Every Tuesday and Friday we give you the scoop on what's happening in and out of the wrestling ring. Somedays it's even funny!

"I told Vince he needed more me."

Chairshots
11/09/01

Smackdown
There is finally hope that the WWF is not only making changes but listening to the fans. The biggest thing to happen on Smackdown last night wasn't Austin's interrogation of Alliance members or Chris Jericho's attack on The Rock. It was one quick segment between Vince McMahon and The Big Show where Vince offered to let Big Show wrestle in the main event match at Survivor Series rather than Vince doing it. At first I didn't believe it and then I was sure Big Show would be attacked by the Alliance, meaning he couldn't compete. However, it al worked out and Vince successfully (and to the great appreciation of WWF fans) took himself out of the main event match. Kudos.

Maybe now if we all clap our hands and hold our breath, Shane will get someone to fill in for him at Survivor Series too. The rest of Smackdown was solid entertainment with few surprises. All the matches were enjoyable and lame entertainment was kept to a minimum.

Ratings
Monday Night Raw on TNN scored a combined 4.0 rating for the week. That is down from last week's 4.1 rating. Excess scored a downright icky 0.6 rating, same as last week. Sunday Night Heat on MTV got a low 1.0 rating, with the late replay doing a .5. That is down from last week's 1.4 and .6 respectively. Smackdown did a 4.1 broadcast rating. Given the competition (Friends, Survivor, The Tick) that they faced last night, that is a strong number for the show. As it is I tape Smackdown and watch it after those other shows. Thank God ABC sucks or I'd be out of VCRs.

"We All Suck But You're Great, Mr. McMahon!"
The majority of the WWF locker room held a post-Smackdown taping meeting on Tuesday with Vince McMahon. When McMahon asked if there were any concerns about the product, some spoke out (no report of who) about how it isn't at the level it should be. McMahon was said to be respectful of the workers. Another sign of the WWF getting a clue and changes on the way. Yay.

"Stephanie, Go Fire Some People"
The WWF confirmed today that it was "pack your desk day" at the WWF offices. Reportedly 39 employees were laid off and President and COO Stuart Snyder resigned. The press release also quoted Linda McMahon as saying that the firings were the first "significant round of layoffs in about eight years," and that they will save the WWF about $9 million a year. Those were either some well-paid employees or they were really hogging the office supplies.

Kurt Angle Speaks!
Kurt Angle was a guest on ESPN's "Unscripted" and made an interesting remark about Rob Van Dam. He was talking about his nose being broken recently and said it was done by a guy "who doesn't even deserve to have his name mentioned." Kurt could have not mentioned his name out of respect or it could be a sign that there is some animosity between Kurt and Rob due to Rob's recent numerous accidents in the ring. Kurt also mentioned that he wanted to enter the 2004 Olympics, which would require an extended leave from the WWF. I can only imagine how huge it would be for the WWF if Kurt Angle makes the Olympics. The media attention alone would be worth giving Kurt time off.

Konnan Speaks!
Viva la raza boy, Konnan, recently was quoted in an Orlando newspaper as thinking Vince McMahon is too hard on the people he considers to have burned a bridge with the WWF in the past. Konnan has had almost no interest from the WWF since WCW went out of business, or when Konnan's guaranteed contract with Time Warner expired. "Just because someone leaves you for a better deal doesn't make you a traitor, doesn't make you disloyal," said Konnan. It's kind of a one-sided point of view for Konnan. Kevin Nash (left on good terms) and Scott Hall (left on bad terms) both left the WWF for WCW and they are both in talks to return. Jeff Jarrett left on bad terms and the WWF has not asked him to return but the WWF doesn't think Jarrett is worth the time, money or has the talent they need. With as many wrestlers as are currently on the WWF roster, who they hire has to be carefully considered.

That Ain't Val Venis!
There is a group of indy wrestlers in Great Britain claiming to be WWF wrestlers. Apparently they are running shows under false pretenses and not paying their bills at local venues. Karen Watson, of local firm Print Point, was quoted in the Sunday Mail: "We were completely duped. Because these people had shows in recognized venues and had been all over the country, we agreed to do some work for them, such as making posters for their events. We've been trying to get money back from them ever since. The more digging I do, the more businesses I find with the same problem." I knew that when the WWF created fake Undertaker, fake Razor Ramon and fake Diesel, that it would come back to bite them in the ass.

