NXT angle kinda, sorta continued on Raw

I was a bit disappointed with Monday night Raw's follow-up on last week's absolutely insane beatdown of John Cena by the NXT wrestlers. While the beatdown was addressed by pretty much anyone of significance on the roster, I thought some aspects of the response went too against character.

There were two big physical spots involving the NXT crew, after their initial microphone spot. First, when John Cena was in the ring addressing them, they came in from the crowd again, only to be fought off by most of the Raw roster. This also involved Seamus with a steel pipe, and he later explained that he didn't want some interlopers coming in and preventing him from beating Cena himself.

This explanation felt very “meh” to me. Seamus suddenly cares about fair play? The previous couple of months, he had been kicking people in the face after matches. I think the angle could have been just as effective without him or Randy Orton, a face or tweener with an edge, involved at all. I also thought that the NXT guys looked like punks when they ran from the ring, being chased through the back by... Santino, of all people? Ick.

However, the conclusion of the show was again very strong. The action abruptly cut from the in-ring stuff to GM Bret Hart being kidnapped and put in the back of a limo, which repeatedly crashed on purpose, in an attempt to get Hart to change his mind about firing all of the NXT guys. These actual crashes were somewhat lame, but the menacing NXT wrestlers hovering around the limo and the abruptness of it all made it work, much like the previous week's invasion.

Also, addressing the "firing" of Daniel Bryan / Bryan Danielson - I definitely think it will be revealed as a work. Although Wade Barrett is officially recognized as the leader of the NXT guys, Danielson is the guy most over with fans. Therefore, I think he re-signs with the WWE, and somewhat brilliantly, his firing will only make him more popular with anti-Cena and anti-WWE fans. The WWE can be stupid with its decision-making at times, but it would shock me if Danielson wasn't back sooner rather than later.

Toronto crowd elevates Raw while Buzz keeps it earthbound

Although I've been consistent in proclaiming Smackdown the best weekly WWE show, this week's Raw is a step in the right direction. It could be because the broadcast had no commercials, but there was an emphasis on in-ring action and hot promos.

The fun started right off the bat, as Jericho ran down Bret Hart on the mic. The entire promo provided justification for why Jericho is my favorite promo guy of all-time, given how much longer his career has been as compared to The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. He and Bret Hart had an intense confrontation, leading to the match between The Miz and Hart later that night being turned into a "No DQ" match.

This immediately worried me, and later that night, my fears came true as Hart actually won the U.S. Title from The Miz with the Hart Dynasty's help. Yikes. Hart can barely move around the ring - he stumbled as he tried to climb the turnbuckle following the match. And before the match, The Miz cut one of his best promos ever. While it was kind of neat to see Bret Hart get a great reaction from the Canadian crowd, I can't see how this creates a good long-term storyline.

Touching on the only other negative portion of the show: The Buzz Aldrin promo near the end of the show was excruciating. Frankly, I fast forwarded through most of it, and the crowd seemed to hate it. At least it led to a good mixed tag match, and Evan Bourne got another chance to shine in the ring. I'm hoping the WWE eventually pushes him up the card, because he's too talented and gets too much of a response from the crowd to just be a low-card wrestler and jobber.

However, outside of these two things, I thought Raw was really good. There was an intense 20-minute match between Christian and Edge, a brutal beat-down of Mark Henry by Batista, a cameo by Virgil in the match between Ted DiBiase Jr. and Yoshi Tatsu, and another good 20-minute match between Swagger and Orton.

And, maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age, but the women's wrestling division has been quite appealing to me lately. Laycool are apparently going to be working a sort of split-championship gimmick, as Layla and Michelle McCool both came to the ring with belts tonight. Also, because the show was in Canada, Maryse got a great face reaction from the crowd, which isn't that surprising to me. I think her combination of snotty behavior and incredible looks will eventually get her over with the crowd, similar to The Beautiful People in TNA and, back in the day, Trish Stratus.

If Raw can keep pumping out shows like this, then they might be able to challenge Smackdown for the crown as the best weekly wrestling show. However, I'd like to see them string together a couple shows before I anoint them as so.

Grade: A-

TNA upstages the return of Bret Hart

This post is about pro wrestling, so I'll apologize up front for no doubt disappointing many of you. But, it was a landmark night Monday. (For any actual wrestling fans reading this, massive spoilers follow!)

For a couple weeks now, TNA has been hyping the debut of Hulk Hogan. For the casual wrestling fans reading, yes, he is still around. He will be allegedly working in a management role for TNA, along with Eric Bischoff, and probably will not be wrestling much. This could be good, bad or horrifically bad - The rap on Hogan in the past has been that he dominates backstage politics and keeps younger guys down on the card.

However, if last night is any indication, TNA is on the right track with the whole angle. Hogan said that there would be a major talent reorganization, and that guys would have to earn their spot - including ex-NWO friends Kevin Nash, (a very drunk and fat-looking) Scott Hall and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman.

Hogan debuted at 9 p.m., which was right when WWE's Raw was unleashing their own returning star - Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Except for a single taped spot about two years ago and a Hall of Fame induction, Hart hasn't been on WWE programming for about 12 years. In a blending of the real and fake worlds of professional wrestling, Hart got screwed over in an incident known as the Montreal Screwjob.

Hart's return was a bit more muted and less effective than Hogan's, although it did produce a better "Hell has frozen over" moment - A hug between Hart and nemesis Shawn Michaels. However, the rest of the show was a bit of a letdown. Outside of a stellar tag team match (Michaels and HHH vs. my favorite wrestler, Chris Jericho, and The Big Show), the rest of the matches felt like filler. The ending featured a confrontation between Hart and WWE owner Vince McMahon, and it had McMahon cheap-shotting Hart.

TNA definitely won the night though, going all out with some shocking guests. Although their very first match of the night blew - it was a no decision in a CAGE MATCH! - this was immediately rectified by the surprise debut of Jeff Hardy, who was last seen as a world champion in the WWE. This is a major get for the TNA, arguably on the same level with Hogan, given Hardy's popularity when he left the WWE. I'm a bit surprised he wasn't debuted more prominently, but he's yet another talented worker for TNA.

Ric Flair also made an appearance, mostly just throwing the "Wooooo!" out there. Likewise, there were cameos by Val Venis, who I feel could have been a big deal in wrestling if he could have ever stayed healthy, and Orlando Jordan. (For the unfamiliar, Val Venis [left] was a pseudo-porn star slash ladies' man on WWE programming in the mid to late 1990s who was, unfortunately, hurt constantly. And yeah, I do feel a little bit gay for posting this picture, but then again, I am a pro wrestling fan...)

While a lot of TNA's booking seemed odd, especially making almost all of the titles change hands, the product did seem much better than the WWE's. This was especially true for the respective main events. TNA ended with A.J. Styles vs. Kurt Angle, for the title, and both wrestlers put on a 20ish minute clinic with plenty of nearfalls. WWE had Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton, a once-hot feud that has gotten a bit stale, and had Orton go clean over Kingston for no good reason.

I'm not normally a TNA fan, but I definitely feel that they won the first of these Monday night skirmishes. The real test will be the company's staying power - They have shown great promise in the past, only to piss it away on stupid, silly angles. I think they already made a mistake in just airing a rebroadcast of Monday's show for their usual Thursday time slot, instead of going with a new show to capitalize on the momentum. But, I think last night's show proved that TNA can fight toe-to-toe with the WWE.

The Bret Hart photo is from this gallery at WWE.com. Hogan's photo comes from the gallery of Monday's photos at TNAwrestling.com. And Val Venis' photo comes from here.

Wrasslin' around

[Left] Still the best entrance ever: The countdown clock from Jericho's initial WWE run.

The other day in The Los Angeles Times, there was a decent article about the new, family-friendly direction the WWE was headed in. However, to a longtime wrestling fan like myself, reading it reminded me that “family-friendly” is a relative term indeed. The columnist also didn't come across as much of a wrestling fan, since the article focused almost solely on current stars and provided little background.

While the WWE has undoubtedly strayed from the tits, ass, violence and blood of the appropriately-named Attitude Era, there is still plenty to get offended by. They have just shifted the focus from things that got them the teen / mature TV ratings (blood, breasts) to simpler storylines and non-bloody beatdowns. Also, with the exception of re-hiring Chris Masters, there has been a shift away from the professional bodybuilder look, probably in reaction to the Chris Benoit incident.

DX, the original group of bad humor, just reformed, even though Shawn Michaels and HHH are both in their mid-40s. Although it was played up as farcical, HBK did Superkick a tween girl in the face less than a month ago. (Background: They were doing a skit where HHH had to talk HBK back into wrestling, but HBK was working as a cook – I mean, a chef – at essentially a cheap hotel restaurant... Yeah, I don't know why I watch wrestling either sometimes.) They also still do childish jokes and crotch chops.

The best argument that can be made for the new direction of the WWE is a shift to more old school storylines. For example, Randy Orton is the current WWE champion, and he has retained his title each time with chicanery, normally with a member of his gang breaking up a pinfall or interfering. Orton has also done vile things, like punting HHH's wife Stephanie McMahon in the skull.

Opposing Orton would be John Cena, who you might remember from some funny appearances on late night television shows and some god-awful movies (The Marine, 12 Rounds). He is as close to Hulk Hogan as you can get in the current wrestling industry, as he is built like a starting middle linebacker and always plays the “good guy” role, at least for the last five years. (He does get booed a lot by hardcore fans, and while I'm not the biggest fan of his squeaky-clean persona, I do think he's a good wrestler. He also seems to be a good guy away from the ring as well.)

There are other clear bad guy vs. good guy feuds throughout the Raw roster, although I will say that as a result it tends to be the less entertaining show for longtime fans. Smackdown, which airs Friday nights on MyNetworkTV, is by far the better show at this point. That show has an edgier feud between the straight-edge CM Punk and the notorious risk taker Jeff Hardy, which culminated in a vicious tables, ladders and chairs match Sunday night at SummerSlam.

While there is far less blood in WWE programming now, there are just as many metal chair attacks and leaps from 20-foot-high ladders, so I'd hesitate to say they're getting back to “family-friendly” programming. When I was watching wrestling as a kid, it was just tamer in general; the brightly-colored outfits of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Hulk Hogan definitely lightened the tone.