NEWS FROM THE MAJOR PROMOTIONS

Chris Jericho; Q and A ; Flair, Austin, Shawn Michaels and More!!!!!
The WWF was very impressed with Chris Jericho last week as a main eventer and should continue to give him a huge push. Expect Jericho to win this years King of The Ring.

*Since the announcement of Steve Austin's return to WWF TV, his marketing revenue has jumped by nearly 10 percent.

*Rikishi is expected to turn heel within the next couple of months. The WWF is thinking about putting Rikishi into a monster fued with The Big Show, or the WWF champion after Backlash.

*The WWF is really considering signing Juventud Guerrera to a contract once his WCW contract expires.
(thanks to Steve Gerweck for contributing)

Ric Flair To Be Pushed Heavily-Full Story
Ric Flair will be pushed to main event status again within the next few months. This could be Ric's last run at main event status as he is getting older and becoming less of a draw as the other younger supersars. WCW is giving this run as a gift to Ric for all the hard work over the years.


The structure of the WWF may very well be turned upside down by next week with the return of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and a rumored return of Shawn Michaels.
Jim Ross hinted in his latest Ross Report that Michaels may be returning to WWF television soon, possibly as soon as this week. This coupled with the "major announcement" that the WWF has been hyping for this Monday night's Raw is War telecast leads to some fun speculation.

When Michaels was last on WWF television, he helped Triple H beat The Rock in a title match on the first episode of Smackdown for the fall season. The WWF may very well have Vince McMahon announce a special referee for the match, with the official being HBK himself, or announce that Michaels will be in Triple H's corner instead of himself to even the playing fields. This would leave four of the biggest WWF stars in recent history involved in one match, with Michaels, Austin, Rock and Triple H all being involved, with Rock and Austin on oposing sides with Helmsley and Michaels.

Ironically, Michaels last major WWF match was dropping the WWF title to Austin at WrestleMania IV.

Bear in mind that this is just speculation, and for all we know, the major announcement may be something as obscure as the main event being a no DQ contest (has there been a WWF main event in recent history that wasn't no DQ?) But it does lead to some interesting speculation

World Championship Wrestling and its new regime debuted on Monday, April 10, 2000. Two weeks later the organization is still experiencing increased ratings and more supportive viewership.
Now, as reported on the 10th of April, WCW has decided to continue work on new sets, some unlike the ones currently viewed on Monday Nitro and Thunder. The current "Nitro Vision" and "Thunder Tron"--as they arenicknamed--should be replaced in the coming weeks.

Although fans have expressed their pleasure towards the current sets, WCW wants to bring in the men that design the stage for the musical group Smashing Pumpkins. New sets are currently being designed and should be upin the next few weeks, if not sooner.



Ask Kevin: weirdkev@powerwrestling.com
* Question: "Is it true you were fired from The Internet outlaws website as well as many....many others because your Q&A column were causing to many fans to dump the crap and get the real deal from POWERWRESTLING.COM??????"
* Answer: No, that is not true at all. I quit many sites due to the fact that I posted at too many. I trimmed down to 10. I was fired from one site in recent memory, but that had nothing to do with the Ask Kevin bit.

* Question: "Lately Jericho has been getting a huge push. I was just thinking that maybe the main event at Backlash could become a triple threat match. Jericho would become the third person and to even up the odds he would have HBK in his corner. Do you think this is going to happen, or is it even possible."
* Answer: I think that would be cool, but it would be too much like Wrestlemania. With the adding a new wrestler, and putting someone in their corner. Chris Jericho already has a match at Backlash, and that's for the Intercontinental Championship against Chris Benoit. I'm not sure if Shawn Michaels will be at Backlash or not, and if so, what role he will play. I'm sure that he'll still use the commissioner role for a bit, but that wouldn't rule out a special referee or anything like that. Now that you think about it, I can see Triple H putting Shawn in there as a special referee. He can come out on RAW and say that since Earl was fired, they need a referee for the Main Event, and they can make it Shawn Michaels. That's just my opinion, so don't take that as any type of news.

* Question: "Where can I get some pics of Hunter Hearst Helmsley in his early Greenwich Snob days? Also, why does everyone ask the same ?'s over and over and why don't ya'll just not be lazy and check out the archives!!!! Thanks!"
* Answer: I have a few pictures of Triple H in his early days in the Triple H bio on PowerWrestling.com. They are small, but I think you can get the point from them. I'm not sure why everyone asks the same question over. There are a lot of new readers every day, and they may not know about the Archives, or they are too lazy to check. I don't mind answering the same question over again. It's just that some readers are sick of seeing the same thing over. All I can suggest is to skip over that answer.

* Question: "Do you think the WWF will eventually make a tribute video for Shawn Michaels? I think he deserves it and do you think Shawn will come on WWF TV to announce his retirement?"
* Answer: I really hope they would. He deserves to go out the way that Mick Foley did with the tribute video and all.

