WCW continues its great year of rebuilding. The December 5 edition of WCW Nitro drew 7,202 fans in WCW’s first trip to Huntsville, Alabama in the Shane McMahon Era.

Ratings remain strong with signs of growth with 770,630 viewers on FX across the USA and a total worldwide viewership of 1,673,918 when accounting for all timeslots worldwide.

Before Nitro, WCW held the normal dark matches and Velocity tapings. See all the results below!

WCW has resumed tryouts after several weeks of not bringing in many local talents before Nitro’s. Word going around backstage is WCW is looking to not only expand its Atomic Championship Wrestling roster, but similar to how WWF will typically bring in new talents after WrestleMania, there is a strong belief WCW will follow a similar logic with Starrcade, with many expecting at least a handful of debuts in the new year.

Speaking of roster news, many WCW talents contracts are up in the beginning of February. Some sources indicate close to 1/3 of the active roster and most of the talent whose contracts were outright purchased form TimeWarner are the contracts up. That would mean Lance Storm, Mike Awesome, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Shane Helms, Sean O’Haire and other major players of WCW’s resurgence will all be seeking new contracts and some have predicted the WWF may come knocking for some of the bigger stars. Also with contracts up, many believe at least a few WCW wrestlers will not see their contracts renewed as it’s a natural way to freshen up the roster.

One departure some are already strongly predicting is that of Kaz Hayashi. Word is Hayashi has already expressed a desire to return to Japan and his contract is one of the many up in February. While WCW could convince him to stay with a big enough money offer, most are expecting both sides to amicably part ways.

On the injury front, Chuck Palumbo was injured on a house show recently with a minor case of whiplash. The injury is not major, and Palumbo is willing to work through it, but WCW is airing the side of caution and will likely be benched for a few weeks.

Tryouts before Nitro saw Tony Mamaluke rejoining the FBI in a tag team match, John Tenta aka Earthquake squashing Rodney Mack, Brian Danielson who is a protégé of Shawn Michaels and William Regal losing to Jason Jett and The Maestro returning to be squashed by Amos. All talents were well received, with Danielson specifically receiving high praise from many backstage. Also notable was the return of Yun Yang under the new name of Akio, a gimmick he’s been trying out in ACW.

Starrcade’s card is shaping up with 2 more matches added on Nitro. Many expect the final of the RVD vs. Lance Storm best of 5 series, as well as some sort of large battle royal to likely be added, which was teased in a segment with Arn Anderson on Nitro.

Finally rumors continue to swirl of another major signing for WCW. This week, there were reports of a talent being snuck into the WCW HQ Annex facility to film vignettes.

The weekly recap for Nitro numbers. Attendance was a very good 7,801 paid at the Centennial Garden in Bakersfield.

Viewership on FX across the USA was 673,606 households. Worldwide numbers across all international markets are 1,457,783 households.

Heading into Starrcade, the backstage morale is said to be at an all time high in WCW. Wrestlers and staff alike are said to be very excited about the current direction of the company with many saying Starrcade is the new generations time to finalize their stamp on this new era of WCW. Most notably, there seems to be a great deal of common pride for how well WCW has done without the major stars of its past over the last year, with many giving high praise to DDP, Booker T & Lance Storm for leading the charge, while the entire roster has seen itself operate more like a team then any other point in WCW history.

Bob Sapp, a wrestler who is signed to a developmental contract and working down in Atomic Championship Wrestling has reportedly taken a hiatus from the company to take on a Mixed Martial Arts fight. There is said to be a small amount of heat on Sapp, as he did not discuss the fight with the WCW office ahead of time.

Rene Dupree, a second-generation wrestler and son of Emile Dupree, who is a veteran of various NWA territories with a career going back to 1956, is expected to sign with WCW shortly. Dupree turns 18 on December 15th which many expect WCW is waiting for to officially sign a deal. Dupree has already been seen around the Power Plant and has moved to Charlotte and is expected to begin with ACW as soon as the official deal is signed.

Many expect Dupree to be one of the brighter prospects to join ACW, and there are still rumors of WC looking to add as much as 10-more developmental talents, as there are heavy rumors there could be several call-ups post-Starrcade.

