Two 'Raw' PPV's headed in October, Foley upset, Undertaker getting heat, and more
May 20 2004 at 5:24 PM
- Last week we reported that apart from signing Kenzo Suzuki, WWE had also signed his wife Hiroko to a contract. It is believed that she was only hired as a ring attendant mainly so she can travel with her husband and serve as his interpreter since Suzuki doesn’t speak English very well.
- Mick Foley was reportedly not happy at comments made by Ric Flair recently while in the UK. Flair basically said that Foley was overrated as a wrestler and only relied on his stunts. Foley was okay with that but took issue that Flair made those comments as part of a promotional tour which featured a match between him and Randy Orton, suggesting that Flair’s comments took heat away from their feud. Foley ended up both writing a letter to Flair about his issues and he also lodged a complaint to Johnny Laurinaitus
- Booker T has been asked to stop doing the Spinaroonie at house shows because it leads to the fans cheering him. Agent Jack Lanza told him that he could continue to tease the Spinaroonie but to hold off so people would instead boo him.
- Right now the plan in October is to have two PPVs and for them to both be exclusive to the RAW-brand - one on 10/3 and the other on 10/19. It is expected to be somewhat of an experiment to see if people will watch a hot RAW on Monday and then buy a PPV the next night which will feature the fall-out from the TV show.
- Backstage at Smackdown there is some fear going around within the company that Undertaker is going to be running through all of the heels on the Smackdown roster. This comes at a time when Smackdown is sufferring and desperately needs to create new superstars; especially heels. On top of that, the general feeling right now is that the feud with Booker T has done absolutely nothing to elevate Booker T, and it has moreso maybe even hurt him.
For a while now, Undertaker has been referred to as the Triple H of the Smackdown brand, though Undertaker is a true locker room leader and team player in the company; and should get more props than Triple H in that respect. Undertaker is pushing close to 40 years old and is currently being used as a "special attraction" on Smackdown and the feeling is that when you have a guy like that defeat a guy like Booker T, who is on TV every week and is someone who the company is trying to get over as one of the top heels on the brand, it hurts a lot more than it helps.
Undertaker is nearing the end of his career - though, granted, he still has a few years left in him for sure - but many feel that bringing Undertaker back at this stage in his career just to squash other potential star power is pointless. The general feeling is that Undertaker should begin to follow the recent lead set by Triple H on RAW, and begin elevating and doing what he can to 'give the rub' to some of the younger talent on Smackdown. Many have stated that Undertaker is one of the few guys on the brand that can sucessfully elevate new talent and if he is a true locker room leader, he would be helping create new stars for the company so that in the next five to ten years, WWE can be just as strong.
