by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

I guess it's good to see the Fed making hay while the sun shines (or whatever the hell that stupid cliché is)...  the shelf life of "What?" is probably gonna be pretty short after fans get burned out on it.  But even I had to laugh my ass off last night at the way Kurt Angle perfectly played into the fans' desire to use and abuse the catchphrase.  Maybe if the fans stay creative -- as with the back and forth "Angle Sucks"/"What?" chanting -- this'll stick around for a while...  but I fear that at this rate it'll cease to be over before we even get to WrestleMania.

The tag reign of Tazz and Spike Dudley is another cool little sidebar story, and one that's got Paul Heyman's fingerprints all over it...  not only does it push two of his former talents into key positions, it's also a trademark "tag team of convenience wins titles" storyline, something that Heyman specialized in while running ECW.  Mikey Whipwreck and Tajiri, anyone?  If nothing else, doing their first week of TV as champs in NYC (where they got strongly positive fan reactions) also increases the chances that they'll be over in other cities, too...

The Hardys should be back in the mix, soon, too, hopefully as "revitalized" as the front office is hoping for...  a new direction will suit them well.  And as long as Chuck Palumbo and Billy Gunn remain willing to act in a fairly self-deprecating manner (albeit en route to victories), they'll continue to get over as heels, too.  Anything to help build some interesting tandems around the Dudleys...

-  A women's tag match (Trish/Jackie vs. Jazz/Terri) was pulled from last night's show, I would guess because of time constraints... although some reports from MSG said that the match was pretty sloppy, which could have contributed to it being yanked.

I guess we'll know what the reasons were if/when the match shows up on Excess or Heat... or if it joins the Bradshaw/Christian Euro Title change in the "never seen the light of day" bin.

-  SD! did a 5.0 overnight rating, which is neither particularly good nor bad.  I guess if you had to spin it one way or the other, you'd say it's a good sign that the Fed was able to hit just about its recent average despite the strong competition from the season finale of "Survivor" on CBS.

The final rating will be added to The Ticker over the weekend, and should settle right around a 4.0.

-  XWF sources confirm that although Curt Hennig remains committed to working for the XWF, he will be reprising the role of "Mr. Perfect" for the WWF at the Royal Rumble.  Hennig reached the agreement for a one-time-only appearance, which the XWF thinks can only be a positive thing for their upstart company:  a brief moment in the spotlight for Hennig will only increase his value once he starts working exclusively for the XWF.

So table all speculation that the Fed was just going to cart out Shawn Stasiak in the role of Mr. Perfect....

There is no official word that Dustin Rhodes is coming back to play the Goldust role, but everybody is simply assuming that that deal has also been closed by the WWF, and that it's also a one-time-only deal.

-  The WWF will be looking to add more superstars to the "Royal Rumble Returns" list...  some, like Val Venis, will stick around after the Rumble, while others, like Hennig and Goldust, will be gone as quickly as they returned.  The returning star gimmick is probably going to be used to explain the return of Kevin "Diesel" Nash, too.

One possible returnee:  Brian "Grand Master Sexay" Lawler.  After being dropped by the WWF last year following a drug-related incident at customs in Canada, Sexay is once again being talked about for a possible slot on the WWF roster.  

-  The Undertaker will miss weekend house shows with a back injury suffered last week against the Big Show.  He is, according to Jim Ross, still expected to be ready to go in time for the Royal Rumble.

Other notes from JR:  Steve Blackman is probably facing surgery for herniated discs in his neck...  the Rock could be back hosting Saturday Night Live again this spring...  William Regal's back in action this weekend following his nose surgeries...  Mike Awesome and Chris Kanyon are both probably about 4 months away from returning from ACL injuries...  Chris Benoit's scheduled return remains right around the time of WrestleMania.

-  In preparation for his return to the WWF's main roster, Val Venis dropped the HWA Heavyweight Title on Wednesday night at the developmental territory's big show here in Dayton, OH.  The new champ:  Charlie Haas.

Charlie dedicated the win to his brother Russ, who recently died.  He also adopted Russ' first initial, as he'll now be wrestling as "RC Haas."

Charlie will be appearing at a Jersey All Pro Wrestling show on February 2, which is being billed as a Russ Haas Memorial Show.  All proceeds from the show go to Russ' family, and you can get ticket information by visiting www.japw.net or by calling 1-888-478-0667.

-  Diana Hart-Smith's incindiary tell-all book about the Hart Family, "Under the Mat," is being pulled from shelves per an agreement made between her lawyers and those of Martha Hart (widow of Owen Hart).  In addition to pulling the book from distribution, the publishing company will also be making a donation to the Owen Hart Foundation.  In exchange, Martha and her lawyers are not going to proceed with a planned libel suit.

-  In other Hart family news, Martha has optioned the story of Owen's life to Artisan Entertainment.  Again, all proceeds from the deal to sell Owen's story are going to the Owen Hart Foundation.  

Although Martha was quoted by the Calgary Sun as saying she expects the movie to be released by late 2003, no concrete plans are in place to proceed with production.  This deal merely grants Artisan the right to make a film based on Owen's life...  tons of other details would have to be tended to before production could continue.

-  Finally for today, I just want to mention the OO Year in Review, which is now being rolled out.  I didn't have any other content to publish yesterday, so I went ahead and tossed the first month of the YiR up on the site.  Today, I'm adding February.

I'll continue adding to the feature, serial-style, until all 17 parts are published.  As always, any corrections or suggestions for improvements are encouraged.

Monday, I'll be back with RAW preview and other news, too.  Till then....

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
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Rick Scaia is a wrestling fan from Dayton, OH.  He's been doing this since 1995, but enjoyed it best when the suckers from SportsLine were actually PAYING him to be a fan.

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