* Question: "I've got 2 questions. Remember back when Crush came back with Clarence Mason? He had a tattoo on his forehead. Did he just keep pasting it on every time he was on tv or what? 2nd, what does the term 'ribbed' mean? I'm kinda sure it's like getting a joke played on you or something like that, but I'm not totally sure. Thanks."
* Answer: The "tattoo" that he had was nothing more than face paint. As for being ribbed, you're right as to what it means.

* Question: "If you remember the '97 or '98 Survivor Series, there was a match between the Canadians against the Americans. The Americans had Vader, Steve Blackman, Goldust, and Marc Mero w/Sable. The Canadians had British Bulldog, Anvil Neidhart, and this one tag team. What was the name of the tag team and whatever happened to them?"
* Answer: They were Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon. I'm not sure where they are wrestling today if they are even wrestling. If I had to guess, it would either be in Japan or the indies somewhere.

* Question: "Can you please tell me the link to the Raw that happened the night after wrestlemania 14, when X-Pac and the Outlaws joined DX. I can't quite recall how it all came to be."
* Answer: http://www.powerwrestling.com/wwf/results/1998/march/raw3-30-98.html

* Question: "I wanted to know if Kane and the Undertaker are really brothers?"
* Answer: Nope, they are not. That is just their gimmick.

* Question: "Ok when, where, and why did the outlaws get together?"
* Answer: When: October of 1997, Where: Shotgun Saturday Night. Why: The two were going no where in singles ranks, so they were put together to maybe have success, and that they did.

* Question: "I was wondering if Jerry Lawler and the Kat are really an item? Also, is Grandmaster Sexay the son of Lawler or was that just a gimmick?"
* Answer: Yes, they are an item, but they are not married. And yes, Grandmaster Sexay is really the son of Jerry Lawler. His real name is Brian Christopher Lawler.

* Question: "Hello Kevin, Do you know what Tatanka's Finishing Move Was? and Do You Ever See Him (Tatanka) Or Yokozuna, returning to the WWF?"
* Answer: Tatanka used the Fall Away Slam as they called it then. What we see now of that move is the samoan drop. They seem to call the thing that Bradshaw does now a fall away slam. When Tatanka wrestled, they called his finisher the Fall away slam. I could possibly see Tatanka back in the WWF, but I don't know about Yokozuna. If he were to lose weight yes, but I don't see that happening.

* Question: "How long has HHH had the title? When did he win it? And against whom? One last question who do you think will beat the HHH for the title because the Rock is not going to win it at Backlash?"
* Answer: Triple H won the belt from The Big Show at the beginning of January. I believe the date of the show was January 3. Who says The Rock isn't going to win at Backlash? There's so many things that can happen here. Many expect the WWF not to put the belt on The Rock, because he is going to film for The Mummy 2. The Rock is only going to miss two days of T.V. for that. They match at Backlash could go either way.

* Question: "What do you think the WWF will do to help boost its ratings since the Rock is leaving?"
Answer: Nothing. They aren't going to need to boost much. The Rock is only going to miss 2 days of T.V., if that. They could do a Live feed from London to put him on T.V.

* Question: "I think that Crash Holly is a great wrestler. Do you think there is a possibility of him going for any of the single title belts in the future after he's done with the Hardcore title belt."
Answer: Yes. Very much so, I believe he would be GREAT for the Light Heavyweight division.

THE FAKE BLUE BLAZER
I just wanted to point this out. Many times in the past, I have gotten emails from arrogant people saying that D'Lo Brown or Mark Henry was the fake Blue Blazer, or even Mo from Men on a Mission. Dave Meltzer was talking about it on Wrestling Observer Live on Friday I believe it was, and he confirmed it was Koko B. Ware, just like I said.

News on the outcome of Wrestle Mania
Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Undertaker may make an appearance during the main event. The strategy is to not only cost the Rock the belt but to injure him.
*Stephanie McMahon may turn against Triple H at Wrestlemania during the main event.

*Don't be too surprised if Mick Foley walks out of Wrestlemania, new champ.
(thanks to New York daily News Online)

**HUGE News Update: 04/24/00: KIMBERLY's huge Nitro-Announcement involves BISCHOFF, Shawn Michaels to reinstate referee Hebner, Lance Storm is officially done with ECW, SID vs. Hogan was original plan for SLAMBOREE, Miss Kitty does EASTER-BUNNY costume photo shoot, & TONS MORE...**
To start off today's mega-packed Update, I want to wish all out there a very Happy Easter. I hope everyone's holiday weekend went well, as tomorrow may be the start of another school-week, but it's also set to be a big day for Pro Wrestling. You saw the rumors and news in yesterday's Update regarding RAW & Nitro, so don't miss out on those shows tomorrow. Anyway, before the first tidbit, I just wanna' tell you all that I added a Miss Kitty photo gallery to my site today, except it's different from the previous two days. Today only, I've got those hot photo's off of her WWF-Diva shoot where she's got on some [fitting for the holiday] Easter Bunny ears and a bunny-tail thong. You can view them by heading on over to TheWrestlingWire.com, or simply by clicking -->>*HERE!*<<-- Enjoy the Update!
For starters, I thought this tidbit was kinda' funny. Earlier in the year, WCW ran off printed poster-ads for their "Slamboree" PPV, which is only a short couple weeks away in The Kemper Arena. Anyway, most of the posters ran off, as well as a couple video's, have Sid holding the belt talking about how "...nobody in WCW can beat me for this belt!" and such. Basically, if you're confused, WCW just basically forgot to cancel these placed commercial and poster ads, since it was originally done during the Bill Busch/Kevin Sullivan "era." If the plans would've followed through, Sid would have beaten The Hulkster himself in the main-event of this PPV.

