Saturday, January 2, 2010

New Monday Night War: Raw vs. TNA 2010!


A new Monday night war is ready to hit cable and satellite television this coming Monday, January 4, 2010. It's a historic date whether you're a diehard fan of TNA wrestling or a loyal member of the WWE Universe. It'll be an interesting battle of two former WWE superstar legends, yet it won't be between the two of them in a wrestling ring. Instead, they'll square off on Spike TV and USA to see which captures the higher ratings draw of the night for their brand of wrestling.

On one side you've got TNA which is putting together a huge effort to sway WWE fans towards its product, and even attract newcomers to pro wrestling. How are they doing it? By bringing in arguably the biggest name ever in wrestling, Hulk Hogan. The Hulkster has been doing his own thing for several years now, with a few appearances in the WWE here or there. He ran his own celebrity wrestling show, was part of "Hogan Knows Best" the VH1 reality show, and recently had his Hulkamania tour which included the likes of Ric Flair and the late Umaga (Eddie Fatu). Hogan's been in and out of the headlines as well, with his son's legal troubles, his daughter's attempted music career, and the divorce between Hogan and his wife Linda. Now, Hogan will appear once again in the wrestling ring spotlight on 1/4/10, but he'll be doing it against Vince McMahon's product. Hogan makes his TNA debut on Monday night on a special three hour edition of TNA Impact! starting at 8PM EST on Spike TV.

On the other side, you've got a guy who's been very lowkey compared to Hulk Hogan. He hasn't been doing infomercials or reality television shows and you only hear mention of him these days in reference to one of two things: The Hart Family's lineage or the infamous "Montreal Screwjob" which happened about 12 years ago at Survivor Series. That incidend involved a controversial win by Shawn Michaels, who applied a quick sharpshooter on Bret to win the title match. Bret wasn't fond of the way it went down, and showed his disgust by spitting in Vince McMahon's face. No script there, it was real spit from a real pissed off Hitman. Following the controversial event, McMahon went on an interview show of his own production to say the infamous words "Bret screwed Bret". Since then, the two haven't really had words, and Vince even recalled how Bret ignored his invitation for a handshake at his Hall of Fame induction several years back. Now, history will also be made by WWE, ironically the same night that TNA brings in Hulk Hogan. On 1/4/10, Bret "The Hitman" Hart will be the special guest host for WWE Raw, returning to WWE for his first stint in 12 years.

WWE made a smart move, trying to keep its ratings high, as they know they had to do something to compete with TNA bringing Hogan in. Raw will be its usual 2 hour show starting at 9PM EST on USA Monday Night, but nobody knows what to expect. Will Hitman face off against Vince in the squared circle? Will some of his Hart family members show up? Jim the Anvil Neidhart made an appearance recently on TNA, so don't expect the Hart Family reunion necessarily.

Spike TV has definitely put forth much more advertising for the upcoming return of Hulk Hogan, as the announcement Bret would return was really a thing of internet rumors and gossip. That is until Vince McMahon let the world know last Monday that he would allow Bret to return and host the show, thanks to some encouragement from Shawn Michaels. WWE really hasn't acknowledged the appearance of Hogan on TNA, and has played up Hitman's controversial return instead. Wise choice, but they've really had less than a week now to promote.

So now we await the new Monday Night war: TNA takes on WWE. It almost seems reminiscent of WWE vs WCW, minus Eric Bischoff. Dixie Carter seems to be much more of a business lady, and less likely to step in the ring with Vince McMahon or any other wrestler. However, she's rallied her wrestling troops for a big fight, asking them to step it up. Many of those troops are former WWE, ECW and WCW stars. The wrestling world will now tune in to find out which side wins this battle, round 1. The possibilities are endless for what we might see go down on Monday night. But it all depends on which side you choose to go with, Hogan or Hitman. Who will you choose?

See more info about Hulk Hogan's debut on TNA!

See more info about Bret Hart's return to WWE Raw!

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