Jim Ross: HHH a-go for Armageddon
By JOHN F. MOLINARO -- SLAM! Wrestling
Despite receiving treatment for a serious back injury, HHH, as of today, is still scheduled to take part
in the six-man 'Hell in the Cell' main event this Sunday as part of the WWF's 'Armageddon'
pay-per-view from Birmingham, AL.
This revelation came straight from Jim Ross this afternoon as the Senior Vice President of Talent
Relations for the WWF fielded questions for an hour from reporters in a phone conference call.
"At this time he's in the main event," confirmed Ross. "I talked to him yesterday. He's feeling better.
He's not 100 percent but his treatments for his back have been going well. I don't know what we're
going to get out of him but I know two things: one, we couldn't keep him out of the match and two,
he'll give us everything he can, he'll give us everything he's got. But we're going to take all of those
things, his condition the day of (the pay-per-view), into consideration, so that we don't put him in
any unusual risk or in any situation that he can't handle. It's one night and he's got a whole career
ahead of him."
Speculation has been running rampant on the Internet that this Sunday's main event will feature
wrestlers taking dangerous, stuntman-like bumps to try to live up to buzz created in the wake of the
Steve Austin-HHH incident on last month's 'Survivor Series'.
Ross was quick to dispel those rumours.
"No. Absolutely not (that won't happen). I think this match can be compelling without (those) sort
of bumps."
Without a full line-up announced, fans can look forward to hearing more matches announced as
Sunday quickly approaches.
"I think this card will end up being nine or ten attractions. Some of it will be announced on
Smackdown! tonight and some of it will be announced on Heat on MTV just to give it a little bit more
'RAW-esque' flavour to it. And some might even develop during the (pay-per-view) itself."
Ross also addressed recent scuttlebutt that Mick Foley would be coming out of retirement to make a
return to rings of the WWF.
"There's no plans right now. Mick has got his book out, he's got another child on the way and I
think he wants to focus on that. Never say never. I don't think we've seen Mick in his last match. But
it's not something we're building for at this time."
The question of a format change to the WWF's 'Heat' program on MTV came up once or twice
during the press conference, as reporters pressed Ross for his thoughts on how the show could be
improved amid negative feedback on the show from WWF fans.
"I think the format has been tweaked a little bit over the last few weeks through the omission of the
live musical guests. So I think the wrestling content there will certainly not lessen from what you're
seeing now. I don't think there's any major changes in store, maybe some subtle changes, but I think
if anything is added, maybe a little more wrestling content."
Note: Check back tomorrow morning as we'll have an in-depth story on comments made by Ross about WCW, Rob Van Dam and the future of the WWF
