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IN QUOTES

Wow! Three columns in the last six days: I'm certainly making up for all the time you missed me during December, eh?
 
T In Quotes: In the spirit of my good friends, Leonard...er, Michangelo & Andy, I am going to toss a second column out there, "In Quotes", to supplement my EXCELLENT, People's Column-recommended feature columns. In other news, Congratulations to my [Slash] counterparts, Rebecca & Sharon, as their Y2K present from Chris was a red "/" thingie! A belated congrats of the same nature to Cyan!
 
Question in Quotes: Where, oh where, ever did Ronnie and the Thumb in the Eye column go?
 
CRZ in Quotes: Who's the girl in the pic? And Is there any way I can type in the text box? *I* read everything, I'd be glad to help a webmaster out!
 
Russo in Quotes: Good to see that you're such a RESPONSIBLE and PROFESSIONAL booker. Yep, go insult the guy who's been writing THE dirt sheet for two decades, and call him a jackass [and way to pay attention: he called THE ANGLE retarded, not you.] Oh, and then brag about your "head writer" job. But you DIDN'T do it for fame and money, oh no sir, you're not that egostitical. Give this guy the pink slip and send him back from whatever rock he crawled under, cause Meltzer's got more respect then you'll EVER get.
 
Scoops In Quotes:"Coincidentally, that's the week that RAW goes on hiatus in the US as the USA Network brings wrestling fans the coveted coverage of the Westminster Dog Show." I thought RAW was going to be tape-delayed [didn't CRZ mention something about a Valentines RAW]? Somebody's confused, but the main point here is he mentions that ECW may possibly put a Monday Night Special on that day! If the WWF is tapedelayed -- Valentines 2000 may be the first day that the Big Three go head-to-head-to-head on the same night. [Not at the same time, but still...] 
 
Bob "Shill" Ryder in Quotes: Yep, your good friend and mine threw a temper tantrum about the Internet (specifically Wade Keller and the Torch) revealing the Funk-as-Commissioner swerve in his Tuesday Notes From Bob. Ever heard that old saying about what's good for the goose, Bob? WCW has NEVER, EVER done anything like work the Net [leak false Internet rumors] or release spoilers from the competition, right? Ha.  
 
Bret "the Hitman" Hart in Quotes: 
The Question of the Week in A Certain Other Expanded [Slash] Column [Go Answer It, it's fun!] involved predicted the one thing that you thought would rock the wrestling world in 2000. I wrote a REALLY long answer, and since I'm nothing if not ecological, I'm gonna reuse (or is it recycle?) some of the ideas I gave there to address today's topic: Bret Hart (in honor of the nWo v4.0).
 
As background for the prediction I made, I offered my opinions as to the top wrestling stories each year, back to 1996:
 
1996- Whether you liked it or hated it, the nWo v1.0 angle set the world on fire. It put Nitro on top for 82 weeks and was the first time in over a decade anyone has ever stood the challenge of the mothership, the WWF.
 
1997- You can mark this one as the year of Stone Cold, you can wax poetic about the precursors to the Attitude era, but THE DAY THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY, THE INFAMOUS MONTREAL "SCREWJOB" from Vince to Bret turned the wrestling war on it's head. Two, nearly three years later it's STILL being talked about, and it set up one of the most UNforseen reigns of success ever for the WWF. 
 
1998- Some will say the onset of the Attitude Era In General marked the demise of wrestling as a whole. 1998 will go down, though, as the year that wrestling finally enjoyed mainstream success, the first time in the existance of the sport, that you could admit you were a wrestling fan IN PUBLIC and not be labeled as a redneck, or hick. To pick a specific, the JUMP OF SEAN "XPAC" WALTMAN, AND THE FIRST RATINGS VICTORY FOR THE WWF IN 83 WEEKS.
 
1999, 2000- Sorry, Powers That Be......and not glossing over the huge success of Mick Foley, the meteoric rise to megaface for the Rock, the firing of Eric Bischoff, ECW making it to TNN, or even (snicker) the founding of Wrestleline.com, OWEN HART's TRAGIC DEATH takes the #1 spot, hands down. The issues of insurance, unionization were brought to the front: the online community was in an uproar for MONTHS following, and it has caused much change in all of the Big Three.
 
After making my picks, I made some connections:
 
#1: ALL OF THEM WERE NOT PLANNED STORIES/ANGLES.  The common thread here is that all of these events are related in that a totally unforseeable development caused new direction other than the intended one. The heel turn (and the fateful words New World Order) would never have come to pass for Hulk Hogan if someone else (see #3) had not backed out of signing with WCW at the last second, leaving the leader of the invasion spot open. While one could argue that MONTREAL was premediated, who saw the WWF taking that and turning it into the hottest story in wrestling for the next TWO years? The Attitude Era, of course would not have come about without the unplanned success of the previous story. I don't think the last one needs any elaboration. The lesson here: no matter how hard the big Three try, the magic of the last five years has been mostly by accident, not design.
 
#2: ALL THREE WERE TIED TO THE COMPETITION. When you think about it, these huge stories all involve the influence of the competition. Not to blasphemy Owen's death in the slightest, but would the story have been as big had Bret Hart still been in the employ of the WWF? The nWo was of course played as a WWF "invasion." The Montreal business involved the controversial departure of a huge main-event star to the other side, and the Attitude era was obviously a change of pace from the 'old-school' programming still existing on the WCW side at that time. 
 
#3- ALL OF THEM HAVE BRET HART INVOLVED TO SOME EXTENT. Love him or hate him, Bret Hart has been at the center of the bigger stories of the last half of the '90s. Bret was supposed to be the leader of the nWo [being on hiatus after doing to job to Michaels at WM12] right up until he re-signed with the WWF at the last minute, causing a scrambling for Plan B. The other three's ties to him are fairly obvious, so moving on....
 
The last 5 years have been quite rocky for the Excellence of Execution, from being turfed from the WWF in dramatic fashion, to divorcing his wife of many years, to losing his youngest (and by many accounts) closest brother while in the employ of the WWF. Yet, through all this, the Hitman (at least if you buy into this theory of mine) has been in, around, or involved in some of the biggest stories of the '90s. Why?
 
He's a player, for sure, but he's not the huge star that Goldberg, Rock or Austin is. He's a technical, mat wrestler in the era that mat wrestling is now very passe. He's a longtime friend of Vince McMahon, but even in his last year of WWF employment, where he was arguably at his height of stardom to date, he was still at least a solid #3 [behind Shawn Michaels & Steve Austin], even as the champion.
 
So why has Bret Hart been involved in the biggest stories of the '90s? Theories? Ideas? Drop by at tanaka@ncw3.com and tell me what you think. I do reply to any and all email, and if I get enough, I publish letters in "In Quotes".
 
Take care,
Mr. T
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(All wacky colours are Mr. T's - complain to HIM - CRZ)

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