Vince Russo said he was just trying to make it up to Bret Hart.

Hart essentially said thanks but no thanks as he threw the WCW World Heavweight title belt in Russo's lap.

But as would be proven later on, Hart decided that, yes, he would accept the gift. So after a wild two-day roller coaster ride, Hart is still WCW champion. The Montreal-style screw job was on Goldberg this time and Hart was the beneficiary. But the Montreal incident was in the WWF and this is WCW, you say. True, but Russo was writing for the WWF two years ago and Tony Schiavone sold the idea that Russo may have been involved in the screw job.

Something else happened Monday night, too, and I think Kevin Nash summed it up perfectly.

"Baltimore, Maryland, the band is back together!" Nash said.

That's the right, the New World Order is back and it's rebirth sealed the deal on Goldberg. The reformed "band" includes original members Nash and Scott Hall as well as Jeff Jarrett and Hart. And they ended up with almost all the WCW gold.

This was a well told story that enough swerves in it to last for months. Hall and Nash made babyface and heel turns Monday. Nash gave the shoot promo to end all shoot promos. Roddy Piper and Hart were shooting, too.

Before we get into details, I've got to say a few things. Russo has got to quit using $30 pay per views to set up free Nitros. That is unless he wants to kill buy rates. Russo has got to quit putting himself and Ed Ferrara over and get the focus back on the wrestlers. I know Lady Diamond Cutter agrees with that. There were also some awful segments on both shows. Imagine the indignity of Vampiro having to sell a Ferrara DDT.

The stage for Monday was set on Starrcade when substitute referee Piper, the fourth official of the evening, called for the bell immediately after Hart put Goldberg in the sharpshooter. Piper didn't look too enthused about what he was doing. Hart grabbed the belt and that was that. The show quickly ended with no explanation. Why? Because you've got to tune in Monday to find out what happens!

We got an early hint when Russo told his lackeys that something big was happening. We could have done without the hints. Then the story might have been even better.

And by the way, the censors had the night off.

Russo told Piper he had to tell the audience that he "sold out" to the PTB. "If you don't this whole deal is off," Russo said. Piper started shooting, using typical insider terms like "smarts" and "marks." He said that he and Hogan were 50-50 in making wrestling. Interesting. This could be setting up the Hogan return as Terry Bollea. He said WCW didn't need promoters or "stinking writers." He called the Harris twins "condom head geeks." That was funny.

Nash was the next to shoot. He said the boys don't screw the boys. He played off the boys versus the office deal. The "boys" didn't have insurance and other benefits. That sounded ironic coming from a wealthy man. Mike, suspend your disbelief, OK? Nash managed to say shit, bullshit and asshole and none of it got muted. They're crossing the line. It'll be interesting to see what the reaction. Before he was finished, Nash pointed an accusing finger at Hart. "You broke that code,'' Nash said. "You screwed one of the boys." Nash went on to say that Hart was nothing but "a piece of shit." Then he dropped the mic and left the ring in true shoot style.

Creative Control told Gene Mean that Nash was the biggest politician backstage.

Piper was out next to further this storyline. "My name is Roddy Piper and I sold out," he said. OK, he sold out but what was he going to get in return? They never explained that. Piper started shooting after that, putting down Russo and saying the fans want to see guys fight. That is true. He apologized to Goldberg. He said he's not one of them. "It ain't me," Piper said, sounding a John Fogerty verse. "I quit. That's it,'' Piper said. He got some good heat.

"Unbelievable," Schiavone said.

On his way to the back, Goldberg intercepted Piper. "You know what, Roddy, I stayed up all night trying to make sense of this crap," Goldberg said. Piper said he was sorry. Hart came out and said Goldberg's beef was with the office, not him. "Believe me, I know what it's like to be screwed by the office,'' Hart said. Hart then dropped a bombshell. He declared the belt vacant.

"I'm going to tell them to take the belt and shove it up their ass!" Hart said.

