-"Stone Cold Steve Austin is under going extensive tests to determine the status of an existing neck condition. Once these tests are completed more information will be made available. Steve, in any event, will continue to be a major and visible part of the WWF and will continue to entertain fans in one form or another." That was what WWF.com had on their site yesterday, as they said that Steve is getting checked on at this very moment, and no matter what happens, Stone Cold will always be a part of the WWF. Lots of reports suggested that Austin has officially retired already, but of couse those same reports have insisted that Hogan was going to be the car driver in the WWF, so go figure. Austin has been told, from what I saw on the A & E biography, that he shouldn't have wrestled after Owen Hart injured him with that vicious tombstone piledriver. I guess that finally caught up with him, but he's been working around that neck injury for a while now. You don't see Stone Cold taking certain moves like other wrestlers, so he's avoided it for the most part. That's a good reason why I wouldn't jump the gun to say that he's retired. Of course, he's made millions, he's about to be married a third time, so why not retire? We'll see in the upcoming weeks whether we'll ever see the Rattlesnake wrestle in the ring again.
-Ha, Jim Ross had a good rebuttal towards WCW for their parody Monday in two simple sentences: "RAW's ratings Monday were a healthy 6.3 while WCW dropped to a 2.9. That's really all that needs to be said about Monday night's programming." Wow is all I have to say, as he didn't need to bash them back. The Ratings speak volumes towards Ed Ferarra's parody, and basically he told them a phrase that I like to use a lot, and that's "how about them apples?"
-Ross said that the WWF is NOT in negotiations with the Macho Man Randy Savage, even though many sources are saying that he'll officially sign with the WWF later this month, and also that CBS mentioned that Macho was a WWF superstar for their upcoming promo for Walker, Texas Ranger. However, Ross said that it was a strange business, and that you never know what will happen. Many readers are writing me and suggesting that Macho Man could be the "car driver" who hit Stone Cold. Well, if this is true, the WWF is attempting to play it off..but even if that were true, they could only use the Macho Man in around February of 2000 or so. I don't know if I could stand to see that angle drag out till then.
-Hey, Ross said that ICP is looking to work for the WWF again. Oh joy, the fun saga continues!! The WWF doesn't seem too interested this time around.
-Smackdown nailed a 4.6 rating this week, as many have told me that this was a lackluster show, just like what I thought RAW was. This rating is down 0.3 points this week, but the WWF didn't have the star power of Arnold like they did last week. It's still a great rating, as it was against one of the final weeks of the November sweeps.
-According to WrestlingObserver.com, it seems that Vince McMahon vs. Triple H and Bossman vs. Big Show will be the headlining matches for Armageddon. Many of you readers have pointed out to me that Undertaker is on the graphic for the well designed Armageddon site. Yes, he is, BUT Lucas insisted that the graphic along with the posters were made 6 months ago for the storyline where "Armageddon" would happen when the Undertaker would stab the Big Show in the back. Now whether this is a full blown excuse, or the reasoning that the Undertaker is the driver of that darn car is left to be said. I'd say that the 'Taker is one hell of a choice now due to the WWF's constant denial about the Undertaker not coming back until 2000. December 12th, the day of Armageddon, is coming closer than you think!
-Thunder recieved a 1.8 rating for their show this week, as I'm surprised it wasn't a little higher. Although it didn't have the starpower that it should, it had many funny and entertaining spots. The main one I thought was La Parka, who should be on Nitro instead! Nobody should get in the way of the Skull Captain!
-Good God. I heard about Hogan's segment on Extra, how he was claiming age discrimination against the new WCW writers. Good lord, could we help milk this work any more? He's coming back to WCW, no matter how many people claim that he's driving the car that hit Austin. He still seems to be coming back as his real name, Terry Bolea(sp?), and he'll have somewhat of a renegade character. Nuff said.
-Oh wow, I'm impressed that WCW has decided to put some production in their house shows. Before, their house shows lacked ticket sales, and hell, it lacked the wrestlers as well. Production is good for the house shows, as I don't know how many e-mails that I recieved thoughout the year telling me how horrible a WCW house show was that they attended. They would say how boring they were, and how bad the themes played on the loud speakers. I remember going to a WCW house show back when Hall and Nash would headline them, and I remember the music being horrible. Not only does WCW face a production problem at house shows, but they must find a way to motivate wrestlers to wrestle more house shows. They offer bonuses, but those wrestlers make enough to not worry about risking injury at a house show for a little extra change. Of course, many WCW wrestlers have house shows blocked out of their contracts as well. It's a no win situation.
-To run through ECW really quickly since I did the results earlier. I wonder who hit Tammy Sytch with an ugly stick, as she looks nothing like her glory days in the WWF. Oh, hold on...she's been though a lot of hard times lately. If you haven't read her recent column, which you can by clicking Here, as she had some very interesting things to say. Anyway, I really enjoyed the main event match up with Dreamer and Raven vs. Rhino and Candido. Great finish, and a great performance by all competitors. They need to have great matches like that every week. They also had Super Crazy vs. Jerry Lynn, where Tajiri just can't keep his hands off of Super Crazy. It was rather funny to see James Vandenberg piss on his WCW career by joking how he had to manage Wrath and Mortis. I hope someone kicks Steve Corino's ass, because he's the most annoying man in wrestling!
The show gets a B+ in the Tito Gradebook this week, I predict a 1.0 Rating.
Note: I already did the Andre the Giant Biography when it was originally on, and I gave it an A+. Also, I did the Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling documentary as well, and I gave that an A+ too.
Yes, that's right! I bet you are thinking to yourself, 'what the f*ck' is Phat Farm? Well, everyday, I keep getting sample columns from readers or requests to post columns on Lords of Pain. I figured that something needed to be done for all of those who really want to write columns. So I started Phat Farm. It's like a farm system to LoP, as it will feature up and coming writers. It will feature my returning rant column, Bad Tito, as well as a column from my former Monday Night Impression tag team partner, Professor Frank McHone. Those are the two constant columns that will be featured weekly, and the other spots, who knows, just might change every week. There are 8 columns that will be featured in Phat Farm, with two of course, being constant. The other 6 spots will depend on the writers...if they can sink or swim. So Phat Farm is just opening....so check it out!
Click Here to enter the Stables of Phat Farm!!!
Take Care, and Thanks for Reading.