====================================================================== ====================================================================== ____ ___ ____ ___ ____ / /\/ /\/ /\ / \ / /\ __ ___ / / / / / / / / \ / / / / \/ \ / / / / / / / / \/ / / / \ / \/ / / / / / / / / /\ /\ / / / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / /\ \/ / / / / /\ / / / / / / / / / /\ / / / / / \ / / /____/ /___/ / /___/ / \_____/ / /___/ / /__/ / \____\/\___\/ \___\/ \____\/ \___\/ \__\/ n a i d O ' s W r e s t l i n g N e w s Edition// 379 Date// June 2, 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 and notes from Jim Ross 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 SMACKDOWN! results: http://www.naidosworld.com/tvsmackdown.html -Good grief! Good ol' JR must've been hopped up on what got Gran Masta Sexay fired because he had A LOT, and I do mean A LOT to say this week. And folks, what you'll see in this newsletter is only 3/4's of it. It's quite a read though. Thanks for reading. naidO// ====================================================================== TOP HEADLINE//======================================================== -Lawler reported to be in meetings with WWF Dave Scherer reports Jerry Lawler is taking part in meetings today in Stamford, Connecticut with the WWF about a possible return to commentary. Reportedly, Jim Ross is heading a campaign to bring Lawler back to the announce booth, possibly without the knowledge of Vince McMahon. If Lawler can come to an agreement with the company, Ross will reportedly ask Kevin Dunn, part of the WWF production team, to take a proposal to McMahon. Source// 1wrestling.com ====================================================================== News from the WWF//=================================================== -Angle speaks out on Byte This! Olympic hero and former Federation Champion Kurt Angle sounded off this week on Byte This! What are his thoughts on the future of the Federation? What does his think about his rivalries with Chris Benoit and Shane McMahon? Who is his pick to win this year's King of the Ring? Watch Byte This! Click for Byte This! http://www.wwf.com/webcasts/bytethis/ -The final SmackDown rating came in at 4.2 -The WWF has scheduled back-to-back RAW and Smackdowns in August at the All State Arena in Chicago for August 13 and 14, and at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for August 27 and 28. -For all the Tazz marks: An autographed copy of the January 2001 WWF magazine featuring Tazz on the cover is listed on the WWF Auctions Web site. The auction started yesterday afternoon and ends on June 8th. The current bid is $25.00. The URL for the auction is: www.auction.wwf.com/Scripts/ListingInfo.asp?LotNo=52212508 Source// wwf.com, 1wrestling ====================================================================== News from WCW//======================================================= -Current WWF/WCW talent, Lance Storm will be competing for Calgary based Stampede Wrestling from June 21st-24th for their "Mid Summer's Nightmare" tour. Storm will be battling Christopher Daniels on all of the shows. Source// the law ====================================================================== News from the rest of pro-wrestling//================================= -The current bid on eBay to have dinner with former Nitro Girl, Teri Byrne (also known as Fyre) is currently at $2,025.00 US. The auction ends on Sunday, June 3rd. To visit the auction page, click http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1148651840 -The current bid on eBay for the Honky Tonk Man's boots is currently set at $360.00 US. The auction ends later on today (Saturday). To visit the auction page, click http://cgi.ebay.com/aw- cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1149352611 -The Internet based wrestling company, Matrats is considering a name change. You can offer your suggestions at http://www.matrats.com -Rob Van Dam took time earlier yesterday to tape an interview for this Tuesday's edition of The Stranglehold. During the conversation, RVD shed light on his current status with WCW/WWF. On his official status: "I am unsigned as of right now. WCW is looking very promising and I am hoping to close this deal that we are in talks of. As of now, I am unsigned, so the rumor that I am already officially signed, you can put an end to right now." The Stranglehold airs Tuesday nights from 8-9:30pm(cst) on WGNU 920am or can be listened to online at http://www.TheStranglehold.com, which also has comments from RVD posted on other possible talent joining WCW and what his role in the company may be. -NWA champion Steve Corino is back with the latest edition of IT'S GOOD TO BE KING where he discusses how he only got 5 hours of sleep in 67 hours but loved it, performing in Japan and the Pillman Show for the first time, psychology in wrestling, the PWF and more. Check it out now at http://www.SteveCorino.com Source// the law, 1wrestling ====================================================================== Article//============================================================= News and notes from Jim Ross: -Triple H has begun rehab with Kevin Wilk in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Jim Andrews has informed Triple H that the first four weeks after the surgery are critical, as the muscle is being shaped. It could end up too long, too short, or just perfect. Hunter's going