It turned out that Bret Hart not only had a leg to stand on in his dispute with Vince McMahon, he had two. After Hart and McMahon signed the contract for their match at WrestleMania XXVI on Monday night's Raw, Hart removed the cast from his leg, revealing that it was never broken and the car accident he was involved in was an elaborate stunt to trick McMahon into facing him.
When a car backed into a limousine that Hart was entering last month and it was reported that he had suffered a broken leg, there were two schools of thought regarding how it would affect the Hart-McMahon encounter at WrestleMania, including the one that played out Monday. In the other scenario, the Hart injury would have been legitimate (in the story line), resulting in him going into the match as the underdog.
Of the two possibilities, I thought the latter was better, mainly because Hart's injury would provide a reason for whatever physical limitations he may have as the result of suffering from a stroke in 2002. The fact that the Hart-McMahon bout will be a no-holds barred fight (that announcement was made during the contract signing), however, should help in covering Hart's condition as well as McMahon's shortcomings in the ring due to age and lack of athleticism.
The other problem I have with the "fake injury" angle is that there is a logic gap. How did Hart know that McMahon would invite him back to Raw after the accident and challenge him to the match?
Other thoughts on Monday's show:
It was good to see "Stone Cold" Steve Austin back on WWE TV. His presence made the Hart-McMahon contract signing more entertaining, but I'm a little disappointed that he wasn't more involved in the show. His only backstage interaction was with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. I thought for sure he was going to cross paths with Randy Orton, who is seemingly morphing into an Austin-type babyface. It was interesting that Austin did not do any comedy segments with the likes of Santino Marella and Hornswoggle. ...
When Austin walked up the ramp after the contract signing and said that there was one thing he forgot to tell McMahon, I was hoping it was that he was going to be the special referee for the Hart-McMahon match, but it turned out to be the reveal that Hart wasn't truly injured. ...
Either Austin didn't get the memo that WWE no longer allows cursing or else he just ignored it, because he was bleeped several times. I suppose opening up a can of "whoop-butt" just doesn't have the same ring to it. ...
Michael Cole made it a point to say that Austin was the greatest of all time and that he broke every record, an obvious shot at Hulk Hogan. At his peak, Austin was a bigger draw and sold more merchandise than Hogan did at his peak. ...
The Legacy match at WrestleMania was finally announced, as it will be a triple threat pitting Orton vs. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Cody Rhodes. As I predicted last week, Monday's Orton-Triple H match ended with DiBiase, Rhodes and Sheamus attacking both men. I thought that was going to lead to a three-on-two handicap match at WrestleMania with Orton and Triple H as unlikely partners, but that's not the case. Instead, that match is scheduled for next week's show, and the Triple H-Sheamus singles match at WrestleMania is still on. ...
With the announcement of the triple threat match, it will be interesting to see if there is any dissension between DiBiase and Rhodes next week. ...
Sheamus wasn't bad on the mic, but the truth is that I just don't care about his match with Triple H. ...
It's always great watching Michaels and Jericho wrestle each other, but I thought the Triple H-Orton match was actually better. Even though the outside interference at the end was predictable, it made sense from a booking standpoint. ...
Edge managed to spear Jericho yet again. That wasn't a surprise, but I was surprised The Undertaker didn't make an appearance during the Michaels-Jericho match. ...
It came as no shock that Batista squashed Kofi Kingston, as Batista needs to go into his WrestleMania match against John Cena looking like a monster. As for Kingston, he isn't even on the WrestleMania card at this point. We've seen the rise and fall of Kingston all in a matter of a few months. ...
Batista bled hard-way from a kick to the forehead by Kingston. The referee didn't hold up the match, although the finish occurred shortly after the gash was opened. Batista didn't seem too happy about being busted open, but he may just have been in character. ...
It looks as if a six-woman tag match was set up for WrestleMania, with Gail Kim, Eve and Kelly Kelly facing Maryse, Michelle McCool and Layla. No Beth Phoenix? ...
NFL star Shawne Merriman wrote on his Twitter page that he was going to be at Raw and wanted to get on the mic, but he was never shown on camera. Perhaps he was worried that he would be subjected to WWE's Wellness Policy.