by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

As we sit here coping with the loss of another member of the Hart clan, Davey Boy Smith, this week, it's even more sobering to think that it's already been three years since we lost Owen.  I still remember it like it was yesterday.

And if the lack of new content yesterday really brought you down, maybe you should blame Scott Keith.  I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next installment in the World Hero Federation...  no dice, though.

Hopefully, this dose of light reading will lend some semblance of meaning to your long holiday weekend:

• Even if this job didn't entail reading spoilers every week, last night's SmackDown would have been obvious and anticlimactic...  I think you would have been hard-pressed to find any fan anywhere who actually believed Hogan was going to hang it up for good.
   
  Or maybe I'm just too cynical.
   
  In any case, the show as a whole was still a notch down from recent SD efforts.  It wasn't just the predictable teased retirement ending.  The Edge/Maven/Angle/Christian stuff was really solid (with comedy that led to a good match), but as we enter the third month of Edge/Angle feuding, it's losing some of its luster.  And the use of guys like Mark Henry and Randy Orton seems a bit overdone; neither of these guys seems really over, and I know I don't get too excited when I see them on TV at this point.
  
  It was good to see Lance Storm getting some TV time, though.  He and HHH had a nice show-opening match, and the later confrontation (in which Storm distracted HHH backstage long enough for Test to give him the big boot) could either be interpreted as two of Vince McMahon's henchmen putting a hit on HHH...  or maybe as the beginnings of an alliance between Canadian members of the SD roster?  Jericho has also had his issues with HHH, and what happens when Chris Benoit returns in about a month?
   
  For more details about the show, I'll encourage you to check out the Immolator's SD! Recap, which should be available at some point in the very near future.  It'll be his last recap...  but he might be sticking around OO as a columnist.  I'll let him explain.
   
  
• SD!'s overnight rating was a 4.6.  That's an improvement of two-tenths of a point over last week's overnight number, so perhaps whatever funk the RAW ratings have been in lately won't be affecting SD.  But we'll have to wait until the final ratings are available later this weekend to know for sure...
   
  By the way, a month after "The Osbournes" unseated RAW as the top rated regular series on cable TV, another show was taken the top spot away from WWE:  "SpongeBob" occupied the top two cable spots last week (the first week that the Osbournes were on hiatus), with RAW's two hours coming in at #3 and #8.
  
   
• The WWE Australia "Tour" (again, it's actually only one show) is sold out.  The August 10 event in Melbourne is being staged at a big outdoor stadium, and all 47,000-plus tickets for the event are gone after having just gone on sale less than a week ago.
   
  A WWE press release notes that more tickets may be made available after they figure out the final stadium configuration, so there's still a chance you folks down under might be able to eek out a seat or two if you were slow to pick up tix.
   
  Between this huge success in Australia and recent past successes in Canada, Europe, and Asia, it's obvious that the Fed's overseas ticket sales are in much better shape than domestic ones.  If it were logistically feasible, I'm sure the Fed would love to concentrate on those markets a bit more... but keeping the talent relatively rested and making sure they are working in some US city at least once a week for TV tapings makes that difficult.
   
  
• Jerry Jarrett's NWA: Total Nonstop Action (the PPV-only promotion starting up next month) has finalized their three-man announce booth. 
   
  Don West (who has no previous wrestling experience, but is a seasoned TV vet who has plenty of years under his belt as a home shopping network host) is the play-by-play guy.  Ed Ferrera (whose years of backstage work are commendable, even if his lone on-screen appearance -- as the Jim Ross knock-off "Oklahoma" -- was a disaster) will be the color man.  And Mike Tenay rounds things out as the analyst.
   
  I have no idea how West will work out, but any time you've got someone as knowledgeable as Tenay helping to call the action, you should be in decent shape.
   
  Hopefully, the group will next get around to announcing some sort of official line-up of wrestlers and matches...  the June 19 debut for the PPV action is right around the corner.
   
