Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 8:15 PM EST

As reported earlier today, the early buyrate for the SummerSlam PPV featuring Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels was 525,000-530,000 buys. Given that this is an early estimate, the final number is expected to increase to the 575,000-600,000 range once all buys are accounted for. The estimate for this show is already roughly 150,000 buys ahead of last year's event that featured Chris Benoit vs. Randy Orton as the main event.

In regards to some reports fueling rumors about a possible Hulk Hogan vs. Steve Austin match at WrestleMania 22, a close friend of Austin's stated recently that he cares much more about having a solid match then getting a huge payday. "He would not do a match with Hogan unless it made sense," said the source. At this time, a Hogan vs. John Cena match appears more likely as reports following SummerSlam stated that Vince McMahon may have gotten Hogan to agree to losing cleanly to Cena at WrestleMania in order to get a clean pinfall over Shawn Michaels.

Despite both Velocity and Sunday Night Heat being canceled starting this October, there are no plans for any roster cutbacks on either brand. Some wrestlers that generally only appear on weekend B-shows such as Velocity or Heat were said to be getting worried with October approaching. From what we've heard, WWE has no plans on making any cuts.

News Derived From: Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter