STAMFORD CT May 3 2000 – The first Monday of May Sweeps proved to be a winner for WWE Entertainment Inc. (NMS: WWE) as its flagship program RAW IS WAR on USA achieved some of its highest ratings to date as viewers flocked to the network to witness the continuation of Sunday’s Pay-Per-View extravaganza Backlash.

The second hour of RAW IS WAR scored an 8.1 rating (12.7 share) – the second highest rated single hour to date while the 8.3 rating (13.6 share) for the quarter hour from 10:45pm – 11:00pm was just 0.1 below the highest quarter hour of all-time. The whopping 9.1 rating (16.2 share) during the overrun (11:00pm – 11:06pm) was the third highest to date – more than 7 million households tuned in to watch The Rock defeat Shane McMahon in a steel cage match to retain the WWE Championship. In comparison the NBA on TBS achieved a 1.6 rating (2.6 share) and a 2.5 rating (4.3 share) during its two playoff games on Monday night.

"The excitement of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s return combined with The Rock winning the WWE Championship at Backlash clearly carried over to Monday night’s show " said Linda McMahon president and CEO of WWE. "We’re pleased that our ratings continue to rise across the board on both of our core programs – WWE SmackDown! on UPN and RAW IS WAR on USA – however we are most excited for our fans who are thoroughly enjoying the successful combination of our strong characters and storylines. Our thanks goes out to them."