by Rick Scaia
Exclusive to OnlineOnslaught.com

This comes on the heels of about two weeks of word that the deals were done in principle, but not officially signed, and word directly from the WWF that negotiations, though on-going, had not yielded any concrete results.  The report does not include any insight on a possible start date for Nash and Hall, nor does it shed any light on whether or not Hulk Hogan's contract situation has changed from "pending" to "finalized."

In the past, the WWF has been good about announcing talent signings/departures on their website, no doubt as a way of beating dirt sheets to the punch.  As of 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, no announcement about Nash or Hall has been made on WWF.com, which could be viewed as reason for suspicion, or simply as evidence that the WWF is backing off its policy of leaking too much inside news to the fans (a policy that it is known that have been rethinking).

However, if true, this rumor does mean that Nash and Hall could appear without warning on any WWF programming, starting with next Monday's RAW.  Without giving away specific spoilers, there were certainly happenings at last night's SmackDown! Tapings that could point to an accelerated arrival schedule for Hall and Nash.

If more details on this situation become known before my Friday column, I'll be sure to post them to The Ticker...

-  Monday's RAW was a solid follow-up to a good Rumble PPV...  some good wrestling in spots, some intriguing teases and plot developments to move things forward, and even a few spots on the show that -- while pointless -- were amusing and fun.

In that last category, I'm obviously thinking about Steve Austin's run-in and promo...  this whole "What?" think is clearly out of hand, but I'm starting to think it's in a good way.  I sit at home, and I think, "Jeez, this is ridiculous," but I'm doing it with a little smile on my face and in the back of my head, I just KNOW that if I was in that arena and had a beer or three in me, I'd be chanting along with everybody else.  It's almost starting to be a game:  how many ridiculous places can Austin go with a promo while pausing every 3 seconds without losing the fans?  It's kind of fun to see him test the limits with things as outrageous as the entire Beverly Hillbillies theme song...

In the second category from above, the most notable example was Vince McMahon cryptic comment to Ric Flair about him having to do something that he (and all WWF fans) will regret.  Vince is about to resort to desperate measures to get his revenge on Ric Flair, and already, the rumor mill is buzzing about the possibilities that this could be tied in to rumored talent acquisitions.

At a slightly lower level, Goldust's promo not only indicates he's back, but also confirmed that he's targeting a mystery opponent for his near future.  I'm not saying that anything can recreate the aura of Goldust courting Razor Ramon, but the bizarre Goldust character allows him to pick one person to be both the object of his affection and his violent outbursts...  as I mentioned in a Ticker Item yesterday, I've got early word that this could be building to Goldust focusing on the Rock (what with the Rock's Hollywood ties, and all).  Could be good...

Since CRZ's got the full details of the show in his RAW Recap (which you should consider required reading if you missed the show... and recommended reading even if you didn't), I'll just close with one other observation from RAW:

How damned awkward was it to watch Val Venis completely crib an entire promo from the Rick Rude Playbook, only to have his opponent announced as "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, a long-time friend of the late, great Ravishing One?  I'm not saying anything bad about Val borrowing from Rude's proven shtick, I'm just saying it was kind of a surreal moment when I stopped to think about it.

-  No RAW ratings as of mid-afternoon Wednesday...  they are, of course, delayed by the MLK holiday.  Look for them to go up on The Ticker some time tonight or early Thursday, per their arrival and my schedule.

-  False rumors have circulated over the last day or so about the WWA (World Wrestling All-stars)...  the promotion is not broke, and still fully plans to go forward with a February PPV event headlined by Randy Savage, Jeff Jarrett, and others.

-  "The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons has posted his quarterly wrestling-related article to ESPN's Page 2...  as always, it's just plain good to see Simmons presenting wrestling as a topic to the non-wrestling-fan masses, even if he does have to adopt an especially cynical tone to do so.

In this case, though, I have to wonder if he doesn't change his tune more times in the one article than he alleges Chris Jericho has flopped between babyface and heel in the last two years...  he likes it, he hates it, he likes it, he hates it.  But in the end, the review of the Royal Rumble turns out to be a positive one.  Check it out here.

-  Thanks to everybody who wrote back in the last few days to say they adopted our Royal Rumble Game and that it also enhanced their enjoyment of the show...  one guy even noted the exact same shocking development that we joked about here:  Chucky Palumbo was good for 1.5 points (in fact, he was the highest-grossing entrant for one of my friends!), which nobody would ever have guessed going in!

And if you really care, no I didn't win...  got off to a good start with the Undertaker, but between elimination points and the bonus for winning, my friend who got Triple H was unstoppable.  Damned HHH!

-  Tickets for the Tokyo date of the WWF's upcoming Asian tour are either sold out or near it, after having only gone on sale this weekend.  As noted, the WWF isn't bringing the whole A-list roster, but the fast-selling tickets seem to indicate it doesn't really matter to Japanese fans who haven't gotten a taste of WWF action in nearly a decade.

-  Final thing for today is an announcement made on 1Wrestling.com about a new women's promotion that hopes to air a February 22 pay-per-view from Philadelphia.  The twist is that it'll be an adult, "21 or up," promotion according to a press release. I have no idea what that means, as the company's "Women's Extreme Wrestling" name could have two different connotations that would dictate their product was for a mature audience.  If you catch my drift.

I also have no idea if this PPV will actually make it to fruition on a major national basis...   national cable PPV distributor In Demand has no information on the show (though it does list the 2/24 WWA PPV), so we'll have to see if this comes off in a meaningful fashion.

-  That's it for me today.  The next few chunks of the OO Year in Review are ready and I hope you check them (and the rest of the good stuff going up here in the next few days) before I come on back here Friday with a fresh OO.  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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