WWE Showing RAW Favortism, Sting To NWA-TNA? & More Submitted by Matt Boone on Thursday, February 27, 2003 at 2:36 PM EST
The following news is derived and re-written from the Torch Newsletter.
The backstage morale on the SmackDown! brand continues to be a bit shakey. Many consider it obvious now that McMahon is focusing the majority of his time and big ideas/returning superstars to fix the slumping RAW. Although The Rock and Hulk Hogan both came back on the SmackDown! side, Steve Austin is slated to return to the RAW side. To add to that, WWE moved Rock over to RAW to build towards Austin/Rock at WrestleMania. Due to the fact that Rock and Hogan aren't going to be around that long, and Austin most likely will be, it's considered a bad move. Especially since Rock's short stint will now be on the RAW brand. McMahon making RAW his top priority is starting to hit the wallets of SmackDown! wrestlers as he gives the majority of the bigger venues for house shows to the RAW roster, which means more people in attendance and bigger payoffs for the wrestlers on the card. For example, if RAW is in Phoenix, SmackDown! would be in Tucson. If RAW is in Los Angeles, SmackDown! would be in Bakersfield.
According to many, NWA-TNA officials are said to be under the impression that Sting is more willing now than ever to do a show or two with the company. Sting recently caused WWA to hold off on their May tour due to the fact that he was unable to make the majority of the scheduled dates on the tour. However, during the last WWA tour he did a few radio spots to promote their PPV, and said he wasn't against the idea of another run in the wrestling industry. TNA is hoping the figures work out so that Sting can work one of their shows, possibly continuing the tradition of the surprise appearances. However, in the case of Sting, it would be smarter to get the word out in advance so they get the most bang for their buck.
