Bret Hart, Vince McMahon reunited, and it feels so good

Bret Hart can only imagine what his late parents and brother Owen would think about his World Wrestling Entertainment return.

"They'd say that hell froze over," a chuckling Hart said.
Twelve years ago, the odds of that happening seemed greater than Hart ever working for WWE owner Vince McMahon again. The two had one of the bitterest splits in pro-wrestling history. Concerned the "Hitman" was going to leave for rival World Championship Wrestling while still holding the WWE title, McMahon ordered a surprise match finish that allowed Shawn Michaels to defeat an unknowing Hart via submission when referee Earl Hebner abruptly called for the bell. Hart was so furious that the bout didn't unfold as planned that he legitimately floored McMahon off-camera with a backstage punch.
The hard feelings that stemmed from the 1997 "Survivor Series" were real, but time has healed those wounds. Hart and McMahon gradually rebuilt their relationship to the point that the former suggested a storyline for the two to work together again. Hart and McMahon are now weaving "Survivor Series" fallout into a storyline that will culminate with a March 28 match at "Wrestlemania 26" in Glendale, Ariz.

"I want to move on," Hart said Tuesday night in a telephone interview from his home in Calgary, Alberta. "I made a big fuss out of all that happened. I wrote a book about it. There was a documentary ('Wrestling with Shadows'). I held out (from WWE) for a long time because of my pride. In the end, I think I made my point.

"Some people feel it wasn't the right thing for me to go back. But there's only one person in Bret 'The Hitman' Hart's shoes and it's me ... This is a lot of fun for me. It sure beats shoveling snow."

Hart's return is even more remarkable considering he had a stroke in 2002, two years after suffering a career-ending concussion in WCW. Hart, 52, said he has physical limitations and that the 64-year-old McMahon "isn't exactly Kofi Kingston." But Hart said he can still "move around enough" to get a quality match out of McMahon and participate in limited tussles on "Monday Night Raw" (9 p.m. EST, USA Network).

"I'll never put on the performance I want to have, but I'll be able to do enough to entertain and give a good show," said Hart, one of the industry's top in-ring technicians during his storied 25-year career. "I'm very careful about what I do and allow myself to do and what can be done to me. WWE has gone through great effort to ensure all that and make sure I'm comfortable with everything.

"I don't want to go out there in a wheelchair like (Hulk) Hogan. I know people watching me are saying, 'He's not exactly a cheetah out there.' But at same time I do remember being in a wheelchair when I had my stroke. The thought of doing what I'm doing right now is beyond everything I imagined."
Hart believes Hogan's signing with TNA Wrestling and that company's plan to run head-to-head competition on Monday nights has given McMahon additional motivation to make their angle work.

"Vince is just as focused and involved as I remember him ever being," Hart said. "This whole (storyline) seems to have lit a fire under him. He's very competitive.
"My guess is TNA and Hogan can't be much of a factor, but Vince doesn't like anyone messing around on his turf. He doesn't want this to become any kind of WCW rivalry like before. He wants to be king."

McMahon isn't the only WWE fixture with whom Hart has made amends. He also has reached out to Michaels and Paul "Triple H" Levesque, both of whom had long-standing problems with Hart that were exacerbated by "Survivor Series" and the aftermath. Hart describes his current relationship with Levesque as "very cordial but not overly friendly." There is more of a thaw with Michaels, who publicly buried the hatchet by hugging Hart last month on "Raw."
"When I came back, I didn't know if the whole thing with Shawn would erupt again," Hart said. "The truth is, Shawn has been real good with the whole thing. You can tell this is a weight lifted off his back, my back and I think even Vince to a certain degree. It feels like a new start."

"Survivor Series" will never be completely forgotten. "Wrestling with Shadows" will be re-released this summer along with an accompanying DVD on Owen Hart, who fell to his death in 1999 during a WWE ring entrance gone awry. Hart's 2007 autobiography, "Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling," which chronicles "Survivor Series," also will be released in paperback later this year.
By that time, Hart might not still be working with WWE. Hart's current agreement runs only through "Wrestlemania" and the induction of his late father, Stu, into WWE's Hall of Fame that same weekend (WWE will be releasing a three-disc Hart family DVD in early April).

Hart, though, didn't dismiss the possibility of staying with WWE in some capacity for the long haul.

