The biggest news this week has to be both tonight’s “Monday Night War II” and for me, the biggest, is Bret “Hitman” Hart’s 12-year return to the WWE as the Guest Host. For this week’s week in review of WWE television, let me discuss these two things that will happen tonight.

Monday Night War II

Something that’s been talked about in the professional wrestling world is the Monday Night War is coming back tonight, January the 4th, after almost a decade after World Championship Wrestling being bought by Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation.

Do I think Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling has a chance tonight against the WWE? No. Why? It isn’t because I dislike Hulk Hogan. That isn’t the case, not for one second. I believe if TNA has stayed around the same ratings this past year, why would moving over to the WWE’s night change anything? A three-hour Raw has done a little worse than a normal two-hour Raw in the ratings. So a three-hour Impact probably would do the same. And when Raw moved to a Thursday night once, Raw beat Impact in ratings on Impact’s night. If you don’t like this info, email the guys at Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online (http://www.f4wonline.com/), I pay to get my info from them.

But besides looking at that info, I really don’t think “Hollywood” Hulkster has the same impact (no pun necessary) that he did 15 years ago when he went to WCW. Why? Most fans today are new fans. They may not remember too much of Hogan. Heck, I’m only 21 and I was on the backslide of Hogan’s run as a professional wrestler. Fans are younger than me, and they may remember his run with the New World Order in 2002 and his “Red-and-Yellow” roots after that, but that was the mere shell of Hogan.

So looking at the impact that Hogan will have tonight is mere nothing to what I think this man will do. The man I’m referencing to is Bret “the Hitman” Hart, jack!

Bret Hart’s 12-Year Return

Something that most wrestling fans like myself and other older wrestling fans, we never expected Hart to come back to work for the WWE after his history. He was actually screwed out of the WWE Championship back in 1997. McMahon and Michaels went back on their word on letting Bret win what would become his last WWE match at the Survivor Series in 1997. Hart hasn’t let this down for years. Which makes this story interesting.

Tonight marks the first television Bret has had on any wrestling programming as a character since his career-ending concussion in WCW in 2000.

Add the spring of 1999.

The sad passing of Owen Hart during a WWE pay-per-view during their May 1999 pay-per-view entitled Over the Edge. Owen passed away when the cord that we were being brought down from the rafters from snapped and he fell some odd feet and hit his head on the top rope and his life was taken. Bret since blamed WWE and Vince McMahon for the loss of his brother.

So come tonight, at the start of Monday Night Raw, I will tune in to watch Bret Hart. WWE has my full attention and I want to how they will move this new chest piece in the game that they won almost a decade ago, that’s the Monday Night War. Good luck TNA. It was nice knowing you. Not really.

Conclusion

To wrap this up, I cannot see really anything coming to pass if TNA is only having one Monday Night Impact. To make an impact, they should move Impact to Monday Nights. That would make McMahon see them as full competition, or in reality, as competition to begin with. And with all the history that Bret Hart, Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Kansas City (where Owen Hart died), and the WWE have together, something has to happen. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, thanks again for checking out my piece, once again, goodbye!

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

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Sunday, November 9th, 1997 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada-WWF Survivor Series 1997-We saw the main event putting rivals World Wrestling Federation World Heavyweight Champion Bret “the Hitman” Hart putting up his title against World Wrestling Federation European Champion “the Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.

Something I thought was pretty interested and really enjoyed was when both competitors came out for their entrances, they were introduced in French. It would be neat if they keep doing that nowadays in the WWE.

Another thing that I totally thought was neat, awesome, amazing, and great, was the Winged Eagle WWF Championship. That title belt was one of the best WWF championship belts, ever! They, the WWE, should bring back that title. But that’s my opinion, thought.

Jim Ross pointed out when both men were in the ring that this feud, up to this point, was a 18 month feud.

A sign that I saw that made me laugh was a sign that said: “Chyna is a Man.” Good job sign. You made me laugh.

When Bret Hart got into the ring after he gave his sunglasses to one of his fans, Hart and Michaels start it out with a fist fight, and somehow brought the battle outside the ring which made the match “officially” start later then the fight did.

The battle went back and forth from the outside of the ring and into the crowd, doing battle, making it seem like a uncontrolled fist fight. After coming back from battling in the fans the second time, Hart kicked Michaels in the groin and Michaels went down. Good stuff.

After the low blow from Hart to the “Heartbreak Kid,” they battled up the entrance ramp and Hart gave Michaels a back drop and then a suplex on the concrete.

Doing the all-out-brawl all over the arena, the two competitors finally got into the ring and the match officially started. After the match started, Bret hit Shawn with a inverted atomic drop, a move that I rarely see these days in professional wrestling, a move that I kind of miss. Seriously.