  
• UFC's next big event in Las Vegas may be taped for broadcast on FOX.  Scheduled for Saturday afternoon, June 22, the event is definitely going to be a TV taping.  It's just unclear whether FOX is the outlet for the show.
   
  I know UFC was considering a syndication deal in recent months, in which they'd use a mix of new matches and old footage as a way of promoting their monthly PPVs...  however, Dave Meltzer is now saying that a prime time FOX special is a very real possibility.
   
  Shootfighting from the same network that brought you the travesty that is Celebrity Boxing?  Unreal...
   
  
• WWE's new TV schedule kicks in this weekend...  the two syndicated shows will be limited to highlights and recaps of action from other programs.  And Heat remains exactly the same as it has the last few months:  as a live event show dedicated to the "b-team" of the RAW roster. 
   
  However, changes are afoot on TNN's Saturday night schedule.  The 2 hour slot formerly held by Excess will now be broken down into two distinct one-hour shows.  First will be "Velocity" (a live event show dedicated to the SD! roster); the second hour will be "Confidential" (a behind the scenes type show hosted by Gene Okerlund).
   
  The Fed's trying to get both shows off to big starts.  "Velocity" will feature a Trish/Stacy bra and panties match, which should appeal directly to WWE's primary demographic, as well as a Tajiri/Kidman rematch (which is appealing for entirely different reasons).  "Confidential" will have a big interview with Shawn Michaels that will cover -- at least in part -- the Montreal Screwjob and Shawn's role in it.
   
  I remain steadfast in my opinion that the Fed is loony for trying to nab any significant ratings on a Saturday night when their primary demographic is young males, but hey, what do I know?
   
  Jonny X, who had previously recapped "Jakked" when it was SD's b-show, will be starting up as the OO Recapper for Velocity this week, so we'll have half the Saturday night WWE action covered for you.  I don't know if recapping a magazine-style highlight show is exactly worthwhile, though, so we'll have to see if we add a "Confidential" recap here or not...
   
  
• OO Reader Mike Moore has an interesting take on who might be behind the mysteriously threatening notes being directed towards The Hurricane...
   
  After last night's beef jerky-assisted note delivery, Mike thinks it could be noted meat-based-snack aficionado Randy "Macho Man" Savage...  and it does without saying that Savage has already tangled with one superhero this summer (in "Spider-Man"), so it just might fit his MO.
   
  Of course, I present that theory with tongue firmly planted in cheek...  I mean, it'd be really funny to see, but I think we're still looking at an old WCW Cruiserweight nemesis of the Hurricane's popping up in the role.
   
  
• Undertaker was injured during the opening segment of RAW (when he brutalized Rob Van Dam).  The extent of the hip injury isn't known at this time, but Taker gets a lot of credit for going ahead and working the main event match with RVD, anyway.  Though it's likely that the injury was the main factor for why the match was cut way shorter (about 4 minutes long) than most TV main events are expected to be.
   
  
• By the way, when I said on Wednesday that the Fed's use of the "Dusty Finish" in World Title matches was limited enough that the tease of RVD's title win on Monday was excusable, I did forget the Chris Benoit tease(s) of mid-2001.  My bad...
   
  But still, that means it's been about a year, which is a healthy amount of time to put in between teased title changes like that.
  
  
• Davey Boy Smith did a shoot interview with a web columnist last Friday, May 17...  that was the day before he passed away while on vacation.  In it, he talks about his painkiller addiction, the reasons for his 1992 departure from the WWF, his desire to return to action for one last run, and more.
  
  It's a really good read in any case, and it takes on added significance since it turned out to be Davey's last word on all these topics.  Check it out at www.angleswrestling.com/052402.html.
   
  Thanks to those who mailed in to point it out to me.
   
  
• I think that about wraps it up for this week...  I hope everybody gets to enjoy the holiday weekend, since I certainly intend to.
   
  Of course, an extra day off on Monday is an added bonus for lots of you.  But here at OO, it'll be business as usual.  We'll get the weekend's worth of recaps posted, and I'll be back here with RAW preview and other news, too.
   
  See you 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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