WWF News/Rumors

-Jim Ross, who has yet to be seen since December (I think) will make his much anticipated return to the broadcasting booth this Monday on RAW. Obvoiously Michael Cole will no longer be broadcasting but I think that's okay because Ross is coming back!

-Also making his return to T.V. on RAW will be the Road Dogg Jesse James. James finished his drug rehab in about five days and has already been booked for a match-up on Monday against WWF champion The Rock. Some may argue that a Rock/Road Dog tilt seems highly irrelevant to current WWF storylines, but it seems that the WWF would like to put this situation behind them and get The Dogg back in action as soon as possible.

-Also scheduled for RAW (although not official at this time) is a triple threat I-C title match pitting..Val Venis, Ken Shamrock and Billy Gunn. And we all know that wherever these three guys are, Ryan Shamrock is always lurking nearby, and will hopefully make an appearence. But here's something to remember: if the WWF is doing a triple-threat match on RAW, which you'd think would be saved for Wrestlemania, what will they be left to use for Wrestlemania? Who knows, but one thing is for sure: RAW fans are in for a treat this Monday.

-Sunday Night Heat emanating from Dayton, Ohio, will hopefully have place some sort of enhancement to the Triple H-Chyna angle. Prediction: Chyna may call out Hunter this Sunday in reponse to the Pedigree she took from him last week on RAW. (It cost Chyna the match against X-Pac and allowed the latter to move onto Wrestlemania to take on Shane McMahon.)

-It seems that lately there has been some conflicts backstage in the WWF. Sable, Luna, Marc Mero and Gangrel got into a confrontation backstage before IYH: St. Valentine's Day Massacre But Gangrel recently made a statement that shot down these rumors by saying that "some people don't have news so they make stuff up". But I think that there could be some serious heat here. As you know, Sable is married to Marc Mero and Luna is married to Gangrel. It only makes logical sense that a confrontation was going to occur with Sable because she is upset about the WWF and the current angles. And we all know how much the WWF has been using Marc Mero lately. It is prettu obvious that they both may be upset with the WWF at the current time. What this has to do with Luna/Gangrel I have no idea.

-Students at Indiana State University did some researching into the WWF's programming, about how "bad" it is and crap like that. They came up with some rather stupid conclusions. Here they are:

-There was an average of 36 minutes of actual wrestling in a 2-hour WWF program.
-There were 1,658 instances of wrestlers pointing to or grabbing their crotch.
-There was 157 counts of "obscence gestures".
-Researchers counted 434 times an sexually charged slogan was made.
-There was 128 episodes of simulated sexual activity and 47 references to Satanic activity.
-There was 609 instances of wrestlers being struck by objects.

-I don't have much to say about the above stats except: why would you even count stupid things like that? You don't agree with the WWF? Shut your hole and change the channel!

-Paul Wight, (The Giant) who inked with the World Wrestling Federation a few weeks back will be staying with the WWF for a long time. His contract according to Meltzer has him signed on with the WWF for 10 years. Melter noted money figures have not been released, but we won't see Wight leaving anytime soon and it is said to be around $10 million dollars. Wight was given a stomach reduction (liposuction) before entering the WWF and lost 30 pounds after the liposuction, only to gain it all back shortly after. Meltzer says the WWF wants Wight to drop 50 pounds and be in great physical condition by the time he's ready to wrestle. Interesting Note: Wight wasn't trained at the WWF training facility. The Headbangers said on a recent radio show that instead, he was trained at a warehouse near the training camp. Wight has already been announced as the Special Guest referee for the Austin vs. Rock match at Wrestlemania 15

-We all know that WCW puts great emphasis into the ratings as it was virtually the only thing they WERE successful at over the WWF in the past. However, now that Vince Mcmahon and Company have once again reclaimed the top position, it makes the news even worse for Turner that they are getting destroyed in the PPV buyrates as well. The last WWF PPV, IYH: SVDM earned a 1.21 buyrate according to Meltzer while WCW's Souled Out barely got half that as it scored just over a 0.70. Also, the 1.21 by Massacre made it the most successful IYH to date. And the good news does not stop for the WWF, as Wrestlemania 15 is expected to earn some bigtime numbers when all is said and done.

