Slobberknocker Central Monday Night Recap #156 November 9th, 1998 The Opening Word: 126 E-Mails. Seems a lot of you last week wanted me to continue giving in-depth commentary regarding WCW. (Actually "bashing", "trashing" and "ripping 'em a new asshole" were the terms most often used.) The funny thing is I don't really enjoy bashing WCW. Okay, I do, but what I mean is I didn't go out of my way to do it. Not too far out of the way, anyway. See, WCW just is what it is, and I'd call it the way I saw it. Biased? Yes, but did I ever lie about them? Not that I can remember. Anyway, the question on a lot of readers minds this week is would I go back to "bashing" WCW this week? I don't know. We'll see how it goes. I'm still not going to declare a winner. You all can do that. What I also still refuse to do is devote any real amount of time to commentating on the Nitro Girls, Nitro Videos, endless highlight clips and interviews that don't go anywhere. This goes for both shows, but I'm looking square in WCW's face when I write it. It's an incontrovertible fact that a huge chunk of Nitro each week is filler to pad out their three hour running time. That includes some of the matches and interviews. They can do it, but that doesn't mean I, as a TV viewer, have to watch it--and I'm definitely not going to waste my time writing about it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WCW Monday Nitro: Live/Taped: Live. Length: Three Hours. Location: Long Island, New York. HOUR ONE Hosted By: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Larry Zbyszko. - If you missed it on Thunder last week, WCW announced that "Hollywood" Hogan would be announcing his candidacy for the office of President of the United States this week on Nitro. The show opens with a montage of the White House, flags, the Statue of Liberty ... basically the same type of stuff we saw when the WWF had Bob Backlund run for President two years ago. Tony Schiavone, although he has declared Hogan the most despicable man alive on several occasions, seems quite excited at the prospect of Hogan running. (Of course this whole angle is cashing in on Jesse Ventura's being elected Governor of Minnesota. They mention his name a few dozen times during the course of the show, which I'll make note of now so as to avoid having to do so later. Funny thing ... not the last time Nitro came to Minnesota, but the time before that, Ventura showed up at the event. WCW kicked him out. Bet they wish now that they hadn't.) Even bigger than Hogan's announcement, says Schiavone, is the fact that "the President" himself is on the way to the arena ... How stupid do they think we are, anyway?! I'm really trying to be nice here, but c'mon ... do they really think a single one of us is that dumb?!! "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby "the Brain" Heenan are waiting for the arrival of "the President" in the back. Major alarm bells should go off in the head of every fan when Okerlund says "word that we get from the NWO black-and-white, get this, the President of the United States will be here tonight ... ." Four minutes into the show and they've already tipped off that this is all some huge, lame sham of an angle. Two black limousine's pull up. Kevin Nash and Lex Luger emerge from one, while the Giant and Scott Hall pop out of the other. Hall and Nash pair up to fight, while the Giant and Luger do the same. - During the commercial they run the ad for those WCW Bash-N-Brawlers figures that when you bend them, they tell you what part of the body you're attacking ("you're busting my arm!") It occurs to me while watching this that Hogan's doll actually sells moves better than Hogan himself. Okay, now THAT was a cheap shot. - JUVENTUD GUERRERA vs. KAZ HAYASHI Eric Bischoff comes to the booth as the match is starting to guarantee that "the President" will be on the show tonight. My "Monday Night Crew" and I predict who "the President" will be: * My brother says it'll be the Bill Clinton impersonator the WWF has used before. * I pick Buff Bagwell in the Bill Clinton mask he wore at Halloween Havoc. * My Dad puts two and two together and says it'll be Hogan. Meanwhile a good, lengthy match between these two is flushed down the toilet when at about the eleven minute mark Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo come out. Miller says something about needing to kick their asses, but it's Onoo who ends