An Exciting Monday

Yesterday, January 4, 2010, could go down in history as one of the most important dates in modern wrestling history. TNA Wrestling put on a three hour live event from Orlando, with the final two hours going head-to-head against WWE's Monday Night Raw. If for one night only, perhaps the Monday Night Wars were reborn.

On iMPACT!, we saw the returns of Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Phi Delta Slam (as backstage security), and Jeff Hardy (with reports circulating online that he's re-signed with TNA). We also saw Sean Morley, using his "Val Venis" persona without a name, Orlando Jordan, the Nasty Boys, and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair's first ever appearance in the iMPACT Zone. Oh, and then there was the TNA debut of Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan. Hogan and Bischoff's old pals Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman seem to have something up their sleeves, as the closing segment of the show featured Hogan walking in at the end of Mick Foley being beaten down by the former nWo cronies. Rumors suggest that Foley and Jeff Jarrett will side together against Hogan, Dixie Carter, and Bischoff in a tense storyline sometime soon.

Raw featured a reconciliation of sorts between Shawn Michaels and Guest Host Bret "Hitman" Hart, which buried the hatchet over the infamous "Montreal Screwjob." Scripted or not, the fact that the two were willing to appear on live television, shake hands, and hug, tells me there may be something genuine about this. Since Summerslam 1997, Bret has been adamant that Shawn is lower than low - to say the least. By the end of the show, it was quite obvious that Vince McMahon the person can go on, but "Mr. McMahon" the character is still less than pleased with Bret, and a swift kick in the groin sent that message to Bret.

With rumors that Bret will be with WWE until sometime after WrestleMania, there may be more to happen here. Will he engage in a feud with McMahon? Will DX be involved? Though Bret may never wrestle again due to the stroke he suffered a few years ago and the concussion near the end of his time in WCW, I have no doubts the "Hitman" can still get physical if he's asked.

The fact that Hulk Hogan is now not only a TNA character, but Dixie Carter's real-life business associate could mean more of his close friends will be making appearances in TNA, and that many of them will have prominent roles in the near future. If TNA intends to compete with the WWE juggernaut, they will need to continue to do things that make an impact - no pun intended. Jeff Jarrett and Dixie Carter continue to stress that TNA is not "Sports Entertainment," and they'll need to prove it. However, will Hogan be true to his comments that things will be different? We'll see.

2010 is shaping up to be a very different, amusing year in the business. I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride.