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Posts Tagged ‘Bret Hart’

In becoming Raw general manager, Bret Hart announced he was vacating the US Title he won off The Miz last week and that Miz would face top contender R-Truth to determine the new champ. R-Truth, coming off a nice win over Ted DiBiase Jr. at the Over the Top PPV, put on a show and was awarded the title.

This win sets up a natural feud over the US title between R-Truth and the Miz, which ought to make for more good matches, if this title match was any indicator. They displayed good in-ring chemistry and told a good tale from a ring psychology standpoint without over-relying on high-spots.

The Miz, who has obviously been laying off the weight loss diet supplements since his Real World New Orleans days, has matured into a solid heel, though he hasn’t yet rid himself of that youthful, Real World look.

From US Champ to new GM of Raw, Bret “the Hitman” Hart’s return to WWE has been nothing short of a complete success for both the former grappler and the company, which used Hart’s return to fend off and completely rebuff a challenge by TNA Impact to Raw’s Monday Night dominance.

Now, with the “guest host” concept gone by the wayside and Hart ensconced as a face authority figure, Raw might have a chance to return to some great, stable storytelling with a fresh perspective, rather than offering guest-hosting duties to just about everyone and their grandma as a unique mothers day gift.

Hart is a brilliant foil for the company’s heels, with great mic skills and instant credibility; and the ongoing power-struggle between Hart and McMahon could fuel some interesting PPV storylines. Well chosen, WWE!

Bret Hart will get a chance to once again wear WWE gold next week on Raw; he will be facing current US champ, The Miz. My tv stands are still shaking from shock and surprise.

Hart famously left WWE around 1997 to join the competition, WCW, and exited the company angry when he felt Vince McMahon welched on a promise to allow him to leave WWE undefeated as champ. A vacated title was his preferred way to exit.

When Vinnie Mac booked Shawn Michaels to win instead, in front of a pro-Hart Montreal audience, the incident became known as the Montreal Screw-Job. The event festered well over a decade and was only healed 12 years later, in 2009, when McMahon successfully negotiated to bring Bret back in a limited role, in a storyline that involved him getting retribution on McMahon for perceived wrongs.

It made for good TV and good ratings; but now Hart has apparently earned a title shot by being a good company man in his return to WWE. While it’s unlikely a title change will occur, it’s definitely decent of Hart to willingly give “the rub” to a young turk like The Miz. Classy move, Bret!

For a match 13 years in the making, the long-anticipated Bret vs. Vince match failed to live up to the pre-match hype. Instead of a somewhat competitive display, the “double-screwjob” angle with the entire Hart Family serving as McMahon’s lumberjacks… and immediately turning on Vince… made little sense in its timing.

Worse, however, was the in-ring execution. Now 64, McMahon is no longer able to pull off a convincing in-ring presence. While his match with Hart made storyline and business sense, McMahon simply isn’t up to the job the way he was twelve years ago when he was regularly facing off with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The entire match had Bret on offense and McMahon barely made a recovery, let alone ever got any offense going enough to put the outcome in doubt and add some drama to the event. As a result, I’d have enjoyed myself more spending that time buying new office furniture.

Hart himself is no spring chicken, either. At 52, he is at an age where he might be in shape enough to take bumps convincingly the way McMahon did twelve years ago when he was 52, but to dominate an opponent like this? Not convincing. The match lacked energy and called to mind the tired, plodding pace of the Verne Gagne-Nick Bockwinkle AWA matches of the mid-1980s.

On Monday, March 1, Cheech and Chong will be WWE guest hosts, followed by Criss Angel on March 8 opposite the new TNA Monday Night Impact; and then it will be Stone Cold Steve Austin on Monday, March 15.

Right now, there’s no guest host lined up for Monday, March 22, the final Raw before WrestleMania on Sunday, March 28. Could this mean that Stone Cold will be the final Raw guest host? If so, it would be hard to imagine a better guest host to end the concept on.

While WWE has The Rock lined up this summer for a short program, the guest host concept has kind of run its course since it debuted last June. What will WWE try next, to keep its product fresh against Impact?

One guess is that they are probably trying to line up a headline making “general manager of Raw,” returning to a more familiar concept. The smart money would be on Bret “The Hitman” Hart, whose guest host spot against the last experimental TNA Impact on Monday Night fared quite well for WWE.

The only question is whether Hart would be willing to accept a regular role on the show. If so, that would be plenty of impact against Impact, and would have TNA execs running for their diet aids.

Even a couple weeks removed from Bret Hart’s history-making return to a WWE ring and I’m still in amazement at how well the moment was handled, right from Bret’s opening words.

“Well, I guess hell froze over.”

From that moment to the confrontation with Shawn Michaels, to the moment Michaels teased a possible SuperKick, to the smart decision not to go that route but deliver a hug of genuine friendship, everything was handled just right.

By eschewing the predictable sports entertainment moment, that opening segment of Raw became the best of what sports entertainment can be. It was enough to cure a teen of acnezine!

WWE Monday Night Raw turned 15 years old this past week, and it doesn’t take Doink the Clown dressed in a pair of golf shoes to point out what a watershed moment that marks. The 15th anniversary show had plenty of guest appearances for nostalgia’s sake, including Marty Jennetty, Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and a 15-man battle royale involving a lot of lesser-name jobbers from the past decade and a half.

Of course, personally, I had a lot of favorite moments that I appreciated. It was fun seeing Chris Jericho confront Eric Bischoff so soon into Jericho’s return after a two year absence; Bischoff, in the storyline, fired Jericho when Y2J left WWE to pursue his music career. Having Jericho come back and get his revenge was a satisfying storyline moment for longtime fans.

I also enjoyed the Evolution reunion, especially the flashback when Evolution betrayed Orton. Back then, Orton was the babyface and Evolution were the heels; now those roles have changed and it was surprising how well the betrayal moments still worked.

The only two notable superstars missing on the night were Bret “the Hitman” Hart and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Too bad.