-Raw will NOT be 2 & a half hours on July 21 -It looks almost certain that Glenn Jacobs will play the role of Undertaker's brother. After all, they have the same color of hair & Cain was described as being disfigured (ok, ok, you got me. Jacobs isn't disfigured, but those teeth of his are DISGUSTING). -WWF might be doing some changes to the fall lineup. Raw will be from 9 to 11 PM on Mondays, Superstars & Livewire will change places, with Superstars getting original matches once again & Shotgun is expected to move to USA Network or Fox. If it does make the jump to Fox, look for it to air at 12 AM est. time, right after MadTV. If it goes to USA Network, I have no idea what time it would air at & quite honestly I don't want it to. If it moves to USA Network, that's just one more TV show that it would take 2 years for TSN to pick up. -Contrary to what these sudden "Raw Ratings aren't correct" reports that have started popping up all over the Internet, let me clear something up. Raw is not getting ripped off in the ratings. The ratings aren't based solely on the live broadcasts, but the overall USA. Just because Nitro is pulling in large numbers, doesn't mean Raw is getting ripped off. Who can forget the infamous 4.7 rating that Raw pulled in on April 8, 1996 (granted they were unopposed) -If Dynamite Kid does return to WWF, he is expected to feud with British Bulldog gor a while then retire. He also won't do house shows. Most likely, he'll return for just one match (we all know though, where those one match returns lead to) -It looks like Shawn Michaels will be Steve Austin's partner after all. He is agreeing to wresttle the other 4 members of the Hart Foundation, but will not wrestle Bret Hart until 1998. Is it just me, or can Michaels not lose to Bret. Wrestlemania 13 was supposed to have Hart vs. Michaels with Hart winning, but Michaels skipped out. King Of The Ring was also schedualed to have a similar match, with a similar result, but Hart hadn't recovered. And judging by this, Hart will lose to Michaels at next year's Wrestlemania. Hopefully, we'll see a Hart vs. Michaels match before then as well, because Bret deserves a victory over that pretty boy (granted, out of their many matches in 1992, 1993, 1994 & 1996, Michaels only won 3 & Hart won the rest) -Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley at Summer Slam will be in a cage -Look for the Blackjacks to split in the near future. Why? I don't know. I think this is a big mistake by WWF. Barry Windham will just quickly die out again after his feud with Goldust (why Goldust? I don't know that either) & Bradshaw will end up as a jobber down the road -Here are the details of Shawn Michaels new agreement with WWF Will only work 3 out of 4 house shows per week & Will work all major PPVs & Raw tapings Quite honestly, I don't see how that's any different from anybody else's contract. If you ask me, that contract sounds just as bad, if not worst than his old one -WWF might add IC tag team titles. Enough already with the new championships
-Look for Paul Roma to make a comeback in the near future. Who his tag team partner will be is still unknown -Quebecers are being penciled in for the July 21 Raw. Look for them to get a major push & capture the tag team belts before Survivor Series -Jim Garvin has been in contact with WWF -Sid might be pulled from his Summer Slam match & replaced by ... either Rocky Maivia, or some jobber on the Free For All -A new stipulation has been added to the Goldust vs. Brian Pillman match (which by the way, will NOT be on the Free For All). If Pillman loses, he'll wrestle Goldust the following night in one of Marlena's dresses -If WWF wants access to AAA again, they'll have to rehire Jake Roberts -Don't look for Disco Inferno in WWF anytime soon. Now that Sullivan is out as the head booker, he might comeback. Another possibility is that he'll go to USWA. Vince McMahon has no plans of acquiring the services of this guy. I don't know why he's even such a big deal. He's a bigger jobber than Bob Holly for heaven's sake -Look for Shawn Michaels to appear at WCW's Monday Nitro Sometime before September to become a tag team with Kevin Nash. (That's why Scott Hall was a tag team with the Macho Man at the Bash at the Beach, so Kevin Nash could be with Shawn. -Iron Sheik is now working in the WWF's offices -Add Goldust vs. Brian Pillman & Los Bariquos vs. DOA to Summer Slam -Ahmed Johnson will be out for 6 more weeks -Warlord is rumored to be in negotiations with both WWF & WCW. It's even possible that he'll be Cain (very unlikely though). But wouldn't that be a good match, Undertaker vs. Warlord -Looks like Stan Hansen will be the WWF's Japanese scout. He wrestles his last match in Japan on July 20 -Look for Bret Hart & Steve Austin to capture the World & IC belts (respectively) and battle in one of those lame champion vs. champion matches at the September In Your House, or somewhere down the road -Here is the official Summer Slam lineup ... Undertaker vs. Bret Hart, Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart, Ken Shamrock vs. British Bulldog, Sid vs. Vader, Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Street Fight), Legion Of Doom vs. Godwinns & more matches TBA -Look for Savio Vega's gang to have some major changes to it. The other 3 members just aren't cutting it for WWF fans. It is also possible that after they meet the DOA & NOD in the 3 way brawl, they will just leave all together & Savio will go back to being a mid-carder -Look for Clarence Mason to introduce his stable in the near future, which will be like NOD (only African-American members). Rumors of Craig Pittman, Mr. Hughes, Mark Henry, Mabel, Mo, Kamala, or even Butch Reed comprising the 4 man roster. -Quebecers are expected to show up in WWF in late August or early September. Look for them to get a push right to the tag team belts when they show up, as they will most likely be the #1 contenders by Survivor Series -Nasty Boys are also expected to come to the WWF, but not very soon. Jerry Saggs has an injury, which is one of the reasons WCW let them go -Look for the Cain angle to be similar to the Sting angle in WCW (Great!?!)
