POWER PLAYERS NOT BACKSTAGE AT RAW AND SMACKDOWN

Vince McMahon missed Raw and Smackdown due to health related reasons this past week. Once source told me it was due to complications from the bout of Diverticulitis that he suffered back in June.

Executive Producer Kevin Dunn was not at the shows either. He was on a previously planned vacation.

Vince's absence resulted in Stephanie McMahon being in charge of the shows this week. When Vince is away, chaos usually ensues and this time was no different. The mood and scene backstage was described to me as "crazy". Due to Vince McMahon not being at the shows, they have had to communicate with him about the direction of the programs via the phone. He made changes in Raw show, which he does pretty much every week, but because they were done late, the company’s agent and production meetings were delayed for about two hours.

Let’s put it this way, according to the people in WWE that I have talked to about this, if the product is like this every week after Vince is gone, it won’t be pretty. It’s safe to say that even in his current mind set, a good number (if not the vast majority) of WWE employees feel that the company is better off with him in charge than with him not in charge. The Smackdown production meetings were delayed for two hours as Vince was calling in changes to the show.

Adding to the backstage chaos for Smackdown was David Lagana, who has held head writer duties since Bruce Prichard started taking time off, being on vacation this week. With Lagana gone, Paul Heyman was heavily involved with putting together the show with the wrestlers. Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and Brian Gewirtz were backstage helping run things as well.

There was also a lot of talk backstage noting that despite Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn not being at the tapings, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon were running things while Shane McMahon wasn't present. To a lot of people, that is a huge indication of where the future of the company is headed. The running joke in the back was that Triple H was preparing for the day that he (as opposed to he and Stephanie) takes over the company from Vince McMahon. Obviously, the politics were being played backstage at both shows.

Vince trying to control things via phone led to a much talked about disagreement between Stephanie and Vince McMahon concerning whether the company should show footage of the Tough Enough guys taking bumps poorly, if at all, from Big Show. Vince was said to want to air the footage as it happened while Stephanie wanted it edited so it doesn't show that people weren’t really hurt by Show. When Smackdown aired, the non-selling of the slams by several of the contestants was edited heavily.

Bruce Prichard has returned from his "personal leave" and was producing segments at both shows. There are at least some workers who are less than happy about this since his concept of the business went out of style in about 1985. There was a big hit in wrestler morale at Smackdown over Prichard's return, as the feeling is that Smackdown had been a stronger show since he had taken time off. There is a definite concern among Smackdown wrestlers that Bruce Prichard’s return to the company will mean that he goes back to his old position as co-head of the Smackdown Creative, along with David Lagana.

RATINGS REPORT

WWE got some good news this week in the Raw rating for the 10/25 edition, as it did a 3.7 cable rating, with a 5 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is a nice jump from last week's 3.0. The one negative thing about the number, however, is that it saw the second hour decrease from the first as the show did hours of 3.8 and 3.6.

In other ratings news, Heat on 10/24 did a 0.7 cable rating, with a 1.1 share.

The WWE Experience on 10/24 did a 0.6 cable rating, with a 1.5 share.

Velocity on 10/23 did a 0.6 cable rating, with a 1.1 share.

The 10/21 edition of Smackdown did a 3.2 broadcast rating, with a 5 share, according to Nielsen Media Research. That is down from last week's 3.5. Baseball has obviously affected WWE programming this week as the NLCS on Fox did a 13, and UPN usually beats FOX on Thursdays. The show did hours of 3.1 and 3.2.

NEW (AND POSSIBLY LAST) WWE FIGURES FROM JAKKS PACIFIC

Despite WWE's lawsuit being filed against them last week, Jakks Pacific unveiled a number of plans for the next year for their World Wrestling Entertainment license at the Fall Toy Fair this week.

The major news coming out of the Jakks Pacific presentation was the continued expansion of their Classic WWE Superstars Line. Over the next several months, Jakks will release the first wave of Tag Team Classics, featuring The Rockers, The Road Warriors, and the Hart Foundation.

WWE Classics Series 5 will feature Terry Funk, Paul Orndorff, The Iron Sheik, Nikolai Volkoff, King Kong Bundy, and Brutus Beefcake. Jakks will also be releasing special box sets, featuring specific matches, including a Wrestlemania 5 box set featuring Andre the Giant vs. Jake Roberts with Big John Studd as the special referee. Jakks will also release an old school "classic" style WWE ring.

There are also plans to unveil ECW and WCW lines in the Spring of 2005, packaging an action figure with a DVD.

Also featured at the Toy Fair was the forthcoming "Talking Pounders" plush style dolls, which will react when they are tossed around, set to feature John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, and Hurricane.

Also set to debut as a series of "Pump N'" action figures, which can be pumped up with air with Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, and more featured in the presentation.

Thanks to Matthew Shalk for the following: Though the Diva Search Contest is over, Diva Search winner Christy Hemme and contestant Joy Giovanni may soon have another opportunity to compete against each other. Both ladies are scheduled to compete in the 2005 Lingerie Bowl, Christy as a member of the New York Euphoria and Joy as a member of the Los Angeles Temptation.

Jeffrey Sheridan sent word that this December’s WWE Fanatic Series PPV is called “Fanatic Series: $250,000 Raw Diva Search”. So, for 10 bucks I can pay to see all of the segments I wanted to avoid when I watched them on Raw!

The new Diva Search Magazine has been released and comes bagged with a 20 minute long DVD preview of the upcoming Diva Search DVD, which will forever capture in time all those classic moments like the seduction of Kamala, among other treats. The DVD will be released exclusively in FYE stores and will feature never before seen interviews and footage. The Magazine has photo layouts with all the Diva Search contestants.

WWE.com has posted a very brief note regarding Shawn Michaels' knee injury. The site reports that the former World Champion underwent surgery with Dr. Jacobs in San Antonio, Texas to repair a meniscus tear, and the surgery was a "complete success". Michaels suffered the injury last week on Raw, but wrestled on the Taboo Tuesday Pay-per-view the next day, making the injury the focus of his match with Triple H.

Adam Lebow sent this one. … WWE has put a short video documentary (3 minutes 10 seconds) of the Shawn Michaels surgery online. I should warn you that it is rather graphic footage and they are showing the graphic parts of the surgery. The doctor did a voiceover for WWE during the surgery. Shawn looked to be in good spirits and they showed his wife numerous times in the video but never acknowledged her by name. It is available on the WWE.com website under the Featured Photo and Video Section. Also, WWE has launched a mini area on its WWE.com website which gives a video history of the “Evolution of the Evolution”, from the first time they all were on screen together up through Taboo Tuesday. It’s actually a very interesting watch and is available at http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1282322.

Trish Stratus has been experiencing numbness in her one hand and will be seeing a doctor about it very soon.

The Minnesota Star-Tribune noted that Mean Gene Okerlund has undergone a second kidney transplant. Okerlund's son Todd was quoted as saying, "So far, so good." A distant relative donated the kidney. It is the second transplant Okerlund has undergone. Next Page >>

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