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1. Day 646 - A Silent Prayer (A re-posted column)

2. Day 647 - "Greatest Rivalries: Michaels VS Hart" DVD Review

2.5 Day 648 - Raw Running Diary

4. Day 649 - Bring The Pain

5. Day 650 - #FuckYouSting???

Beast mode, De. Beast mode.Day 646

Writer's Note: Because people keep asking me about where they can view the previous podcast that was recorded, I'm going to assume that a lot of you don't read my Writer's Notes that I include after my columns. Because of that, I'm throwing it up here, before the column itself, so that more eyeballs see it. If you haven't had a chance to listen to the last podcast, with the too-controversial-to-be-posted-directly-on-LoP rant I had, hit up the Lords Of Podcast Roundtable Facebook page, where the YouTube link is posted. Here's the link..

Lords Of Podcast Facebook

Writer's Note Part Deux: Tonight's column is going to be a repost, but it is also one that has been requested by a few people who are apparently too lazy to go back and find it themselves, because they know about when the column was posted. Anyway, the repost is happening because I just had my soul crushed to the umpteenth degree during a "tryout" podcast that we just finished recording, and I need to go cry in the corner for the next several hours, so I won't be able to focus on doing anything new tonight. So, here it is, ladies and gentlemen.. my infamous Chris Benoit column from earlier this year, which was a part of LoP's ColuMania competition..

A little over an hour until WrestleMania begins. I'm antsy. There's not much on television, so I'm flipping channels.

Infomercial.

Infomercial.

Cable access religious programming.

Infomercial.

I have 700-something channels, and there's not a damn thing on. Funny how that works, isn't it?

As I continued flipping through the stations, my cell phone text notification went off. "I got big booty bitches.. big, big booty bitches.. I got big booty bitches.. big, big booty bitches.. oooo.." Almost immediately after it's done, it goes off again.

Then again.

By the time I've stood up and walked over to my phone, it goes off two more times. It must be something important. I opened up the first text message that was from the homie, Shea..

"Dude, turn to CNN RIGHT NOW"

The next text message..

"Please fucking tell me ur watching CNN"

The next one..

"WTF. U watching the news?"

Assuming the other messages involved the same thing, I walked back to the room and grabbed the remote, changing the channel to CNN. When I saw the headline at the bottom of the screen, my jaw dropped, and my cell phone fell to the floor.

Breaking News: Murderer of former wrestler Chris Benoit & family arrested

It took me several seconds for my mind to wrap around what it was looking at. The murderer of the Benoit family was arrested? Didn't Benoit murder his family before taking his own life? I sat down and turned the volume up. A press conference with Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard was about to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to thank you for making it out here on such short notice. I won't be taking any questions, but I'll go over the information that we've received, leading to the break in the Chris Benoit case. At approximately 7:24 this morning, Kevin Francis Sullivan was arrested and charged with the murders of Chris and Nancy Benoit, as well as their son, Daniel. We've been following some tips and leads, and have had Mr. Sullivan here for questioning over the last few days. He confessed to the murders this morning, and is now being held, without bail, at the Georgia State Prison. Further details will follow, but for now, this is all I can share with you. Thank you for your time."

There were tears welling up in my eyes, but honestly, I didn't know why. Perhaps the sheer magnitude of the entire thing was crashing down on me. My phone hadn't stopped going off the entire time, but I was too numb to pick it up and read anything. After all this time.. nearly four years.. it turns out that Chris Benoit isn't the monster of a man that people have made him out to be. All of the questions people had.. everything that people thought would never be answered.. were being answered right before my eyes.

The CNN anchor said that Reverend Johnny Lee Clary would be joining him, via satellite, after the break. Reverend Clary used to be a former pro wrestler, and through the years had been very outspoken about the entire Benoit situation. His comments would be very interesting to hear.

During the commercial break, I did my best to respond to some of my text messages, but once the break was over, my phone was shut off. I didn't want to be distracted by anything.

"Reverend Clary, thank you for joining us this afternoon."

"It's my pleasure."

"Let's get right into it. What are your thoughts on today's developments in the Chris Benoit case?"

"I really hate to say this, but I'm not surprised. From the beginning, when everyone began accusing Chris Benoit of committing these heinous crimes, I knew something wasn't right. Something didn't add up. After looking at things from a different angle, I began to dig through some of my own clues, and I had Kevin Sullivan in my sights almost immediately."

"Please explain."

"Well, it starts with the fact that Mr. Sullivan used to be married to Nancy Benoit, for one. When Sullivan and Benoit used to work for World Championship Wrestling, a storyline was created for Nancy, who was the valet of Mr. Sullivan on-screen, to leave him for Mr. Benoit. Mr. Sullivan is from the old school way of thinking in wrestling, and he wanted to take things even further, to make wrestling fans think everything was more than just a storyline. Chris and Nancy would travel from city to city together. They'd share a hotel room on the road. They'd eat meals together. They were ordered to hold hands and be affectionate with each other while out in public. Somewhere along the lines, life began to imitate art, and Nancy really did end up leaving Mr. Sullivan. She began to date Mr. Benoit, and things went from there."

"When did this storyline take place?"

"In the summer of 1997."

"So, why would Kevin Sullivan wait ten years to do what he did?"

"I was getting to that, actually. What a lot of people don't know about Mr. Sullivan is that he's a noted Satanist. Some reports even have him as one of the highest-ranking members of the Satanic Church. One of the key beliefs in Satanism is revenge. They believe in finding revenge in the most calculating way they possibly can, not just something that they can do right away."

"You're saying that Satanism is behind the murders of the Benoit family?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Look at the numbers. The weekend of the murders was the tenth anniversary of Nancy Sullivan leaving her husband for Chris Benoit. There's that calculating method of revenge I mentioned. I believe Mr. Sullivan had this planned all along. He knew that he'd be one of the top suspects if anything happened to either Chris or Nancy in the days, weeks and months following the divorce. He let things cool off a bit before picking his time and following through on the threat he said to Chris in WCW upon hearing that his wife was leaving him."

"What threat?"

"It has been documented that Mr. Sullivan threatened to kill Mr. Benoit one day, but nobody paid much attention to the threat. He was angry. He wasn't in his right mind when he said it."

"In the last few years, we've heard how the police think the weekend went down. They felt that Nancy was murdered, followed by Daniel being murdered the next day, with Chris Benoit taking his own life the following day. If Mr. Sullivan truly did commit these crimes, how do you think things went down on that particular weekend?"

