by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

-  Monday's RAW did a 4.5 cable rating for its two-plus hours...  that's exactly the same number they drew the previous week, and still up a smidge from the pre-nWo averages.  Still, I'm sure many would have been hoping for more momentum heading into WM (or at least, gaining back those few tenths of a point that comprised the ratings spike after the nWo debuted).  Especially considering that they had spent the weekend hyping the return of Hogan and Nash to in-ring action as part of the Biggest RAW Match Ever.

What's that?  Our fourth Biggest Match Ever in the last year, now?

Oh, wait, I said I was done editorializing...

-  And in the interest of equal time:

While there's a big part of me disappointed with the way things are going headed into WrestleMania, there's still that mark-ish sense of anticipation that I've felt every March since I was in fourth grade, too.

It's that part of me that has once again dived head-first into the rich tapestry of WrestleMania history to forge the OO Road to WrestleMania.  It's got a look back at all 17 past Manias, plus tons of stats (including a downloadable spreadsheet) and trivial observations that just might win you a bar bet this Sunday.  Best of all, it's plenty updated and expanded from last year, making the fifth edition of the OO Road to WM the biggest and best, yet.

As of today (3/13), Part 1 (a summary of all WMs) and Part 2 (a "By the Numbers" look at winners, losers, and more, with all apologies to new "By the Numbers" guy Will Parrish) are available...  the last two parts will follow in the next few days leading up to Sunday's big PPV.

Check it out, and as always, let me know what you'd like to see added to next year's edition!

-  If you have somehow managed to miss them, SmackDown! Spoilers were posted last night, and can be accessed right here.

-  Big time props to Mick Foley, who has -- with no promotional assistance from the WWF -- inked his very own book deal with Knopf publishing.  Foley is, of course, a multi-time NY Times Best Selling Author, with two non-fiction auto-bios and two kids books to his credit.

According to 1Wrestling.com, this current deal is for a full length novel called "Tietam Brown."  Hmm, it'll be interesting to see how Foley's first stab at full-length fiction turns out...

- Last night's "WrestleMania Flashback" was a pretty well put-together show, with emphasis on a lot of the same things I would have picked if given only an hour to sum up the WM tradition.

The cynic in me couldn't help noticing, though, how Hulk Hogan seemingly vaulted back to the top of some of those "Top 5" lists and was much more central to the entire show, as opposed to WM flashbacks before he rejoined the company...

Still, a very solid compilation, and one that -- if we are to be totally honest -- did more to fire me up for Sunday night than the previous night's RAW did. 

-  A WWF press release notes that the recent tour of Asia was a huge financial success, netting about $2.6 million in revenues for the three day trip.  With over 40,000 fans total attending the three shows, that worked out to an average of about $60 spent by each fan on a ticket and merchandise.

As you'd expect, that's a significantly higher per-fan average for ticket-plus-merch than what the WWF sees stateside, and bodes well for both already planned overseas tours (including Europe in the spring and Australia this summer) and for possible future tours (including an already-discussed return to Asia).

-  A couple folks mailed in asking me to follow up on a news item from Monday, when I said Sid Vicious is joining the World Wrestling All-Stars upcoming return tour of Australia, where he'll replace Bret Hart as the figure head commissioner.

The Ruler of the Squirrels' fans all want to know if he'll be getting into the ring any time soon, or if he's permanently in a non-wrestling role after last year's gruesome on-air injury.

Here's what I know:  Sid is very hopeful of an in-ring return in 2002, but that's not apparently gonna come as part of this next WWA tour.  His recovery from the broken leg has been slower than originally hoped for, but I don't think anybody's written Sid off as retired for good.

Keep your ears open, Sid fans, and perhaps later in the year he will -- much like Scott Steiner -- use the WWA as a testing grounds for coming back off a serious injury.

-  When you perverts are done cleaning up after the WWF Divas "Sex on the Beach" special, remember to tune in for Triple H on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Me, I'm gonna have to remember to set a tape for the Divas thing, so that I can watch it (and probably be utterly disappointed by its PG-rated-ness if the shitty new low-content re-design of WWFDivas.com is any indicaiton) after I remember to watching Conan which, in turn, is after I get home from watching my beloved Dayton Flyers start their dominance of the Almighty NIT Field of 40!  YES!  Feel the Flyer Power!  Duke Who Devils??!!?? 

-  Alright, I'm starting to lose it...  which is as good a sign as any that I must go now.  Hey, I said this news page would be short!

Keep enjoying the Road to WM!  Part three tomorrow, and then Friday, I'm here with the Big Ass WrestleMania X-8 PPV Preview.

After today's diatribe, I promise, it'll be loaded with feel-good hype and every silver lining I can find!

Later....  

E-MAIL RICK SCAIA
BROWSE THE OO ARCHIVES

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.

All contents are Copyright 1995-2014 by OOWrestling.com.  All rights reserved.
This website is not affiliated with WWE or any other professional wrestling organization.  Privacy Statement.