ACW itself is said to be going well. Though the company lacks a TV deal, they still run weekly shows out of the Annex Arena at WCW headquarters in Charlotte. Reports on talent have Chris Harris, Damaja, David Young, Doug Basham, James Wolfe, Orlando Jordan & Rob Conway all being considered top prospects with most already ready for WCW TV should the call come.

ACW is also home to Adam Pearce, Shannon Moore and Nova of ECW fame who all have previous TV experience and are in ACW to stay ring ready while waiting for creative direction on the main roster. Christopher Nowinski and Josh Mathews who appeared on WWF’s Tough Enough are also in ACW, with many praising Nowinski’s natural heel persona and microphone skills, but both still being seen as very green in the ring.

Kwee Wee, real name Allan Funk, has reportedly gone through a divorce with his wife.

Yun Yang has rejoined the main roster from Atomic Championship Wrestling. Now known as Akio, Yang reportedly re-teamed with Kaz Hayashi in a dark match on December 12th in a winning effort against the Primetime Players.

Jack Bull received a tryout before Nitro in a losing effort to Jason Jett in a dark match. Bull has had a few looks from WCW since May and some are high on his look, though in-ring there is quite a bit of work for the Arizona-based wrestler.

The weekly recap for Nitro numbers. Attendance was a very good 7,737 paid at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey.

Viewership on FX across the USA was 775,084 households. Worldwide numbers across all international markets are 1,670,455 households.

The big news this week within WCW is the contrat status of Kitti Carter. Carter is reportedly not signed to a full time contract, and instead was signed to a trial deal with a term of only a few months. There are already rumors circulating that Carter is trying to use her new spot in WCW as leverage for a return to the WWF. This is interesting for several reasons. For one, Carter is married to WCW Color Commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler. When Carter was fired from WWF earlier this year, Lawler quit out of support of his wife. Lawler is said to be very happy with WCW and is not eyeing a WWF return at the moment, so Carter possibly ending up back there wile Lawler stays with WCW is a very interesting development. This has only fueld rumors of the relationship status of Lawler & Carter. Only a few months ago, there was rumor that WWF developmental talent at the time, Mike Hard aka Mike Maverick aka Jack Dupp was involved in an extra-marital affair with Carter and that led to his WWF release. While everything is purely rumor at this point, many have been saying where there is smoke, there's fire.

Rene Dupree, who was rumoured to sign a contract with WCW was officially signed to a developmental deal on his 18th birthday on December 15th. He is set to start with Atomic Championship Wrestling immediatley.

Speaking of possible new signings, former ECW star Simon Diamond was seen at in Charlotte and specifically at WCW Headquarters, with many saying he was in town for a tryout at the WCW Power Plant. Diamond is engaged to WCW talent, Dawn Marie, and many see him coming in as a near lock. WCW was initially making an effort to not bring in too many former ECW talent at once to allow WCW to forge and maintain its own identity, but many believe the hiring freeze has been lifted and several more talents may be on the way in soon.

The Maestro, who recentley appeared on WCW Velocity being squashed by Amos Hersch, has apparentely drawn interest from WCW and specifically Jody Hamilton in ACW. Hamilton has been pushing for some veterans to come in and work with the developing talents, and Maestro's strong fundamentals are being seen as a possible good fit for a role like that.

The card for Starrcade XIX seems to be finalized. With the exception of a likely showdown between Rob Van Dam and Lance Storm over the United States Championship being officially added, all other mathces have been officially announced and already hyped on WCW.com.

Before WCW Nitro and Velocity, WCW held a series of dark matches between the normal array of undercard workers who didn't appear on the show. Notably, there was a tryout match held between local talents Gene Snisky and HC Loc with Snisky getting the victory. Snisky is a large former football player, over 6'6" and well over 300 pounds with an impressive look. Loc is a indy wrestler who also appears as a referee, having refereed with ECW in its dying days.

The weekly recap for Nitro numbers. Attendance was a very good 6,771 paid at the Convocation Center at the East Michigan University.

Viewership on FX across the USA was 739,700 households. Worldwide numbers across all international markets are 1,630,897 households.

Dean Malenko has retired from in-ring action. In a short article on WWF.com, the former Light Heavyweight champion has reportedly retired due to mounting injuries and a desire to transition into the next stage of his career.

WWF has reportedly signed Malenko to a new contract as a road agent for the company, a role he will be beginning in the new year.

In a continuation of the big rumors last week surronding Kitti Carter's WCW contract, the buzz around WCW and WWF is that Carter is indeed WWF bound. The deal she signed with WCW was reportedly only for a few months, and she has leveraged that into a new deal with WWF. While WWF and WCW are not bitter rivals due to the shared McMahon ownership, there is still a desire by WWF to be seen as the undisputed #1 wrestling company in America. There is word that in recent months, WWF has seen WCW's success as a possible threat to that title, and some are already seeing signs of a new war breaking out between the two companies. Carter leaving for WWF would actually be the second shot fired in a new war, as D'Lo Brown turnd down a WWF deal to go to WCW earlier this year. WCW had also reportedly had talks with Christian, Test and William Regal recently as well before all three resigned with WWF.

In other news concerning WCW's women, Joanie Laurer has reportedly been garnering some heat backstage in WCW. She reportedly sees herself as the biggest star in the company and expects to be treated as such. This has obviously ruffled feathers with many backstage, who while they do agree Laurer brings important name value the company, the backstage attitude in WCW thus far has been more oriented towards building the company and shows as a team, and Laurer's mindset is much more in line with the stars of WCW's past. Laurer has reportedly be spoken to several times by Shane McMahon himself, with her being told to adjust her attitude.

Shawn Stasiak suffered a broken nose on the December 26th Nitro. Stasiak's own knee smashed his nose on the Sit-Out Powerbomb from General Rection and he was seen bleeding after the match. Stasiak isn't expected to miss any time.

The injury bug seems to be making the rounds, with a reported injury happening at a house show held on December 27th. Unlike Stasiak, early word is someone was banged up so bad they may miss Starrcade all together. Total Extreme Wrestling News is continueing to look into this story.

WCW capped off 2001, a year of rebirth and rebuilding, with a financial and critical success in WCW Starrcade XIX! The Pay Per View event from the Greensboro Coliseum was a proper sellout with 23,500 fans filling the Coliseum

The Pay-Per-View viewership numbers are equally great, with 2,579,543 buys worldwide

The WCW offices are said to be ecstatic with the performance of WCW Starrcade. The show was seen as the final proof of concept of Shane McMahon's new vision for the company. Over the past year, WCW went from on the cusp on shutting down completely, rumors of sales to Eric Bischoff and different investor groups, to a rumored WWF takeover, to finally Shane McMahon taking over the company and pushing it into a new bold direction.

Notable with WCW's success is said to be a growing tension in the McMahon family. While Shane McMahon did purchase and re-launch WCW with his father Vince McMahon's blessing, word is Vince is slowly growing paranoid of WCW's success and Stephanie McMahon is seeing Shane's success as a threat to her own legacy and plans of eventual takeover of WWF. Though most of this is whispered rumors, Shane McMahon reportedly did not spend Christmas with the larger McMahon family, as he now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina and was busy with the leadup to Starrcade. This was said to have stoked the flames of a small but growing issue within the family.

In Starrcade news, BG James was removed from the World Tag Team championship match due to an apparent broken collarbone he received at a house show on December 27th. Shane McMahon replaced BG James in the match, in a move that was very last minute, with plans leading into Starrcade originally having O'Haire compete in a handicap match, or with a new partner.

Joanie Laurer is reportedly finished with WCW. The former Chyna who joined WCW in late August was reportedly on a 6-month contract. While the deal has several months left, Laurer had grown displeased with her booking in WCW, and WCW had grown increasingly tired of her demands and attitude backstage. The decision to end the relationship was somewhat mutual, with Laurer agreeing to put Corino over on her way out. Laurer does remain under contract for a few more months, but will spend that time sitting at home.