Michaels did a “Vintage Michaels” (thanks Michael Cole) and hit Hart with a flying forearm and nipped up. After which, I could be wrong, but I swear I heard a faint “Shawn is gay” chant from the crowd. A small laugh I did, then a confused thoughts started to come in. Then I remembered, Michaels did pose for Play Girl and Canada hated Michaels coming into this pay-per-view.

Something that the announcers mentioned was Bret Hart’s knuckles were bleeding. Why was this mentioned? I don’t know. Why am I mentioned this? I find this funny that the WWE announcers mentioned this. Vintage WWE announcers.

Another thing I found pretty great was a fan wearing a smiley face Mankind shirt was doing the DX chops to Michaels.

Michaels gave Hart a front face suplex on the steel steps. That would hurt, tons.

Those two men roll back in the ring and Hart starts to work on HBK’s left knee, kicking him in the knee and jumping on it on the bottom rope.

Michaels countered with a eye rake and Michaels went up-top and did a flying cross body and Hart countered and got a two count. After which, Hart put Michaels in a figure four with the turnbuckle outside the ring and broke at the four count, right before he got disqualified.

After which, Hart rolled into the ring, worked more on HBK’s knee, and put him in another figure four, right center in the ring, and Michaels countered by rolling onto his belly. After HBK countered, Hart grabbed the bottom rope and broke the submission.

Hart gave Michaels a beautiful snap suplex and a beautiful back breaker, a couple of moves that is rarely seen on WWE television and moves I wish we could see more of these days.

Hart went up-top to hit HBK with a double axe handle and HBK pulls Earl Hebner in front of Hart and Michaels got control of the match. Michaels then put Hart into the Sharpshooter.

“Ring the bell!” hollered Earl Hebner. The announcers went quite, not knowing what just happened. Jim Ross then asked in confusion: “What happened?” Then within 20 seconds, Jim Ross then said: “Wow, you talk about controversy.”

A true statement from JR, a controversial moment in the WWE that still gets talked about 12 years later. Looking at this match with 2009 eyes, this match is still a good match. A match, I believe, back in 1997, is lot better than most of the 2009 matches now. Sucks that these two men never had a rematch from this match at the follow pay-per-view, because I am sure a rematch from this match would draw in huge buy rates and ratings. And with this swerve, known as the “Montréal Screw Job” helped the WWF beat WCW in the ratings war, and helped WWF dominate WCW and McMahon buying WCW from AOL/Time Warner. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, stuffed on a Thanksgiving night, excited for this coming up Saturday night to hang out with a couple of old friends, goodnight.

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 1997

Order the WWE DVD WWE – Bret “Hitman” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be by clicking here.

Read more about Bret Hart’s side of the story in his autobiography – Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by clicking here.

Read more about Shawn Michaels’ side of the story and his confession in his autobiography – Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story by clicking here.

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News broke out last week that Bret “the Hitman” Hart was considering coming back to work for Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Entertainment, once again, as an on-air personality. This news is huge, and quite shocking.

Why is it huge? Why is it shocking? The Montreal Screw Job! I even wrote two articles about the Montreal Screw Job, one for here, CamelClutchBlog.com, and the other on my own personal blog site. Let me get into where I would love to see “the Excellence of Execution” be if he does come back and play some kind of on-air role for McMahon and the WWE once again.

“I’m the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. That’s why I am your new Raw General Manager! I got screwed once here in the WWE, I am back to make sure no one else get’s screwed!”

I would absolutely love to see Bret Hart as the Raw General Manager. I believe Hart can be even better than Eric Bischoff as the on-air Raw General Manager, and for me to say that, that’s huge. I am a huge Eric Bischoff fan, and I won’t go into why I am an Eric Bischoff fan here in this article, because this article is about Bret Hart.

Bret Hart back in the World Wrestling Entertainment. That’s hard for me to believe, if this does come true. I cannot see this happening. Why? The business has changed so much since he retired almost a decade ago. The WWE has changed greatly since he left 12 years ago after the 1997 Survivor Series. This whole topic boggles my mind, and not that much boggles my mind as of late. Bret Hart back in the World Wrestling Entertainment?

Back to the role I would love to see Bret play: the Raw General Manager. The reason is because Triple H and Shawn Michaels are on Raw. Hart can make them “pay” for “screwing with the piper” twelve years ago in Montreal. I can see this being a modern day Austin versus McMahon storyline, but Bret coming back to seek revenge against the two degenerates that screwed him out of the company in the first place.

Another thing I would love to see is Bret bringing over the Hart Dynasty over to Raw after they make a name for themselves and after they prove themselves worthy as top players in the WWE. Why would this be great for the Hart Dynasty? They can feud with Michaels and Triple H as D-Generation X and DX can help put them over and make them main eventers in the fans eyes. Also getting a rub from Uncle Bret, the Hart Dynasty would finally make it, if done right, if done properly.