Hart then confronted Russo and called him a piece of shit. "I tried to make it up to you last night," Russo said. Now, that's interesting. Russo seems to be implying that either Montreal was a work or he WAS in on it. "I know you think I was involved," Russo said. Hart threw the belt at Russo, who promptly said he would face Goldberg later on. That was curious. They cut to a commercial without anything from the announcers, furthering the appearance of a shoot.

"This is one of the biggest stories in wrestling history," gushed Mike Tenay. I rolled up my pant legs on that one. It's getting deep.

Later on, Piper destroyed Russo's "office." That was positively awful as Russo's office was revealed to be a fake pre-fab type of contraption. Couldn't they have found a real office in the arena? Here we go again with the willing suspension of disbelief issue.

The next chapter had Russo summoning Jarrett to his limo. "Tonight's the night," Russo said. Jarrett seemed puzzled. "Just sit back and enjoy," Russo said. That was probably a little too big of a hint.

They showed Piper giving another shoot speech to some of the wrestlers backstage. He again attacked Russo and told the wrestlers to stand up for their rights. It went on too long. The crowd was getting restless.

Finally, the ending to the story came when Hart and Goldberg locked horns. After a few minutes the compulsory ref bump happened. Hall and Nash, huge babyfaces earlier for beating the crap out of Creative Control, entered the ring with baseball bats. Hart had Goldberg in the figure four. The Outsiders laid in the bats on Goldberg! They had a bat for Hart and he joined in. Piper ran in to protect Goldberg, literally covering him. Jarrett came in and busted a guitar on Piper's head. Somehow the ref counted a pinfall on Goldberg even though Hart didn't cover him!

Out came the spray paint cans and the NW0 letters were sprayed on the backs of Goldberg and Piper. The NW0 is back, including its old music. There was a ton of heat and it was mixed.

"The biggest swerve ever has come down!" Schiavone said.

It was far from perfect but it was entertaining. Hall and Nash may finally start acting like the heels they're supposed to be instead of continuing to play the crowd for babyface heat. The swerves helped craft a big story that worked. The question is will they build on it. And what about any backlash that might come down from advertisers over the foul language?

I don't recall ever writing so much about one WCW storyline. To me that speaks volumes. It's about time WCW put some oomph into their main events.

Let's cover a few other things that happened.

Chris Benoit and Jarrett had a five-star ladder match Sunday night. That's hardly surprising since they are two of the best workers in the business. Jarrett is getting more over every week. Benoit is at the top of his game. It was nice to see Benoit get the U.S. title again. But when it was announced they were going to do it again Monday, I smelled a Benoit job in the making. After the gimmicked ladder stunt, I knew the fix was in. Yet this doesn't diminish Benoit in any way.

It's time to retire Oklahoma. Enough is enough. They have made their point. I just can't understand why Russo insists on punishing Vampiro by making him sell for Ferrara. Keep the bookers out of the ring, Vince.

The Diamond Dallas Page-Buff Bagwell segment was entertaining. Bagwell did the interview with Gene Mean, who really prodded him about Kimberly. Bagwell made it look like a shoot when he spoke to Gene away from the mic. DDP's rage went over nicely. This feud has some potential, given that both are over and have the charisma for a good program.

Shane Douglas continues to shine with his heel mic work. He was funny with his goof on Bill Clinton, especially the part about having "the girl under the desk." Perry Saturn asked how many bites it takes to get the middle of a Tootsie roll as Dean Malenko and Asya stared in disbelief. Saturn's goofy act has a chance to get over.

As expected, Hacksaw Jim Duggan refused to denounce the United States despite being on the losing end at Starrcade. He got a beating for his efforts only to be saved by a depleted Filthy Animals group. They were minus Eddie Guerrero and Rey Rey was on crutches, yet it was enough to cause three men and a very strong woman to take flight. That was a bit mucb.

The funniest moment on Monday night was when Lex Luger appeared in a Sting outfit.

On that note, I'm going to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.