-The word right now is that Hogan doesn't feel like it's the right time to return after being contacted by WCW to come back and help in the feud against the New World Order. Right time, ha, as you know when the right time for Hogan is. He's just waiting until the ratings are either high, so he can milk it, or when the ratings are low so he can be the savior. Pathetic. So now Hogan will be out for a few more months, just waiting until the "right" time to return. In a few months, it will either prove that Russo is a success or a failure..and that's what Hogan is truly waiting on.
-I really like how some of the WCW shills were going along with the Scott Steiner retirement, posting news that he was going to officially retire. It was nice of them to state that he was still injured and never could return. And they say they have reliable, and never involving works, news. Please. Oh well, I don't care, because Scott Steiner is back! He was by far the best heel in his haydays, as his speeches would crack me up. I'm sure he'll say whatever he wants because it appears that the censors are on alert now. In my opinion, Scott Steiner is Vince Russo's savior. Steiner's badass attitude will attract attention and bring some real heat to the New World Order.
-Sting is set to come back in a few weeks, but the question is, was that him that placed the blackroses in the ring? I'd put my money on that it was him, but that's a rather strange and dark thing to do. Is the old, dark Crow Sting back? I'm not talking about the energetic Sting that we just went through, I'm talking about the one who walked the rafters and did many mysterious things to other wrestlers. If so, you might as well go back to 1997 because he will probably go after the NWO eventually. Russo was a big fan of the NWO, but if he did this again, it shows that he wants to relive it!
-Oh yeah, one more thing. Does anybody have any information on 3 Count member "Shannon"? His full name is Shannon Moore, and I was shocked to see him in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's "Ones to Watch" section. I remember hearing his name somewhere before, but I don't know. If you know of his career, please send me some details. :)
-Wow, ECW on TNN did a 1.1 rating on Christmas Eve!!!!! My God, that's amazing! I think that match between Tanaka and Awesome caught some viewer's eyes when flipping the channel, because that was one of the best matches of the year. It's rather funny since Paul Heyman predicted that the show would do a 0.3 due to the holiday season, but he was proved wrong. I guess if you finally stack the first half hour, people will keep watching. I'm sure many will watch for New Years Eve after they saw Tanaka-Awesome and finding out they have a rematch for the next show. If you missed last week's show, make sure you catch this one some way or another because Tanaka and Awesome can really go.
-It seems that Mick Foley is ready to unleash Cactus Jack once again, as Triple H and Stephanie have only fired "Mankind". I'm sure this angle will keep going on Smackdown, and it could also screw Triple H out of another title shot against the Big Show. Speaking of the Big Show, I wonder if WWF officials were impressed by his wrestling Monday? He got a large pop when he defeated Triple H, but it could be just because Triple H always rags on the fans. I don't know, just wondering. The WWF was trying to really get him over with the pyros and fire works. I hope that 2000 brings a new attitude and a new gimmick to the Big Show, because the WWF has him for 10 years...so why not make him a legend?
-Jakks once again this year, did a monstrous amount of toys sales, thanks to the WWF. I never heard of the company Jakks until the WWF figures came out. Oh well. I know in my Toys R Us there is a whole aisle dedicated to nothing but wrestling toys, mainly consisting of Jakked WWF toys. Those aisles get cleared to, as many fans or collectors buy them up! Look for the toy sales to continue to be successes, and look for more different kinds of toys or figures by the WWF in the future.
-People keep asking me if the Rock is frustrated by not being the World Champ. Nope, not at all. He doesn't have the bighead or the ability to whine like many other world title contenders. I'm sure he just doesn't care as long as his fans love him. I'd rather have the whole arena chanting my name than to have the World Title and have nobody care(like Big Show). The Rock has been waiting patiently and NEVER pressured the WWF to give him the belt. The WWF has the Rock scripted to defeat whoever is the champ at Wrestlemania. He'll get his legit world title then, as he cheated for it before, and I doubt that he'll lose it for a while.
@That's all for this edition of the Phat Daily Column. I am making this column without being on the internet, so if the Monday Night ratings came out and I didn't cover them, I'll have them here tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and just chill till the next episode!
Take Care, and Happy Holidays.