Big Pappa Pill Poppa
Scott Steiner announced on his official website, www.bootydaddy.com (we wanted that for our URL but it was obviously taken) that he would be appearing at the World Wrestling All-Stars tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland starting in late November through December. This will be the first appearance Steiner has made since the final WCW Monday Nitro, where he lost the WCW World championship to Booker T. Steiner says "time's up. I can't stand sitting and waiting any longer. December 1 is the date. The contract that's kept me under wraps for almost a year is finally up. England is the first country to see the return of the Genetic Freak. It will be a 10-day rampage through cities large and small. But that's just a teaser. Midajah and I will be getting ourselves back in gear for the big return coming after the holidays...watch for it. You ain't seen nothin' yet...."
The WWA tour dates are:
11/27 in Belfast, Ireland
11/28 in Dublin, Ireland
12/1 in at the Birmingham NEC
12/3 at the London Arena
12/5 at the Wembley Arena

That Girl That Used to be Chyna Speaks!
Joanie Laurer (Chyna) was a guest on Off The Record this week. Here are the highlights:

Her contract expired on November 1st.

When she did playboy, she made more money than her 5 years in the WWF.

On reasons for leaving the WWF: She felt her character was going backwards. She said she learned wrestling from men, and all of a sudden, she wasn't allowed to be wrestling men.

She said there was nobody in the WWF that did not want to wrestle her (wink, wink).

She said she was wrestling people that couldn't wrestle (referring to some of the women), and that was difficult for her to put them over.

Vince asked her to put Lita over and she said no. But her match on PPV against Lita was great, she said even though she won the match, she put Lita over like a million bucks.

On HHH: She did not know that they always had a relationship going on (HHH and Steph). When she found out, she was devastated. Especially when it's with the bosses' daughter. She confronted the situation to the best she could. Shortly after that, the WWF told her they wouldn't be needing Chyna on TV anymore.

She wishes that the situation would have been handled differently. She wished that Stephanie would have taken different actions. She never talked to anyone of them after that. She wanted to really do movies, Playboy... She said HHH wanted to wrestle and she was into other things. HHH lived wrestling 24/7. In retrospect she is glad they didn't get married, have kids, etc…She is not bitter over this whole thing, she got over it, but she is disappointed.

She thinks that Stephanie hasn't found her true identity and that she is a little immature, but she's under a lot of pressure. She doesn't blame Stephanie, she blames HHH.

XWF Press Release
Hulk Hogan's new promotion released the following today:

ORLANDO, Nov. 9, 2001 - - Pro wrestling's hottest stars of today, as well as the top talent of tomorrow, have joined forces to launch the XWF, a new pro wrestling league that promises to bring back all of the tradition, excitement and fan-friendly activities that seem to have been missing in recent years from one of America's favorite pastimes. The XWF will debut with the taping of 10 hours of TV programming on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 13-14, 2001, at Universal Studios, Orlando. Tickets are free, and can be reserved by calling: 407/224-5871. Details are not yet available for when the shows will air on TV.

Among the ring superstars who have come aboard the XWF ship are Roddy Piper, The Nasty Boys, Rena (I'm guessing that is Rena Mero, formerly Sable), Hacksaw Jim Duggan (Hooooo!), Mean Gene Okerlund, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Konnan, Vampiro, the Road Warriors, The Demon, Curt Hennig and Buff Bagwell. Also on the XWF team are such all-time pro wrestling favorites as Jerry "The King" Lawler, "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, plus announcers Tony Schiavone and David Penzer.

Looking to the future, the XWF has signed some of the top young talent from around the world, including 6'9"-360 lb. Hail, "The British Storm" Ian Harrison, European Giant Drezden, Puerto Rico's Ray Gonzales, The Shane Twins, Kid Krash, Juventud Guerrera, Psychosis and Chris Daniels.

Book It
Clearly the WWF knows better than I do. Rather than using Billy Kidman in the way I outlined in last week's Book It, they had him and Stasiak get their asses handed to them by Big Show. How could I have been so foolish?