-Sorry about not mentioning this, but Savio Vega's gang is called Los Bariquas -Headhunters will be known as the Arabian Butchers -ECW stars Stevie Richards & Sandman are expected to go to WCW soon. This would be a major setback for the WWF/ECW relationship since Sandman was schedualed to do Summer Slam. Incidentaly, for those who care, those 2 & Raven are expected to form an ECW group of renegades, much like Scott Hall & Kevin Nash did last year. -People who have had talks with WWF recently ... Terry Gordy, Steve Williams, Dan Spivey, Jim Garvin, Kamala, Ricky Steamboat, Stan Hansen, Van Hammer & Missy Hyatt -Joey Styles is sueing WWF for their use of his commentary in the new Steve Austin video. You might recall that Jesse Ventura had a similar case & ended up winning, thus getting $800,000 for himself. -Taka Michinoku might be injured & replaced at In Your House
-Jim Ross confirmed that Stan Hansen will be heading to Titan Towers on his hotline. Will he wrestle or be in the front office (I don't see Stan in the office though)
-WWF is close to signing Steve Williams, but Terry Gordy is apparently on another page. He's still extremly angry at WWF for letting him go last January, after only 2 months with WWF in that Executioner gimmick.
-Hillbilly Jim is once again working in the offices for WWF. Will he comeback again??? Rumor has it that WWF might be bring in a new team under Hillbilly Jim to feud with the Godwinns, but seeing as the Hog farmer gimmick was terrible for ratings, I don't see this happening.
-Del Wilkes will use the Patriot gimmick after all as he wrestled at the Shotgun tapings
-Don't look for any new Nation Of Domination members until after the rumored Battle Royal that will occur at Summer Slam between NOD, DOA & Whatever the hell Savio Vega's gang was called.
-Believe it or not, Vince McMahon is partially pleased by Raw's 2.5 rating last night. He expected the lowest rating in the show's history last night, which is one of the reasons why he didn't deliver a lot of new matches last night, mostly rematches from past Raw episodes.
-The "Franchise" player was schedualed to be Raven, who would've played the role of Kane, the Undertaker's little brother. WWF had to change this after WCW snagged Raven up.
-ECW isn't happy with the treatment they've been getting from WWF. Heyman delivers wrestlers like Sabu & Rob Van Dam to WWF, while WWF has delivered 2 Jerry Lawler appearances, a Jim Cornette appearance & a Tom Prichard match to ECW. Although, as stated before, Flash Funk, Sid & Vader are expected to start up in Philadelphia in the near future on a bi-weekly basis.
-WWF wrestlers are requesting pre-cut tables now. Flash Funk was apparently upset at WWF for this cutback.
-Now talk of Dan Spivey not coming back to reform the Skyscrapers, but as Undertaker's brother. This is NOT true. People were just running around trying to find out who it is and since there was a rumor of a Spivey return, they chose him. Spivey has been in WWF twice. Once under his real name & most recently under Waylon Mercy. This would be a very bad angle if it was true, so I pray that it's a rookie (which would make more sense).
-Look for Brian Christopher & Great Sasuke to be in the finals of the Lightweight tournament at Summer Slam
-The secret that Paul Bearer had on the Undertaker was that Undertaker killed his parents & his bother & burned down the family funeral parlor. When Undertaker told his side of the story, it was his brother who burned it down. During a Vader vs. Rockabilly match, Undertaker came down and started slapping Bearer, telling him to tell everybody the truth. Bearer said that Undertaker's brother, Kane, is still alive. Then Bearer fled after Vader attacked Undertaker from behind.
-Headhunters debuted tonight under Jim Cornette's guidance
-Savio Vega debuted his stable consisting of Miguel Perez & two other guys
-Jim Cornette was at ECW arena last night in the favor of Sabu & Rob Van Dam
-Tom Prichard will open a second WWF Training Facility in Memphis
-Don't look for any Mike Tyson wrestling appearances in the near future, as the hatred between Tyson & Evander Holyfield is tremendous. In case you don't know, after Holyfield headbutted Tyson, leading to Tyson biting a chunk of Holyfield's ear off. After Tyson bit him again in the ear, he was disqualified.
-Dan Spivey will make a comeback to WWF (possibly this Monday night). It is expected that Spivey will team with Sid to reform the Skyscrapers, since Sid is basicaly on a one way trip to nowhere.