"I think Mr. Sullivan entered the Benoit home by gunpoint, and that he had a few of his fellow Satanic Church members to help him out. He went right after Nancy, still angry with her for leaving him. With Chris and Daniel being forced to watch, Mr. Sullivan strangled Nancy Benoit to death. He had extra reason to be upset with Nancy. When they were together, Nancy was also a practicing Satanist, but since marrying Chris Benoit, she had become a Born Again Christian and had devoted her life to Christ. That, of course, infuriated him. He waited an entire day, letting Chris and Daniel remain tied up, suffering after witnessing Nancy pass away, before he set his sights on Daniel. As a Satanist, Kevin Sullivan probably hated Daniel Benoit more than anybody on the planet. As the only offspring of Chris and Nancy Benoit, Kevin Sullivan saw Daniel Benoit as everything 'pure' in the world. He probably took great joy in murdering Daniel, especially with Chris probably being forced to watch that, as well. As a form of torture, he made Chris Benoit spend another day thinking about what had taken place in the last two days. To end the weekend, Chris Benoit was hung in the basement of the home, with Mr. Sullivan going out of his way to make things look like a suicide."

"Other than the obvious, what did Mr. Sullivan intend to gain by murdering the Benoit family like this?"

"Not only did he rid the world of the people he hated the most, getting revenge in the process, but look at what he's done to the Chris Benoit name in the last four years. He turned one of the most respected men in the wrestling business into a pariah. People absolutely hated Chris Benoit after the news of the deaths broke. He murdered his wife and his own son? People were sickened by the entire thing. World Wrestling Entertainment has basically had to pretend that Chris Benoit never existed. They've deleted his matches from DVD sets. They refuse to even mention his name on television, on their website or on anything that has to do with the company. His title history has been completely wiped out. Even some of Chris' closest friends wanted nothing to do with his memory anymore. In other words, people were starting to see Chris Benoit with some of the same hatred and disgust that Kevin Sullivan had felt for an entire decade. He could have easily just murdered them, and left it at that. He felt as though Chris Benoit ruined his life, so, even in death, he wanted to make sure that he ruined Chris Benoit's life and everything that he spent so many years trying to build and accomplish."

"What about the bibles that were reportedly found next to the bodies?"

"Things like that have come up in Satanism-led murders in the past. It's basically a way for a Satanist to taunt organized religion. It's the equivalent of telling someone that they spent all that time praying to God and trying to follow all of His rules, but when they needed Him most, He did them no good and they were still able to be murdered. Again, Satanists are incredibly cold and calculating. They don't think like the human beings you and I would consider 'normal'. This has all the makings of Kevin Sullivan's doing, as well as the Satanic Church."

"So you think this confession by Mr. Sullivan is legit?"

"Oh, absolutely. To be honest with you, I don't think these are the only deaths Kevin Sullivan has been involved with."

"What do you mean?"

"Another name that Mr. Sullivan has been linked to through the years is Sherri Schrull, better known to wrestling fans as Sherri Martel. Like Nancy Benoit, Martel had managed Kevin Sullivan in wrestling, and had been linked to him in a romantic sense, as well. There were rumors that Martel had also dabbled in Satanism, but those rumors were just that.. rumors. It was never declared official. Anyway, a little over a week before the Benoit family was murdered, Sherri Martel was found dead. Her death was declared an accidental overdose, as multiple drugs were found in her system, but everything was suspicious about it. According to everyone that knew her, she had everything going for her in life, and was as happy as she had been in years. She had been battling problems with alcohol, but never drugs, and all of a sudden, she dies of a drug overdose? It just doesn't add up. I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if Kevin Sullivan was behind her death, as well."

"Reverend Clary, we're running short on time, but is there anything else that you'd like to say before we wrap this up?"

"Yes, actually. I'd like to take this time to say, to the wrestling fans watching, that Chris Benoit's name and legacy can be brought back into the light once again. You weren't wrong to be angry with him. However, we've all made a mistake, and as the book of Proverbs, chapter 28, verses 13 and 14 say.. A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful. But if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance. Blessed is the man who reveres God, but the man who doesn't care is headed for serious trouble."

"Thank you for your time, Reverend."

"Anytime."

With that, they went to another commercial break. Another wave of emotion fell over me, and I began to sob uncontrollably. I just didn't know how to process everything. A man that the entire world thought was a murderer for four whole years, and who had his entire legacy tarnished because of it, is actually innocent, and never did any of the crimes people accused him of.

I shut the television off, and fell to my knees in a silent prayer. A prayer for myself. A prayer for the Benoit family. A prayer for Kevin Sullivan. A prayer for things to return to a sense of normalcy.

The HiPE Playlist: Nothing tonight.

Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor.

Hustle
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-Team Sleep--------------------------Day 647

Not all that long ago, I did a review of the documentary portion of Randy Orton's "Evolution Of A Predator" DVD set. People seemed to really enjoy it, and all of the feedback I received from people after they watched the documentary seemed to agree with my opinion that it was arguably the best of all the documentaries that the company has put out since they started making DVD sets.

However, if there was one "problem" people seemed to have with my review, it's that it might have been too detailed. I pretty much went over every single second of the documentary, and I found myself receiving a lot of e-mails saying that I really didn't leave much to the imagination for people, so when they watched it, it felt like they had already seen it. I didn't necessarily "ruin" it for them, but I took away all of the suspense, much like reading movie spoilers would do for you if you read them right before seeing the movie. Because of that, I figured I'd change the way I do reviews just a bit. I don't want to have to take away all of the fun and the suspense out of viewing these things for any of you, but I do want to share my thoughts and opinions on things. I'm going to try and get detailed, but without going too far. We'll see how this works. That said, I recently "acquired" the documentary portion of "WWE: Greatest Rivalries - Shawn Michaels VS Bret Hart", and figured I'd review it.

When I first heard about the DVD, and how it would be the first time that both Michaels and Hart would be sharing their thoughts on the Montreal Screwjob and the events leading up to it, I was hooked. I wanted to see how honest things were, whether either man would come out of the documentary looking better or worse than they did going in, etc.

Things start off exactly as we had heard would happen through news stories and Twitter.. with Michaels and Hart sitting, side by side, in a random WWE studio somewhere, and Jim Ross sitting across from them, conducting the interview. Ross was the obvious choice, based on his tenure with the company, the fact that he was on commentary in the era that was being discussed, and the fact that he's a well-known wrestling historian. They get right into discussing things, but it starts off with a brief video package of both men, focusing on their early lives and their pre-WWF years. It was basically a shortened version of the videos that normal WWE DVD documentaries featured, with childhood photos and early wrestling footage thrown in. Back to the studio, we get to hear Bret's opinion of Shawn Michaels upon his arrival with the company, as a part of The Rockers tag team with Marty Jannetty. Bret was excited to have the chance to work with the Rockers, as he felt that his team with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, The Hart Foundation, had already worked up and down the roads with the teams that were already on the roster, so some fresh blood would benefit everyone. Michaels mentions that he and Jannetty wanted to work with The Hart Foundation from day one, but as the new guys, they weren't about to start going around and saying who they did and didn't want to work with. This leads into some talks about the overall tag team scene in the company during the late-80s and early-90s, and how absolutely stacked the tag rosters were.

This shifts to the much talked-about match from Saturday Night's Main Event between The Hart Foundation and The Rockers, where The Rockers were booked to win their first WWF Tag Team Title reign. During the match, however, a spot went haywire and the top turnbuckle snapped. They had to work a nice part of the match with no top rope, and if you really stop and think about a lot of wrestling spots/moves, especially when you involve high-fliers like Michaels and Jannetty and Hart, who wasn't afraid to climb the ropes, getting through a match without the top rope is almost impossible. There's a clip of the match where Bret is set to run the ropes to perform The Hart Foundation's Hart Attack finisher, which called for him to run to one set of ropes, run to the opposite set of ropes and come back with a clothesline on an opponent that Neidhart has bearhugged in the air. The rope hadn't been completely fixed at this point yet, so Bret is literally walking from one end of the ring to the other so that he doesn't hit the rope with too much momentum, which could either take it down again or send him tumbling out of the ring with the potential for real injury. The Rockers did win the titles during the match, but because of the rope incident, the company decided on not airing the match at all, which meant the title change never officially took place, and The Hart Foundation remained champions. Both men talk about how disappointed they were in how the match went, but I was disappointed that Michaels seemed to hold back. He's made mention before that he blamed The Hart Foundation for doing some backstage politics to convince the company to keep the titles on them and not to drop them to The Rockers at another time, but he doesn't bring that up here.

Then we switch gears, with another brief video package of the early-90s, when both Michaels and Hart pursued singles careers, with Hart becoming the Intercontinental Champion by defeating Mr Perfect at SummerSlam 1991 and eventually becoming the WWF Champion by defeating Ric Flair, and with Michaels sending Jannetty through Brutus Beefcake's Barber Shop window and eventually defeating The British Bulldog to become the Intercontinental Champion himself. We then get clips of the company's very first Ladder Match. No, not Michaels VS Razor Ramon from WrestleMania 10, but Michaels VS Hart from a live event months earlier. Yes, they debuted a gimmick match at a house show, which is pretty crazy to think about these days. Of course, this comes mere seconds after mentioning the fact that Hart defeating Flair for the WWF Title also happened at a house show. Times sure have changed.

Bret says that the company's landscape was changing from "dinosaurs to mammals", saying that guys like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant and The Ultimate Warrior were "dinosaurs" that people were getting tired of, and that guys like Michaels and himself were able to put on better matches, more exciting matches and matches that didn't feature the same spots over and over again. There's irony in that last part, but eh, he still has a point.

The first discussion of their backstage relationship takes place, and it's almost sad that the talk about their friendship is all in past tense, especially from Bret. Bret makes mention that he used to have Michaels over to his house to hang out with his family and how he was a fan of Michaels the person and Michaels the wrestler from his arrival to the company.

Fast forward again to the mid-90s with another video package, this time talking about Michaels' "personal demons" taking place. There's a bit of a focus on WrestleMania 10, with Bret participating in two big matches during the event, but Michaels' Ladder Match with Razor getting most of the publicity afterwards. The first mention of the "Kliq" takes place during the video package, mentioning that Michaels was working with members of the group almost exclusively at this time, but it skips ahead again, talking about the road to WrestleMania 12 and the Ironman Match between the two.

Bret says that the first seeds of tension between the two came from Michaels turning face between WrestleMania 11 and 12, and how that put Michaels into his "lane" as a direct competitor, instead of them being a top face and a top heel. He spends a few moments complaining about the build to the Ironman Match, saying that he felt the company was portraying Michaels as the clear top guy, and that it seemed clear he (Hart) was merely keeping the WWF Title warm. He says he wasn't being portrayed as being "important" at all. Hart then talks about Michaels discussing who he would be working with after winning the WWF Title. He says Michaels was telling people he would be defending the title against Diesel, Razor Ramon and even The 1-2-3 Kid after WrestleMania.. basically continuing his work with nothing but Kliq members.. and Bret feels that was unfair, with that meaning only Kliq members would be making top money at the time. Michaels doesn't remember saying any of that, but says that he understands that the Shawn Michaels of that time would certainly have felt that way, so he believes Hart's version of the story. Michaels does mention, however, that this was around the time that he started viewing Bret in a different light, almost placing him in the "dinosaur" group that Bret mentioned earlier. He was upset that Bret wanted to keep things "traditional" in the company, while he and the rest of the Kliq wanted to add an edgy side to the product and take things in a different direction. Even with all that negativity, both men were excited for the Ironman Match, because they still respected the hell out of each others workrate, and they knew they could deliver a match unlike anything anyone had ever seen to that point. Bret speaks about the match in glowing terms, saying that it turned out perfectly, and that everything that they planned out went well without any "flubs", and that everything was so smooth. In a funny moment, we then get Shawn talking about the infamous "get him the hell out of the ring" moment, with the rumor being that Michaels said that to referee Earl Hebner. The story is that Shawn didn't want Bret in the ring during his title celebration because he didn't want him "stealing his spotlight". Shawn says he did tell Hebner that, but that it was part of the storyline, as was the fact that they didn't shake hands after the match. Immediately after Shawn talks about it being part of the storyline that was discussed by both men beforehand, Ross asks Hart if what Shawn said to Hebner upset him, basically indicating that it wasn't a storyline at all. However, almost immediately after that, Bret tells a story of him having a conversation with his brother, Owen, the day after WrestleMania. Owen asked Bret if there was legit heat between Bret and Shawn, based on the lack of a handshake after the match. Apparently the boys in the locker room were starting to wonder if the heat was legit or not. Bret says he told Owen that it was legit, because he wanted the boys to keep thinking that way, which would eventually help to build towards a future rematch between the two at some point down the road. Kind of a confusing few moments there.

From there, we go to another video package, this time post-WrestleMania 12, with the fans being split in their opinions of both men and how they were almost being forced to choose sides. Shawn or Bret? Bret or Shawn? At this time, Hunter Hearst Helmsley was coming up as a star, and was part of the feud, as were members of The Hart Foundation (the faction this time, not just the original tag team). This video package is also when the first mention of Bret's contract comes into play. It was mentioned that Vince McMahon was unable to honor the contract that Bret had at the time (one that he had just signed, no less), based on the financial pressure he was facing at the time with WCW being a hot commodity and with people jumping ship (complete with highlights of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash making their WCW debuts). We then get footage of Bret's on-screen feud with McMahon building. This, of course, takes us to Survivor Series 1997.. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.. Bret Hart defending the WWF Title against Shawn Michaels.

In discussion of the infamous "losing my smile" moment, Bret mentions that he didn't believe Shawn was really injured and that he was walking out on the boys at a time when the locker room should have been working together to try and stop WCW, who was on fire at the time. That only continued building the tension between the two men. Bret makes mention that the original plan was for he and Shawn to have their rematch at WrestleMania 13, but the plans were changed maybe a month or so prior to the event, giving us the match we eventually got, which was Bret VS Steve Austin in their legendary Submission Match. To his credit, Shawn even makes mention that he didn't want to work with Bret anymore. He felt that he had already beaten Bret, and that their feud was in the past, so he didn't understand why the company would want to have them feud again. Bret mentions that both he and Shawn went over the line during promos at the time, possibly taking things too far with various shots that they sent at each other. Bret seems to be clearly lying through his teeth when he says that every single thing he said about Shawn Michaels during those promos was about the wrestling character, and not the person that Michaels was backstage and in "real life". I don't think anyone buys that, nor would they buy it if Shawn had said the same thing about his promos towards Bret at the time. Shawn again points out the difference between the Shawn Michaels of that time and the Shawn Michaels of today, and how he had no emotional maturity at the time. Bret mentions the first time when he realized that the situation between he and Shawn would get "ugly".. when Shawn mentioned, on-air, a rumor about a possible affair that Bret was having at the time with Sunny, who was with the company then. Bret mentions that he didn't think much about it at the time of the comment, but when he got home, and he had family members and friends asking him what was going on between him and Sunny, that's when he realized how embarrassing it was, and how, with a wife and children watching the programming at home, it could have led to some very big problems.

We then actually start discussing Survivor Series, and the real build-up to the event. JR asks Bret about the rumors that he didn't want to drop the WWF Title in Canada, as well as the rumors that he didn't want to drop the WWF Title to Shawn Michaels, period, anywhere in the world. Bret says that, at the time, he thought a WrestleMania match was still being built for the two, and he tells a story of a backstage conversation with Shawn where he says that, even with everything that has gone on between the two, he would be more than happy to drop the title to Shawn. However, Shawn's response was that he appreciated the sentiment, but he wouldn't be willing to do the same for Bret, and that's when Bret said he gave up on Shawn and basically said "to hell with him". As he's telling this story, Shawn is on-camera, with a smirk on his face, but it's almost one of uncomfortable embarrassment, where the only response he can think of is to try and smile it off, which pretty much indicates that the story is true. At the following set of television tapings, Vince McMahon came to Bret with the new idea of having the match at Survivor Series instead, and that's when Bret admits he told Vince he wouldn't be willing to drop the title, but he doesn't specify if he meant in Canada or just to Michaels in general. Minutes later, though, he does admit to saying that he eventually told Vince he wouldn't put Shawn over at all. After signing his WCW contract, Bret says that he told Vince he would be willing to drop the WWF Title to anyone on the roster, in any city on the planet, but he wouldn't lose to Shawn, and especially not in Canada. Shawn then tells a story where he basically throws Triple H under the bus, saying that it was all Trips' idea for the "alternate ending" to take place. It was in a conversation with Shawn, Vince and Triple H, where Vince was talking about Bret's desire not to drop the title to Shawn at all. Shawn says that Triple H immediately spoke up, saying "if Bret isn't willing to do business, we'll do business for him", with Vince then asking what he had in mind, and it went from there. Shawn plays the innocence card, saying that he stayed silent during the conversation, only saying that he was willing to do any situation that the company made him do. Eyes will probably roll during this section of the documentary.

Bret says that, on the day of Survivor Series, he suspected some sort of plot was underway. He tells a story of him pulling Earl Hebner aside and informing Earl that they (any combination of Vince, Shawn and Hunter) were going to come to him and have him participate in some sort of screwjob. Bret says that Earl's response was that he would never, ever do anything like that to Bret, and he was saying it through tears that were rolling down his face. Bret says that all he asked of Earl was to let him know if they did approach him to do anything off-script. It really paints quite the picture of Earl Hebner, if you believe the story.

Bret's thoughts were that the match could possibly spiral into a legit fight, and that is what he was kind of preparing for. He felt that he could have defended himself nicely if that took place, and based on his training background, I have to agree with him. He was bigger and stronger than Shawn, and he had more of a "shoot" background.

Shawn gets emotional when talking about the hours leading up to Survivor Series, and how he hated having to be "that guy". It's yet another moment where people are going to roll their eyes and shake their head if they feel Shawn was a very willing participant in what transpired that night, but he does at least appear to be genuine in his emotions.

Bret then tells a story of the match ending itself, where Shawn went to lock the Sharpshooter in, but was crossing Bret's legs the wrong way. Bret says that, while on his back, he told Shawn he was doing it wrong and had Shawn switch it up. The footage is shown, and sure enough, Shawn goes to cross Bret's legs, but then immediately changes it up and crosses Bret's legs in the other direction. Jim Ross makes the comparison that it was like Bret taking bullets and loading a gun that he would then hand to Shawn to finish him off with. Bret agrees. Shawn admits that, even with the guilt he says he was feeling, the thought of changing things up never crossed his mind, and he merely went out there and did what he was told. He calls it the lowest point of his entire career. Bret then gets emotional when discussing the thoughts that were going through his mind after the match, and how he felt at the time. Bret says that, had the roles been reversed, he would not have participated in any sort of screwjob because he was loyal to "the boys" first and foremost, ahead of being loyal to the company. Bret then mentions that he has always forgiven Earl Hebner, even after lying to him the way he did. He says that he would have panicked and went along with things if he were in Earl's shoes. He gets emotional again when discussing Vince McMahon's betrayal, as he talks about everything he sacrificed for the company through the years.. working sick, working injured, working holidays, being away from his family, etc.. and how it appeared that none of it meant anything to Vince, or to the company, as a whole.

We get another video package, this time focusing on Bret's mediocre run with WCW, as well as the personal tragedies that he would go through at the time (Owen's passing, the concussion that helped to end Bret's in-ring career, Davey Boy Smith's passing, and then the stroke that Bret suffered). The video package then focuses on how the aftermath of the screwjob wasn't kind to Shawn, either, as he suffered a back injury only two months later that would force him into an early retirement two months after that. Of course, Shawn's personal life would be much happier than Bret's would, as the video mentions, with Shawn becoming a Born Again Christian and meeting the woman who would go on to become his wife and the mother of his children. The package briefly mentions Bret's induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame years later, as well as Shawn's own induction this year. To close out the video package, we get the footage of Shawn and Bret shaking hands and hugging on Raw, putting an end to well over a decade's worth of heat, legit or manufactured.

When asked about his WCW tenure, Bret refers to it as "painful" and "disappointing", mentioning the lack of leadership that WCW had, and how it ended up being everything he feared it would be when he signed the contract in the first place. Bret gets emotional when he tells a darkly funny story of when he suffered his stroke. He says that he thought back to when Shawn "lost his smile", and there he was, looking in the mirror, having "lost his smile" for real, as the stroke rendered him unable to use the left side of his body for a period of time. Bret's emotions then take over even more as he tells the story of receiving a phone call from Vince McMahon as he was in the hospital after suffering his stroke. He says that Vince gave him a patented "Vince McMahon pep talk", reminding him not to give up and that he's a fighter. Bret says it was the phone call that helped him to reflect on things, helped him to find some of the respect for Vince he had lost through the years, and that it helped him to become motivated once again.

