Weekend News Report
Hello everyone, with Hyatte flaking on weekend duties, I’m Widro, and I’ll be your host for a romp through the latest news in the world of wrestling this weekend. And of course since nothing is going on, we’ll take a look at Thursday and Friday’s news too.
Ross Report Ramblings
Jim Ross posted his weekly Ross Report on WWF.com late Friday, and had very little to say overall.
He continued to push the new WCW as moving along nicely. Ross said he met with the final few WCW wrestlers they have under contract, and is sending them to Memphis to stay sharp. So lucky Memphis residents will get Mike Awesome, Hugh Morrus, Jamie Knoble and Shawn Stasiak.
Ross also talked to Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson who are not under contract, but probably will be soon. The only guy Ross has not talked to who is under contract is Lance Storm, who Ross says he will meet with when the WWF goes to Canada in a few weeks.
Ross laments the closing of the XFL, but feels it was right for the company. Was it right for McMahon to publicly bash Ross’s announcing?
That’s about it. Ross also talked a bit about the developmental territories, but nothing really of too much interest. Paul Bearer is going to be more heavily involved with that stuff, so I guess he wont be an on-air talent for a while.
Of course, there was a mini pissing contest about the Ross Report this week, as the Torch posted newbites from the Ross Report at around 2PM, while the thing wasn’t posted on the live WWF server until like 7. This prompted Bob Ryder to post a whiny diatribe on 1wrestlingpopups.com about it. Ryder posted this as NEWS. I don’t even know what his point was, but it annoyed me and I thought I’d share.
Smackdown Sinking Fast
The WWF put on a pretty weak edition of Smackdown this week, and judging by the ratings, I wasn’t the only one who thought so this week. Smackdown scored a 3.7, which ties the lowest rating of 2001.
And if you’d like, you can read all about the show in my Smackdown report which was apparently too negative for the dozen or so who emailed me to bash me.
Stock News
If there’s anything wrestling fans love to discuss, it’s the stock market. After weeks and months of trading at it’s yearly low, the WWFE stock rebounded on Friday over a point to close over 14 for the first time in recent memory. Of course the main reason is the dissolution of the XFL, which is the first good piece of news from the WWF camp in some time.
Go Jericho Go
Chris Jericho is one of the more net-savvy wrestlers around these days, but even he is starting to get a bit bitter. In his latest commentary Jericho bashes those on the net who are too negative.
Says the Ayatollah of Rock And Rollah: I’m a very positive person in general and I found that the net was filled with some very negative and critical people. I decided that I needed to spend some time away from said humans (and aliens when applicable) and I feel much better now that I’ve broken my habit! That’s not to say that I enjoyed my time away from you guys, the true Jerichoholics that constantly support me, no matter what happens. I as always greatly appreciate that, nor will I forget it. If it wasn’t for you
fine citizens, I would’ve quit the wrestling biz long ago!
Looks like some paranoia is setting in within the WWF. Don’t kill the critics- they are only the messengers
Site Matters
411 would like to welcome Ben Morse to the family, and you can read his brand new column The Mean by clicking here. Usually I don’t hire columnists unless I specifically call for them, but Ben has a great and unique new idea I think will really get people talking.
Also, PK has picked up the slack for me this week on the rankings, updating them with all the wit and humor he can. So when you’re done here you can check out the Official 411wrestling.com Wrestler Rankings
I guess that’s about it for this weekend. That Hyatte guy should be back late Sunday/early Monday with another dose of the Midnight News you kids all seem to enjoy. And if he flakes or takes some vacation, I will be here to pick up the slack, as is my job as webmaster and overall good guy.
