by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

And the rest of the mid-week news is right here:

• I cannot stress enough how much of a Step in the Right Direction Monday's RAW was...
   
  Yes, I know that there were segments that dragged or that seemed pointless or predictable.  But after a month of the utter crap that they had been serving up, I'll take that.
   
  And besides that, I think there are very defensible reasons for doing things like squashes for Test and Batista (which were among the more bland bits on Monday).  Test is being reinvented, and Batista is basically a debuting talent in many ways.  Both need to build their character up, and these types of segments are the way to do it.  In a few weeks, if they stay this course, we'll have a slightly different take on the night Batista beat Justin Credible in 65 seconds, I think...
   
  And again, I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but if you consider that in the last four weeks, necrophilia and anal probings have passed for "character development," we really should be thanking the RAW team!
   
  Big winner of the night:  Booker T.  By a wide margin.  He not only participated in two of RAW's strongest segments, he also finished the night with a pinfall win over the current World Champ.
   
  In the in-ring promo he had with Triple H, Booker showed a focused, serious, and intense side that has sort of been brushed aside in favor of his antics with Goldust in recent months.  He seemed like a viable champion.  And without resorting to any ludicrous plot developments, they built up a viable rivalry between the two in just a few short minutes.  Good stuff, and that's even before you added Jericho and Kane into the mix to set the stage for the night's main event tag match.
   
  And speaking of that match, it came off just about perfectly.  Not a blow-away **** affair, or anything, but everything built up nicely to the ending, with Michaels making his run-in to once again get the better of HHH, allowing Booker to score a pinfall win over the champ.  Now, you've got Michaels who can claim a pinfall win over HHH (at SummerSlam), and Booker who can claim the same.  Hopefully we can get something like that cooking for RVD, Jericho, or Kane in the next week, to further stress the parity of the Elimination Chamber match.
   
  Big loser on the night: the World Tag Team Titles.  Despite a really funny sidebar between Jericho and Christian, the titles were only further devalued when Jericho couldn't even be bothered to team with his own fellow champ on the night (opting to get into something else with HHH as his partner).  The fact that the other two tag matches on the card featured two makeshift babyface teams, but two apparently-established heel tandems, only underscored that there's nobody compelling to put Jericho/Christian up against, anyway.
   
  For the most part, the rest of my thoughts about last night's show were included in the RAW Recap I did yesterday.  They are the bits in red italics.  Everything else is pretty much straight results.
   
  Check it out if you need the rest of the details from Monday's show.  [And rest assured somebody else will be here starting next week with the RAW Recap!]
   
  
• Monday's RAW did a 3.5 cable rating, up a negligible one-tenth of a point from the week before.  As has been harped upon repeatedly by me and others, ratings are a reflexive thing, so that mild increase more likely indicates what viewers thought about LAST week's show more than anything.  
   
  Once word spreads about this Monday's show, we'll see that reflected in viewership for next week's RAW...
   
  
• For all the doom-saying one might do about WWE's depressed TV ratings, they are still, however, a very steady and strong performer for the networks that host them.  Usually.  [I make no particular claims about the Saturday Night block on TNN.]
   
  To that end, UPN has asked WWE to supply an extra hour of programming next week, to air in place of a struggling new series.  Since SmackDown! is consistently UPN's highest rated show, they figured an extra hour of it could only be an improvement over whatever normally airs in their Tuesday, 9pm timeslot.
   
  The Fed has decided to make it a special InterPromotional show, featuring both RAW and SD! talents.  Matches were taped this week, and you can get the full results for next Tuesday's special in the Spoiler Report.
   
  
• Speaking of the Saturday night block on TNN...  Velocity and Confidential both returned to their normal, late night slots this past weekend, but again, both performed very poorly.  The two hour block averaged a 0.55, just about as bad as they did when moved out of their familiar timeslot the week before.
   
  After coming out of the gate fairly strong about six months ago -- the block was able to average a 1.0 or higher -- the Saturday night ratings are now back to being every bit as poor (or worse) as they were for the dying days of "Excess."
   