It was Shawn's match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 that really motivated Bret about a possible return to the company in some capacity. He says that he was so blown away by the match, and that he was so proud of both men, and that it made him miss the camaraderie that "the boys" have with each other. Both men then discuss Bret's official return to the company, and how what we saw on television was legit, with neither man really planning out beforehand what would be said during the promo. At this point, both men are becoming emotional when discussing the reunion and the reconciliation. Shawn's emotions get stronger as he thinks about what could have happened through the entire relationship he's had with Bret had his head been on straight during the 90s. He talks about how different things probably would have been, and how sad it has made him through the years to think about how he could have changed so many things and prevented things from taking place.

We close things out with both of their thoughts on where they stand today, and their thoughts on what they've gained in filming this documentary.

My Final Thoughts: First and foremost, let me say that I'm not someone who feels the entire Montreal Screwjob was a work. I do feel that Bret was legitimately screwed, and I do feel that Shawn played more of a role in it that he leads on in the documentary. With that said, I thought this was another fine piece by the company. We didn't really learn a whole lot of shocking information, but the novelty of these two long-time rivals getting together and opening up about their situation, both in the ring and out, was enough to keep me interested. It wasn't a surprise to see that Bret did much more talking than Shawn did. Bret, for better or worse, has been known to be more long-winded than Shawn, anyway, and he's also had less opportunities to discuss things on WWE programming through the years. As for Ross, he didn't do much speaking at all, but as the conductor of the interview, you're not there to hear his thoughts, anyway. What I did enjoy about JR's participation is that he played "Devil's Advocate" on multiple occasions, coming up with immediate follow-up questions for both men based on things they said, and caused them both to think things through. He showed why he really was the perfect choice as the host for something like this. The documentary runs at approximately 125 minutes or so, but honestly, it could have easily been twice that with no problem. There were some things that were glossed over, and some things not really mentioned at all. Nothing to really complain about, but something that really says a lot about this story and how deep it really runs. For you history buffs, and for you younger fans who weren't around back when this was all taking place, I would definitely give this a recommendation. The documentary itself was very entertaining, and the bonus matches that are featured in the set only add to the overall value of things. The set hits stores on October 25th (in North America, anyway, and I have no idea what the street date is in other places around the world), but obviously, it is available to "acquire" right now.

The HiPE Playlist: The documentary, of course.

An incompetent lawyer can delay a trial for months or years. A competent lawyer can delay one even longer.

-------------------------Day 648

8:59pm: Here we go with a very big episode of Raw. Last week, of course, pretty much everyone walked out on Triple H, but what will happen this week? Who will actually be there? Let's find out.

9:03pm: After a video package recapping last week's events, we cut to the arena, and the announce table is shown.. with nobody sitting at it. The backstage area is shown, and it's nearly empty. Triple H comes walking out of his office, looks around, smirks a little and appears to be headed to the ring.

9:04pm: Trips walks past the Gorilla Position, and sure enough, there's nobody sitting there, either.

9:04pm: A woman in the front row is shown holding a little baby, who has really big headphones on, presumably to prevent the baby from freaking out over all of the noise. Lady, I hope you get your parenting rights taken away from you, because you're a whore. A filthy, dirty whore. Get a fucking babysitter, or find someone to take your tickets from you. I swear, if I hear a crying baby during any point of this episode, so help me, I will have your child kidnapped and held for ransom. A big ransom. A ransom that you might have been able to afford had you not sold half of your possessions to obtain front row tickets to Monday Night Raw.

9:09pm: Triple H tells everyone that walked out on him to kiss him where his cheeks meet and says that, if he has to, he will wrestle a broomstick tonight for two hours, then says that, based on his knowledge of everyone's skills, the broomstick could probably give him a better match than most of the people who walked out. Ouch.

9:10pm: John Cena is here. Here we go.. Triple Threat Match.. Triple H, John Cena, Broomstick.. Two Hour Ironman Match. My prediction is coming true!

9:12pm: During the week, everyone that walked out personally contacted Cena and asked that he join their cause. Cena then points out that Triple H didn't even so much as text him and ask him to stay. However, he plays up the "loyalty" aspect of things, and he says he is staying, which gets a huge pop.

9:14pm: It's a shameful thing, Lobster Head!!! Why did you purchase so many limes during your most recent trip to the store?!? We have far more limes than we know what to do with, and I fear that most of them will need to be thrown out before we can get to them!!! Fiscally irresponsible is what we are!!!

9:15pm: Apparently, Sheamus is staying, as well. He points out the fact that he attacked Triple H with a pipe last year, and that he gained respect for Trips because he came back and fought Sheamus like a man, and didn't hide behind lawyers. That actually makes sense.

9:17pm: The sounds of "Cult Of Personality" officially make this a clusterfuck opening segment, and apparently means that Punk isn't going anywhere, either.

9:17pm: Apparently the company can only afford to play so much of Punk's music, as the song cut out well before he got to the ring.

9:20pm: lol @ Punk calling Sheamus "Sheam-o"

9:20pm: Punk is actually giving a nice speech about how you have to fight for what you believe in, and that's what he's here to do.

9:21pm: Triple H books Sheamus VS John Cena for tonight.. and then names himself the referee.. and then names Punk as the sole commentator for the match. The only condition Punk asks is that Trips lets him wear his blazer. Trips then offers double pay to Punk if he'll also ring the bell. MY PREDICTIONS ARE COMING TRUE~!!!

9:23pm: Some things never change, though.. within a minute of the match starting, Punk sends us to a commercial break. Joy.

9:27pm: Wait.. what?!? VINCE MCMAHON IS BACK!!! lol @ the match coming to an immediate halt upon Vince's music hitting.

9:28pm: Vince sends everyone except for Triple H to the back, and is now talking to his son-in-law in the middle of the ring.

9:29pm: Vince says watching Raw in recent weeks has been a "hoot". If that doesn't speak volumes about how stuck in the past he is, I don't think anything will? A hoot? Really, Vince? A hoot?

9:30pm: The Board Of Directors are concerned with a potential "financial catastrophe", saying that, if the walk out continues on and things get really out of control, Raw could be cancelled, and eventually, WrestleMania might be, as well.

9:31pm: Vince announces that the BOD has sent him to inform Triple H that his services are no longer needed. Does nobody in the BOD own a cell phone or a computer? They sent Triple H to give a message to Vince, and they sent Vince to give a message to Triple H. This is bad booking.

