The TWF Awards show went great and Radio City Music Hall in New York City is already booked again for next year. Great effort from the presenters and the skit with Ichiro and Roger Clemens was awesome. I thought Drew Blood was well deserved of the Rookie of the Year award. He had a tremendous debut year with some great matches. He'll only get better. And what a 2001 for the wrestler of the year, Triple H. This guy is as good as it gets and works harder for this company than anyone I know.
I think the ongoing story concerning the Hardy Boyz, Carney and Stacy Kiebler is one of the best the TWF has had, rivaling the one between Edge, Christian, Cammie Copeland and Faith last Summer.
Istanbul, Turkey is gonna be the site of TWF Outbreak. Tajiri and Terri Runnells did a great job promoting over there and the fans are psyched, should be a sellout. Some of the names that have been contacted to work this night will be well received by the fans in attendance.
I personally am glad to see both Mr. Perfect and Hulk Hogan back in the mainstream. It'll be interesting to see if these two can still "go".
The Women's division is the main focus of Talent Relations at this time and I expect it to be very competitive in 2002. Some female wrestlers have been contacted to work here, deals are still being negotiated. Faith and Cammie Copeland had a strong match on RAW which I think will set the tone for the division in 2002. Terri Gold is turning things around as well.
I LOVE the new Body Donnas team and I think it's a great way to get Terri involved. Kip Pritchard is the son of Tom Pritchard and Skip of course is Chris Candido. Also, Evolution worked hard and earned a spot on the roster. This team can really go and I can't wait to see them get more tv time. I'm interested in both men as singles competitors.
Regional scouts will be in the Greenville, S.C. area this weekend scouting developmental prospects.
The proposed roster split is currently being discussed at length and there are pros and cons, as expected. Personally, I think it would be a great way to get EVERY wrestler under contract involved, including some of the developmental talent.
Finally, some Royal Rumble thoughts.
As a sign the TWF is becoming bigger, 5,000 extra seats were requested in Rosemont Horizon and all those tickets are gone. We also expect one of the biggest PPV buyrates ever.
As for the matches, I like the Tag Team Title rematch. I think Palumbo and O'haire have really earned this oppurtunity but it's gonna take a superior effort to knock off Strife and Bahamut.
The Spike Dudley-High Octane confrontation should open some eyes, especially with Molly at ringside.
Edge and Rhyno could be the match of the night, of course the winner leaves with 2 titles. Questions are being raised about Edge's condition after being attacked by Rhyno on RAW. But I think if Edge can dictate the pace, he should come out the victor.
X-Pac may finally get his hands on another TWF Title but he'll have to be wary of the many abilities of Essa Rios. This will be an electrifying match and should be the opener.
The return of Jordan Rockwell has obviously been very emotional. But I think Scott Taylor has bitten off more than he can chew. With Street Fight rules, anything can happen, especially to Taylor. I also think this may be the match Rockwell needs to jumpstart his career.
The TWF Title match should be very interesting with many questions to answer. Can Hogan compete with someone of the Game's caliber at this stage in his career, among others. But with the NWO around, Hogan has more than a chance to win it. This match was given little time to develop, but the fact these two met at Wrestlemania 2 makes it a lot hotter.
That leaves the Rumble match itself. So many names have been signed for this match, with I believe about 6 more to come. I've always said that the luck of the draw has everything to do with the outcome, but ya never know. I look for someone like The Undertaker to win this one, especially with a good draw. But a strong darkhorse in this one, I believe, is Tazz. With his low center of gravity, he could pull it out.
Well that's it for this one. Check back for the next installment of the TWF Report and I hope you all enjoy the Rumble!
