What’s Hot in Professional Wrestling, and What’s Not

Here is a list of what is currently hot and what is not in professional wrestling:

HOT

1. Kurt Angle. The 1996 Olympic gold medallist has climbed straight to the top of the World Wrestling Federation. A much deserving Angle was awarded the WWF’s top prize - the WWF title at No Mercy. He is posed and ready for a long run as the company’s top heel. It’s true!

2. WCW Power Plant. The much-maligned training facility of World Championship Wrestling has in recent times produced several up and coming wrestlers, including “Above Average” Mike Sanders, Sean O'Haire, and Mark Jindrak. It is the first sign of life since Bill Goldberg graduated from the Plant in 1997.

3. WWF Affiliate promotions. The WWF does not own their own training dojo, but rather sign young hopefuls to developmental contracts and sends them to their affiliate promotions for further training and development. Through such agreements with regional territories, the WWF has added Kurt Angle, Crash Holly, Bull Buchanan, and Albert to the talent roster. The WWF is high on a number of youngsters just waiting for their call up.

4. Chyna. She was featured prominently in the November issue of Chyna, and sales went through the roof. The “ninth wonder of the world” has recently been on the cover of TV Guide, appeared on talk shows such as “Regis” and “Jay Leno,” and was profiled on MTV’s “Diary.” Chyna is one of those unique athletes that everyone seems to want to get a piece of.

NOT

1. Cable Ratings. The move of “Raw” from the USA Network to TNN may have affected the company’s viewership as the show has not achieved its yearly ratings average since August 21st. On the opposite side of the Monday night wars, the October 23rd “Nitro” posted its lowest rating since 1995.

2. Vince Russo. WCW hired Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara away from the WWF in October of last year. Many insiders believed Russo’s writing style, which is credited with helping the WWF turn around in 1997, could bring life back to the promotion.

3. ECW. TNN cancelled “ECW On TNN” on October 11th, ending an unsuccessful union between the company’s. The loss of national exposure drastically hurts the promotion’s move to a monthly pay-per-view schedule. In fact, ECW’s last pay-per-view, Anarchy Rulz, earned an alarming low buy rate. The morale is down in the locker room, and many are skeptical of the long term future of the company.

4. The Undertaker. At Judgment, The Undertaker debuted his new biker gimmick. After missing nearly ten months of action due to a groin injury, his return was rather ho-hum. The WWF had planned an Undertaker/Big Show program, but opted to send Wight to Louisville for an attitude adjustment. With Wight out of the picture, the WWF decided to turn Kane against him yet again, and recycle their never-ending saga.

Tidbits: The WWF has opened the official web site for the Survivor Series at www.wwfsurvivorseries.com … Following his release from WCW, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, 43, announced his retirement from professional wrestling, ending his 24 year career. … Jerry Lynn vs. Steve Corino vs. Justin Credible vs. The Sandman in a "Double Jeopardy" match for the ECW title headlines Sunday’s November 2 Remember PPV … Randy Savage will portray a wrestler in the upcoming “Spiderman” motion picture.

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