9:32pm: We have ourselves a new interim General Manager until the BOD can come up with a suitable permanent replacement, and the interim GM is none other than John Laurinaitis. You know, because if there's one thing Raw needed, it's more John Laurinaitis. Well, either way, at least there's a direction for the show now. You'd have to assume that everyone who walked out will return now that Triple H is gone. You have to assume it, even though it's exactly what was said, because the Creative Team are inconsistent as hell.

9:37pm: ..sure enough, we go backstage to see Laurinaitis shaking hands with the arriving talent. lol @ both Sin Caras dressed in suits.

9:38pm: Now, the announcers are back. First, hometown boy Jim Ross. Then, Jerry "The King" Lawler, followed by Michael Cole, who still has no entrance music. No Booker T, so his trip to the bathroom continues, I guess.

9:40pm: Tonight's first official match is John Morrison VS Christian, with The League Of Disgruntled Gentlemen coming to the ring with Christian. Both workers are still in their street clothes, but this isn't a Street Fight, which just makes things look funny.

9:42pm: ..and the match is over. Christian hits a Spear and gets the win after Morrison was distracted by Christian's crew. Now we're getting a post-match beatdown on Morrison.. you know, to prove that the working environment is truly safe now that Triple H is no longer in charge. This is truly facepalm-worthy shit here, ladies and gentlemen.

9:44pm: Our next match is Randy Orton VS Mark Henry in a non-title match, but we get a commercial break during Henry's entrance. Odd that the Raw General Manager would have so much power over Smackdown talent, but I guess they are at his show.

9:48pm: Triple H angrily walks in on Laurinaitis in his office. Isn't Mark Henry in the ring waiting for his match? This is awkward for him, isn't it? Did they forget about him?

9:49pm: ..no, they didn't. He's been in the ring, holding a microphone while his entrance music played, the entire time. Promo time.

9:50pm: A video package of Big Show's return to the company on Smackdown this past week. They really want Mark Henry to stand in the middle of the ring for a long time, don't they?

9:52pm: ..the video package is still going.

9:53pm: Back to Mizark, finally. He tells Big Show that vengeance will be his. Get it? Because they're facing each other at Vengeance? Eh.. clever, no?

9:53pm: Here comes Randy Orton to a nice ovation from these Oklahomans.. and we're cutting to another commercial break.

9:58pm: Back to the match, and Orton has already taken Henry off of his feet. With a single dropkick, no less.

10:00pm: Cody Rhodes is out to interfere, but gets sent out of the ring by Orton. Mizark tries to capitalize with a World's Strongest Slam, but Orton slips out and hits an RKO.. only to have Cody get back into the ring and attack Orton, leading to the disqualification. Once again, we have ourselves quite the safe workplace now as both Cody and Mizark beat Orton down, including two World's Strongest Slams and a Cross Rhodes.

10:04pm: Alright, Cody, I'm going to need you to tone down the ECW-era Cactus Jack promos that you're trying to cut. They're not working. You were a lot more subtle when you started this gimmick, but now you're going way over-the-top with them, and it's just not working for you.

10:08pm: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY!!!

10:09pm: Yet another video recap of Kelly Kelly attacking Beth Phoenix and not even coming within a foot of actually making Beth's head connect with the announce table.

10:10pm: Kelly Kelly & Eve VS Rosa Mendes & Tamina?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! GOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAYGOAWAY!!!

10:10pm: Not even 20 seconds into the match, and we're already seeing botches. Jesus Christ.

10:11pm: This Oklahoma crowd gives no fucks about any of this action, and really, I don't blame them because the match has actually gotten worse since the beginning.

10:12pm: A Moonsault from Eve wins it for her team. I still don't care.

10:13pm: Hey, it's John Laurinaitis again, to very little crowd response. They might be dead at this point.

10:14pm: This nigga just got in the ring and matter-of-factly announced that Alberto Del Rrrrrio is defending the WWE Title against John Cena at Vengeance. It also got zero reaction. Get this fucking fuck all the fucking way away from the on-screen product. He's awful, and people don't give a fuck about him at all.

10:15pm: Laurinaitis calls Jim Ross into the ring. Hmm.. JR being called into the ring during an event in Oklahoma. Who didn't see this coming? This isn't going to end well.

10:15pm: I'm a psychic. Laurinaitis.. again, matter-of-factly.. says that JR is fired, and JR doesn't even seem like he cares. He just gave Laurinaitis a tip of his hat, grabbed his things from the announce table and left. Even JR knows how much of a trainwreck this is. Laurinaitis fucking sucks. His voice renders him completely unable to put any fucking emotion into anything he says, so the announcement of a pay-per-view WWE Title match just sounds like he's booking Random Jobber A VS Random Jobber B on an episode of Superstars.

10:22pm: Wait.. they even gave Mason Ryan some entrance music that sounds like a flea market knockoff of Batista's old music?

10:22pm: His tag team partners in the upcoming six man tag, Air Boom, even have new entrance music, which shows that they're going to be teaming for a while longer, I guess. I still find it funny that they get their Boyz 2 Men on and color coordinate their in-ring attire now. It makes sense. It's just funny to see it happen.

10:23pm: Their opponents? Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and David Otunga. Hooray?

10:25pm: Barely over a minute into the match.. commercial break.

10:28pm: Does anyone know if HIV affects someone's brain cells? There has to be some sort of an explanation as to why Drake thinks the Miami Heat will go 73-9 and break the NBA record for most wins in a single season.

10:29pm: Mason Ryan nearly botched.. well, it wasn't a move, really.. he nearly botched carrying Jack Swagger around the ring, which further proves that Ryan is on steroids. Steroids, as most people would argue, are more for "show" than anything else. He's overly muscular, but has never proven that he has a whole lot of power behind that physique of his. We've seen him have a difficult time lifting up workers that he outweighs by anywhere from 10-50 pounds, which is sad.

10:32pm: Ryan hits his finisher on Ziggler to get the win for his team. I believe we got more of that match taking place during the break than we actually got to see.

10:43pm: Commercial break, followed by a video package for Brodus Clay, followed by a trailer for a shitty-looking WWE Films.. film.. starring John Cena, followed by Ricardo Rodriguez introducing Alberto Del Rrrrrio for the main event, followed by another commercial break. That just happened.

10:48pm: Main event time. Punk VS ADR. This could be good, actually. We shall see.

10:49pm: Overbearing Asshole Michael Cole is back, full force, on commentary. Wonderful.

10:51pm: A dead crowd, in between random "CM Punk" chants. To those of you who wonder why John Cena (and Randy Orton, for that matter) continues to get pushed the way he does.. that's why. Cena could be facing ME in a match on Raw, and the crowd would still be hot for every moment of it, and I'd even get face pops from a nice portion of the crowd if I got any offense in.

