Chicago Sun-Times: Ross played role in helping Bischoff keep his WWE job

The reason Eric Bischoff still has a job with the WWE is because announcer Jim Ross was able to convince Stone Cold Steve Austin to return to the ring just before Bischoff's 30-day probation period ended.

Ironically, now Bischoff has gone out of his way to make their lives miserable. Bischoff is still hurting from the beating Austin put on him at the February "No Way Out" PPV, but I have to wonder if he is not hurting himself in the long run.

Forget the fact that The Rock will leave the WWE again after his match with Goldberg at the upcoming "Backlash" show, that the fans are begging for the "Raw" title to be lifted from HHH, and that they will need Austin for ratings. The truth is that Stone Cold will want some payback against Bischoff.

HEARD AROUND THE RING: After what should be a win over the Rock at "Backlash," I expect to see Goldberg face HHH for the "Raw" title before a decision is made to have him either face Stone Cold at "SummerSlam" or jump to "SmackDown." ... Brock Lesner said he was lucky he didn't suffer a career-ending injury at WM19. ... There has been a rumor that the WWE has signed Olympic champion Rulon Gardner. I put that in the wait-and-see bin for now.

HOTLINE: I have the details on the WWE's plan to get Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper in the ring together one more time, and the latest injury news on Edge and Kurt Angle. Details on the hotline: (900) 990- SLAM ($2 per minute).