So I’m sitting here on a Monday night doing some work and flipping through the channels. Actually that’s not quite true. Normally I tape WWE Raw each and every Monday and get to it throughout the week. Tonight however was a bit different as both the WWE and TNA had programming on tonight that I wanted to watch: The Monday Night Wars were back!
The TNA show started at 8:00 PM so they got an early start on Vince and crew over at the WWE. I have to say that the first hour of that show was pretty entertaining. TNA did a good job of showcasing some of their newer talent. Good programming idea. However I do have to say how weird it was to see SO many of the old WWE guys on this program. Scott Hall (a fat version of Razor Ramon), Kevin Nash (a totally gray haired version of Big Sexy), Shawn Waltman, Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, Taz, Mick Foley and the list goes on and on. Hogan makes his appearance right at 9:00 PM (which happens to be when the WWE had THEIR big debut). He’s in the ring with his old black NWO gear on looking pretty damn good for an old guy. Hall and Waltman are in the ring and of course interrupt right away going right back into their NWO crap. Hogan (to his immense credit) says that it’s not going to be like it was in the old days and says that they’re going to shake things up. Honestly, while it was pretty cool to see these guys it literally felt like TNA was recycling old shit from 15 years ago.
- NWO
- Hogan/Bischoff
- Sting in the rafters
- The Nasty Boys
- Val Venis
- Ric Flair
- etc.
Thanks for the memories guys, but I’ve seen this show. That said I can say that TNA did enough with this show to make me tape it for a couple of weeks. Mission accomplished.
Meanwhile… on the other channel. Bret “The Hitman” Hart was the special guest host for the WWE show. He came out and got on the mic for a few minutes thanking the crowd for welcoming him back after a 12 year absence from WWE television. Bret didn’t wait long to do what everyone was hoping for – he called out Shawn Michaels. Shawn came to the ring and finally admitted for a live audience that he did indeed have a hand in the Montreal Screw Job from Survivor Series all those years ago. After some good verbal back and forth between Bret and Shawn, Hitman offered to bury the hatchet and shake Shawn’s hand right in the middle of the ring. Shawn did just that and followed it up with a hug in the middle of the ring. Obviously couldn’t hear what was being said while they were embracing, but this looked like a legit “making up” dead center of the ring.
This post is being written while both shows are still on the air so I’m not sure how the night will turn out, but it’s definitely the most interesting Monday night in quite a while for a wrestling fan.