In a quick piece of WCW news, some are curious as to who Judge Jeff Jones would offer his managerial skills to now that Mike Awesome's jumped ship on over to WCW. Plans as of now show that Jones may actually begin managing former WCW jobber, Johnny Swinger, as he has in the past only a few times. It's not like Jones was thrown into this idea, as he backed it up in his "In Contempt" column saying it'd be cool, but he doesn't know "...if it'll be a long-term relationship."

Keeping on page here with ECW news & notes, word out the rumor mill is that Lance Storm may very well **already** be done with ECW. Basically, within the past 24 hours, a lot of things have happened to the ECW star. For those who saw or read about CyberSlam 2000 last night, then you know about Lance Storm's near-serious neck-injury during his mixed tag-team match. Now, with only a week or so left on his contract, the big question is if Lance is interested in staying ... or leaving. I could hardly call this proof, but over at ECWwrestling.com, all records of Lance Storm's involvement with ECW have been taken off the pages, including his tag-title reign with Justin Credible. Going back to the neck injury, some are saying that it looks bad enough that he could be on the sidelines another 4-6 seeks, sealing the fact that the tag-titles will be stripped off of Justin and he, as well as doubt that he'll re-sign with ECW. If all things turn out true, WCW is his next stop...

Speaking of unrecognized title-reigns, "Y2J" Chris Jericho's ten-minute WWF World Title reign was never officially accounted for, which some aren't too happy about. For those that noticed this, it's not that the WWF didn't count it for any particular reason, it's just to follow the whole storyline of Earl Hebner reversing all decisions making it looked like "nothing ever happened." I try to go out on a limb a lot here in these Updates, and hell, I'm wrong sometimes, however, I did hear that if Shawn Michaels was brought back to WWF television this week, he would reinstate referee Earl Hebner and make him the official referee of the main-event at Backlash. As I said, that is just a rumor I picked up on, so don't take it with a grain of salt just yet.

On a rather ironic note, Kurt Angle's current "fight for abstinence" angle is actually something developed by himself as a joke. As revealed on Dave Meltzer's "Eyada" show, Angle's current wife, who is supposedly extremely gorgeous, was actually a stripper at one point in their early marriage. I just thought that this was sorta' funny, as it might be an oxymoron in-between Kurt's humorous side and vengeful side.

The WCW Hotline for today, hosted by Jason Shaya, revealed quite a few interesting things. They're as follows...

^*^ Bret Hart will be at Nitro on Monday, but will definitely not participate in the ring. Bret's health status is said to be at such an all-time low that he gets dizzy when merely trying to lift weights or run. On a side-note, the TVQuest.com Nitro-preview says "Will Bret Hart reveal his allegiance?"

^*^ As I hinted at above, there are many rumors of Shawn Michaels return to WWF television. However, Shaya actually says flat-out that don't believe anything until you hear a confirmation or see it for yourself.

^*^ In Jason's own words, "The announcement that Kimberly Page has for Nitro is so huge, it will shock everyone." I wonder what the hell it is? Hell, I know this isn't an opinion report, but I'm just gonna' say that Kim slept with Bischoff. What do you think?

^*^ Continuing the plug for tomorrow's Nitro, he says that an unimaginable event or angle will occur tomorrow regarding Kidman and Hogan. This is said to be the final stepping stone into their match at "Slamboree."

^*^ Finally, a very pro-WCW Shaya closes off the Hotline by ripping apart ECW and talking about how bad CyberSlam 2000 sucked. He proceeded to give results, and said the finish was a horrible one.

Lastly for today, I scored myself a big tidbit regarding where the WWF stands with USA. Hell, if you watch RAW every week then you might wanna' follow this one along. Basically, the WWF threatened to sue USA, only to have USA surprisingly [and actually] countersue not only the WWF, but CBS & Viacom, as well. Basically, by this huge act brought upon by USA, the April 27th court-date will not be enough to settle this large of a dispute, so the four parties have agreed on a second court-date, which looks to be June 12th; on a late-afternoon Monday. If the WWF were to win, they could chose where they'd bring their program to, regarding the network arguments. If USA wins, then WWF is forced into a contract for another couple years to keep RAW on USA, along with all its other sub-shows. CBS and Viacom are basically stand-in's for this trial, as they are only factors in the case if the WWF were to win.