This week in Book it I want to focus on another wrestler that isn't being used at all on current WWF TV but is a former world champion. Justin Credible was once touted as the future of ECW, but since signing with the WWF has been mired in the WWF mid-card. His original stint in the WWF is one of great legend as well as shame. Aldo Montoya is the name that Credible, real name Pete Polaco, will carry to his grave. In early 1995 Credible made his debut in costume as Aldo Montoya: The Portuguese Man of War. Not only was Polaco not Portuguese but his costume looked like a gold colored luchador with a jock strap on his head. This was around 1996 when the NWO angle began on WCW and is it any wonder with gimmicks like the Portuguese Man of War that WCW kicked the WWF's asses for a few years? Poloaco spent 1995-1997 jobbing to other WWF mid-carders until the WWF sent him down to ECW in a talent exchange. Paul Heyman knew the ECW hated the WWF and their stupid gimmicks and had the sense to capitalize on that by making him a heel.

Polaco was given a new name (Justin Credible), new manager (Jason, the obnoxious male model), a new finisher, ("That's Incredible," a corkscrew tombstone piledriver), and most importantly, a new outfit (jean shorts). It worked. The crowd hated Credible (often chanting "Aldo" during his matches) but hey, that was the point! Credible swiftly became ECW's most obnoxious heel. Credible was placed in a feud with ECW's most popular babyface, Tommy Dreamer. However, this feud began in a manner in which no other company had dared to go: Credible interrupted a ten bell vigil for Dreamer's deceased grandfather to tell Dreamer he wished that it was him that had died. Ouch. The two stars had a number of bloody matches in an awesome feud. Credible earned the hate of the ECW fans, formed a successful tag team with Lance Strom, managed to capture the ECW World Title and earned the moniker "Justin Asshole." Not bad for the former The Portuguese Man or War.

Here we are a few years later and Credible is barely on WWF television and when he is, it's usually nothing interesting. So, how do we get Credible back in the game? During his next match, Justin should lose cleanly to someone, let's say Billy Gunn. As he's leaving the ring, he grabs the microphone and says "since I signed with the WWF, I've been treated like shit. I'm a former ECW world champion and I deserve respect. I just lost to a guy that used to be known as Mr. Ass. Vince McMahon, Paul Heyman, Jim Ross, you can all go to hell, cause I quit." Then he leaves. Credible doesn't appear on television for one week while Internet and fan speculation about the truth to Credible's shoot like comments are pondered. One week later during a Lance Storm vs. Jeff Hardy match, Credible comes to ring side from the crowd and beats the hell out of Hardy. Words are exchanged by Storm and Credible that we can't hear and they leave together through the crowd.

As weeks pass, Storm and Credible continue to make run ins from the crowd causing havoc for the WWF wrestlers. Eventually they attack Vince McMahon while Vince is cutting a promo. The next show they jump Paul Heyman. The following week Heyman gets in the ring to talk about the attack and vows that they will come to a stop. He says he's found a couple guys that can put and end to the attacks. Heyman introduces Tommy Dreamer and Tazz. The four guys have a feud that eventually leads to a PPV match. During the match, Tazz turns on Dreamer and Credible and Storm win.

The next night on Raw Tazz tells the crowd that Dreamer has always played second fiddle to Credible and Tazz knew better than to be on the losing side. Storm, Credible and Tazz form a stable of short, but bad ass wrestlers. The same night, Credible gets a title shot against the current Intercontinental champ. Credible cheats with a low blow while the refs back is turned and as he's going for the pin to capture the belt, Tommy Dreamer runs in and lays the Smackdown on Credible (it's only fair since Credible did that to Dreamer back in ECW.) Dreamer is able to win the Hardcore championship later that week despite Credible's interference. The two spin off in to their own feud with a series of matches and it eventually culminates in a PPV match for the hardcore title belt. During the match, as Dreamer is about to win, Jazz (Credible's one time valet that recently signed with the WWF) makes her debut and helps Credible win.

Credible is now a credible champion, has a powerful valet and the leader of a heel stable. Heels stables are good (as long as you don't call them X-factor) and should do a great deal for the popularity of all involved. Credible, Dreamer, Tazz and Strom have all worked together so quality matches shouldn't be a problem. Jazz doesn't hurt because, well, guys like chicks. From then on, it's up to Credible to prove that he has both the in ring ability and mic skills to succeed. At least this way, the WWF has provided him a platform form which Credible and the others can all make a name for themselves. It worked for the Rock when he was with the NOD, but didn't work for D-Lo Brown. Either way, it's more entertaining than having them be fodder for The Big Show.

That's Book It, that's Chairshots and I am outta here.