news/spoilers for 25th November- 2nd December

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Undertaker Return News, Nunzio Debut Info, more

Source: Various

-- Sean "X-Pac/Syxx-Pac" Waltman will be working the South Florida "FoW" (Future of Wrestling) show on December 14th, 2002. The match, which will be against Bruno Sass for the FoW Championship, will be Waltman’s first match since being all-but released from NWA-TNA earlier this week.

-- Both James "Little Guido" Maritato and Spanky (one of HBK’s students) are said to be performing excellently on the road. Maritato is already being penciled in to play the role of Jamie Knoble’s little cousin, "Nunzio". Whether this actually develops from a plan to reality is yet to be seen, but he is certainly doing his chances of an on-screen debut all the good in the world at present.

-- And finally, since Sara Callaway (The Undertaker’s wife) has now given birth to their child, expect to see The Undertaker back on our screens at any point. Taker, who had been experiencing trouble with his back and elbow before his Hell In A Cell matchup with Brock Lesnar, was given time off from WWE this month due to the aforementioned reason, coupled with the fact that Sara was pregnant.

It would make most sense for WWE to wait until Lesnar’s angle with Big Show has completed before having the American Badass return, but with WWE very low on main event talent at present, don’t be surprised to see him return before then.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

WWE Backstage News: Ernest Miller, Torrie's Diet, Lawler

The word going around the SmackDown! taping yesterday was that Ernest 'The Cat" Miller did well enough filling in for Tazz at the SmackDown! tapings this week that he may actually get the color commentating spot for Velocity, replacing Michael Cole. Cole is doing the show now because there is no-one else to fill the spot.

Torrie Wilson has apparently changed her diet to look less muscular.

Many in the backstage area were not pleased with Jerry Lawlers comments on RAW Monday referring to Maven's mother who has cancer. A ton of people backstage were very upset by the comments made and Lawler is receiving backstage heat for the comments.

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More WWE Backstage News: Steve Austin's Return, RAW's Downfall

Backstage at the SmackDown! tapings yesterday, many of the wrestlers were watching the tape of RAW that was playing during 'catering'. Many commented on how bad RAW has become in recent weeks. They pointed out that by going with an HHH vs. HBK rematch, it just proves that no-one can get a good push on that show.

Another big topic going around the lockeroom at both RAW and SmackDown! this week was the return of Steve Austin. Many feel that with his ;legal issues settled, he'll be back with the company very shortly. They also questioned how his probation would work if he was to return. He is prohibited from drinking any alcohol which as you know is a main part of his gimmick.

Also backstage at RAW and SmackDown! was a growing concern by some 'higher-ups' about the World Wildlife Fund and how it is affecting WWE business. With it's newest threat, many are taking this very seriously

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Scott Steiner/HHH Feud, Mick Foley Update, & More

The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.

Apparently Mick Foley wasn't serious when he said WWE offered him a secret consultant to the writing team at a speaking engagement a few weeks ago. It was said to be more of a joke from Foley than stating facts, which was misinterpreted in a report last week. Foley did however decide against an offer from NWA-TNA which backs up the claim that he has little to no interest in returning to wrestling in any long-term position.

Scott Steiner is likely to end up on the RAW side due to the fact that Brock Lesnar turned babyface in recent weeks. There is a more urgent need for Steiner to be the babyface on the RAW roster, as long-term plans are to have him feud with Triple H, who is expected to be the World champion at that point. Unlike Rob Van Dam, HHH doesn't have to worry about a long-term threat to his main-event status with a program against Steiner because Steiner is getting old and that mixed with his injury reputation leads many to believe that his run in WWE is more of a few-year fix, rather than a long-term solution.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Reason For Brock Lesnar's First Loss, RAW Writing Politics, more

The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.

One of the reasons why Vince McMahon went with the decision to have Big Show end Brock Lesnar's winning streak at Survivor Series was to further Lesnar's babyface turn. McMahon saw Lesnar as the second coming of Steve Austin with Lesnar getting cheers from the crowd despite being a heel. McMahon also felt it could be the second Austin vs. McMahon storyline with Lesnar being the bad ass who fans would sympothize with when he was screwed by Paul Heyman. That would then sit up a similar situation as in the Austin/McMahon feud with the real feud being Lesnar/Heyman, which opens doors to a lot of feuds that wouldn't get over otherwise, such as a Lesnar/Big Show feud, as Big Show is nothing more than someone representing Paul Heyman.

