The Rant Of The Week: The Best Is Back

Greetings conversationalists all across the fruited plain it is I your personal Harvester of Sorrow the one and only Phantom Lord and this is the all mighty Rant Of The Week. Lets see, I’m actually doing a column on time for once so you have to figure something has gotten my attention. Bret Hart is coming back and I could not be more ecstatic.

But first we begin with some sad news as it’s being reported that Tommy Dreamer asked for his release from the WWE. Tommy is one of the few wrestlers I will watch when ever he is on and he can hook me into a match better then anyone else. The writing has been on the wall for Tommy for quite a while now. The WWE got rid of everything that made ECW what it was. Tommy was the lone original left and he finally won the ECW Championship and had a good run with it. To this day it still pisses me off that Justin Credible beat Tommy fifteen minutes after he won the title. But I guess something’s had to come to an end even though I hoped Tommy would be there till the bitter end. I guess Tommy finally took Cactus Jack’s advice and called Uncle Eric. Granted it’s fifteen years late but better late then never.

As reported earlier, Tommy Dreamer who re-signed with World Wrestling Entertainment over the summer, asked for his release over the weekend. Regarding his future prospects in the wrestling industry, the former ECW champion "will almost certainly be heading to TNA" according to a reliable source.

As a matter of fact, one WWE source said they expected him to debut on live episode of iMPACT! on January 4, 2010 — although logic would suggest he'd have some sort of no-compete since he asked out of his contract.
Credit to I’m guessing www.F4Wonline.com via WrestlingInc

Tommy had an emotion farewell on ECW last night as he said his goodbyes to the crowd. I give Vince McMahon plenty of hate and most of it is deserved, but apparently the big send off for Tommy was his idea so kudos Vince for that.

Personally I don’t want to see Tommy go to TNA. But if Tommy does go to TNA it’s going to prove one of two things. One TNA really is the new WCW and two it’s becoming the senior circuit. Aside from the fact that TNA can be an easy paycheck for some is there really a reason anyone would want to go there? If he’s going to work with some of the young guys in TNA to help mold and shape them then it can’t hurt. But if he does go and they just throw him into the usual hardcore mix that surrounds Abyss, Tommy if I were you I’d pass. I’ll watch Tommy either way since he’s one of my all time favorites but I just hope if he does go then it doesn’t turn out to be a huge mistake in six months. But hey in this economy if you can get an easy pay check I say go for it.

Speaking of TNA, I see Hulk Hogan and his number one toady and lackey Bubba The Love Sponge are putting on some sort of Welcome Hogan to TNA party in Orlando on January 3rd. I don’t have Sirius XM so I don’t listen to Bubba on Hopalong Howie’s channel (Spread The Virus) but apparently Hogan is always on Bubba’s show. The only thing missing from this party is Hogan being driven down the street while red & yellow ticker tape flows and Billionaire Ted welcomes him to the company. Come to think of it, that is pretty much what they are doing. Honestly I am starting to dread this big Impact on January 4th. Oh sure it’s being teased that Kevin Nash will be reuniting The Outsiders with a soberish Scott Hall and X-Pac, but aside from all of that TNA is really not doing anything of interest to build this show up.

Yeah Hogan is coming to TNA, but is there you know any other reason why I would want to watch this?

Well Hulk Hogan is coming to TNA…

Yeah yeah yeah, I know that part. But will AJ Styles be defending the TNA title against anyone?

Well HULK HOGAN…

I don’t care about Hogan…what else does TNA have in store for January 4th?

…

Exactly. YOU HAVE NOTHING DO YOU. It’s just going to be the usual Impact plus another hour. Also since Impact is being replayed in it’s regular time on Thursday the 7th what exactly is the point of watching this show to begin with on the 4th? Somehow I think TNA and the people at Spike TV didn’t think all of this through.

Now if TNA’s goal was to light a fire under Vince and get him all competitive again they have succeeded big time because on January 4th something a lot of us thought we would never see happen will happen as Bret “The Hitman” Hart makes his return to the WWE. It’s been reported that Bret has signed a talent contract that lasts a couple weeks after Wrestlemania 26. So Bret is coming back and it will all start with him guest hosting RAW on the 4th.

For the longest time we the lowly wrestling fans have been saying we want something…ANYTHING different and now we are getting it. Okay it’s not exactly the different I was hoping for, but I’ll take it. The way I see it, with Bret coming back we can finally get closure to Montreal. For the last twelve damn years it’s been the one thing that just would not go away. Any time the WWE is in Canada they always do something to tease the Canadians about it. They have ripped off the finish more then a few times to “screw” someone over. If this were a movie we would be coming to the final act as Bret finally gets his revenge. The big rumor is all of this is going to lead into some sort of match between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26. I’ve always believed Bret could probably wrestle one or two matches if he felt like it (or if the money was right). Well obviously the money is right and the time is right because neither man is getting any younger so it’s now or never if it were to happen.

The only thing I hope is all of Bret’s stuff takes place on Smackdown. Smackdown is the show that Bret will fit into best. Plus there is a hope of some interaction between him and The Hart Dynasty. Bret says the kids don’t live up to the Hart name and they end up beating him up and it will make for some great television. I don’t know if it’s a full-blown rumor, but I read somewhere that the Hart Dynasty would side with Mr. McMahon against Bret leading into Wrestlemania. The only downside to this is who will Bret side with in the feud. Unfortunately for all of us, Degeneration X are the tag team champions so I am hoping the Hart’s finally beat them and take the gold off them so DX is kept far away from Smackdown. Jeri-show could be reunited and turned good but the WWE seems to be banking on Jericho facing Edge at Wrestlemania (if it’s possible). There’s lots of ways you could go with that and still make it work, but with the WWE who the hell knows what they will do. Much like me, the WWE suffers from an undiagnosed version of ADD. It looks good one minute and then the next Vince sours on it and they say the hell with it.

