Posted by Rohan on 16:22:44 08/08/02:

Press Conference Recap
by The Sleeper

Credit : 1wrestling.com
Photo Credit : Solace Productions


The WWE held a press conference on Wednesday, early afternoon Melbourne-time, to kick-off the festivities leading into the Global Warning Tour, just hours after the stars stepped off the plane.

Some of the talent went to Sydney for a press conference and appearances on TV and radio. Assembled in Melbourne were The Rock, Kurt Angle, the Reverend D-Von Dudley, Edge, Maven and Stacy Keibler.

Roger Marment, WWE executive vice-president, thanked everyone that had helped bring the tour with enthusiasm and hard work and without complaint - including X-Box, saying that without them coming on board as a major sponsor, the tour would not have happened. Qantas, Crown and local promoter DCE Group also received mentions.

Marment apologized for Hollywood Hulk Hogan not making the journey down. He explained that Hogan was on the original list of talent and poster work. He said it was Hogan's desire to come down but he is 49-years-old (this weekend) and who knew how much longer he would continue wrestling. At this point The Rock mouthed that Hogan was 52.

Marment continued to explain that Hogan (worked over by Brock Lesnar on Smackdown this weekend just gone) does have a bad back. He had been working injured for the last month and storyline-wise WWE is giving Hogan a break. He said it would have been reckless to send Hogan on a 16-hour flight in his condition.

Angle said he would give 110 per cent and didn't mind if the fans cheered or booed him, he was there to put on a great show with the rest of the talent. "I feed off the people. The more excited people are and the more negative responses I get, the more excited I get and the more into I get."

D-Von, when asked if he wished he had the Dudley Boys for back-up, said he is a right Reverend now and he answered to a higher power now and while Bubba wasn't with him, he has someone watching his back now that is "even bigger and badder than Bubba."

Maven said he was nursing an ankle injury and he is trying to get over that. He said he would continue to work on making it to the next level.

Stacy Keibler spoke about telling friends and co-workers how great the people were and how nice a place Australia was when she was here in April. She added she had worked here before and knew the fans would be right into the show.

The compere wasn't well researched and spoke to Edge about his title reign with Hogan as tag-team champions. Edge was respectful in correcting him and saying that was no longer the case but added they were the best few weeks of his career because they were a lot of fun.

He said Ireland and Australia were two places he wanted to visit and he would do both this year. He looked forward to play to a 50,000-plus audience and hoped the crowd would be amped and that it would translate to the wrestlers putting on a great show.

The Rock said he had traveled all over the world but had never been to Australia, even though he had lived close by in New Zealand in his younger life.

He said that all the talent were eagerly awaiting Saturday and that he would be defending the undisputed championship. He said he wouldn't have carried a 30 lb belt all this way and not put it on the line and entertain everybody. The match will be a triple-threat match - The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar.

Kurt Angle said this would be one of the best shows of the year. With an attendance second-only to Wrestlemania in Toronto, he drew comparisons - "You're going to get the same kind of show we did at Wrestlemania, the best show I have seen in the three years I've been here."

A young fan, invited to ask a question, asked The Rock, who was the toughest wrestler he had encountered. Rock said Mick Foley put his body on the line every time he went to the ring but said all the guys were great workers. Kurt also put The Rock over at this point, saying he is one of the toughest opponents because he has more energy than anybody he knew.

"He can leave to make a movie and come back four months later and blow everyone in the dust. He is a joy to work with...and difficult to keep up with," Angle said, at which point The Rock pulled out a wad of cash and began peeling off some notes for Kurt.

The Global Warning Tour is being promoted as a sports entertainment event unlike anything ever seen in Australia.

The production team have commenced bumping-in more than 18 semi trailers of equipment including 300 square metres of staging, 13,498 temporary seats, 264,000 watts of audio, four semi trailer loads of intelligent lighting, 4200 square metres of ground protection (this stadium has a Australian Rules football arena contained within), 675 metres of portable load, 20 kilometres of cabling and six semi trailer loads of steel truss.

Nine main bouts and a number of undercard matches will commence at 7.30 and finish around 10.30 on Saturday night (AEST).

P.S. The Rock appeared on local television chat show, The Panel, on Wednesday evening and promoted the Global Warning Tour and The Scorpion King, now out on DVD in Australia.