up going in to kick Hayashi in the head. Guerrera rolls Kaz up for the pin. Can I go back to ignoring this type of crap? - ALEX WRIGHT vs. BARRY HOROWITZ No winner, as after running for far too many minutes the match comes to an abrupt end by the arrival of the Wolfpac. Kevin Nash says he, Luger and Konan want the NWO. Eric Bischoff comes out and says they'll get them in tonight's main event. And this differs from the Wolfpac vs. NWO match we get every single week in what way again? - LODI vs. SCOTT NORTON (w/ Vincent) Norton wins with the powerbomb. After the match Larry Zbyszko stretches to come up with an excuse to mention that "gag order" Dusty Rhodes tried to file against him. He either needs to give it a rest, or WCW needs to pull the trigger on that damn angle. It's only been, what, six months now? You're not a player any more Larry, just let it go ... let it go. - Schiavone interviews the Disciple. Horace Hogan (ugh), Stevie Ray and Vincent come out to hassle him. The crowd chants "Beefcake!" The Warrior eventually comes out to help the Disciple, clotheslining everyone out of the ring. Tenay says something about the Warrior clearing away the "NWO garbage". Zbyszko responds that "the stench still remains!"--an odd observation given that the Warrior is the ONLY ONE LEFT IN THE RING! Then again ... (The brawl is actually still going on when WCW cuts away to commercial, so that they can come back ... just as RAW is starting.) HOUR TWO Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Zbyszko. - Okerlund and Heenan are on hand as "the President's" motorcade pulls up. A "Secret Service Agent" tells Okerlund several times to clear the area. Other agents surround the "Presidential" limo as it drives slowly down the ramp. They cut to the interior of the arena so that Schiavone can fill for time, cutting briefly to the back for a shot of the "Secret Service Agents" and policemen practically scuffling with the WCW cameraman to move him out of the way. I could fill half a page pointing out all the things wrong with this if it was supposedly "the President". Of course that would mean that I cared, or that I in the very least took this the slightest bit seriously. I don't, so we'll move on. Suffice it to say that WCW doesn't want us to see exactly who "the President" is for a few more minutes. Back in the arena they play "Hail to the Chief". Schiavone talks like this is the greatest night of his life, and he, Tenay and Zbyszko stand to honor the arrival of our Commander-in-Chief. Out walks "Hollywood" Hogan. My Dad wins the bet. Schiavone, who has just been made a jack-ass, a fool and has been once again been duped by the antics of the NWO ... acts as if nothing has happened. In fact, he begins speculating about what kind of President Hogan would make. Hogan goes on to deliver a long-winded interview, in which he does indeed say he will run for President in the year 2000. Forget two years, if this angle is still going on two MONTHS from now the "Monday Night Recap" will become the "WWF RAW is WAR/Screw You WCW Recap". - Bret "Hitman" Hart comes out and badmouths Sting, Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger. Some fans chant "asshole!", which WCW has all kinds of trouble bleeping out. - EDDIE GUERRERO vs. REY MYSTERIO, JR. Very long, hard-fought, high-flying, technical match between two masters of the sport. Eddie focuses on Mysterio's already injured knee, at one point smashing it between the steel steps and the ringpost. The fans, meanwhile, are watching a fight in the crowd. Or a woman flashing. Or something. Whatever it is, they aren't watching the ring. Chavo Guerrero and his stick horse Pepe come to the ring. As Eddie is distracted Rey rolls him up from behind, flubs the pin attempt, then does a crucifix to put him away for the pin. The Latino World Order members then come out to beat on Chavo. Mysterio helps Chavo escape by pulling him out of the ring. - They show the Konan music video, after threatening us with clips of it earlier in the show. - Eric Bischoff and Elizabeth hit the ring. Eric talks about running Hogan's Presidential campaign. He then talks about Ric Flair, saying he won't wrestle tonight because he couldn't pass the physical. He moves on to the fines that have been levied against Scott Steiner, saying J.J. Dillon overstepped his bounds by imposing the fines. Bischoff brings out a couple of WCW corporate stooges, who