ProWrestlingViews.com

Posts Tagged ‘Bret Hart’

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.