Tag Archives: Bret Hart

Speak to me, Warriors….A look back at Halloween Havoc 1998

  By Franny | October 31, 2011 - 4:32 pm | Flashback, Wrestling
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 It’s Halloween, woop-dee-doo. I don’t usually buy into holiday nonsense, but a post over at Feminine Smark inspired me. I didn’t realize it until now, but Halloween Havoc 1998 showcased a few of my absolute FAVORITE wrestling moments as a kid. Sting vs Bret Hart was a dream match for me (Sharpshooter vs Scorpion Deathlock?!) and the thought of it still gives me wrestling-mark-goosebumps. I recall Diamond Dallas Page vs Bill Goldberg being a huge deal as well. Face vs face, the people’s champ vs the unbeaten Goldberg. Diamond Dallas Page was the type to never quit or give up at any cost, and Goldberg was an unstoppable force. This match pretty much sold itself.

As if these two  marquee match-ups didn’t sell the event on their own, we also had “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan versus old rival The Ultimate Warrior. This match has since become a punchline and it’s the first thing people think of when Halloween Havoc 1998 is mentioned, sadly. I didn’t even realize Bret-Sting and DDP-Goldberg were on the same event, either! It’s hard to say who is to blame for that but it’s not really necessary to blame anyone. It was an attempt to cash in on something well-known, even if many years had passed. We all know Bischoff is known to do that from time to time. It’s hard to blame him for trying, and I don’t think it would be treated with such disregard had the flash-paper incident not happened. It was all a questionable storyline at best but I’m sure plenty of people bought the pay-per-view to see Warrior in action. I for one have never been a fan of Ultimate Warrior, and probably never will be. However, as much as I’d like to pin this train wreck on him, I just can’t.

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Smackdown vs Raw 2011: Roster, DLC, Features. Best one yet?

  By Franny | September 13, 2010 - 11:00 am | Video Games, Wrestling, WWE
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Roster
THQ recently announced most of the roster for the 2011 installment of the Smackdown vs Raw video game. With over 70 stars, it’s one of the largest rosters to date in a wrestling game.

SmackDown roster:

  • * Big Show
  • * Beth Phoenix
  • * Chavo Guerrero
  • * Christian
  • * CM Punk
  • * Cody Rhodes
  • * Drew McIntyre (NEW)
  • * Dolph Ziggler
  • * Finlay
  • * Jack Swagger
  • * JTG
  • * Kane
  • * Kelly Kelly
  • * Kofi Kingston
  • * Luke Gallows (NEW)
  • * Matt Hardy
  • * Michelle McCool
  • * MVP
  • * Rey Mysterio
  • * Shad
  • * The Undertaker
  • * Vance Archer (NEW)
From playstationlifestyle.net (share this quote)

RAW Roster:

  • * Alicia Fox (NEW)
  • * Batista
  • * Bret Hart (Pre-Order Exclusive at GAME)
  • * Brie Bella
  • * Chris Jericho
  • * David Hart Smith (NEW)
  • * Edge
  • * Evan Bourne
  • * Eve
  • * Ezekiel Jackson
  • * Gail Kim
  • * Goldust
  • * John Cena
  • * John Morrison
  • * Primo
  • * Randy Orton
  • * R-Truth
  • * Mark Henry
  • * Maryse
  • * Melina
  • * Natalya
  • * Nikki Bella
  • * Santino Marella
  • * Shawn Michaels
  • * Sheamus (NEW)
  • * Ted DiBiase
  • * The Miz
  • * Triple H
  • * Tyson Kidd (NEW)
  • * Vladimir Kozlov
  • * William Regal
  • * Yoshi Tatsu
  • * Zack Ryder
From playstationlifestyle.net (share this quote)

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My thoughts on current wrestling: WWE

  By Franny | September 11, 2010 - 8:34 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Alberto Del Rio: easily a future world champion. But you already knew that.

I admit, I’ve been slacking like Owen Hart performing piledrivers. I haven’t really been keeping up with current wrestling as well as I normally would (which isn’t that well anyway) so I didn’t really have much to offer as far as articles go. I’ve been paying enough attention, however, to offer at least a little insight, thought, and opinion on the current state of professional soap opera’ing in the squared circle.

WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment is slowly on an upswing. The Nexus angle is slowing down but is still going strong, and ‘internet darlings’ Bryan Danielson and Low Ki are settling in with WWE as their new home. Rumor has it that they are planning to unify the title belts, starting with the Divas’ division’s titles at Night of Champions. There could be a number of reasons behind this that could have to do with booking strategies or simple marketing. New tag team belts means new merchandise, and we can probably expect the same from the other belts. (more…)

WrestleMania 26: Undertaker/Michaels, Hart/McMahon, and More

  By Franny | March 5, 2010 - 11:45 am | Wrestling, WWE
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It's that time of year again...

As March begins, wrestling fans around the world eagerly begin the trek on the ‘road to WrestleMania.’ This year’s offering from World Wrestling Entertainment’s sports-entertainment extravaganza on March 28 includes match-ups that are new and fresh, pulling away from the rather stale we’ve-seen-this-before feeling of seeing the same matches every week on Raw or Smackdown.

This year’s Super-Bowl-of-professional-wrestling boasts not one but four main events. Fresh off a Royal Rumble victory in January, Edge challenges former tag-team partner Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship, Smackdown’s main event title.

The main event for the Raw brand’s title is John Cena challenging ‘the Animal’ Batista for the WWE Championship. In a pay-per-view environment, this match has only happened once before: SummerSlam 2008, not including the 10-second squash match at Elimination Chamber. This time, the WWE Championship is on the line. ‘The Animal’ won their 2008 match-up and stole the WWE Championship in their short match last month. Will John Cena finally gain the upperhand and regain his championship?

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Jan 4 Raw semi-live report: Hart-earned Ratings?

  By Franny | January 6, 2010 - 8:05 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Check your calendars all you want, but it IS 2010, not 1997, and hell HAS frozen over.

Raw started with a classy introduction with video package, and Justin Roberts announced Bret’s championships and 12 year absence. The Hitman’s music plays, and Bret’s entrance is a little delayed–I half expect HBK or Hornswaggle, but instead, a scraggly old-man-looking Bret is on stage in denim shorts and a leather jacket.

There is a huge pyro display, but it seems sort of out of place for Bret. He did not have his pink shades, which was disappointing. I think it would have been good to have him give them to a kid in the audience because it could offer an opportunity for him to begin to connect with a younger generation. That would be a good plan, as far as merchandising goes, as Bret was sporting a new Hitman t-shirt. All things considered, Bret doesn’t look like someone who had a stroke–Bret looks like someone who needs a comb and a hairbrush.

“A lot of people are wondering why I’m here tonight,” Bret began his speech. Kids were probably wondering, “ya, who are you?”

Sidenote:
Ironically, a fan is shown in the audience with a NWO B&W shirt, while NWO is reuniting on TNA Impact.

For a while, I wondered, Why Ohio? Bret would be in front of quite a hot crowd anywhere in Canada, specifically Montreal. However, they risk HBK getting heel heat during a face run. (more…)

January 4: The First Battle of the Second Monday Night Wars?

  By Franny | December 29, 2009 - 2:06 pm | Flashback, TNA, Wrestling, WWE
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With the help of Hulk Hogan, TNA looks to be a Monday-Night-Throne Hopeful.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Sitting on the floor at the foot of my father’s bed on a Monday night in July. With no school in session, there was no reason I couldn’t stay up to watch WCW Monday Nitro rather than tape it and watch it the next day. Of course, my Dad didn’t have the same luxury of a summer vacation, so I had to try to contain my excitement as I watched then-undefeated United States Champion Bill Goldberg challenge the ‘immortal’ Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the Georgia Dome. That’s right, I even remember the arena. I also remember it being the peak of entertainment in my young-adult days. Never before (and I don’t think I was ever again) was I that engrossed and drawn into a TV show (perhaps my childhood favorite ‘Power Rangers’ would be the only exception) in my life.

Fast-forwarding over ten years later, a lot has changed. If you’ve been reading this blog, you might have gotten the impression that I am still a wrestling fan. That assumption is correct, but it’s not a statement that can be written without asterisks at hand. A lot has changed. The lines of real and scripted are no longer as blurred as they once were to me, and many names have come and gone since. Even that said company has gone; gone into the clutches of Vince McMahon. Wrestling has not been the same since World Championship Wrestling closed, because there is no competition for World Wrestling Entertainment, the ‘number one’ in the business.

That may change over time, as the ‘number two’ in the business, Total Non-stop Action Wrestling, has signed the most well-known and popular star in the history of professional wrestling: Hulk Hogan. Love him or hate him, everyone and their uncle knows the Hulkster. Not everyone knows TNA, however, and while one man can’t automatically make TNA a contender, it sure will help a lot. (more…)