-Ahmed Johnson's knee injury is legit
-WWF will start a new show on a New York station in early July. The show will not be like Raw or Shotgun (original matches taped in an arena). This show is expected to have a Livewire/Superstars format with previously aired matches. The show will also most likely feature one match a week taped exclusively for the show at the Raw/Shotgun tapings, as well as Arena matches from New York/New Jersey area arenas. I'll try and get the channel, time & date it will air on.
-Demolition are reportedly getting ready for a comeback
-The Sultan gimmick has been officialy dropped. They are keeping him out of action until he regrows his hair so they can once again use him as Fatu. WWF is still interested in getting either Samu or Barbarian to reform the Headshrinkers.
-Mr.Hughes has won his lawsuit against WWF and will be returning to action in the near future. An early angle has him joining the NOD. Don't look for that until after the obvious 8 man match WWF is setting up between the Nation & the Disciples Of Apocalypse.
-As I've said all along, Ultimate Warrior is still under his WWF contract. Although he only has 2 or 3 months left on it. In case you missed it a few weeks ago in this column, the reason why he doesn't want to return is because the WWF wants him doing house shows, but Warrior only wants to do Raw tapings & Pay-Per-Views. If I were McMahon, I'd take him back. What does McMahon have to lose??? The ratings will almost definatly increase.
-The Dudleys have issued a challenge to any WWF team
-Paul Heyman has given the go ahead on Rick Rude in the ECW-WWF angle
-Braccus is expected to start appearing on WWF TV in the near future
-WWF apparently would move to the FX Network (a subdivision of FOX), not FOX. WWF feels that it is too risky having all of their shows air on the same network.
-WWF is interested in Brad Armstrong for the lightweight division. They are still very interested in Scotty Riggs & Marc Bagwell (but Bagwell is not likely to leave WCW unless guaranteed the IC title)
-Paul Varelans is talking with WWF about a possible match with Dan Severn at SummerSlam
-WWF is planning to get more "extreme" soon. By that I mean beginning to air ECW matches on Raw, Shotgun & Superstars every week. This would basically merge the two federations together if that happened (in terms of TV). McMahon is also very interested in holding an episode of Raw at ECW arena in August or September.
-WWF is pushing for a death match involving Mankind
-Crush, Brian Lee & Bruise Brothers are the Disciples of Apocalypse
-Vince McMahon wants Shane Douglas to become a part of the ECW/WWF angle. Douglas says that he will only do it if they let him have a shoot interview about the "Dean" gimmick. If he does make a return, look for him to challenge Shawn Michaels, as he hates him for having to step out on their October 1995 In Your House match, which Shane was schedualed to win.
-Shawn Michaels refuses to work with Bret Hart, so the angle involving them has been completely dropped. I would just like to thank Michaels for completely ruining any chance McMahon had of finally getting back to number 1. Since he can't lose to Bret cause he's so full of himself (as well as a four letter word beginning with S and ending with T), he will probably not get the World belt for a while, since Bret is expected to pick up the belt from Ahmed Johnson at SummerSlam starting a fairly interesting feud between the Nation & the Hart Foundation.
-Rupert Murdoch (owner of FOX) has expressed interest of getting Raw. When it would air, not likely on Monday night's since Melrose Place pulls in good ratings for them. Although that 9 to 10 PM slot has always been a problem for them. If Raw does move to FOX, a Sunday night WWF TV show is also expected to come from the deal (If that's the case it'll probably be Sunday Night Slam in the 7 - 8 PM time slot). -Sad news to report. Stan Stasiak passed away earlier this week -Kevin Von Erich is talking with WWF about entering the lightweight division. I for one, do not want to see this happen. It seems like whenever a Von Erich gets mainstream attention (most notibly Kerry), then they lose it, they get into these awful depressions and feel like life isn't worth having anymore -WWF wants Shawn Michaels back for the July 14 Raw from San Antonio
-The new WWF N64 game entitled "WWF '98" was announced recently -Steve Williams & Terry Gordy were spotted leaving Titan Towers -Joey Styles reported on the ECW hotline that Sid, Flash Funk & Vader will all be doing ECW shows in the very near future (before September to be exact) -It looks like WWF wants both Jacques Rougeau & Carl Ouellette to return, not just Rougeau. They think that this move would help sell tickets for the Survivor Series in Montreal. Well, I don't. In Montreal, Hogan received more cheers than Rougeau. If WWF wants to please them, I say, bring back the Fabulous Rougeau Bros. Forget about the Quebecers. They never were, never will be & never have been a good team. -Ultimate Warrior might be back by SummerSlam (don't bet the house on it) -Look for Jerry Lawler & Rob Van Dam vs. Tommy Dreamer & Sandman at SummerSlam. Remember that SummerSlam takes place very early this year (first Sunday in August), so this feud will most likely take over the Hart Foundation angle as top spot on TV in the coming weeks. -SummerSlam might be 4 hours long and an extra $5 -Talk has it that there is legit heat between Austin & Shamrock
