08-05-2002, 11:01 PM
Apparently, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were against moving the announcers table to the top of the entrance stage. Although Ross said in his latest Ross report that he was getting used to the new position, he originally opposed the move. Both Ross and Lawler believe their announcing is better when they are within a few feet of the live crowd. It was Vince McMahon's decision to move the table.
The venue for next year's WrestleMania 19 PPV will most likely be Safeco Field in Seattle. All the details have not been finalised yet, which explains why no official statement has been made. The park holds about 48,000 people for baseball games, but could be expanded to 55,000 for a wrestling event.
- Contrary to previous rumors, the originally proposed Summerslam match between Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon is off. Although no one knows for sure, it is likely due to the fact that Vince is taking himself off TV for a while, but there are rumors that WWE will save this match for next year's Wrestlemania instead.
- There was a lot of changes with the Smackdown! main event a couple weeks ago between the Rock and Kurt Angle. The original plan by Paul Heyman and Michael Hayes had Rock tapping out to Angle, but both Pat Patterson and Triple H argued against it and ultimately got it changed.
- The John Cena-Chris Jericho match on the same show also created a lot of debate and confusion. The original plan there was for Cena to win via pinfall and then for Jericho to attack Cena leading to their Vengeance match. Triple H and Paul Heyman supported this scenario, while Jericho and Hayes did not but in the end it was not used. At one point, Vince McMahon wanted to re-do the entire match after the taping but was talked out of it by Hayes who then got upset at Triple H and Heyman because he thought his finish was fine. However, then others went back to Vince and complained that Cena was getting buried at which point Vince seemed to have enough and pulled the match off of the PPV (although it was later re-added). Vince also reportedly was close to not even airing the original Smackdown! match due to the complaints and worries.
- WWE has signed new contracts with Molly Holly, Batista, John Cena, Linda Miles, Jackie Gayda, Maven and Nidia. The Tough Enough contracts call for $52,000 guaranteed in the first year followed by two option years of $78,000.
The venue for next year's WrestleMania 19 PPV will most likely be Safeco Field in Seattle. All the details have not been finalised yet, which explains why no official statement has been made. The park holds about 48,000 people for baseball games, but could be expanded to 55,000 for a wrestling event.
- Contrary to previous rumors, the originally proposed Summerslam match between Hollywood Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon is off. Although no one knows for sure, it is likely due to the fact that Vince is taking himself off TV for a while, but there are rumors that WWE will save this match for next year's Wrestlemania instead.
- There was a lot of changes with the Smackdown! main event a couple weeks ago between the Rock and Kurt Angle. The original plan by Paul Heyman and Michael Hayes had Rock tapping out to Angle, but both Pat Patterson and Triple H argued against it and ultimately got it changed.
- The John Cena-Chris Jericho match on the same show also created a lot of debate and confusion. The original plan there was for Cena to win via pinfall and then for Jericho to attack Cena leading to their Vengeance match. Triple H and Paul Heyman supported this scenario, while Jericho and Hayes did not but in the end it was not used. At one point, Vince McMahon wanted to re-do the entire match after the taping but was talked out of it by Hayes who then got upset at Triple H and Heyman because he thought his finish was fine. However, then others went back to Vince and complained that Cena was getting buried at which point Vince seemed to have enough and pulled the match off of the PPV (although it was later re-added). Vince also reportedly was close to not even airing the original Smackdown! match due to the complaints and worries.
- WWE has signed new contracts with Molly Holly, Batista, John Cena, Linda Miles, Jackie Gayda, Maven and Nidia. The Tough Enough contracts call for $52,000 guaranteed in the first year followed by two option years of $78,000.