28th October- 4th November news/spoilers

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

WWE Superstar Involved In Bomb Scare

The following are highlights from a WWE.com interview:

John Cena came face to face with the harsh realities of Northern Ireland – where Catholics and Protestants sometimes don’t get along so well -- this morning when he went to a gym near the Superstars’ hotel to exercise.

“There was a mass of people, almost like a concert was getting out,” Cena said of his walk from the hotel to the gym. “I was half asleep anyway. But they didn’t have any warning signs or anything. So I figured, ‘Oh, OK. We’re downtown. Something’s just getting out.’”

Cena got the gym, spent a few minutes in a tanning bed (there’s not much natural sunlight in the U.K. this time of year), and then hit the gym.

“Crash Holly was over on the treadmill,” Cena said. “I asked him how long he’d been here, and he said, ‘A minute before the bomb scare.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, what are you talking about?’ He’s like, ‘Look outside. There’s all these military vehicles, and they’ve got everything roped off.’ Sure enough, as I’m working out, I go look out the window. There were officers with machine guns just lining the streets. Two bomb-scare vehicles are parked right down the road. They were searching for a bomb, and I guess they actually found a bomb.

“On the way out, I had to walk back through all that. It was just weird to see. It went from being crowded to empty. And everything was roped off. People were there with full automatic weapons.”

Later today, when Cena got on the bus to the arena and told the other Superstars the story, there was a good amount of laughing. They joked that Cena is so dedicated to working out that he won’t even let a bomb stop him.

Cena said that he was perhaps naïve to the situation and that he the thought of leaving the gym didn’t even cross his mind.

“I’d never been through something like that before,” he said. “So I was like, ‘Whatever.’ It wasn’t until I walked back through all that and I saw how serious it was. I turned on my TV as soon as I got in my room and it was all over the news. That kind of set it off like, ‘Oh man.’ It was an experience.”

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Ken Shamrock Update: Tito Ortiz Fight, WWE Return, & More

Thanks to MMAWeekly.com for help with this story.

Ken Shamrock stated in a recent interview that his upcoming mega-fight with UFC Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz at the November 22nd Vendetta pay-per view is his last mixed-martial arts fight. This isn't the first time he has said something along these lines, but the clock is catching up to him and it is likely that he is sincere in his statements this time.

Shamrock also mentioned that while his MMA career is coming to an end, his pro wrestling career is not yet over. He said he has interest in working for Vince McMahon again, something that was in negotiation process when Shamrock decided to take the short-date/higher paying offer from Jerry Jarrett's NWA TNA promotion.

Interestingly enough, if Shamrock defeats Tito Ortiz on November 22nd, it won't be his last mixed-martial arts fight. According to numerous sources, Chuck Liddell will get first crack at the Light Heavyweight champion if he defeats Babalu on the same pay-per view. If Liddell loses, and Shamrock wins, Shamrock has to defend the title to Ortiz due to an automatic rematch clause in his contract.

For the full interview with Ken Shamrock, which will be up in a little under a week's time, check out MMAWeekly.com.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

DDP Interview: Undertaker Heat, Stolen Ideas, WWE Return

Source: No Holds Barred

DDP was recently on the No Holds Barred radio show. Below are some of the highlights from his interview:

-- Page said that its unlikely he’ll ever wrestle again due to his neck injury. His insurance companies have advised him not to even bother stepping foot into the ring, as if anything happens to him, he will not be covered.

-- He would like to return to WWE as a commentator.

-- DDP originally envisioned a feud between himself and The Rock, dubbing it the "People’s Champ vs. People’s Champ" feud.

-- Page put Christian over, said he loved working with him and said what a great talent he is.

-- His perception of the Stalker feud he did with The Undertaker and Sara was that it could’ve been portrayed better, had WWE given it some more heat. A lack of heat for the feud could be the down to the Undertaker’s participation in it, but I personally feel that WWE pushed it adequately for a feud with two 40+ year olds…

-- DDP claims credit for the "Hugging" gimmick that Angle and Austin had for a while, with Vince McMahon. Page says he was in a meeting with Vince and gave him a hug, saying "it took me 35 years to get here", thus giving McMahon the stimulus for the segments.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Rhyno Possibly On Tonight's RAW

As I reported last week, Rhyno could very well make his return to WWE programming on tonight's edition of RAW.

Over the past several weeks, Rhyno has been working with OVW to work off any ring rust that he may have had during his long rehab period. Doctors have cleared him to return and he will obviously be a member of RAW upon his return.

Last week, there was an article in a local newspaper about the possibility of Rhyno making a return this week on RAW. Also, from what I have been told, Rhyno was backstage last night at the RAW brand house show from Toledo, OH.

There is a very good chance he will make his return tonight on RAW, or at least be backstage.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

The Latest On Scott Steiner - Will He Be On RAW Tonight?

As of about 4:30pm EST, the word I am getting is that Scott Steiner will NOT be a part of RAW tonight. Although I have not confirmed it with anyone, I have heard different reports on how they will go about his debut.

Several people whom I have talked with have told me that they want to go in the same direction as they did with Steve Austin and tease which side he will be on, RAW or SmackDown!. They are going to try and sell the 'free agent' angle at least for this week.

The plan right now is for his signing with WWE to be addressed on both RAW and SmackDown! this week, but no debut as of this time.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Exclusive: Vince McMahon Creating 'Wrestler Profiles', more

Source: Various

-- It has come to my attention through various sources that Vince McMahon is currently creating individual "profiles" on every member of his on air talent, from his daughter Stephanie and Eric Bischoff, all the way down to D’Lo Brown and Albert.

These profiles were to be used at the original "big RAW meeting", but that meeting was postponed, and no update has been made available to the public since.

-- The reason for these profiles are to assess their value to the company. This is judged by their fan reactions in ratio to how much their salary is.

This may well explain the reason why certain superstars have been mildly moved up the card in recent weeks (Big Show, Rikishi, Matt Hardy, Randy Orton to name but a few), and why some others have been slightly reduced with their television time, down to practically zero (Raven, Saturn, Test).

-- It has already been announced that Perry Saturn’s contract runs out in January 2003, and he is on an extremely high wage stemming back to when he was signed along with Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero. The four men said they would only be signed to a WWE contract if they could be signed as a four (previously a five, including Shane Douglas).

WWE were so interested in bringing in Chris Benoit (WCW Champion at the time), that they offered the same "main-event" wage to all four of the Radicals.

-- And finally, it is believed that these character profiles are the reason for the recent cuts made from WWE, with names like Stasiak, Awesome and David Flair paying the price for having a bad usage-to-cost efficiency ratio.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Raw News & Notes, A Huge Fight Breaks Out, & More

- Thanks to Lee Ralph for the following; When Raw was aired in the UK, the now infamous skit with Triple H was edited. We saw HHH talking to "Katy" then, as he fondled her breasts, they put pixilated graphics over his hands to obscure this act (ironically over on Ch 5 there was a soft core porn film showing with full frontal nudity and simulated sex scenes). Then the picture suddenly swirled to a dream type sequence showing candles and flowers set to some soppy music before cutting back to a shirtless HHH asking if it was good for "Katy" as it was for him. Then it was back to HHH and the Coach. The only other edit on the show was at the end - they faded away after Kane started the car, so we didn't see HHH look out from the boot of the car as he drove away. As for THAT segment, I found it tasteless but more embarrassing and pathetic than anything else. I really hope the backlash from the fans this has incurred makes Vince wake up and sort this out, otherwise this is one more viewer who won't be tuning in on Friday nights.

- While I was watching Pre-season basketball Friday between the Lakers and the Kings. A fight between Rick Fox of the Lakers and Doug Christie broke out. They fought on the court. Then once both were ejected from the game, Rick Fox started sprinting for the backstage area. While Doug Christie was leaving going into the tunnel, Rick Fox ran out of no where and kicked Christie in the stomach and tried to spear him in the backstage area while the camera got all of it. A huge fight broke out from both teams. When it was over the announcers kept rambling that both players thought they were WWE wrestlers.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Scott Steiner Currently Backstage At RAW, Macho Man Returns

Many fans e-mailed me this weekend informing me that both Scott and Rick Steiner were in Michigan and attended the big University of Michigan football game. Since RAW is in Detroit, it is almost definite that he will be in attendance for tonight's RAW, whether he does indeed appear on TV or not. I would certainly not bet on a Steiner on-screen appearance, but WWE does like to shock fans, and since a good portion of non-Internet fans are not aware of Steiner's signing, it would shock many people if he did debut.

MachoMan.com, the official website of Randy Savage, will be returning on Halloween (which is this Thursday).

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

What You Didn't See On WWE RAW Last Night

Thanks to IOWrestling.com reader James Caldwell for sending in the following:

I was at RAW in Detroit tonight, and I figured I'd pass along these notes.

Dark Matches
Ernest "The Cat" Miller vs. Johnny Stamboli
Yes folks, that is the former WCW commish. I don't know if he signed a WWE deal or what, but he had a match tonight.

Winner: Ernest "The Cat" Miller by pinfall and of course he did his James Brown dance routine after the match.

Raven/Red Dog vs. Desitny/Dux (2 local indy wrestlers from Millennium Wrestling Federation)

Winners:Raven/Red Dog after a Raven effect

Heat matches:

Mark Jindrak vs. Justin Credible

Winner: Mark Jindrak by pinfall

Rosie and Jamal w/Rico vs. 2 Jobbers (I can't remember names)

Winners: Rosie and Jamal by pinfall

RAW was a good show, the crowd seemed somewhat confused at first when the Steiner video played, but I marked out HUGE.

The place went absolutely crazy when HBK showed up.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Hulk Hogan News/Notes, NWA-TNA Tidbit, Lillian Garcia, More

Apparently. Lillian Garcia's single has debuted at #69 on the Billboard Charts.

Matt Berkowitz of the Miami Herald recently conducted a interview via phone with Goldy Locks of NWA:TNA. To read the interview, visit Miami.com.

Amazon.com has Hollywood Hulk Hogan's upcoming autobiography up for pre-order, with a release date of November 19 listed. The book is titled Hollywood Hulk Hogan, written by Hulk Hogan with Michael Jan Friedman.

Thanks to Barry from Munich, Germany for passing along the following:

I work in Germany for a hotel chain, we have hotels at freeway service stations. Through my work I found some news of interest, a network of service stations here - Schlaf ißt Noppe - are opening a new chain of pasta food outlets in their stations and are calling them "Pastamania". Now I don't know if this is linked with the infamous Hulk Hogan venture but I laughed when I found out. At first I did assume it's totally separate but I spoke with a work partner of mine and he told me it was backed by an American Company so maybe Hogan has his finger in this one?

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Rhyno's Return Date, Randy Orton's Heel Turn, & More

The following news tidbits are partially derived from WWE.com articles:

Rhyno was indeed backstage at RAW last night, as I reported he would be last week. He currently plans to return to the ring in December or January. His personal target is the 2003 Royal Rumble PPV.

Randy Orton is really upset about being injured just as he was in the midst of a huge push. Right now, he is estimating a full return to the ring in February. The word going around is that WWE is extremely impressed with the way he is handling his heel turn on TV, especially since he is injured.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

HBK Gives Huge Details On His RAW Return, HHH, more

The following is part of a WWE.com article:

DETROIT – Oct. 28, 2002 – Shawn Michaels got a call on Thursday telling him to fly here for tonight’s RAW. The fans in the Joe Louis Arena couldn’t have been happier about it.

The Heartbreak Kid received a deafening ovation when he made his surprise appearance tonight, the first in-person appearance on the show since before August’s SummerSlam. Although Michaels says he only has one more match left in him, he adds that the adrenaline from the crowd’s response to him never gets old.

“I’m sure at one time when I took it for granted it might have,” he said, “but it certainly doesn’t now.”

Asked whether he was going to miss the thrill of a live audience when he does retire, he joked, “It’s hard for me to think about missing it because just when I think it’s gone, they bring me back. It’s like the mob.”

Michaels said his back is doing OK, and he’s not sure if his match with Triple H at SummerSlam caused further damage because he “didn’t even check.”

“I just go on with faith that whenever I need it, it’s going to be with me,” he said of his back.

Michaels said he doesn’t know for sure, but he assumes he’ll be on RAW again next week.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Roddy Piper Speaks On Hogan, Fighting McMahon, Cyndi Lauper, & More

"Hot Rod" Roddy Piper recently did an interview with journalist Matt Boone. Roddy had plenty to talk about, including his new book (which you can order at inthepitwithpiper.com).

Roddy starts off first by running down the situation at WrestleMania where he kicked music star Cyndi Lauper in the face. Roddy talked about assaulting cops accidentally in that same match. Very entertaining story from the "Hot Rod".

From there, Piper goes on to talk about his pro wrestling career. He has only ever lost two matches, one to Bret Hart, and one to Ric Flair. He talks about why he agreed to do the job to those two, as well as why he refused to be pinned by Hulk Hogan.

After that, the "Rowdy" one talks about his new retirement project where he is trying to keep his wrestling and boxing comrads healthy and well after retiring from their respective sports. He goes in-depth on why this means so much to him.

If that wasn't enough, Roddy runs down the full story on a tragic car accident that broke his back, his ankle, four ribs, one of which punctured his lung by about four inches, and the entire story on how this is related to a stalker who worked at Piper's camp. Very detailed story on what happened as well as his current physical status.

Roddy wraps things up by giving everyone listening two options. "Vince McMahon...should I make him, or break him?" He wants the feedback on that one so head to his website inthepitwithpiper.com.

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

WWE Rumors: Chris Jericho's Push, Hogan Retiring, Molly, more

The following rumors come from the Informer section of the latest WWE Magazine:

Is Chris Jericho planning some kind of 'Fozzfest' tour for late 2002 and early 2003? Does it actually involve music or does he have some other plan to once again get to the top of RAW? The only man able to stop him is a former 'Rocker' who has secret plans of his own!

It appears that a 'blond' stalwort who's been plying his trade between the ropes for many years will retire from wrestling in the next few months. Let's hope that there will be an appropriate ceremony for one of the most decorated champions of all time.
Are Victoria and Molly sworn enemies or best friends? Is it a case of 'Poison Ivy'?

None of the rumors in this section of WWE Magazine are confirmed, however, some have come true in the past (nWo return, roster split, Steiner's signing).

[Stephanie McMahon's sidekick!]

Backstage RAW News, Rating Disappoints, & More

Many I have spoken to within the business believe that the opening segment to last night's RAW came off terribly poor. With that said, it is no surprise that the rating for last night's RAW was low.

Being that last week's RAW featured one of the most offensive segments in RAW history, it is no surprise that the show was a turn-off to many viewers and gave a poor lead-in for this week. The show, off of a 3.7 last week and a 3.8 two weeks ago, only came in with a first hour rating of 3.4 and a second of 3.5 this week, which is a 3.4 due to exact rounding.

If the fan feedback that I am getting is any indication, the product the RAW crew is producing (focused around the HHH/Kane angle) is not very popular. Although many fans did enjoy the Tag Title match and HBK's return last night, two positives cannot make up for the major "storyline" involved with RAW.

To those fans who did not like the Kane/HHH angle, you should definitely be happy with the low RAW rating. If this week's RAW scored well, then it would've been confirmed that Vince would continue similar storylines. However, the whole WWE team will hopefully reevaluate their product and change it so it satisfies a larger audience.