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1. by Ice Berg
   about 1 month ago

   Wasssup!

2. by Andrea
   2 months ago

   Dear Mr. Gone,

   Notice how now upon signing into B/R there is an option to direct connect through facebook?

   Imagine how proud I am of my accomplishments here?

   OoOoh, but my mission is far from over!
   I will not be happy until B/R incorporates Instant Messaging, in this way it can become a full-on social networking site and when it does, I better be in your top 8!

   Sexy accent or not, I am mad at you!
   You stranded me here and left me alone to die in the street amongst the dogs!

   I am feeling lost and abandoned!

   Yours Truly,
   A. Claire

3. by Tyler
   2 months ago

   When All Else Fails Appreciate The Greatness Displayed In The Ring....
   http://bleacherreport.com/articles/250231-when-all-else-fails-appreciate-the-greatness-displayed-in-the-ring

4. by Ice Berg
   2 months ago

   Wat new?

5. by Taylor
   2 months ago

   GS, ballpark food is atrocious and is in serious need of change. Here are my delectable suggestions:

   http://bleacherreport.com/articles/243013-revitalizing-the-food-in-ballparks

   Thanks!

6. by God of Wrestling
   2 months ago

   I am Wrestling, ....Wrestling is Me!

7. by The
   2 months ago

   Check my article out http://bleacherreport.com/articles/238991-wwe-wasted-talent-who-where-released

8. by God of Wrestling
   2 months ago

   There is an old adage that says “when it rains, it pours.” On the night of November 9, 1997 in Montreal, Canada, the World Wrestling Federation* appeared to be drowning in a flash flood created by a torrential downpour of Biblical proportions.

   The storm rolled in when World Championship Wrestling decided to compete directly with Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation by debuting its own Monday night wrestling program, Nitro, in the same time slot as the WWF’s Monday Night RAW. From September 8, 1997 through November 3, 1997, RAW averaged only a 2.5 Nielsen cable rating while Nitro thrived, averaging a 4.0 rating over that time span.

   As of the November 3, 1997 edition of RAW, the WWF’s flagship program had been topped in the ratings by Nitro for an incredible 64 consecutive head to head meetings. WCW, owned by Ted Turner but piloted by Eric Bischoff, utilized the controversial nWo angle, big name WWF Superstars they signed away from the WWF, exciting cruiserweight wrestling, and the saga of Sting under his “Crow” gimmick to knock the stale, over-gimmicked, cartoon like World Wrestling Federation off of its pedestal as the number one professional wrestling promotion in the United States.

   To make matters worse, Bret “Hitman” Hart, arguably Vince McMahon’s top star, had just signed a three year, $2.5 million contract with Eric Bischoff’s WCW. Hart left behind the sterling reputation and legendary legacy that he built over 14 years with the federation.

   Hart also gave up the pro wrestler’s dream contract that he and his representatives fought for less than a year prior; a 20-year pact with the World Wrestling Federation that paid him twice annually what the next two highest paid WWF Superstars, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker, made annually. Unfortunately for Hart, that very contract turned what may have been McMahon’s greatest asset into his biggest liability, and drew the ire of one the federation’s top politicians: Shawn Michaels himself.

   Bret, indeed, may have screwed Bret.

   The contract was offered to Hart out of desperation by McMahon, whose objective was two fold; keep one of his top stars from jumping to WCW and prevent WCW from gaining any more momentum than they already had in the Monday Night Wars. WCW made Hart a fantastic offer, one that would pay him nearly three million dollars a year for three years, and enabled him to work a lighter schedule than he would in the WWF.

   McMahon, who had heard rumors that Hart had already signed with WCW, told Hart in a meeting that he couldn’t match WCW’s offer. Hart responded by telling McMahon that he didn’t want him to match the offer, but to make him the best offer he could. McMahon then offered Hart a 20-year package that paid him 10.5 million dollars, a deal Hart agreed to sign. The deal paid Hart $1.5 million a year over the next three years as a wrestler, $500,000 annually for the proceeding seven years as a senior adviser to McMahon, and $250,000 a year for the following ten years as a sort of stand by legend.