That right there will decide whether this entire thing works. If the ratings are to Vince’s liking you know all the sycophants and lackeys will be in his ear talking about how “oh well see Bret isn’t a draw so lets kill it now before it’s to late”. On RAW this week to say the whole segment with Vince and Shawn came off as a bit awkward would be an understatement. Personally I blame this more on the material they were working with more then anything else. God knows they have to stick to the script but aside from that it just came off so flat in front of the crowd. I don’t know if it was just because it was Hartford but the crowd seemed indifferent to Bret coming back aside from some diehard’s chanting WE WANT BRET.

I can’t believe it’s been twelve years since the whole Montreal thing. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older, but it seems more like twenty years then just twelve. Back then I didn’t have AOL so I had no idea what was going on aside from what ever tidbits were in the heavily kayfabed Slammer article in the NY Daily News. This also means it’s been twelve years since Bret went to WCW and what should have been a slam dunk for them turned out to be another nail in the coffin. See this is why I get so frustrated watching TNA. It’s because we saw all of this happen twelve years ago in WCW. People like me might have a very short attention span, but we end up compensating with a very long memory. So I remember how badly things were back then and in another ten years God hoping we are all still here I’ll remember all of this to.

It’s not often I give the WWE credit here, but like I said if this is done right Bret’s return can finally be closure on this chapter of wrestling history once and for all.

I’m sorry TNA, but the moment RAW comes on this Monday night I’m turning it on. Bret standing in a WWE ring and his first interaction with Shawn Michaels will be must see television. Personally I would love it if Shawn goes for the handshake of forgiveness and Bret kicks him square in the balls. There are so many things that can be done and I am giddy for the first time in ages waiting for them to happen. While this so called Monday Night War will be short lived, it’s fun to see what will happen on both sides no matter what. For those of us on the Internet it will give us a wealth of material to write about. For bitter wrestling fans it will give us something to watch that isn’t the same old stuff. In the end we really can’t complain (though we’ll find something cause we always do) because for the first time in ages there’s reason to be excited again.

All of this leads into Wrestlemania 26 and the first rumored card has come out and right now it looks pretty damn solid.

According to Bryan Alvarez, the following matches are currently being planned or discussed by WWE for Wrestlemania. It's almost a sure thing that this won't be the final card since plans change on an almost daily basis.

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - Of all the rumored matches, this one is the closest to being a sure thing.

Vince McMahon vs. Bret Hart - This has been talked about and it would likely be a street fight-type match where Hart would not have to take any bumps.

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase - A feud between these two has been expected for months now.

Chris Jericho vs. Edge - Another match that has been planned for months given that Edge is ready to return in time.

Sheamus vs. Triple H - Considering that HHH is involved, it could very well end up being a title match.

One name left out here is John Cena. WWE would love to have him in a match with The Rock, but the chances of that are very slim. Another possibility is Cena vs. Batista in a RAW vs. Smackdown match. Cena/Batista was originally scheduled for last year's Wrestlemania until Batista got injured.
Credit to www.f4wonline.com

If these matches were locked up and chiseled into stone then this would be a Wrestlemania card I would certainly consider ordering. Granted it would be $54.95, but I think I could look past that if these matches were a guarantee. The only question mark really is can Edge come back in time for Wrestlemania. As much fun as Edge/Jericho would be I personally would rather see him miss Wrestlemania if it meant he had more time to heal up. One could wish that Jerishow regain the tag team titles and then Edge comes back and challenges them and when they ask whom his partner is, the music hits and Christian walks out. Edge & Christian vs. Jerishow would be an awesome match but I doubt it would happen for a number of reasons that only make sense to Vince.

The rest of this rumored card as I said does look solid. I’m sure some people will complain about the prospect of Sheamus walking into Wrestlemania as champion but think of it this way. Would you rather see John Cena still as champion? Who cares if Sheamus is under the wing of Triple H. Wrestling much like any business, there will always be some young guy who gets taken in and groomed by the top guy. Sheamus has a lot of potential and I would rather see Triple H groom and mentor him so that in ten years from now Sheamus will be main eventing another Wrestlemania rather then being billed as “former WWE star” at a local VFW hall with a bunch of guys who’s only claim to fame will be having a video clip on Youtube of them doing some insane and stupid spot.

Sheamus is awesome and I can only hope that in 2010 he will continue to be awesome especially when doing that pump kick and kicking Howdy Doody Cena in the face.

In the end that’s all I really want to see. Cena getting beat up and always losing no matter what.

On that note I am done for this week and this year. Before I go I want to send out my condolences to the family and friends of Dr. Death Steve Williams who lost his gallant battle against cancer. A couple of years ago I got to take part in an Internet radio interview with Dr. Death and I asked him about the time he almost murdered Ed Ferrara on Sunday Night Heat and I think something about him being part of the core of Japanese wrestling in the 90’s along with Hansen, Misawa, Kawada, and Kobashi. He was a great wrestler and a greater man. I can only hope he is at peace now in the great arena in the sky.

So until next time have a Happy New Year and here is to a safe 2010. Remember someone has to give you this information and it DAMN well has got to be me.

You can click here to send me any and all feedback at phantomlordnyc@yahoo.com or leave me some feedback in my Live Journal at phantomlord-lop.livejournal.com