Monday, March 22, 2010

WrestleMania 26 Countdown: Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon in a STREET FIGHT~!

Welcome back, Bret


Grudge Match Street Fight
Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs. Vincent Kennedy McMahon

How: They officially signed the contract last week on RAW after McMahon and Hart goaded each other into a match.

Heat Check: The seeds for this match were sewn at a time that makes the beginning of the build for the Legacy dissolution look like yesterday. Twelve-and-a-half years ago, Bret Hart was on his way out of the WWF for WCW. Problem was, he was the Champion. Normally, the Champion jobs the belt on the way out. Vince McMahon wanted this to happen at Survivor Series in Montreal. Hart didn't want to lose in his home country, so the most famous double-cross in wrestling history was set up and executed to get the belt off Hart and onto the waist of one Shawn Michaels.

Time passed. Hart was misused in WCW at historic levels, treated as an afterthought to the nWo circlejerk (which by the time Hart got there had reached circlejerk levels). Then, when he finally was beginning to be treated with the respect he deserved, Goldberg potatoed the shit out of him and ended his career via concussion. Add in the fact that he had to watch his brother Owen die while working for the company he hated and then suffered a stroke after a motorcycle accident, well, many people, myself included, would be skeptical as all hell if someone years ago told us this match was going to take place.

Meanwhile, Vince used that singular incident to launch the Mr. McMahon character, possibly the only effective heel authority figure ever. Embracing his now public role as evil dickhead boss, he used it to help enhance the overness of everyone from "Stone Cold" Steve Austin to *shudder* Bobby Lashley.

Of course, in wrestling, no bridge stays burnt forever if the parties involved think they can make money. The first overtures of Bret coming back to the fold happened when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame and actually showed up to the ceremony. Then, the company hired his protege, niece and nephew to nice developmental deals (although the three of them are floundering right now, but hey, that's the lot of every tag team in the WWE right now... now excuse me while I go cut myself...). Finally, January 4th, Bret Hart, hosting Monday Night RAW.

The historic segment saw Bret bury the hatchet with Shawn Michaels in what many people think is a reconciliation that looked too real to be a work. My thoughts? Work or shoot, it was well done. If it was a shoot, then good for both of them. If a work? Then both guys are absolute professionals and should be applauded. Later on, the reconciliation with Vince McMahon was looking like it was going to happen until Vince kicked Bret in the dick. As Heath Ledger's Joker would say... and here we go.

Bret has made several appearances on WWE TV since then, looking to get everything from closure to a proper farewell to the WWE to a fight with Vince. Vince played chicken with him until John Cena helped Bret stage a car accident to fool Vince into thinking that the Hitman was hurt. At the time, it seemed cheesy and dumb. IN retrospect, it was still cheesy, but hey, at least the goofs in Creative actually tried to craft a decent storyline device, so... uh okay?

Anyway, the bad blood runs so deep in this feud that Bret insisted it become a street fight, and Vince acquiesced. So here we are, Bret Hart's final match in his long, illustrious career will not be a techincal wrestling affair, but a brawl against a man a decade years his senior. Say what you want, but there's no denying the heat will be off the charts for this match.

Analysis: I fear for Bret Hart's safety. Vince McMahon isn't quite known for being the safest worker out there, and the guy thinks that it's just his Irish heritage that makes him hand out the potatoes like it's St. Patrick's Day. That being said, you would hope that with Bret's concussion and head trauma history that Vince would pepper him with kicks, body blows and other assorted shots to the body. I don't want to see Bret die in the ring or become a vegetable. Yes, a little melodrama, but at the same time it's a real possibility.

I'd book the match not to have Vince have any offense whatsoever, but then again, I'm an unabashed Hitman mark who probably overrates the crowd's desire to see a guy who left before they started watching squash the genetic freak of an owner who's looked credible against guys such as Triple H and Randy Orton. Still, that might be the best path. The best way to keep Bret out of harm's way would be not to even think of putting him there in the first place. Obvious, I know, but hey, someone has to point it out, right?

Who Should Win: Bret Hart, and if anyone says otherwise, they've got brain damage. Hell, I don't even think Vince McMahon thinks he should go over in this match.

Who Will Win: Bret Hart. Again, McMahon isn't that delusional. He knows that the crowd wants to see him lose, even if a good portion of it barely understands the whole Montreal dynamic. I expect a short brawl and Vince tapping like a schoolboy caught in the playground bully's noogies to the Sharpshooter.

Photo Credit: WWE.com