OO Column: Online Onslaught by Rick Scaia (Pro Wrestling News, Analysis, and Commentary... WWE, WWF, WCW, ECW, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Trish Stratus, Lita, Stacy Keibler, Divas, RAW, SmackDown, WrestleMania

ONLINE ONSLAUGHT
War 2.0: Tale of the Tapening, 05/03/10
May 3, 2010

by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OOWrestling.com

Heads up to folks who simply don't have enough The Rick in their lives:

I appeared on Atomic Wrestling Radio last week, hitting on a bit of post-PPV fall-out, but mostly spit-balling ideas coming off the Draft... we even got into a little debate as to whether or not what Edge did last week on RAW constituted a heel turn or not, which turned out to be rather insightful, since most people chalked it up as Edge just inserting himself into the title picture and at most putting a bit more (ahem) "edge" on his "spear spear spear" character.

Guess again, eh?

Anyway, we did a half-hour-plus of WWE talk, and hey, maybe that'd serve as the BEST possible table-setting as you get ready for the NEW week of WWE.... the show's available at http://www.atomicwrestlingnews.com/ (just look for my ruggedly-handsome glaring visage, or go to Episode 3 on the radio page).

A word of warning: Greg has been nice and said it all went very well, and I may even be invited back. I, on the other hand, can't say as that it was my finest hour... on a good day, I am prone to verbosity; and last week, I was downright babbling non-stop and trying to talk over my gracious host (especially the exchange about the women's division). But hey: if I really do get an invite back, I will just use that as motivation to DO EVEN BETTER NEXT TIME. Lord knows I have it in me, if my lengthy runs as the Exclusive Wrestling Guest for Ron & Fez and for Knoxville SportsRadio's Tony Basillio are any indication~!

Anyway, go ahead and check out AWN, and see if that helps you set the stage for this week... and even if doesn't, here's our usual little dog and pony show of ratings review and RAW/Impact previews...

RATINGS POST-MORTEM (for 4/26)

WWE RAW Rating: 3.1 (hours of 2.6, 3.3, and 3.3; a 3.3 in the "normal" 2-hour slot)
TNA Impact Rating: 0.5 (hours of 0.5 and 0.5)

Analysis: Wow. TNA has now hit WSX levels, and once again, their huge drop comes in a pre-taped week. Seeing your audience halved on taped weeks now seems to be a bona fide trend, not just a one-off deal. It raises a bunch of questions: is it worth the extra half-ratings point to pay for Impact to be live every week? Is it not worth the money (and aggrevation), which means a return to Thursday is looming? Especially since the Thursday replay continues to draw 0.7s, which means fans still think of Thursday as "TNA Night."

RAW got next to no bump from the Draft gimmick and the post-PPV "peak-in." A 3.3 in the normal timeslot is a nominal and statistically insignificant game over last week, and gives no one any reason to be excited for the basic core audience expanding any time soon. Go back to my rants in past weeks about WWE trying to be be mainstream general interest TV, and just not doing it very well, and thus losing out to demonstrable crap like Dancing with the Stars. All that still holds: WWE won't see any major increases in viewership until they go back to trying to be a good WRESTLING show that differentiates itself from other crap, and quits trying to be same-old same-old. Sustainable Episodic TV, where art thou?

TNA IMPACT (SpikeTV, 8pm)

What's Been Promised: Beer Money vs. the Machine Guns is the top announced match... also, there's a six-woman match with both the KO's singles AND tag titles on the line, as The Beautiful People take on Tara, Taylor Wilde, and Sarita (I wouldn't look for any title changes, unless it's just a "screw you, smart fans" swerve, as Tara has already announced she's leaving TNA this month, and some are saying Taylor will follow). TNA has also announced Lex Luger will be making a guest appearance for reasons as yet unknown. Probably just to annoy the piss out of me by putting a no-talent douchebag on TV now that they FINALLY fired Bubba the Sperm Receptacle...

What Other Stuff's Expected: I guess there's some kind of follow-up expected after the Ring vs. Ring match last week; a ceremony presenting Flair's ring to Abyss... maybe that's what Luger is there for? I dunnno. Also: dun care.... they are also teasing a Hogan/Sting showdown, which will probably have undertones of power-struggle and what's coming up next in the TNA Title/main event scene. We'll have to see...

The Verdict: The show is live, which immediately adds at least one reason to watch, at least versus last week's pre-taped edition. Other than that? I got nothing one way or another. I kinda ended up not watching Impact last week, so I need to get back on the horse this week to feel plugged in....

WWE Monday Night RAW (USA, 9pm)

What's Been Promised: Wayne Brady is the guest host, we know that. But probably wish we didn't.... Wayne F'n Brady? Is he even still on TV? And did anybody care back when he was? And that sincerely is the ONLY THING promised for tonight.

What Other Stuff's Expected: Obviously, the title picture SHOULD be fantastically interesting, if for no reason other than the sheer number of possibilities... Cena is the champ. Batista has a claim. Orton has a claim. Edge inserted himself into the picture (by turning heel). And do you think Jericho is gonna let Edge sneak in there without demanding equal time? I don't. Questions to be settled starting tonight: does this boil down to a one-on-one title feud, with other ancillary feuds? Or does it just stay a huge schmozz ending with a 4-, 5-, or even 6-way match (Sheamus being the last addition to the dance)? I'm genuinely intrigued by that, considering how much I enjoy Edge and Jericho, and how well I feel Batista and Cena come off as characters when they are hitting their strides? Even Sheamus has had a couple good nights in a row to build momentum, leaving me annoyed only by Orton and his continued mediocrity.... Miz is flying solo now, and could either focus on his US Title (Miz vs. Morrison, please?) or try to find yet another stooge tag partner to further his issues with the Harts... and please please please, just gimme more of the Virgil Search 2010, Junior DiBiase, you punk ass rich kid...

The Verdict: RAW is also live, but without a WHOLE lot else going for it (especially the Wayne Brady part), so in that respect, I guess it's pretty even as far as picking between RAW and Impact.... if I had to choose, the promise of the RAW title picture and my naive hope that they don't TOTALLY screw the pooch might tip the scales in favor of WWE.... than again: there's also a Reds/Mets game tonight and I kinda want to watch. How f'n awesome (and how inexplicably under-the-radar) is Mike Leake, kids?

Per usual, get yer asses back here to OO on Tuesday for full recaps and analysis of both Impact and RAW, courtesy of Danny and Pyro.

RAW SATIRE: Nunzio, the Female Body Inspector

RAW RECAP: R-Truth is One Angry Black Man

SMACKDOWN RECAP: The Terrorists Win

RAW SATIRE: Wrestling's Most Wanted

RAW RECAP: T-Minus 48 Weeks, and Counting

PPV RECAP: WWE Extreme Rules 2011

OOTRR: WWE Unforgiven 2004 Re-Revued

RAW SATIRE: WHAMMY'D~!

NEWSFLASH: 2011 WWE Draft Results

RAW RECAP: Now You See Him, Now You Still See Him

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Edge's Busy Retirement

RAW SATIRE: England is Flavor Country

RAW RECAP: Changing Plans

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Bittersweet Victory

RAW SATIRE: Who is Sin Cara?

RAW RECAP: Other Stuff Happened, Too

NEWSFLASH: Edge Retires

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Third Time's the Charm

RAW SATIRE: Think of the Children!

RAW RECAP: Cena and Rock Ask You to Save the Date

PPV RECAP: WWE WrestleMania 27

ONLINE ONSLAUGHT: A Throwback WrestleMania?

PYRO'S PPV CORNER: WrestleMania 27

RAW SATIRE: Big Red Tromboner

RAW RECAP: Finally...

RAW SATIRE: Thrown Under the Bus

NXT RECAP: Like a Cow Chewing its Own Cud...

RAW RECAP: Sweet Sweet Vengeance

RAW SATIRE: Jersey Wisdom?

NXT RECAP: The Case for William Regal

RAW RECAP: Miz = Winning

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Who Won NXT, Again?

RAW SATIRE: G-Rilla is Here!

NXT RECAP: Is This Really Necessary?

RAW RECAP: The Soul Crushing Finale

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Christian to the Rescue (Again)

RAW SATIRE: Miz's Addition by Subtraction Theatre

NXT RECAP: Johnny Curtis?!? Really?!?

RAW RECAP: Phoning it In

SMACKDOWN RECAP: Hasta la Vista, Vickie

RAW SATIRE: Scandal in the Tag Ranks

NXT RECAP: What the What?!?

RAW RECAP: Silence is Golden

OO: What I'll Remember About Chris Benoit

NEWS CENTRAL: All Updates About Benoit Tragedy

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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.