• Rock vs. Billy Gunn's match at SummerSlam may be announced a 2/3 falls match either tonight or tomorrow. This has been heavily speculated, even close to a month ago when the two were supposed to square off at Fully Loaded.
• hearing tons of reports and from sources about Taz's contract situation with ECW as of now, and his talks with others. Im sure that Taz is on a hand shake agreement with Paul Heyman and that Heyman wants to put that agreement to ink soon. So it is possible that WCW could legally be in negotiations with Taz. Never rule that possibility out, anytime soon, until something is finalized.
• Erin O' Grady, WWF Newcomer, who came over with Vic Grimes, may finally make his on-TV debut tomorrow night. Erin is expected to do the J-O-B however.
• It's FINALLY confirmed, the DOA, Skull & 8-Ball are OFFICIALLY released from the WWF. Everybody knew they were finished when they started to tour in South America with the AWA, and other former WWF stars, [Doink, Janetty, etc.]
• Lots of rumors going around on what Stevie Richards will be doing at RAW tomorrow. I've even heard that the WWF may pull a last minute switcheroo, and make Richards the Millenium Man, but that's doubtful. I expect Stevie to re-unite with Blue Meanie, but that's also a little "pushing it" too. What do you think?
• The name "Excalibur" is STILL going around the net for a newcomer in the WWF. Even in JR's Report months ago, he made it clear, Jericho will not be Excalibur. I'm even hearing now that Vic Grimes will be..., no, not true, Vic will simply go by Vic Grimes. Just wanted to clear that up...
• Dan Severn in talks with UFC? That's what I'm hearing, weird stuff. I have sources that can pretty much confirm that Dan has told his friends & family that now Shamrock is back, he may have some unfinished business. I TOTALLY doubt UFC would "let him back", especially now that Ken is back in 2000. But is is true, DAN wants BACK.
• Steven Bradley is currently being pushed in Power Pro Wrestling, into a feud with current champ, WWF star Kurt Angle. Every single PPW Champ has been contacted by WWF, in one way or another, so if Steven wins the belt anytime soon, I expect almost as soon as he wins it a signing.
• The World Wrestling Federation will no longer be producing Superastros. The cancellation of Superastros was largely based on the addition of the Smack Down show and the steady decline in profits that the show was seeing.
• Univision had been paying Titan Sports approximately $17,000 per week for the tapings. The $17,000 didn't even pay for the talent budget to the wrestlers under contract let alone production costs. Vince McMahon had attempted to renegotiate the deal months back, to get the show increased to one hour. In exchange, McMahon would get the compensation increased to $50,000 per week, but was turned down. The shows ratings looked good on paper for a wrestling show, but Univision does such strong numbers in the Latino market that the numbers were actually less than what the network had been doing in the time slot in most markets.
• Also, it has been reported that Savio Vega (Juan Rivera) will not have his contract renewed with the WWF. Vega along with many other Superastros wrestlers will not have their contracts renewed and most are already planning on working elsewhere. Miguel Perez, Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki and Papi Chulo are expected to be retained by the WWF and used in minor on-air roles. Perez will most likely work as a regular for Victor Quinones in Puerto Rico but be flown in as a utitity type player for television tapings. Michinoku & Funaki will most likely be used in opening match programs for house shows and will occasionally be working TV matches with the Hardy Boyz and the Brood. The final Superastros tapings will be taking place this coming week at two of the three tapings in Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee on 8/8 to 8/10.
• WWF has expressed minor interest for former UFC fighter Kimo, while New Japan Pro Wrestling has an offer on the table for him. They are also interested in another former UFC star, Oleg Taktarov.
• The reason The Big Show was put with The Undertaker as a tag team is to advance his learning and understanding, to maybe have some dedication rub off on him, similar to how Lex Luger was put in The Four Horsemen, hoping some of Ric Flair's attributes would rub off on him. It didn't actually work then and it's up to Big Show if he wants to make it work this time. He is currently around 440 pounds and WWF wants him down at 400. He once peaked at 505 in WCW.