-WWF: The Music Volume 3 CD is continuing to put up unbelievable numbers on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. After slipping a few positions last week, the CD climbed an incredible 8 spots over the past few days and is currently nestled in the #10 position.

-The WWF has registered three more domain names. The ones to look out for in the future include http://www.wrestlemaniaXVI.com/, http://www.summerslam.com/ and http://www.kingofthering.com/. Take that for what you will. They will probably turn out to be promotions for the respective PPV events.

-It seems that Bret Hart is incredibly unhappy in WCW. He got into a war of words recently with Kevin Nash, stemming from the fact that Hart refused to job to Nash's good friend Scott Hall. So it was decided that Roddy Piper would defeat Bret and then turn around a few days later and lose it to Hall. However, Nash won out because Bret was made to job to Booker T on NITRO. It now seems that Bret is leaning towards retirement once his existing contract comes to an end as he is disgusted at the WWF's direction and is also not to keen on his status within WCW.

-Here is the latest Wrestlemania 15 card:

-Steve Austin VS. The Rock (WWF Title - Ref Paul Wight)
-Shane McMahon VS. X-Pac (WWF Euro Title)
-Val Venis VS. Ken Shamrock VS. Billy Gunn (WWF I-C Title)
-Undertaker VS. Big Bossman (Hell in a Cell)
-D'Lo, Henry, Ivory VS. Jarrett, Owen, Debra
-Triple H VS. Kane
-Road Dogg VS. Hardcore Holly (Harcore Title)
-Butterbean VS. Bart Gunn
-Sable VS. Luna OR Tori

-PLEASE NOTE: there has been no build-up to Butterbean-Gunn so that match may not even happen. And normally you'd expect only 7 or 8 matches for Wrestlemania, so one or two matches may end up getting scrapped.

-Canadian fans may remember the old Hart promotion called "Stampede Wrestling". Well, it's sort of making a comeback and some Hart family members including Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith were on hand during the announcement. Smith, for one is interested in having Benoit and Jericho come over for a few matches with Stampede wrestling but it remains to be seen if WCW will comply.

-Although Mark Henry's knee isn't in to great of shape, it looks like he will participate at Wrestlemania. Jarret/Owen/Debra vs. Henry/D-Lo/Ivory is rumored go down at Wrestlemania. NOTE: Henry will be having surgery after Wrestlemania; Look for him not to participate as much as he usually would.

-Here's some little tidbits from the world of wrestling:

-There will also be a tag-team battle royal just like last years event and a Hell in a Cell match between the Undertaker and the Big Bossman.

-Ed Coutu says there will be Fatal Fourway match for the Hardcore title at WrestleMania XV, featuring Bob Holly vs. Al Snow vs. Jesse James vs. Steve Williams. If the Four Way doesn't happen, it will just be Holly vs. James.

-Paul Wight will be the special guest referee in the Rock/Austin Heavyweight title match. WWF has started a petition for Mankind to be a second guest referee.

-Meltzer says that with Sable's recent actions, she may be handing over the belt to Luna at Wrestlemania.

-Keller says Shane McMahon has been in heated training as of late taking bumps, learning moves, etc., in preparing for his match with X-Pac.

-Gillberg now has his own webpage that is associated with WWF.COM. You can check it out by clicking the link below, it's pretty funny. For those who want to see it, click HERE

-The weekend of March 26 will be huge for every World Wrestling Federation fan, especially those who plan to watch WrestleMania XV live in Philadelphia on March 28. WWF.COM has just received confirmation that the WrestleMania Rage Party, on Saturday, March 27, will be telecast live. The fun and mayhem will emanate from the Pennsylvania Convention Center and will be aired on the USA Network. The event will crash on USA at 10/9 c, so you too can participate in the last big bash of the century. WWF.COM will bring you more news on the WrestleMania Rage Party, including news about some big names that may or may not appear. We already know Grammy-nominated rap artist, Big Pun. Also, slews of Federation superstars are scheduled to be on hand.

-And there we have it. The Insider has come through FINALLY with a report. I apologize to all the fans out there that waited so patiently for word from The Insider. Hopefully in the future, if I have the time, I'll be able to get back to regular updates! I'm out.