The ‘walk out’ by Tazz and Mike Adamle on the 29 April episode of ECW appears to have been an angle that Vince McMahon came up with but never let anyone in on. The incident was not in the script and had not been discussed in the production meeting beforehand. Vince was backstage and acting furious about the announcing, telling first Adamle and then Tazz to put down their headsets and come to the back. Cameras then followed Tazz as he left the building and an article went up almost immediately on WWE.com, both of which would have required Vince’s approval. He has been particularly hard on announcers recently, making the call to replace Joey Styles when nobody else seemed to feel it was deserved and then to replace Jonathan Coachman. One of the reasons Mick Foley was brought in is that he lives in Long Island and can easily make it to Stamford for editing work if needed.
Steve Austin is tentatively planned to be inducted into the Hall of Fame next year. Other potential inductees include the Von Erichs, the Freebirds, the Funks, Houston promoter Paul Boesch, Texas headliner Danny Hodge, plus Ted Dibiase and Ricky Steamboat, although the latter two are seen almost as ‘reserve’ inductees reliable to go in at any year. Given his recent comments about returning to WWE for a match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 25, there is even some talk of inducting the Ultimate Warrior.
Katie Lea is once again being referred to as Paul Burchill’s sister, although thankfully the incest angle has been dropped.
The Wellness Policy has been ammended again. People now have to be naked ‘from their ankles to their nipples’ whilst providing urine samples. It seemed that many had been cheating by using a ‘whizzinator’, which management found out about and suspended Afa Anoia Jr for using. The previous batch of sample monitors were also fired for not reporting this.
Marc Mero has been invited to speak in schools with the National Coalition of Drug Free Athletes as part of their ‘Choose Not To Use’ campaign targeting teenage use.
Bret Hart’s autobiography will be released in paperback in Canada next month, and finally in hardback in the USA this October.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 07 May 2008 (subscribe here)