to be staying in Birmingham during this time working with Kevin Wilk to make sure they hit the perfect side of the spectrum. After about the first month, Triple H will decide if he wants to continue his rehab in Birmingham or elsewhere. -Rikishi had surgery to repair his injured shoulder on Thursday. Dr. Jim Andrews, again in Birmingham, performed arthroscopic surgery on the area, cleaned out the debris, and opened the shoulder up to repair and tighten the shoulder where it was dislocated. Rikishi is still in the hospital as we report this. He should be released on Saturday, and will be staying in Birmingham for a week or so to begin his therapy program, and then he will be released to go home, where he will continue his rehab. Recovery time is scheduled to be around four months. -Scotty 2 Hotty has been released from doctor's care. He's doing some rehabilitation in-ring work in Louisville, in OVW. He's feeling comfortable. -X-Pac is having some stiffness with his neck. He's had some problems with neck injuries at times in his career, and we'll keep our eye on his condition. If it worsens, we'll take appropriate measures, but right now, it's just some slight discomfort. It has decreased his range of motion somewhat. -Val Venis is having a lump on his hip surgically removed on Monday. There's some tissue that was formed there from a boyhood injury that has calcified, giving him some problems. Val will be away from action for probably two to three weeks healing from this situation. -Eddie Guerrero seemed to hyperextend his knee on SmackDown! He was in some slight discomfort after the match. However - and luckily for us - the pain has subsided, and there's no further issues with Eddie's knee. -Eric Angle -- Kurt Angle's brother who is in Louisville training -- developed a severe infection in his arm last week after having it operated on to repair a muscle tear in his upper arm. They're going to have to re-address the initial surgery, but the doctor's confident that he'll be able to return to normal after physical therapy. I think he'll be out about three months. -Chris Benoit is having some problems and some pain in his right arm. Benoit had an MRI on Friday. It sounds like it could be a pinched nerve. -Certainly a good week of World Wrestling Federation television as far as I'm concerned. I thought there were some really exciting moments, both on RAW Monday night and on SmackDown! as well. The two main events involving Austin and Benoit on those respective days I thought really delivered the goods. How could you not like those matches? I saw where some folks with their Internet comments and feedback on the shows, some gave it a zero - absolutely no redeeming qualities, no effort, etc. I always respect peoples' opinions, and everybody's opinion is as good as the next guy. But to say that an entire two-hour program has absolutely zero redeeming qualities and that no one exerted any effort is a little bit ridiculous, I think. No television show is perfect. That's always our goal, but I don't know that we'll ever accomplish a perfect TV show to fit everybody's taste, because everybody's tastes - if you read comments and you read feedback and talk to your friends - varies a great deal. But certainly, I think that if we're all being somewhat objective, no one can say that we have not collectively had a better couple of weeks of TV than we've had in the past two weeks. And since Judgment Day - which, by the way, was probably a better show than it was predicted to be - our televisions have been pretty strong, and we're certainly turning some creative issues around. It's time for that to happen, and I think that's exactly what's being done by our creative staff. -It's a big weekend for Kurt Angle. He'll be inducted into the National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Certainly, this hall of fame is so prestigious, and it's such an honor. We're very, very proud of Kurt, and I would suggest this honor is second only to the Olympic gold medal that he won in 1996. This is as high an honor as an amateur wrestler can get. Kurt will be a guest on Sunday Night HEAT on MTV this Sunday. I expect there will be exclusive footage of that ceremony and presentation on Sunday night on MTV's HEAT at 7 p.m. ET. -I feel badly that we had to terminate Grand Master Sexay. I've said many times in this space that I felt he was one of our more underutilized talents. He has a wealth of charisma and a wealth of ability. He certainly comes by it honestly from his dad. But everybody makes mistakes, and hopefully Grand Master will learn from this situation, and can rebound with more positive things in his life. I spoke to him yesterday. We had a nice conversation. He's got a good heart - he's not a bad young man; he just made a mistake, as we all can. Hopefully, he will be able to turn this negative into a positive. -You know, it's still amazing when I think about it - how much guts it took Triple H to finish his match a couple of weeks ago after he pulled out that quad. When you stop to think about it and the damage that was done and how that muscle was running up his leg like he was shot in a bolt of lightning, it's pretty damn amazing that the guy was able to execute the balance of that match. -I thought the crowds in Calgary and Edmonton were off the page. Fans were, as we thought, very in to our product, and it really helps the show. I hope we get the same