Bret Hart can also help with the direction of the storylines, which is what I hope most out of everything; if he does decide on to go back with the company. Bret has been in the business his whole life and even helped with his father’s Stampede Wrestling on booking for the territory, when wrestling was heavily territory based. Bret can help with what worked back in the day and help guys with their in-ring technical skill. Hart isn’t considered to be the best on the mic, but he can tell a beautiful story inside the ring when it comes to his technical wrestling. Hart can defiantly help out with wrestlers and their body language.

Bret is a great resource that the new talent can learn from. Bret can help mold the new guys and help find the future of the company. McMahon would be stupid for not getting Hart and use him as much as possible.

These are all my opinions. But honestly, I would love to see Bret Hart come back, especially if he comes back as Raw General Manager. I believe that if Bret was the Raw GM, he could very well bring in a lot of old-school wrestling fans back the sport that they once loved. So Mr. McMahon, or if anyone in the WWE is reading this, please get Bret Hart signed if Bret wants to come back. The WWE could use Bret in a great way, and could bring fans back into the sport and help get new fans into the business. This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, happy that it stopped raining outside, because rain sucks. Good job sun on coming back, goodbye!

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 1997

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Order the WWE DVD WWE – Bret “Hitman” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be by clicking here.

Check out tons of exclusive wrestling interview videos at www.wrestlinginterviews.com.

Read Bret Hart’s autobiography – Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by clicking here.

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John Cena won his fourth WWE championship at Breaking Point defeating Randy Orton. Orton gave up to an STF with the help of handcuffs. WWE world champion CM Punk retained his title against the Undertaker. Punk paid homage to the Montreal Screw Job by reenacting the same scenario and screwing Taker to end the show. Punk also mentioned Jeff Hardy earlier in the show which is sure to get a lot of people talking.

The Montreal Screw Job played a part throughout Breaking Point. The event was held in Montreal. Earlier in the night, fans screamed “You Screwed Bret” at DX. Get over it already! Not the kind of babyface reaction you’d want for your top attraction. The screw job was later reenacted as referee Scott Armstrong rang the bell while Punk had Taker in the Anaconda Vise. Taker never gave up and Teddy Long was left standing with a lot of explaining to do. Lock the door Teddy!

John Cena regained his WWE championship in the co-main event. The match was probably one of Cena’s better matches in the last several years. Orton used a paid of handcuffs throughout the match, handcuffing and beating Cena who wouldn’t quit. Cena finally took possession of the handcuffs and used them in a combination with the STF for the win.

Cena has been on top for a long time, but it’s been a while since he has had the title. It would have been three years this week since Cena’s last title reign. Cena never technically lost the title during his last run. Cena had to vacate the title after suffering a severe injury against Mr. Kennedy on WWE RAW. Orton has had three reigns since that time. Triple H leads the all-time list with eight WWE title reigns.

In a somewhat surprising move, WWE acknowledged Jeff Hardy’s arrest on the show. CM Punk in an interview made reference to Jeff having his mug shot all over the Internet. I am pretty surprised. I would have expected WWE to run away from this story. Additionally, Jeff Hardy left the company reportedly on good terms. Why kick a man when he is down, especially when his brother and his best friends are still working there?

Former WWE Diva Trish Stratus will be the WWE Guest Host tomorrow on RAW. Stratus will captain the ship as they follow up Breaking Point. The show also features an appearance by former WWE champion Batista. Batista is scheduled to make a career altering announcement. The set up will also begin for the WWE’s next big show, Hell in the Cell. I would expect a set of Hell in the Cell matches to include DX vs. Legacy, CM Punk vs. Undertaker, and John Cena vs. Randy Orton.

Full WWE Breaking Point Results…
Chris Jericho and The Big Show defeated Montel Vontavious Porter and Mark Henry Tag Team match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
Kofi Kingston defeated The Miz for the WWE United States Championship
The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase) defeated D-Generation X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) Submissions Count Anywhere match
Kane defeated The Great Khali (with Ranjin Singh) Singapore Cane match
Christian defeated William Regal match for the ECW Championship
John Cena defeated Randy Orton “I Quit” match for the WWE Championship.
CM Punk defeated The Undertaker

Order the WWE: The Rise and Fall of WCW DVD by clicking here.

Order WWE: The Best of Smackdown – 10th Anniversary 1999-2009 DVD by clicking here.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

November 9th, 1997 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Survivor Series 1997 – WWE Heavyweight Championship match, putting Champion Bret “the Hitman” Hart against Challenger “the Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. A feud that started after Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble match in 1996.

But going back to what this article is directed towards, let’s go to that cold November night up in Montreal, Quebec, and let’s discuss the main event of that evening, the WWF Championship match with Hart defending the title against Michaels.

I have heard many different stories over the past decade and a fifth since the “Screw Job,” so with the little time I have left of my summer before my fourth year of college, I decided to finish reading Bret Hart’s autobiography about his life and career in professional wrestling, look over my notes when I read Shawn Michaels’ autobiography, re-read that section, and here’s what I have for the whole thing.

The Bret Hart Argument

“I’m the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be!” Was the quote that you heard Bret Hart spew out each and every time he had a chance to talk on television or any media for that matter. One of the greatest in-ring performers, arguably, due to his technical skill and his many World Championship reigns, marks Bret Hart as one of the best. I believe when doing a research article about the whole “Montréal Screwing.

Bret Hart can be compared in the WWF as the 1990’s Hulk Hogan. Why the 1990’s Hulkster? He can get the crowd into his match at any time he wanted. And in addition, Hart had the torch passed to him by Hulk Hogan when Hogan left the WWF in 1993 for WCW.

By the time of November of 1997, Bret Hart been with McMahon and the WWF for around thirteen to fourteen years. Hart then was like the Undertaker these days on being respected in the locker room for being the longest reigning wrestler working there.

After reading Hart’s book, Bret tried to make things better with him and Shawn, even going to Shawn in front of the boys and say that he’s willing to do a job for Shawn if he’s willing to do a job for Bret, and HBK didn’t return the favor, and did it with a cocky attitude, which was a slap to Hart’s face.

And in Bret’s contact, he had creative control of the storyline for his last thirty days in the WWF. By all rights, if Bret wanted to drop the title to anyone else, he had the right. If he didn’t want to drop the title to HBK that night, he didn’t have to.

The Shawn Michaels Argument

“I’m the Showstopper, I’m the Icon, I’m the Main Event!” Exclaimed Shawn Michaels during this time of wrestling history. Shawn Michaels was one cocky son-of-a-gun during this time, but looking at his talent and all the accomplishments that he had during this time, one can’t really blame him. He was the first guy to hold the WWF Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, the WWF Tag Team Championship, and the European Championship (which he currently held walking in and out of the Survivor Series 1997 in Montréal, Quebec).

As well as that, in 1994, WrestleMania X, he competed in the first Ladder match against Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship. He won the 1995 Royal Rumble match entering number one. He main evented WrestleMania XI. He also won 1996 Royal Rumble match, then walked into WrestleMania XII and defeated Bret Hart in overtime in a 60-minute Iron Man match.

Shawn Michaels was the 1990’s “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, on captivating people’s attentions and his flashy wrestling style. All the ladies wanted to be with him and all the guys wanted to be him. A great way of getting fans into the sport. Shawn Michaels was also one of the first small guys as World Champion, which opened the door for today’s wrestlers. But enough of making the “Heartbreak Kid” into a ‘wrestling god,’ and let’s get into his side of the story.

Shawn, Triple H, and McMahon had conference calls every week back then, and McMahon was very hesitant on asking Shawn to swerve Bret. HBK had to volunteer, which HBK did. With the volunteering to do the mobbing of Bret Hart, Michaels will take on the heat of screwing him over, and the knowledge that he had to deny it for so many years.

Conclusion

Do I believe that “Bret Screwed Bret?” I do, to be very honest with you all. Bret knew McMahon’s concerns about Bret leaving for WCW with the WWF belt and dropping it into the trash on live television, and with that, it would be very hard to make the WWF Championship into what it was, the top title for the WWF and for McMahon.

But if this whole situation didn’t happen, I believe that the wrestling business would be extremely different in the ways that WCW could still be around, that the WWE could have been bought by Turner. WCW could have been bought by Eric Bischoff like originally planned and could have been a real threat to WWF, I don’t know.

But thank you for reading my article. Just to say, this is a very heavily edited version of my original Screw Job article. You can find the long version up on my blog site – http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com/2009/08/later.html

This is Eric Darsie from Minnesota, still thinking of how the wrestling business could be very different if this never happened, goodbye!

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 1997

Check out more of Eric’s blogs at http://jericholic2009.blogspot.com.

Check out tons of exclusive wrestling interview videos at www.wrestlinginterviews.com.

Order the WWE DVD WWE – Bret “Hitman” Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be by clicking here.

Read more about Bret Hart’s side of the story in his autobiography – Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling by clicking here.

Read more about Shawn Michaels’ side of the story and his confession in his autobiography – Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story by clicking here.

From the ring to your wall – WWE REAL.BIG Wall Graphics on sale now at Fat Head!

Check out all of the latest DVDs and more at The Camel Clutch Blog’s official Amazon store by clicking here.