for the purposes of this segment we'll call "Patterson", "Brisco" and "Slaughter". After cracking some jokes at their expense, and getting them to admit that they work for him, he punches "Patterson" in the stomach. (A fairly poor looking punch, which the camera almost manages to miss by being on the wrong side of the ring.) He kicks "Brisco" in the chest, then "Slaughter" under the right armpit. He adds absurdity to injury by pounding on "Brisco" with a series of punches, most of which look to be missing by at least two inches. "Slaughter" gets a final kick to his gut for good measure. I suppose whatever law it was that kept the Big Bossman out of jail last week is the one that will protect Bischoff here, in this very blatant case of assault and battery. Why didn't Bischoff do this when WCW was fining Kevin Nash earlier this year for those illegal powerbombs? And do I need to point out what a bad mutha Bischoff now is for being able to take out three guys single-handedly? That's more impressive than his breaking Randy Savage's knee, though not as impressive as his nearly fighting off twelve private security guards in Chicago. HOUR THREE Hosted By: Schiavone, Tenay and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. - SCOTT STEINER (w/ Buff Bagwell) vs. CHRIS ADAMS No real match, as one referee comes out to tell the other referee to leave. It seems that Steiner creates an "unsafe working environment", and as such no WCW official will get near him. (I guess next week Bischoff will have to come out and beat up all the referees.) Steiner and Bagwell do their typical interviews, then kick the crap out of Adams. Steiner has the Recliner on, and Bagwell calls for the bell, when Rick Steiner runs in for the save. Rick challenges Scott and Buff to a Tag Title match. Apparently Rick can choose anyone he wants at anytime to be his partner, meaning Kenny Kaos isn't co-champion with him. I guess. This match will happen ... TONIGHT! - I said I wouldn't mention this stuff, but I'll do so here this one time to give you an example of what I usually skip. After the above segment they take a commercial break. They then show a Nitro Girls video. They then feature a live Nitro Girls dance. They then show a Lex Luger video. They then took another commercial. More than SEVEN minutes killed just like that. - Schiavone announces that on Tuesday night on TNT they'll show a special hour-long version of "Nitro Extra" at 8:00 PM Eastern. This will apparently happen for at least the next three Tuesdays, or until the NBA lock-out is over, or the season is canceled and TNT comes up with a permanent Tuesday solution. It will be taped, the matches done before and/or after the live Nitro taping the night before. For the sake of sanity and timeliness I won't be delaying the Recap to include those results here. As is the case with Thunder and WWF Sunday Night Heat, if anything notable happens on those shows, it'll get a mention on the Slobberknocker website. - Since ten minutes of Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell is never enough, the two come back out for their Tag Title match. Rick then comes out, followed by Buff's mother Judy. Only four minutes of yelling is required to set up a Tag Title match between these two teams for the World War 3 PPV, Sunday, November 22nd. I barely have the strength of will left here to mention that WCW promised us a match, only to pull a bait-and-switch and save it for the PPV. - Two full commercial breaks are separated by ten seconds of Schiavone in full shill mode, hyping the matches yet to come tonight. - BRET "HITMAN" HART vs. KONAN Konan works over Hart. Hart works over Konan. Konan works over Hart. Hart works over Konan, focusing on the knee. Total cruise control match. Hart is eventually DQ'ed for using a steel chair. Luger runs out for the save. Konan has to be carried out, further establishing Hart's rep as a "crippler". - "Mean" Gene interviews Chris Jericho, who for some reason is dressing like a slutty girl rock groupie. Jericho badmouths Goldberg so much that the Champ, who has "just arrived at the building", runs in from the back, laying him out in the aisle with the spear. Why is Goldberg showing up with only fifteen minutes left in the show, on a night he isn't scheduled to wrestle? Okerlund says that Goldberg is supposed to be there, whereas the announcers don't explain anything. - KEVIN NASH/LEX LUGER