"I'm trying to turn a negative into a positive," Hart said. "I think this is good for wrestling fans. I know for a lot people this whole thing seems quite real. If I can deliver realism in today's wrestling

TNA in Norfolk, Va.: Kurt Angle vs. A.J. Styles with Ric Flair involved, Jarrett vs. Daniels, Angle advertises Impact on Mondays "real soon

TNA house show reportFebruary 12, 2010Norfolk, Va. at the Ted Constant CenterReport by Ed Carr, Torch VIP member

I arrived in the building to the voice of Don West explaining that Ric Flair was signing autographs, but he was gone by the time I got to the table. Not a packed house, but a decent crowd. Jeremy Borash handled MC/ring announcer duty.


(1) Generation Me (Max & Jeremy) defeated Lethal Consequences (Jay Lethal & Consequences Creed) with their 450/moonsault combo. Nice athletic spots that popped the crowd. Good opener.(2) Jesse Neal defeated Homicide with a facebuster type move. Neal came out with the American flag, but still had his heel look from the last time he was on TV. Norfolk is a big Navy town and he was introduced as a former Navy sailor to a huge pop. The crowd chanted "USA" at Homicide even though he was introduced as being from Brooklyn, N.Y., but he played into it like a true heel. (3) TNA Knockouts champion Tara & Angelina Love defeated the Beautiful People (Velvet Sky & Madison Rayne & Lacey Von Erich) in a handicap match when Tara pinned Madison after a Widow's Peak. A man named Chase was introduced as Tara's manager. Not sure if this will play out on TV or just a local thing.


(4) "TNA Founder and The King of the Mountain" Jeff Jarrett defeated Daniels after the Stroke. Daniels did the old heel stalling to start out. Jarrett was over huge and you could see him smiling about it. Daniels was great as he hit three successful shoulder blocks and demanded the referee raise his arm in victory. Jarrett made a comeback and hit his finisher for the win. After the match, Jeff thanked the crowd for their support.(5) Beer Money (James Storm & Robert Roode) defeated British Invasion (Brutus Magnus & X Division champion Doug Williams) with the Driving While Investing (DWI). Beer Money received the biggest pop up to this point and had one side of the arena chanting "Beer" and the other "Money." As a side note, there was a guy wearing a blue amateur style singlet with one strap pulled down imitating the Big Show, but he looked more like Adam Pearce. You had to be there to see it.(6) "The Pope" D'Angelo Dinero defeated Desmond Wolfe with DDE double knee smash. The Pope just has this charismatic aura about him that makes you want to cheer him. On the opposite side, Desmond portrays the cocky heel very well so. They played off each other very well. Earl Hebner was introduced as the referee for the main event, but some guy with a headset told JB that Hebner was suspended by Hulk Hogan. Security came into the ring and escorted Earl out of the building while the crowd chanted, "Na na na na, hey, goodbye." Slick Johnson replaced him as the ref.


(7) TNA World Hvt. champion "The Phenomenal" A.J. Styles (w/Ric Flair) defeated Kurt Angle after a belt shot to retain the TNA World Title. This match got the most heat of all and they even had the formal ring introductions by JB. Loud "Whooos" for Flair every time he interfered. He even grabbed the house mic and yelled, "Shut Up!" The crowd just whoo'ed again. Funny. There were also dueling chants of "Let's Go Kurt" and "Let's go A.J." dueling chants. A.J. hit the Pele kick, his back flip into inverted DDT, and his springboard forearm smash. Kurt hit his overhead belly-to-belly and three consecutive German suplexes, but when he tried his running belly-to-belly while his opponent is on the tope rope, he slipped and almost came down on his head. They were able to adjust in mid-air. The finish saw Angle apply the anklelock, but Flair pulled the ref out of the ring. Angle chased Flair into the ring, but Ric gave him two low blows. The crowd chanted "No more babies." Angle made a comeback and had Ric in the anklelock when A.J. hit him with the title and made the cover. A.J. had this great look on his face as he clutched the title like he thought he would never hold it again. After the matched, Kurt thanked the military members in attendance and thanked everyone for watching Impact on Thursdays and to continue watching on Mondays real soon.JB informed the crowd that it was not over. The babyfaces would be coming around the ring to sign autographs and take pictures while Ric Flair would be in the ring taking pics for $20. Flair came out and said no matter how hard he tried to get everyone to boo him, they wouldn't. He talked briefly about his history in Norfolk and then proceeded to take pictures in what was a long line. Even though there is a PPV in two days, none of the wrestlers looked like they were phoning it in. Everyone put in a good effort and the crowd was hot throughout the show.