The record number of orders expected for Sunday's Wrestlemania 23 pay-per-view isn't the only proof that pro wrestling is rising off the mat.

According to a recently released ESPN Sports Poll, the industry's popularity in 2006 was higher in almost all age and racial demographics than the previous year.

The poll, which is a service of TNS Sport, showed 22.8 percent of the 16,608 respondents considered themselves pro wrestling fans. That was an increase of 1.5 percent from 2005 and reverses a three-year negative trend.

The biggest inroads came in the 25-to-34 age bracket, where popularity rose from 25.8 percent to 31.3 percent in 2006, and among American Indians (30.8 to 39.7). The only significant drop was among Asian fans (28.5 to 20.4).

The upswing is reflected in World Wrestling Entertainment's strong business in 2007. WWE's television ratings remain strong and the promotion is selling out live shows at its best click since the end of the industry's last boom period in 2002.

The year's crowning moment will be Wrestlemania 23, which will draw a live crowd of 70,000-plus in Detroit along with a projected one million pay-per-view buys (including international markets) at $49.95 apiece.

WWE deserves such success by having built compelling story lines for Wrestlemania's three main matches: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker vs. Batista and the "Battle of the Billionaires" hair vs. hair confrontation between promotion owner Vince McMahon and eccentric business entrepreneur Donald Trump.

Represented in the bout by Bobby Lashley and Umaga, Trump or McMahon will get their head shaved if their respective charge loses. McMahon is the one expected to end up looking like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the follicle-challenged former WWE champion who will serve as the guest referee.

Paul "Triple H" Levesque seemed destined for a main event spot at Wrestlemania 23, but that was before he suffered a torn quadriceps in January. WWE subsequently shifted its focus to Cena vs. Michaels, with much of the suspense centering around whether the latter will turn heel on yet another grappler he was previously teamed with.

The Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania (he's 14-0) is in jeopardy against Batista, especially if he wins the bout and extends a feud that could culminate in August at the Summer Slam pay-per-view show.

WWE's next challenge after Wrestlemania 23 is increasing domestic orders of its other pay-per-view shows and avoiding backlash from yet another steroid scandal involving its performers.

WWE's slumping domestic buy rates could stem from the saturation of wrestling and mixed martial arts programming on both cable and pay-per-view. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that overall orders for WWE's New Year's Revolution and Royal Rumble pay-per-views in January were down 36.2 and 13.1 percent respectively from the previous year.

Hoping to stop the bleeding, WWE has stopped running brand-specific pay-per-views and will instead feature the top stars from all three of its weekly television shows (Raw, Smackdown and Extreme Championship Wrestling) on future cards.

Jacked-up physiques have remained a WWE staple even after the promotion announced a testing policy in February 2006.

So it wasn't shocking when some of the promotion's top stars - including Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio Jr. (real name Oscar Gutierrez) and Edge (Adam Copeland) - were among those named in a recent Sports Illustrated story as having received steroids or human growth hormone from pharmacies that were recently raided in a government investigation.

Also listed were current Total Nonstop Action wrestling star Kurt Angle and the late Eddie Guerrero, whose death certificate listed heart damage from steroid abuse as one of the reasons for his passing in November 2005 at the age of 38.

Such revelations are unlikely to result in a backlash among oblivious WWE fans, including parents of the promotion's sizeable adolescent audience.

The bigger question is whether the companies whose commercials air on WWE programming will want to remain associated with a form of entertainment that sends the wrong message to today's youth about such drug use by continuing to showcase mammoth physiques clearly obtained through dubious means.

More wrestling news can be found at www.wrestlingobserver.com. Questions can be sent to Alex Marvez c/o the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL, 33301, or e-mailed to amarvez@sun-sentinel.com. Please include your full name and city of residence. Because of volume, no phone calls will be accepted and letters will not receive a written reply.