vs. SCOTT HALL/THE GIANT Schiavone mentions the Giant's involvement in "The Waterboy", which had a monster opening this past weekend. Over $39 million, making it the largest theatrical opening ever for the month of November. Some useless trivia for you. Nash starts things off, doing a couple kneelifts, an elbow, and some punches. He tags out a minute or so later, the lazy bastard. Luger wrestles most of the remainder of the match, getting beat up for about six of the next seven minutes. He then makes the hot tag to Nash, who does an almost unprecedented second minute of offense. What a workhorse! All four men are in the ring and brawling when Bret Hart runs in, causing the mandatory NWO run-in DQ finish. They stick with the action until RAW has gone off the air (or thereabouts). - This Tuesday: Nothing announced. - This Thursday: Nothing announced. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: Some of you may be asking if Hogan's bid to be President is for real. The short answer is "no". The long answer is "hell no!" (Okay, I'm just guessing. The real answer is "who the hell cares?!") Only seven matches this week, and one of those was the fight between Steiner and Adams. At two matches per hour, no wonder the show seemed like ultimate exercise in stalling for time. I just don't know what WCW fans are going to see as being good this week. I guess Jericho was funny, and maybe the two Cruiserweight matches were supposed to be good (both of which choose to forego clean finishes in favor of goofy, pointless angles). For me, though, as has been the case for so many recent weeks, I sat through the terrible first hour, then watched RAW when it came on. I think that pretty much sums it up: with an alternative to WCW on, I watch the alternative. Your mileage may vary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF RAW is WAR: Live/Taped: Taped 11/3. Length: Two Hours+. Location: Dallas, Texas. WWF RAW Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. - X-PAC vs. THE UNDERTAKER (w/ Paul Bearer) This match came about on Sunday Night Heat, stemming from an in-ring confrontation between X-Pac, Paul Bearer and the Undertaker. X-Pac called Bearer fat, or something, earning a chokeslam. That lead to a challenge for a match "tonight" (both shows were taped last Tuesday). X-Pac gets in a few kicks before the Undertaker starts beating the living hell out of him. The lights then go out, signaling the arrival of Kane. Kane walks to the ring, points at the Undertaker, and fires a jet of flame from his hand! The flame misses, though, and hits X-Pac instead, who drops to the mat, screaming in pain. The Undertaker rumbles away, with Kane in hot pursuit. The Road Dog and Billy Gun come out to check on their DeGeneration X teammate, followed by the usual referees and EMT's. Fluids and wrappings are applied, as we get the obligatory "worried fan" shot from the crowd. I have no idea how they did this, but it looked cool. It was silly, sure, but looked cool nonetheless. (That statement actually describes a lot of what goes on in the WWF, come to think of it.) - X-Pac is being loaded into an ambulance. Cut over to Mankind arriving at the arena. He's met by Vince McMahon and his stooges Patterson, Brisco, Slaughter and the Big Bossman. McMahon tells him that he'll get to defend his new Hardcore WWF Title against Ken Shamrock in a "No Holds Barred" match. He also has a surprise for Mankind: a complete makeover. Looks like McMahon has revived the "corporate champion" idea. - VAL VENIS vs. STEVE BLACKMAN They play the clip from Heat where Venis reveals that he's had a vasectomy, making it impossible to have fathered a child with Terri Runnels. The aforementioned Terri is seen following Val to the ring. Val tells her to beat it, then makes a "scoring" joke in honor of a number of Dallas Cowboys shown in attendance. This is one of those matches where you end up waiting for the interference, which in this case comes in the form of Terri running in and hitting Val with a low blow (giving him the DQ win). Owen Hart and the Blue Blazer then run in and beat the crap out of Blackman. Mankind is in the back getting a haircut. He wonders aloud whether his "dad" (McMahon) will buy him some new teeth. The hairdresser asks him what happened to the old teeth? Mankind says Austin threw them into the crowd (which he did, on a PPV some months back). He says Vince is like a big teddy