10:52pm: John Laurinaitis randomly walks out and stops the match. I think I have a migraine coming on. He says that Punk and ADR are now going to team up against two men that he's reinstated, and he stands there for several seconds looking like a fucking asshole while no music hits before just saying The Miz and R-Truth, leading to them walking out slowly.. and then their music hits. The crowd doesn't seem to care that these two are back. Not in the slightest. If this tag main event doesn't end up being a fucking classic, I think we all know what grade this episode is getting.

10:54pm: ANOTHER COMMERCIAL BREAK!!!!!

10:59pm: Dear Miz.. we can hear you calling every single spot. Fix that.

11:01pm: To really show you how important wrestling is to this company right now, Michael Cole just went over all of the important news that came out of tonight's episode, and none of it had anything to do with in-ring action. They didn't even mention the matches that were booked for the pay-per-view coming up. You know, the one they expect people to spend $50 on, and then stand there with their thumbs up their asses in shock when they realize that nobody is paying for their events anymore. Yeah. Exactly.

11:02pm: ADR fakes an injury and walks out of the match, leaving this to be a handicap tag match. The crowd continues not to care, especially when Miz and Truth are on offense.

11:05pm: Miz and Truth won't stop a double-team attack on Punk, and the bell rings before the referee can even signal for it to happen. This entire episode, from top to bottom, is a mess.

11:06pm: Triple H runs out to make the save, and now, he and Punk are cleaning house.

11:07pm: The episode ends with Laurinaitis and Otunga in the office, and Laurinaitis announces an idea to book Triple H & Punk VS Miz & Truth at Vengeance. WHAT FUCKING SENSE DOES THAT MAKE?!? One of the main complaints that led to the walk-out was that Triple H was getting too physical and that he was too involved in storylines, and so, now that he's out of the COO role, he's back to being booked as an in-ring competitor where he's going to get even more physical without any sort of repercussions?!?!? I hate the WWE Creative Team. I really do. It makes me almost ill to even refer to them as "creative" in any way.

#ThankYouJimHarbaugh: CM Punk being happy to be given commentary duty and to be allowed to wear Triple H's blazer while doing so

#FuckYouEveryTeamInTheNFCWestNotCalledTheSanFrancisco49ers: John Laurinaitis getting himself considerably more TV time on a weekly basis with the new interim General Manager role.. Absolutely nothing in the main "walk-out" storyline making sense, an entire week after it began.. Next to no focus on in-ring action whatsoever.. Kelly Kelly & Eve VS Rosa Mendes & Tamina.. The announcement of a pay-per-view main event coming with no importance at all.. Jim Ross being fired (again), which means that Raw's commentary is going to get considerably worse every week (it has already started).. Mason Ryan's sloppy in-ring work.. The Miz & R-Truth returning to the company to zero reaction, not being able to defeat one person and now being booked in a tag team match at Vengeance against the one person they couldn't beat tonight and the person that everyone feels is almost superhuman (people are supposed to pay for this, mind you)

Grade: F. Hey, Twitter.. you were right in your prediction of what my grade would be. Good call.

The HiPE Playlist: Raw.

Straight up gangsta trippin. Yes, boy.

-------------------------Day 649

It's going to be a short one tonight, so let's not waste any more time..

Brock Lesnar is back.

Not only has he signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment to appear in the upcoming WWE '12 video game, but Brock himself says that he does expect to wrestle one more match for WWE one day. No more rumors. No more speculation. No more hopes and dreams. Now we have an official working relationship between Brock Lesnar, Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Wrestling Entertainment. Is it going to lead to Anderson Silva doing a run-in on Randy Orton and laying The Viper out with a front kick? No, probably not. However, this is great news nonetheless.

He did an interview with ESPN.com where he basically went off on two WWE Legends.. one a Hall Of Famer and the other a guaranteed HoF inductee any year now.. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Undertaker.

In reference to Austin, he mentioned the incident in 2002 where Austin found out that he was booked to lose a match to him, but instead, decided to walk out on the company. In Austin's words, he didn't want to look "weak" in losing to a rookie and that Lesnar needed a "bigger stage" to defeat someone of his "magnitude" than a random episode of Raw. In Lesnar's words, however, Austin was "downright scared" and "took his ball and went home". Honestly, I'm not going to take sides here, but if I were Steve Austin, and I had a lengthy history of injuries, the last thing I'd want to do is step in the ring with a physical freak of nature who already has a bit of a grudge against me. Not that Lesnar would be unprofessional and purposely try to injure him or anything, but you've got to imagine Lesnar would wrestle a little stiff. He had a bit of a stiff in-ring style to begin with, but now he's spent the last few years of his life in real fights trying to punch people's eyeballs through the backs of their skulls, so there could be problems for a man who is nearly 47 years old and who hasn't wrestled a match in over eight years.

With his comments towards The Undertaker, Brock makes weird comments, almost making it seem like he's never had a match with Taker before. When asked by ESPN's Jon Robinson how a rumored WrestleMania 27 match with Taker would have gone down, Brock mentions his time with WWE and how he came into the business wanting to be the champion, and that the only person who seemed to have any sort of problem with that was The Undertaker. He says that if he were to have gotten in the ring with Taker, he would have "ripped his arm off and fucking beat him with it", which is both a frightening and hilarious mental image, all at the same time. I don't know about any of you folks, but if Lesnar is going to return for one more match, I think it would better benefit all parties if that match was against The Undertaker at WrestleMania. It just makes sense to me..

First and foremost, Brock has a fight against Alistair Overeem at the UFC 141 pay-per-view on December 30th, which means he'll be available for a match at WrestleMania 28, which takes place on April 1st, 2012. The Overeem fight is rumored to be to name the next challenger for the UFC Heavyweight Title, which is currently held by Cain Velasquez. Velasquez will be defending the belt against Junior dos Santos on November 19th, during UFC's first event on Fox. The winners of those two fights won't be facing other for several months, leaving April 1st open. If Lesnar loses to Overeem, which is certainly a possibility because Overeem is also an absolute beast of a human being, you'd expect the rumor mill to be in full effect for a WrestleMania appearance from Lesnar. It wouldn't even matter if he's coming off of back-to-back losses in the world of UFC. WWE would show highlights of his UFC wins, plus footage of his workout regimen, as well as older footage of him destroying people while working for the company the first time, and he'd be billed as a legit threat to Taker's WrestleMania streak. At this point, there aren't a whole lot of people that can step in to face Taker at Mania and be viewed as that type of threat, and when you take The Rock bringing in extra pay-per-view buys, thrown in with the extra mainstream coverage that WrestleMania would get with a UFC fighter making his return "home", WWE would be crazy not to try and make it happen. On top of that, you know UFC would even promote the event on their shows in the beginning of the year. Hell, they might even have The Undertaker do an interview during a pay-per-view event. It might sound like a long shot, but you have to remember that, to help promote for SpikeTV, Hulk Hogan appeared on a UFC event to do an interview. When you think about that, having The Undertaker (someone who has already been on-camera during UFC events as a known MMA fan) make an appearance isn't exactly outside the realm of imagination.