  Sunday Night Heat, however, is still holding about steady.  The show did a 1.1 on Sunday night.  ["Holding steady" is a relative term, of course...  numbers are steady over the last six months or so, but it's best to just ignore the fact that 3 or 4 years ago, "Heat" would routinely score in the upper 3's for USA Network!]
   
  
• It's come to my attention that there were rampant rumors over the weekend or on Monday that Hulk Hogan and WWE had official parted ways, and that Hogan was already seeking work in All Japan.
   
  I think I can say pretty solidly that that is not true.
   
  With Hogan's WWE-sanctioned book due out in two weeks, it was expected he'd return to help pump up sales.  The fact that he is not back, and does not seem to be coming back soon, is probably an indication that Hogan and WWE are further apart on a creative plan for his return than I might have indicated in the past.  But it's no indication that he's completely split from the company at this point.
   
  In fact, Hogan continues to get mentioned on WWE.com and on WWE broadcasts, and when you see his book promoted on RAW and SD!, I suspect you'll get the definite vibe that Hogan and WWE are still, however tenuously, still in the business of making money together.
   
  
• Nathan Jones, who is an Aussie bodybuilder who you might remember from a ringside appearance back when WCW did a tour down under (and who was actually signed to a Power Plant deal by WCW, I think), got a couple of try out matches with WWE this week.  
   
  He got dark match wins over Lance Kincaid and Doug Basham at TV tapings, and though the reports I got from tapings were quick to indicate that he didn't seem to sharp of an in-ring performer (nor all that great in brief stick work), they were just as quick to note that the guy LOOKS impressive, and that he still got good responses when he hit his power moves cleanly.
   
  We'll have to see if that translates into any further opportunities for Jones....
   
  
• Speaking of dark match opportunities: "The Cat" Ernest Miller recently spoke about his chances last week with WWE, noting that Vince McMahon actually pulled him aside at the end of one show to compliment him on his charisma and verbal skills.
   
  Miller hasn't indicated if he thinks the dark matches will lead to anything permanent, but said that he knows he's got one big supporter in Johnny Ace, and that he thinks he put his best foot forward in both the matches, showcasing his versatility and verbal talents (he worked one match as a babyface, the other as a heel).
   
  
• Boston Globe report Mark Jurkowitz was allowed backstage for Monday's RAW tapings at the Fleet Center in Boston.  He wasn't just there for the event, but actually spent the whole day prior to the show getting a feel for the preparations that go into the event, and was even granted access to post-event post-mortums.
   
  Starting with an early afternoon meeting with all talent and production crew, going over a "third draft" script, through the eventual development of a fourth draft, to the show itself, and to Vince's post-show determination that the pace of the show was hurt by "too much backstage" stuff, the article is a really cool look at how the final RAW product evolved -- at least on this occasion -- over an entire 12 hour day.
   
  Check it out right here.  And thanks to the readers who passed along the link.
   
  
• Following Monday's discussion of Brock Lesnar perhaps busting out his Shooting Star Press to provide the climax of his Survivor Series match against Big Show, I actually got some help from readers who wanted to provide links to video footage of Lesnar hitting the move.
   
  And big ups to fellow RSPW old-timer Jason Steeves, who actually e-mailed a nice-sized MPEG of Lesnar hitting the SSP.  He suggested that I make it available for download here at OO, but unfortunately, that would cripple my server if 20-something thousand people decided they wanted to all download a big ass video clip...
   
  So instead, I have to resort to giving you all this link, where you can view a reduced-quality version of Lesnar hitting a Shooting Star Press from his days in OVW.  It is still a DAMNED impressive sight, and I hope we get to see this in WWE, sooner rather than later.  [Sorry in advance about the pop-ups.]
   
  
• And with that, I do believe my work here is done.  For today, anyway.  See you again on Friday with whatever passes for News and Opinion over the weekend!

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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