WWF to make talent cuts, Rhyno out six months, Rikishi update, more Submitted by William Martinez on Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at 5:34 PM EST
Rhyno met with Dr. Youngblood yesterday in San Antonio regarding his neck injury and it was recommended that he have surgery to repair the two herniated discs in his neck. The surgery is currently scheduled for November 2nd and he will probably be out a minimum of six months as a result of it.
Chyna will be guest starring in a celebrity edition of NBC's Fear Factor on November 27th.
Several HWA wrestlers were backstage at last night's Smackdown tapings, including several former WCW talents who came on when the WWF bought the company.
Word backstage at the tapings were that talent cuts would be coming to the WWF's developmental territories by the end of the year, perhaps even on the main roster.
The general feeling in the WWF lockerroom is that WWF storylines are lacking the quality they once had that there are a lot of talent that isn't being used. However, Vince McMahon is very happy with the current product and has been playing a big part in the creative process.
In a recent radio interview, Rikishi stated that he has lost 60 pounds since leaving the WWF following his loss to William Regal at Judgment Day.
Raven will be a guest on this weekend's WWF Excess.
CTV Sportsnet in Canada will be pre-empting Sunday's Heat for one hour in the Ontario region due to a Raptors game.
WWF Livewire will air at 1 AM on CTV Sportsnet on November 10th and at 5 PM on November 11th in the Ontario region due to a Raptors game.
WWF Sunday Night Heat will air at 8 PM in the Pacific region on CTV Sportsnet due to a Canucks game.
Credit: WWFCanada.com
Teen-ager indicted in death of 9-year-old during play imitating TV wrestling moves
WILKESBORO, N.C. (AP) - A teen-ager was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case of a 9-year-old who died after the two imitated wrestling moves they had seen on television.
Jason Ray Crabb, 16, was indicted Tuesday by a Wilkes County grand jury in the death of Derek Alexander Garland. If convicted, Crabb faces between 10 months and four years and one month in prison.
Garland died July 17, hours after he was injured while grappling with Crabb in the house where they lived. Garland's mother had been engaged to Crabb's father. The two boys had been left alone at the mother's home for 30 to 45 minutes.
Julie Garland has said the boys were imitating wrestling moves they had seen on television.
Crabb told deputies Garland jumped off a bed and onto his back. Then Crabb, who weighs about 225 pounds, flipped Garland, who weighed about 65 pounds, onto his head.
An autopsy showed that the death was caused by a blunt-force injury to the head and neck.
Credit: Yahoo! News
Shannon Rose sent in the following:
Pro Wrestling Weekly WWBA AM 1040 in Tampa, Florida Wednesdays from 7-8 pm EST Hosts: Shannon Rose & special guest host Aaron Royal with producer "Slappy" Adam Websites: http://prowrestlingdaily.com & http://audiowrestling.com
Recap by Randy Reed
[Oct 20, 2001] Guests: "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and IPW Hardcore Owner Ron Niemi
-The show starts off with Aaron announcing that he is there to save the show. He says that the fans want him on the show and they finally got him. Shannon reminds Aaron who the host is and who the co-host is.
-Shannon opens the lines up until Piper calls in. Aaron tries to be Stone Cold. He keeps saying What! Ron Niemi calls the show up. He talks about a dog collar match Piper had early on in his career and mentions how bloody it was. He then talks about the Christian Wrestling Federation and IPW. Shannon asks Ron about RVD and what he think will happen at No Mercy. Ron mentions how normally when a guy comes in the WWF, the WWF may give a push as time goes on however, the guy becomes mid-card talent. Ron says that this won't happen with RVD because the fans won't let it happen. Ron says that RVD may be the spark the WWF needs to increase ratings.
Ron then goes on and talks about how there are many other wrestlers in the WWF locker room, who if given the chance like RVD, could be impressive. Ron points out that its fine to have Rock, Austin, Benoit, and Jericho as main eventers, but after a while the fans are going to get tired of those guys. Aaron asks Ron about some of the WCW guys who are under contract with Time Warner right now, coming into the WWF when there contracts expire. Ron says that bringing in Ric Flair, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall would boost ratings instantly. Ron thinks that bringing back Kevin and Scott would be a cancer to the locker room and describes it as being equivalent to bringing back Shawn Michaels.
-Rowdy Piper joins the show. Shannon asks Rowdy about the XWF. He mentions that he just signed on and mentions that Hogan, Valentine, Hawk, Bret Hart, Nasty Boys, and other big names are a part of the XWF. He says that the goal of the XWF is to get young talent over. He labels the XWF as the democracy of wrestling. Shannon asks Rowdy who he was trained by. Rowdy says that he has never been to wrestling school a day in his life. Piper talks more about the XWF with Ron Niemi. He emphasizes that the XWF is there for the young talent. Shannon asks Piper how was it working with Hogan. Piper says that him and Hogan hated each other from the beginning. He described Hogan as McMahon's boy. When it was time for Piper to do interviews about Hogan, McMahon was very protective over Hogan, and a lot of times Piper couldn't say what he wanted because of that. Piper says that McMahon tried to bury him. McMahon wanted Piper to just laid down for Hogan, but Piper said that he just couldn't do that because he was just to competitive. Shannon asks Piper if he would ever go back to the WWF. Piper said no but then he said to never say never.
-A caller calls up and asks Rowdy how it felt to be the best heel in the 80s. Mentions that he has gotten heat from fans outside of wrestling. He has been stabbed three times, and his family has been attacked by fans as well.
-Aaron asks Piper about rumors of Jerry Lawler signing with the XWF. Piper says that Lawler has signed with the XWF. Aaron asks Piper what wrestling at the first Starcade as a main eventer and at the first Wrestlemania as a main eventer was like. He says that the dog collar match he did at Starcade was something he would never do again. Just weeks earlier, the WWF had just did a show at Shae Stadium that had a gate worth over $500,000. Piper said that it was a lot of heart put into the show that night, and especially with his and Valentine's match.