The politics involved in the writing of WWE, RAW in particular, is said to have gotten worse over the past several months. Many feel the writers aren't exactly responsible for the poor product WWE has been putting forth lately. For example, when a writer comes up with an idea that is something new and giving someone who isn't a main event player a chance, four or five others will turn it down to please Vince McMahon, even though they might not necessarily feel that way. Triple H is said to be more involved in decisions made now more than ever, without doing so directly. If someone pitches an idea to Stephanie McMahon that she might feel is a good idea, if it doesn't benefit someone in the right circle, Triple H could put a stop to it for obvious reasons. Some wrestlers feel that no matter how hard they work, their spot on the card is pre-determined and no matter of hard work and crowd approval will change it.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

News On Warrior's WWE Past, WWF/WWE News, & More

The following news tidbits come from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

In 1992, WWE decided to put the title around Bret Hart, as WWE wanted an "everyman" type to win the title.

The plan was for Bret to defend his newly won title against Ultimate Warrior. Warrior did not want to do this, as he would have to job to Bret on the road, so the angle was nixed.

Ultimate Warrior was released from WWE just a few months later, not for nixing the angle, but for being involved in a steroids import scandal.
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Additionally, WWE is in a bit of a dilemma right now. WWE runs a show in England called "WWE Classics" that showcases matches from WWE's past. However, being that the matches are from way before the name change, they use the WWF initials. Since World Wildlife Fund has blocked WWE from using the WWF initials, there is doubt that WWE should even continue to run the show, as it would be too much work to edit out all the WWF references.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Triple H Update, Hulk Hogan/WWE, Jeff Hardy, & More

The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.

WWE continues to help Hulk Hogan with his promotional tour for a book that both WWE and Hogan will benefit from selling. Even though the relationship between McMahon and Hogan isn't as smooth as it could be due to creative differences, WWE is still promoting Hogan's book full throttle. Some of the latest examples other than the obvious mentions on their own television, and the commercial they have running, WWE set up Hogan with USA Today, and the Today Show on NBC.

Triple H was obviously scripted to be a part of RAW the night after Survivor Series before suffering the throat injury that kept him in the hospital until a few hours before show time. There was some consideration to write HHH back into the show as he made it to the arena in time, but the final word was to keep him out both for his safety, and so the focus would be on the RVD/HBK program. Some say there was still talk of it as the show was going on, which was why there were a few mentions on TV during RAW of "HHH is on his way to the arena" during the show itself.

Vince McMahon has been careful in how he handles Jeff Hardy's lack of motivation and tardiness problems in recent weeks. McMahon went the route of avoiding negative confrontations and often compliments Jeff when he does something good, to try and lift his spirits and get him back into being the passionate wrestler he once was. Recently, McMahon was said to have approached Hardy and complimented him for showing a bit of the passion and dedication he used to show years ago.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

WWE Smackdown Scores Tremendous Rating

Last night's Smackdown telecast scored a 3.6 rating. Although that is pretty much what Smackdown has been averaging as of late, it's actually a tremendous score.

Being that last night was Thanksgiving, ratings were not expected to be good. In fact, many did not expect Smackdown to surpass a 3.0 rating. Scoring an average rating on a holiday is very good for WWE.

This basically shows that Smackdown currently has a very strong fanbase, not in numbers but in dedication and loyalty. Although that could change if Smackdown starts to deteriorate, it certainly is comforting to know that the show currently has enough loyal viewers to get a 3.6 on Thanksgiving

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Shane McMahon's WWE Role, HBK/HHH Politics, & More

The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.

Shane McMahon continued his usual routine by only being backstage during the week of Survivor Series, on the PPV night itself and the RAW the night after. Some claim Shane isn't thrilled with the power Triple H has on virtually every decision made, and how is sister is much more involved than he is. His role at this point is so minimal that he isn't considered a part of day-to-day backstage operations, and only stops in during the week of pay-per views. He is credited for coming in during the most hectic week in WWE, which is PPV weeks, and often helps out in ways some others can't like putting out fires such as the X-Pac/Kevin Nash incident several months ago.