In other WCW departure news, Kitti Carter was also reportedly sent him after Starrcade and is not expected back. Perhaps most interesting in this story is the relationship between Carter & Jerry "The King" Lawler. The couple has been married since Septebmer of 2000, had both left WWF earlier this year, Carter when she was released from her contract, and Lawler when he quit in support of his wife. Now, it seems the relationship is over, with divorce proceedings already well underway. Rumors are Carter had cheated on Lawler with a wrestler from the Memphis or Carolina area, and Lawler recentley found out leading to the seperation. Lawler had pushed for WCW to sign Carter, and WCW did sign her to a short 3-month trial contract, but shortly after her debut, the affair came to light. Carter saw the writing on the wall and had opened negotations with WWF and is set to return to the company when her WCW contract expires. Carter is now set to sit at home until her deal expires and is expected to rejoin WWF under her "The Kat" gimmick.

Christopher Nowinski and Josh Mathews, notable as finalists in WWF's Tough Enough this year, both made their WCW debuts at Starrcade in the 25-Grand Gauntlet. Nowinski was specifically notable as he received a good reaction and though very green, had a presense that impressed many. Mathews also received a good reaction but was clearly a step behind everyone else in the match. Mathews reportedly has approached WCW management after the show, and has asked to transition to a new role in the company, specifically in production as a backstage interviewer or commentator. After wrestling a few months full time, Mathews is said to be ready to try something new, and is as of now slated to start up on commentary with ACW.

Some backstage shuffling has occured. Post-Starrcade, refere Charles Robinson is taking over as the Senior Referee of WCW, replacing Nick Patrick. Patrick who refereed the Starrcade main event and has been the senior WCW referee for many years, was asked to step out of the position due to his age and that WCW wanted a referee with better stamina for longer main events. The Starrcade main event was Patrick's last match as senior official. Robinson, who many remember as "Lil' Naitch" will step into the position now, refereeing most major main events. Patrick, to his credit, has reportedly taken the slight demotion in stride and has been fully supportive of Robinson taking over.

WCW is said to be on another hiring spree as the new year is about to begin. TEWNews has learned that Simon Diamond, a former ECW alum, has reportedly signed a contract and should be debuting shortly. David Young, a talent that was signed a developmental deal with WCW and was appearing in Atomic Championship Wrestling in Charlotte, is also slated to move up to the main roster to start the new year. And Shannon Moore, who was also working in ACW to stay ring ready, will be rejoining the main roster full time. WCW has also reportedly been heavily intersted in Nelson Knight, the former Viscera, though no deal has been signed yet.

In addition to that, WCW is looking to fill up its developmental system with several wrestlers of different experience levels expected to be signed already, or signed shortly and assigned to ACW. Among the names being reported are Former WCW wrestlers Horace Hogan and The Maestro, Former WCW wrestler and independent journeyman Christopher Daniels, Former WWF Developmental & ECW wrestler Bo Dupp, Former ECW wrestler Julio Dinero, Dusty Rhodes trainee Jorge Estrada, Scotty Sabre who competed in WCW as Scotty O in the past, NWA Wildside Heavyweight champion Prince Justice, and former Nitro Girl Paisley/Storm who is reportedly in a relationship with Booker T. ACW has hired a new referee named Andrew Thomas.

With all the new talents possibly being signed, WCW is entering a period of contract renewal with around 20-stars set to need new contracts over the next month. Most notable on the list of names TEW News could put together was Lance Storm. WCW is expected to resign most of the talent, but rumors have persisted that a few talents may be allowed to have their deals expire and leave the company as WCW looks to freshen up the roster.

The largest news on the talent front was the return of Jeff Jarrett to WCW. Jarrett was signed nearly a month ago, and has left Hulk Hogan's World Wrestling All-Stars touring company to rejoin WCW. Jarrett's return was said to be a complete shock to many backstage, as there has been rumors for years of tension between Jarrett and the McMahon family. Shane McMahon reportedly has decided to put whatever issues behind them to bring in a marquee name to the company. Most had expected Scott Steiner to return to the company as there was a renewed push to bring in some larger names which included Ric Flair, but Stiener has been battling a foot injury since before March of this year and failed a physical with WCW, leading to the pivot to Jarrett.

And lastly, speaking of Ric Flair, the Nature Boy's role as WCW President is said to be 100% an on-screen role only. Flair is signed to a talent contract and is considered an in-ring competitor. Many expect Flair to return to the ring in the next month or two, and recent local advertisements for WCW Nitro have him advertised in a "special main event" which will likely be a post-show dark match to send the fans home happy.