bear, and that sometimes he'd like to give him a hug. - ROAD DOG vs. D-LO BROWN vs. MOSH A "Triple Threat" singles match, with each wrestler accompanied by their tag team partners (Billy Gunn, Mark Henry and Thrasher). Shane McMahon is the referee. An okay match, with the last couple minutes being really good. Road Dog is down, and Mosh tries a legdrop off the top, but misses. D-Lo then comes off the opposite turnbuckle with the Frog Splash, but also misses. Road Dog rallies back with a series of punches and a little dance, which gets the crowd fired up. After a double clothesline he whips D-LO, but D-Lo reverses it and plants Road Dog with the Low Down. He starts to celebrate, only to be nailed by Mosh doing a Stage Dive off the top. Mosh gets the pin. All the partners then come in and everyone brawls. During the above match Jim Ross guarantees that there'll be a new WWF Champion crowned at Survivor Series. Jerry Lawler also guarantees that the fans will see the WHOLE PPV. (You know, I actually got E-Mail criticizing him the last time he said that.) Comments from Jeff Jarrett and Debra McMichael in the back. Debra speaks, killing the illusion of her I'd been building up all these weeks since her debut. Fortunately she seems to have left her annoying southern accent back in WCW. Jarrett promises to do bad things to Al Snow at the PPV. Why? Because they're feuding? Why are they feuding? Because ... hell, beats me! They're supposed to? They're paid to? They have nothing else to do? - Mankind is now receiving a pedicure. He laments the loss of his friend Mr. Socko, who used to live on his foot. I never expected to see or hear stuff like this, without the benefit of having smoked some really good reefer first. - GOLDUST vs. JEFF JARRETT (w/ Debra McMichael) Terri, in her Marlena get-up, comes out to get Goldust to take her back. He, like Venis, tells her to take a hike. The match? Eh. Goldust gets Jarrett set up on the second turnbuckle, preparing to punt his privates into the public domain. Debra comes in and offers herself up to Goldust. He responds by unzipping his outfit, then going in for a closer inspection of her tonsils. She swoons from his manly kiss. Jarrett, meanwhile, comes in from behind and waffles Goldust with his guitar. Goldust with the DQ win. The Rock is shown arriving, driving the crowd crazy (or, to be more accurate, driving a recording of some crowd noise crazy). Noting earlier that everyone is jumping on the Jesse Ventura bandwagon, Ross and Lawler say that the WWF will do so as well. Here they show clips of Jesse in his various outlandish outfits, most in his capacity as co-host on "Saturday Night's Main Event". Ross says the WWF has extended an invitation to Ventura to appear on next week's live RAW. Let's just say I'd personally sh*t a brick if he actually showed up. - Michael Cole interviews the Rock, who delivers a less than stellar offering this time out. This is immediately followed, in the same backstage location, by a fight between Goldust and Jarrett. Goldust slams Jarrett all over the place, throwing him into equipment crates and slamming him with what looks like a plastic guard rail. Suddenly the Blue Blazer runs in, and here there's no doubt that it's Owen Hart. Referees materialize to pull the two apart (the Blazer, as usual, running away before help arrives). WWF WAR ZONE Hosted By: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. - KEN SHAMROCK vs. MANKIND Mankind is clean shaven, has his hair trimmed, and comes to the ring wearing a tuxedo. The match here is a dandy, with the two spending a lot of time brawling on the floor. At one point Shamrock drops Mankind face-first on the steel steps, which looked terrifyingly brutal. The two wind up fighting on the stage. Mankind takes a vicious chairshot. The Big Bossman, spotting an opening while the ref isn't looking, (not really necessary since the match is no DQ), nails Shamrock with his nightstick. Mankind gets the pin, then gets a hug from McMahon. The Rock has been attacked ... go to a commercial! How's that for a teaser? - Someone laid out the Rock with a blow to the back of the head. EMT's are working on him, though his match tonight with Mark Henry is now in doubt. Per the stipulations set up the night before on Heat, if the Rock beat Henry, he would get his spot back in the "Deadly Games" Tournament at Survivor Series. If he lost, McMahon said "his services