A double main event of John Cena VS The Rock and The Undertaker VS Brock Lesnar? I'm sold. WWE.. holla at ya boy.

The HiPE Playlist: The cyphers from tonight's BET Hip-Hop Awards.

Hip-hop has done so much for racial relations, and I don't think it's given the proper credit. It has changed America immensely. I'm going to make a very bold statement.. hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician or anyone to improve race relations.

-------------------------Day 650
#BARZ

Today's column is one of those situations where an idea comes to me almost by accident. I was talking about TNA and the upcoming Bound For Glory pay-per-view with the rest of the Lords Of Podcast Roundtable, and the subject of Sting came up. The more we talked about it, the more I came to a sudden realization..

Of any wrestler in the history of the business, has anyone accomplished more with less, and by doing less for other people, than Sting?

The second part of that is the main point I want to discuss, really. If you look at Sting's "mainstream" career, from his days in the NWA all the way up until his current work in TNA, the list of people that he's helped to put over or who have benefited from working with him is incredibly short. In fact, you could make a case that Sting has only put one person over in the last 24 years. Think about that very carefully. Really think about it. Even the person who most would look at immediately if we're talking about the most "selfish" workers of all-time.. Hulk Hogan.. has put plenty of people over, and even some of the people he beat were catapulted to great heights by even being involved in a feud/storyline with him. You can't say that about Sting. Let's look at his "mainstream" career, broken down into three "eras"..

National Wrestling Alliance/Early years of World Championship Wrestling
At this time, Sting was still a rising star, and someone that was being looked upon to be a main event star. At this time, Sting was benefiting greatly by working with established workers. Obviously, Ric Flair is the person that immediately comes to mind. Ric Flair made Sting. By facing the then-NWA World Champion at the inaugural Clash Of The Champions event, Sting became a star almost overnight. However, working with and alongside the rest of Flair's Four Horsemen stable, as well as people like The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, The Great Muta, Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers, etc also helped to various levels. As a young, up-and-coming name in the business, it would only be expected that he gets treated with the proverbial "kid gloves" and be used with established talent to help get him over. That's fine.

Prime years of World Championship Wrestling
When WCW was already more established on its own, and Sting was already a main event talent, he was very successful in his matches against Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) and his Dangerous Alliance stable. "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Arn Anderson, "Stunning" Steve Austin, "The Living Legend" Larry Zbyszko and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton are/were all incredibly talented in-ring performers, but they were all midcarders who didn't match up well to the top guy in the promotion. You could make an argument that Dustin Rhodes received a lot from teaming with Sting at the time, but if you look at where Dustin was before being an ally for Sting, and then where Dustin was after being an ally for Sting, there wasn't much of a difference, so I wouldn't exactly say he gained much.

From there, the people Sting worked with were either established before the feud or were beaten rather soundly and pushed immediately back down the ranks. There is one exception, however. A big exception, both literally and figuratively. Big Van Vader was someone that looked like they would achieve greatness in WCW, but it took beating Sting for the WCW World Title to reach those levels. Sting helped to put Vader on the map in North America, and I have to give him credit for that. Vader is one of the best "big man" workers of all-time, if not the best, and there's no guarantee that he would have achieved real success in this country without Sting. We got more stalling out in his career for a while until Hulk Hogan arrived in WCW. He got to team with Hogan for a while, but was also the clear second fiddle in that grouping. He was still able to "siphon" some heat from Hulk, though. Don't worry.. that won't be the last time I say that in this column.

When it came time for a character change, and Sting went from a happy "surfer" style gimmick (complete with bleached-blonde hair, neon-colored face paint and matching tights) to a dark, brooding "Crow" style gimmick, it seemed like Sting never lost. Hell, there were long stretches of time that Sting wouldn't even wrestle. He'd just do attacks on the nWo for months on end, making an entire faction of 682 members look like garbage all by himself. Not even the seven-foot-tall and 400-500 pound Giant (currently known as Big Show) was able to do that on a regular basis. For the second time in his career, Sting was able to "siphon" heat from Hulk Hogan, who was the hottest commodity in all of wrestling at the time. That helped to take Sting to even bigger levels that he had ever experienced in his career, but he wasn't able to help anyone else in that regard, and really wasn't able to do so for the rest of his time with the company. As I talked about with the LoPR guys, an argument can certainly be made that he helped to put Vampiro, of all people, over. He lost to Vampiro at the 2000 Great American Bash in the ridiculous Human Torch Match, but as was the case with Dustin Rhodes years earlier, look at where Vampiro was before working with Sting and then look at where Vampiro was after working with Sting.. not much of a difference at all.

Total Non-Stop Action/Impact Wrestling
This was supposed to be the time where Sting would really help out the younger talent in the industry. The same young talent that he once was when he was thrown into the ring with the Ric Flairs of the world. Looking at his time with TNA, though, when has he done that? He's gone over almost everyone he's been in the ring with, and those who have defeated him (or those who have teamed with him) were already over before he came into the picture. Sure, it was a good look for people like AJ Styles to team up with Sting, but in the world of TNA, AJ was already the "Golden Boy" and was already a huge deal. Christian Cage teamed with Sting, but again, in the world of TNA, Christian was a huge deal because he was a name from the WWF that everyone was expecting to take the company to new heights. Samoa Joe is almost in the same group as AJ Styles.. it was good to see him get a chance to team with a huge star like Sting, but he was already "made" in the world of TNA before Sting teamed up with him.

Sting dropped the TNA World Title to Abyss at one point, which could have done a lot for Abyss, but the loss came via disqualification in a convoluted booking mess, so really, that doesn't help anyone, no matter what happens. Sting would then go on to defeat Abyss on several occasions, officially putting an end to all of that nonsense.

From the early feuds to the quasi-heel turn in the Main Event Mafia to being a face again afterwards to the current role as "Joker Sting".. he's done nothing but defeat younger talent or work with people who are in the same age bracket and who don't need any help. How is this possible, folks? How do you go 24 years in this business without really doing much of anything for younger talent, especially when you'd be an absolute nothing if established talent didn't bend over backwards to make you look like a million bucks during the early years of your career? Again, people always think about Hulk Hogan as being "selfish" and feel that he's never done anything for anyone's career, but even going back to the 80s and early-90s, Hogan was able to take midcard heel after midcard heel and help to turn them into main eventers, just by being in a storyline against them. He was even able to come back to the WWE during his "nostalgia run" and do wonders for people. He gets far too much hatred by the IWC, and Sting doesn't get anywhere near enough, which is a shame. Sting has almost literally done nothing for anyone else during his entire career, and continues to take up plenty of valuable television time on TNA every week. It's ridiculous.

#FuckYouSting?

The HiPE Playlist: Nothing tonight.

This ain't fun, but you watch me.. I'll get it done.

Source: lordsofpain.net