• Jerry Lawler told a Memphis audience this week that the WWF had agreed to help "adopt the Memphis City Schools" if Lawler is elected mayor. Lawler said WWF wrestlers would come to town to work with kids at local schools and would make personal appearances and video taped messages. Lawler suggested that involvement from the WWF Superstars would prompt kids to look forward to going to school. Lawler also suggested that a ring be set up at school so gang members could settle their differences in the ring.
• Fatu, who has been wrestling in the WWF affiliated Memphis Power Pro group as JR Smooth, has signed a 5 year extension with the company formerly known as Titan. You can expect him to bring the Smooth personna with him when he makes his WWF return in the near future.
• Jesse Ventura will appear at the Chicago RAW, despite a previous promise that his only WWF appearances would take place in the state of Minnesota. Ventura plans to work a full day in the Governor's office, and will then fly to Chicago for the show. He is expected to be accompanied by security guards who will reportedly be paid for by the WWF. Ventura had been previously criticized for using state paid security guards while on his book tour earlier this year.
• Debra has recently been no-showing House shows that Steve Austin doesn't appear at. Apparently, she has been at their house in Texas keeping him company while he was recovering from an injury that he suffered two weeks ago. It has been said that Vince McMahon has acted nonchalantly about it, but some feel that this is because McMahon doesn't want to upset Austin. There are people in the WWF that believe that Debra's push will suffer if and when she and Austin are no longer an item.
• The Torch Hotline is reporting that Steve Austin has been frustrating management by vetoing ideas for TV matches. According to the story, for the 7/26 Raw, management proposed a match between Austin and Jeff Jarrett in a short singles match with a Triple run-in for the finish. Austin nixed that plan. Management then proposed a match against Billy Gunn with the same finish, but Austin turned that one down as well.
• Reportedly, Austin's argument is that Gunn and Jarrett aren't over enough to get a rub from him in a TV main event. The next night at the TV tapings, Keller says that Austin turned down the idea of wrestling in a tag match with The Rock against Mr. Ass, Triple H and Chyna. They ended up doing another Austin v. Taker match, which performed relatively poorly in the ratings
• This Monday's Raw program, the 8/9 edition, is expected to be one of the biggest Raw programs this year. The August 9 Raw from the Allstate Arena (formerly known as the Rosemont Horizon) in Rosemont, IL will have Jesse "The Body" Ventura on hand to further hype up his appearance at Summerslam on August 22. Triple H will also be on hand for the very same reason, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who has a mild knee injury, will also be on hand to further his match and angle with HHH, but obviously, due to the injury, he won't be wrestling. The WWF Commissioner, Shawn Michaels, has also been confirmed to make an appearance on the program, as well as Stevie Richards who just days ago signed a multiyear contract with the World Wrestling Federation. Stevie may use the "Big Stevie Cool" gimmick in the WWF that he had back when he was in ECW as a part of the bWo angle. In addition to that, the "Countdown to the New Millennium" ends this Monday night at the start of the program with the debut of Chris Jericho, who will turn out to be the man behind the countdown. Kane, The Rock, The Big Show, The Undertaker, Mr. Ass, Road Dogg, and all of the other top stars will also be there in attendance. The Smashing Pumpkins and Snoop Doggy Dogg will be in attendance, too, but they won't be performing, and will probably just be in the crowd somewhere. There have been different stories as to whether or not Mick Foley will make an appearance. Jim Ross is saying that Mankind will probably not appear on WWF televising until after Summerslam but he could still be thrown in to the mix just to spice up the program even more. Vince McMahon will most likely not make an appearance on the show... Matches that have been confirmed courtesy of WWF.COM are Road Dogg vs. the Big Boss Man for the Hardcore Title, Christian vs. Gangrel, and Test / Ken Shamrock vs. Joey Abs / Steve Blackman. The program will mainly further storylines leading in to Summerslam and will also further set up feuds that will climax at the PPV.
• During Mick Foley's recent hiatus due to his knee surgery and rehab, he has received over 1,000 "Get Well" cards from his fans across the world and socks from all 50 U.S. states and other international countries. He should be returning to television within 3 weeks from now as he is almost through with his rehabilitation.

Archives - 4/8/99