Triple H fought to drop the title to Shawn Michaels in the Elimination Chamber match at Survivor Series. HHH had been pressured for a while to drop the title, and instead of losing it to someone who had the potential to be a breakout star and take the belt out of arms-reach for HHH, he convinced the upper brass to have him drop it to HBK. The move was made because HHH knows HBK doesn't have a long-term future in the company, and it's considered likely that the belt will be bounced back to Hunter because HBK "owes him a job" for the two jobs he has done Michaels at SummerSlam and Survivor Series.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

The Rock/Spiderman, Elimination Chamber, RAW/WWF

Various Hollywood rumor sites are reporting that both The Rock and Vin Diesel are being considered to play Venom (the villain) in the next Spiderman movie. If The Rock is chosen, that will mean more missed WWE time for him.

The company that constructed the Elimination Chamber has been identified as WeldersExpress. They are based in Peyton, Colorado and have a section of their website devoted to the construction of the Chamber for Survivor Series.

Reader reports have indicated that whenever there was a WWF scratch logo on RAW this week in the UK, it was blurred out. Examples of this were in the Jeff Hardy Desire advertisement and in the tag title match.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Stephanie McMahon's Reputation, HHH/Ric Flair, Regal, & More

The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.

William Regal is considered by many to be more of a two-face than anyone in WWE, including Triple H. Regal has a reputation for being a teacher's pet, taking advantage of his good relationship with Vince and Stephanie McMahon, as well as Triple H. A lot are pointing to the fact that Regal is almost identical in Triple H as far as politics goes, but doesn't back any of it up in the ring as he also has a reputation for being a lazy worker for the past several months.

There is a lot of heat on Triple H for how he has portrayed himself as a heel in his last two title programs with Shawn Michaels and Kane. The general consensus is that a heel is supposed to show vulnerability to his babyface opponent, but HHH didn't back down or show weakness on television during his two most recent programs, and even went as far as to dominant the storyline on television. Many claim HHH convinced management to put Ric Flair as his manager to provide that vulnerability so that Flair can be the one who shows weakness, while Triple H can still be the dominant character he enjoys.

Stephanie McMahon is gaining the reputation of being a "know it all" and acting like she is skilled in every subject or craft that might be brought up. It rubs people the wrong way that Stephanie acts like she can do it all and then some, but no one will ever speak against it for obvious reasons. Some jokingly say, "What, did she go to college and major in everything?"

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

RAW/SmackDown! Hosts, WWE Ticket Info; More

As many of you know, WWE is returning to Japan during the ladder part of January 2003. Tickets for several of the events went on sale this past weekend.

Tickets for the 1/24/03 and 1/25/03 events at The National Yoyogi Stadium Gymnasium 1 sold out in less than two hours.

WWE is set to run tours of South Africa, South Korea, and Great Britain in 2003 as well.

The following are upcoming guests at WWE's The World:

12/1 - Randy Orton - RAW 12/9 - Mark Henry - RAW 12/15 TBA - Armageddon PPV 12/16 Kanyon - RAW 12/19 Tommy Dreamer - SmackDown! 12/23 TBA - RAW 12/26 Howard Finkel - SmackDown! 12/30 Scotty Too Hotty - RAW

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Lesnar To Be At SD Tapings, Lex Luger Injury Update, more

Source: WObserver

-- Just to clarify another news piece on Lex Luger, the WWA Report going around and his injury are separate incidents. There was a fake WWA London report circulated, which has since been eradicated and thus should be discounted and forgotten.

However, one of my piers mis-understood the situation and reported that the fake report said he was injured at the show. The fake report had information that Luger WAS at the show (just competing, not injured in the slightest), but in fact a legit injury or illness stopped him from working the show at all.

-- Randy Orton will be at the World tomorrow night (December 2nd), not December 1st as previously reported. It is expected he will deliver another one of his RNN updates to the fans.

-- And finally, Brock Lesnar reported will’ve worked a Smackdown! house show tonight (should plans not change), even though he is "suspended". He is scheduled to face The Big Show, and with Paul Heyman still "banned from the building" at house shows (he is really just unable to go on the road to house shows due to his hectic schedule on the writing team), it is questionable how WWE will address the situation.

Lesnar will not be working Monday’s Smackdown! house show (as per his "suspension", but is reported to be in attendance on Tuesday at the Smackdown! tapings in Dallas. Whether he will be on the show or not, is unknown at the time of writing.