would no longer be required in the World Wrestling Federation!" In other words, if the Rock can't fight, he's fired. - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin hits the ring. He sort of recaps where things stand with him today, how he was brought back with a new five year contract, how things have been easy for him lately, and how McMahon is hiding from him. The Big Bossman then comes out and the two banter back-and-forth. Austin makes a prison guard joke at the Bossman's expense. That, and he tells him "I'll shove that nightstick so far up your ass, you'll have to shove it aside to brush those little yellow teeth of yours!" They're still working on the Rock. Are they operating on his brain? - McMahon and his stooges have assembled near the ambulance, waiting to see him wheeled out of the arena. No Rock. - AL SNOW (w/ Head) vs. TIGER ALI SINGH (w/ Babu) Those wondering where Socko went will notice him wrapped around Head. (Did I just call Socko "him"?) Singh says he won't wrestle a maniac like Snow, so Snow wrestles Babu. Total squash, until Debra McMichael comes out. She grabs Head, which distracts Snow. (Head supposedly has a thing for Debra, which is a bit kinky since Head is from a female mannequin.) Singh comes in, plants Snow with a facebuster, and covers for the pin. This is really inspired booking. (By "inspired" I mean "incredibly stupid".) Sable video, with her training for her upcoming Women's Title match against Jacqueline. Imagine Sable bending over a lot and you'll get the general idea. Michael Cole says McMahon is on his way to the Rock's dressing room. After the break we see the Rock still down. Cole asks for an update on his condition. McMahon rolls in and says Rock's condition is about to be "unemployed". - KANE vs. EDGE (w/ the Brood) Kane comes to the ring carrying a gasoline can and an acetylene torch. Lengthy squash-like affair, which Kane wins by DQ when the other Brood members interfere. Kane then lays them all out with chokeslams, (including the ref), piles them up, then douses them in gasoline. As he's fumbling with the torch to light it the other WWF officials come in to drag out the bodies. On his way out through the crowd he chokeslams a fan. He's not evil, he just lacks guidance. Or he lacks a good Zippo lighter. - McMahon is wheeled to ringside by his stooges. He reemphasizes his comments from last week, saying that since he can't get at all the people, he'll get the "People's Champion". McMahon also trashes the Dallas Cowboys, saying the Rock is now a felon like half the players on Cowboys roster. Shane McMahon comes out and goes at it with his dad, telling him to "cut the crap!" Shane alludes to McMahon being an abusive father. McMahon winds up ordering the Bossman to attack Shane! The Bossman grabs him and tosses him into the ring. He menaces him for a few moments, only to have Steve Austin run in to save Shane. - THE ROCK vs. MARK HENRY (w/ D-Lo Brown) They play the Rock's music a couple of times, each time McMahon confidently saying the Rock won't show. The Rock eventually does appear, still in his warm-up suit, and he takes on Henry. Hot match, with the Rock getting in some early offense before Henry settles into the dominant role for several minutes. Interference by D-Lo backfires twice: the first time the Rock manages to nail Henry with a low blow when D-Lo has the ref tied up. The second time the Bossman tries to handcuff the Rock into the corner, but during the struggle he winds up getting cuffed instead. He covers Henry for the pin, but the stooges pull the ref out before he can complete the three count. The Rock goes on to deliver the Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow, but there's no ref ... ... until Shane McMahon runs in to make the three count! Shane celebrates as he runs back up the ramp. The Rock, meanwhile, realizes McMahon is sitting defenseless at ringside. The Rock hoists McMahon out of his wheelchair and shoves him into the ring. The Bossman is still stuck handcuffed in the corner (he must have left his key at home). The stooges try to step in, but the Rock dispatches them with a few quick blows. McMahon hops around on his one good foot and, in an act of defiance, slaps the Rock. The Rock answers with a Rock Bottom for the owner of the WWF, then lays the icing on the cake by dropping the People's Elbow! The Rock closes out the show standing on the corner turnbuckles, raising the People's Eyebrow for the crowd. - Next week: Nothing announced. Comments: The last ten minutes or so of this week's show was among the best the WWF has done all year. As a whole the show, while short on quality wrestling, was once again dramatically entertaining program from start to finish. Singh vs. Snow was the only part of the entire show which even came close to turning me off. Mankind continues to steal the show most every moment he's on the screen. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Bottom Line: I ran down the card for Survivor Series last week. Nothing has changed from that this week. I'm guessing Kane will win the "Deadly Game" Tournament, though one would think the Undertaker is probably the favorite. Of course Austin could win it back, while Mankind and the Rock both probably have outside chances. If the WWF is smart whoever wins it here will hold onto it until WrestleMania. I think the belt has bounced around enough this year (Michaels to Austin to Kane to Austin to Vacant). If it does change hands one more time before then, it should do so no later than the Royal Rumble in January. My gut feeling is that the Rock will win the Rumble, and win the title at WrestleMania. So who will Mankind be facing in the first round? While some are hoping it'll be a surprise like Shawn Michaels or Terry Funk, I'm inclined to believe it'll be a wimp like the Brooklyn Brawler. We have to remember that McMahon has "manipulated" the bracketing so that Steve Austin can't possibly win. It stands to reason, then, that McMahon will give Mankind a pushover in the first round, guaranteeing that he'll be able to advance. Speaking of Michaels, it looks like he'll not be at the PPV, and most likely won't be back until early next year. It's also starting to look like Triple H may be out for the rest of the year. There's a rumor floating around that Triple H is going to WCW, which isn't true. Lots of rumors about lots of guys, actually, which have come about since literally a dozen guys have contracts that are running out sometime in the next three months. Guys like Benoit, Guerrero and Jericho in WCW. Jim Neidhart has been fired. The British Bulldog has either been fired, will be fired, or is simply out with an injury. Public Enemy has been fired and will maybe go back to ECW. Bam Bam Bigelow has apparently agreed to jump from ECW to WCW, though some say he may stay there if they give him a lighter schedule. WCW is offering him much more money, though. Randy Savage's contract may run out before he returns early next year from his knee injury. The WWF has apparently fired Teddy Hart--Bret Hart's nephew. Contract negations between Ric Flair and WCW are rumored to have gone poorly in recent weeks. His lawsuit against them is still pending. Juventud Guerrera just re-signed with WCW, apparently, as have most of their other Mexican wrestlers (including Mysterio). Raven is supposedly unhappy in WCW and wants to go back to ECW when his contract is up in the not-too-distant future. Other guys who are unhappy in WCW and want to jump ship (like Hall and Nash) are locked in until sometime between late 1999 and summer 2001. Steve McMichael is wrestling without a contract and WCW doesn't look to be interested in offering him a new one. Both Barry Windham and Tully Blanchard are rumored to be headed to WCW. Vader wound up somewhere over in Japan. The biggest prospective talent move everyone is keeping their eye on is the Giant. His contract is up in December, and it looks about 50/50 that he'll go to the WWF. Most folks in WCW reportedly think he'll leave. Still, a last minute contract offer by WCW seems likely, so I personally am betting he'll stay put. None of the above "info" is overly reliable, so don't place too much stock in anything there. Credit goes to numerous big wrestling news sites like 1Wrestling.com, SCOOPS and WrestleManiacs. A lot of it is probably out of date. Remember, I'm not a news source, I'm just passing along what I've read. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Slobberknocker Central" and "Monday Night Recap" are copyright 1998 by John Petrie, and all opinions expressed therein are his own, and not those of "Internet Access, Inc". Check the "Slobberknocker Central" main page for info on how to receive the "Recap" free via E-Mail every week. Volume One, Number 156 of the "Monday Night Recap", November 9th, 1998.