kind of response on Monday in Minneapolis and Tuesday in Grand Forks. And yes, it does make a difference as to what our fans are seeing. And if we're providing an exciting, unpredictable, well-executed product, they're more likely to get into it than not. But it just seems that in some markets in the last few months, the audience has just been a little bit flat. I think we have to look at ourselves in the mirror when that happens. But some markets - when they don't see the product as often - just seem to be more naturally enthusiastic than markets that get the product on a regular basis. -We certainly saw a lot of good things on TV this week. The Benoit- Austin matches were off the page in my view. I thought the Raven- Rhyno Hardcore match was excellent. I mentioned to somebody that - for my money - Raven is as good as we have in the hardcore division, as far as executing that sort of match. I'm really proud personally of Scott Levy -a/k/a Raven - because he's done a lot of hard work to overcome some personal adversities in his career. I'm a guy that has a lot of time for Scott Levy, and I know that better things - as far as creatively - are ahead for him. He's doing the right things, he's working diligently, he's coming to work on time. People can make light of this if they want - J.R.'s being his old positive self - but I truly belueve in this kid, and I know the conversations he and I had when he was trying to get re-hired here, and those are stories that are significant to me. And so I really hope he makes it. I have every reason to believe that he will continue to rise up the ladder. -I thought Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley's promo on SmackDown! was just one of the best pieces of work that she has done. I thought the Hardys-Lita-Eddie Guerrero storyline is beginning to take hold. I'm glad that we're not rushing that whole development, and that the story is being allowed to develop on a more believable and memorable pace. The same goes for the Spike-Molly Holly situation. I really am pleased with the opportunities being presented to Spike and Molly from our creative people. Both those young performers are great examples of what we're looking for, as far as attitude and professionalism and desire to be good. -I'm really enjoying the chemistry with William Regal and Tajiri, and I hope that we don't get blasted by those who would perhaps consider it politically incorrect. It's certainly intended to be entertaining. I think it's a little sigh of relief from some of the hell fire and brimstone that we present seemingly more often than not, and I like the fact that Regal and Tajiri are providing us a little comic relief. I think it's really going to set Tajiri up down the road to where people are going to want to see him in action, and probably - if these little situations continue - want to see him in action against our beloved commissioner. -I'm happy to see Lance Storm get an opportunity in his hometown on RAW. I thought that was really a neat moment, and it was great for a young talent like that to have his first moment with the company being so significant in his hometown. Personally for Lance, I'm glad it happened, and I have a good feeling he's really going to be a significant asset for us going forward. He's a real good kid, trains hard, has a lot of passion, and as his personality continues to develop and he continues to expose the charisma that he has, I think he's going to be a really significant hand for us in the future. -As many people point out, this is a tough time of the year. The product had gotten a little bit creatively flat, to say the least. I think some positive steps have been taken there. We unfortunately lost Triple H due to injury. We're going to try to regroup and give others opportunities to grab the brass ring. Triple H is on the mend, and he'll certainly be a very fresh and focused face when he returns, hopefully by Survivor Series, but maybe before that. I think the Survivor Series might be the first time we'll see Triple H at 100 percent. I hope I'm wrong; I hope that I'm being too conservative, but certainly by November's event, he should be back. Rikishi, same with him - he's probably three or four, maybe five months before he's able to come back as well. -It's a challenging time for us, but we're all working hard, and I think there's some really interesting things on the future. -The WCW issues are certainly coming closer and closer. Our talent roster is coming together. As I said a couple of weeks ago, I'm very pleased with how that is being formed, and how these talents are coming together. To read the report fully, click http://www.wwf.com/news/rossreport/ Source// wwf.com and of course Jim Ross ====================================================================== Remember...=========================================================== -Remember that if you've missed any TV Shows, 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!! 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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 Columnist: ~*Laine*~ - LoveRock333@webtv.net Columnist: Leno - jm51509@AOL.com ====================================================================== 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 ====================================================================== ======================================================================