring the infrastructure of our talent development program in the next few weeks. We have some very good people in place, and we want to give them more tools to work with and increase their profitability and their chance to be more successful. We will be making some changes to help strengthen our program, and hopefully we will be seeing better results and more Superstars being evaluated in a more timely, systematic and organized manner. -I got some other interesting e-mails thhis week regarding my lashing out at Paul Heyman this past week after Heyman nailed me with some good verbal shots. That's a situation where Paul certainly has his share of fans, and rightfully so as he is doing an outstanding job. It brought a smile to my face reading some of the e-mails that outlined why I should not say anything to Paul when he makes a heated remark. I think you could probably notice that a lot of times I let what Paul says lie on its own, but then sometimes, after a culmination of remarks, it's almost like you have to respond to some extent. I thought some of the e-mails brought up some good points. Maybe I was a little too quick on the trigger on responding to some of the things Paul said, but I think there should be some balance. All in all, I know Paul and I are both working diligently to pick up where the King and I left off. Paul does not have easy shoes to fill, as King was the best partner night-in and night-out that I ever had working on the air, even though he and Paul have an entirely different style. Paul is entertaining, provocative and very abrasive at times, and I think our best work is still yet to come. Backlash will only be our second Pay- Per-View working together, and I think we will have a fun night. For those Paul Heyman fans, I will keep in mind not to verbally abuse your hero as we go forward. However, it's just so tempting because he's so easy to dislike. ====================================================================== Comment//============================================================= ROUNDING THE SQUARED CIRCLE "AND THEN THERE WERE NONE" OR "IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM, JOIN ... THE GIRL SCOUTS" BY SAMJERRY@AOL.COM Visit My Home Page At: http://members.aol.com/samjerry After Backlash, last night's PPV, what can w expect on RAW and SmackDown this week? How about HHH winning the European Championship and Stone Cold Steve Austin (SCSA) the Hardcore Championship. That leaves just the Light Heavyweight and the Women's Championship. Maybe they can then have Princess Stephanie will those. Complete domination over the WWF. What more can the Asshole World Order (AWO) ask for? Why did Emperor McMahon see fit to have HHH and SCSA win the Tag Team Championship from The Taker and Kane? It was inevitable; it had to happen; that's why. He has been building SCSA up as The Ultimate Heel since Wrestlemania, where he proved he lived by his motto "Don't Trust Anyone (DTA)," by winning at all costs. This was cemented by the formation of The Unholy Trinity, led by The Devil Incarnate himself. From there SCSA went on to stuff Good Old JR into his cowboy hat, a feat equal to stuffing ten pounds into a five pound bag. What was left to make SCSA The Ultimate Heel? Having him become Tag Team Champion by beating the seemingly unbeatable team of The Brothers of Destruction. "You have to love it when a plan comes together," as some of you old "A-Team" fans may recall. Not to worry Taker and Kane fans. You can take it to the bank that we will see the same four headlining the next PPV, Judgment Day. There will be two singles matches; one for the WWF Championship and the other for the Intercontinental Championship. I would bet on SCSA v. Taker and HHH v. Kane. Taker has one more run with the Title before he settles down with his favorite bike and sipping Jack Daniels in his casket. This might be that run. I am all for Taker having his farewell, but personally would like to see Kane get his shot; he has certainly paid his dues and deserves it. What else happened at Backlash? Prince Shane moved to the 10 meter platform and dropped an elbow on The Big Squashed. Not satisfied with jumping from halfway up the scaffolding, he went to the top and received a 5.8 for his efforts (the Yugoslavian judge scored it a 5.2, must to the dismay of the crowd). After showing the leap 165 times and telling us that The Prince landed directly on The Big Pancake, Good Old JR and Paul E finally called it the way we saw it, an Elbow Drop. The only thing is it looked like he missed altogether and landed flat on wooden platform The Large Taco was planted on by Test. In either case, kudos to the owner of WCW. It took a set of grapefruits the size of Milwaukee to pull it off. One thing you have to say about The McMahons, they put their citrus where their mouths are. He won The Last Man Standing Match, even though Test had to prop him up on a boom. If you missed the PPV, it's worth seeing the replay for The Shane-O-Drop alone. The Thirty Minute Submission Match between Canada's poster boy for dental health and Our American Zero, was won in overtime (to the surprise of about three people) by The Gapped Tooth Wonder. Zero was ahead 3-1, however, you can never count a missing molar out. He tied it at 3, leaving us sitting on the edge of our seats as Zero had him in a Submission Hold as time ran out. He was saved by the clock and we went to Sudden Submission Death. A Crossface later and the Fat lady did her thing. Despite the predictable ending, the match was what all it was billed as. All in all, a good PPV. Wrestlemania was an impossible act to follow, but Backlash held it's own. RAW should prove interesting as The Taker will be looking for The Unholy Trinity and their sledge hammer. Did I forget to tell you that The Devil Incarnate and a sledge hammer helped HHH and SCSA win? At least The Taker can take solace looking at The Princess when he next sees her. She'll be easy to recognize - her face looks like the bottom of his boot. She saw fit to get into the ring and got to meet his size 18, mouth first. I figure it will take about $100,000 of daddy's money to restore it, but she's worth it. Just ask daddy. ====================================================================== Remember...=========================================================== -Remember that if you've missed any TV SShows, PPV's or more? Go to the following links to read the results. Raw// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvraw.html Smackdown// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvsmackdown.html PPV's// http://www.naidosworld.com/currentppv.html Ratings// http://www.naidosworld.com/tvratings.html ByteThis// http://www.naidosworld.com/bytethis.html ====================================================================== 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// Make nWN your official newsletter!! Email naido@hotmail.com with your website's address for consideration ====================================================================== News gathering links//================================================ -1Wrestling/Dave Scherer @ http://www.1wwrestling.com -Wrestling Observer/Dave Meltzer @ http:://www.wrestlingobserver.com -The Law @ http://www.liveaudiowrestlingg.com -UltimoWrestling/Mr. Wolfson etc. @ httpp://www.ultimowrestling.com -SLAM! Wrestling @ http://www.canoe.ca/SSlamWrestling ====================================================================== Ads//================================================================= -ESW * The number one E-Fed on the face of the Earth! The ESW: Extremely Suicidal Wrestling! http://www.geocities.com/the_esw -Call The KLiQ Hotline For Daily Pro Wreestling 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. Copyright © 2000, 2001 - naidO - All Rights Reserved ====================================================================== ======================================================================