The WWF is a little apprehensive about what to do with Raven upon his entrance into the WWF. This would be the reasoning behind why he isn’t on television just yet. The WWF plans out their storylines months and months in advance and these storylines have to have a place on most of their shows while the main event storylines get top billing on the card. The problem behind Raven is simply that the WWF cannot think of a good, well-round, storyline for him that will take him through Wrestlemania time. The initial idea of teaming him with Kane is the most likely scenario that will go down, but I have been told that some of the other possible entrances into the WWF circus for Raven include him joining the Undertaker as the remnants of what the Undertaker used to be as well as Raven possibly taking his old gimmick of sitting in the stands and gradually growing a “Flock” of followers like he did in the WCW. While these storylines have found their way into the proverbial trash can in the WWF’s Brain Trust room, there is still that air of uncertainty about how Raven will make his presence felt.
This Monday’s NITRO is set to be a big one in the ratings war. Not only do you have NITRO coming off an extremely successful pair of NITROs while RAW was pre-empted, you have the WWF testing the return of Steve Austin on national television, but 10 months AFTER he was one of the top draws in the company. The testing of Austin’s staying power in the new generation of fans that have embraced the WWF will tell a lot about the strategies that the WWF uses to get their “cast members” to stick in the minds of their viewers. On NITRO, you can almost guarantee that there will be some type of altercation or at least a happy meeting between David Flair and his father at David Flair and Miss Hancock’s wedding. Both Arn Anderson and Ric Flair are scheduled to be there and they both have announced on different radio shows that they will be in attendance when NITRO hits their hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. As for RAW, you are looking at the WWF playing their cards very well as far as storylines are concerned. In the WWF there are multiple relationships that are on their way to crumbling like the Guerrero/Chyna union (which might be dead already) and the HHH/Stephanie marriage (which might see a prolonging until their first wedding anniversary). This will be one of the better nights of head-to-head competition.
Contrary to popular internet reports, Steve Regal is NOT still at the OVW as he has completed his stay in the WWF Farm League system and worked extensively with Jerry Lawler’s Memphis based organization on honing in on some of his skills before going to the OVW. Now he has gotten the call up from the WWF and he is no longer considered a trainee, but now he is seen as a potential draw for the company and he will be treated as such. Dropping the Man’s Man gimmick, look for Regal to get a spot with possibly the Right To Censor, or for him to come out and blatantly challenge the champion of the WWF similar to what the Bulldog did last year. Also, speaking of the Bulldog, the WWF has not released him from his contract and it was even stated in the latest Ross Report that he will be cleared to wrestle in two weeks. Another option that the WWF has with both Regal and the Bulldog is to tag them together as a reincarnation of the Blue Bloods/British Bulldogs or to potentially have them feud over who is the best English athlete in the federation. If they go with the former idea, they will most likely feud over the European title with a climactic match at Wrestlemania.
The WWF has positioned itself as a media giant and they are looking to expand their base with promotions in foreign countries. I don’t have much on this at the moment, but the more I get, the more I will let you know about this. Could be a potentially big story in the making.
If you are looking to read a commentary on Steve Austin and his presence in the WWF, then click here. It definitely makes you think of a different WWF with Austin as well as all of the new maineventers.