   The contract also provided Bret Hart with two previously unheard of concessions: If Hart were injured on his way to a show or during a match and that injury left him unable to wrestle on a particular night, Hart would be fully compensated for every penny of his wages. The contract also gave Hart ‘reasonable’ creative control over his final thirty days in the company if for any reason he decided to leave the World Wrestling Federation. ‘Reasonable’ is a critical term in this contract, as Bret Hart would soon learn. At the time, Hart felt he had all of his bases covered:

   “Carlo (DeMarco, Bret’s business manager), believing that my departure would be a disaster for the (WWF), helped me put together a contract that wrested more control away from Vince and gave me more protection than any wrestler had ever had before, though officially it was my lawyer, Gord, and my accountant, John Gibson, who handled the whole thing… My character didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want him to do, which would keep Vince from devaluing my stock on my way out. I liked hearing Carlo repeat over and over, “They can never, ever fuck you now.”

   A contract like the 20-year deal he signed with the World Wrestling Federation is incredibly difficult to come by for a professional wrestler, particularly when the promoter is Vince McMahon, known by many to be a cold hearted businessman that has no problem running wrestlers into the ground and throwing them out when they have nothing left as if they were garbage.

   Hart wanted to avoid heading to the scrap heap and wanted to protect himself. With WCW threatening to put McMahon out of business, McMahon was forcing a number of talents to sign contracts that offered wrestlers little to no protection, according to Hart.

   Hart felt that his star power and the presence of WCW gave him leverage, and it seems that McMahon was uncomfortable with Hart’s position of leverage. McMahon showed reluctance in offering the deal he did to Hart; when it came time for the legal department to send Hart a copy of the contract to sign, they sent him a contract that Hart claims was completely different from the one he verbally agreed to. McMahon told Hart that the legal department accidentally sent him the wrong contract, an excuse that Hart claims McMahon used with him over several contract negotiations through his WWF career.

   Hart’s contract made Shawn Michaels quite unhappy. Michaels was offended by Hart’s contract and believed McMahon was saying Hart was, in effect, twice as good as he was, since Hart would be making twice the annual salary.

   The added perks of Hart’s contract probably didn’t make too many of the boys backstage happy either; they had to work the same schedule as Hart without any of the special benefits. If Hart’s claims about wrestlers being forced to sign bad contracts were true, it no doubt made many of them jealous. Shawn made no effort to keep his unhappiness over Hart’s contract a secret:

   “When I found out about Bret’s deal, I was livid. Vince and I discussed it at the same meeting where he asked me about working with Bret at WrestleMania.

   “You are paying Bret all that money and that is b.s.,” I said. “I’m slaving up and down the road, and you are paying him twice as much as me. You think he is twice as good as me?”

   McMahon denied that he felt Hart was twice as good as Michaels, and told him that he had to give Hart the big contract because his back was being pushed against the wall by both Hart and WCW.

   McMahon was faced with a situation where he had to make the most of his investment in Hart and asked Michaels if he wanted to work with Hart at WrestleMania XIII. The bout would be the rematch of their epic encounter at Wrestlemania XII, regarded by many to be the greatest match in the company’s history.

   Michaels flatly refused to work with Hart; he was furious over Hart’s lavish contract and behavior toward him in general. Michaels soon suffered a controversial knee injury that took him out of the Wrestlemania XIII picture, making Shawn’s issues with working with Bret moot. Many speculate that Michaels faked the knee injury to get out of working with and putting over Hart. Michaels insists that he would have done the job if McMahon had pushed him to do it, and that his knee injury was legitimate.

   In his book, Heartbreak and Triumph, Michaels accused Hart of going to dirt sheets and spreading rumors that he faked his injury to get out of putting Hart over at Wrestlemania XIII. The two would exchange promos on live television that both men took to be real and not a work. This exchange included a lengthy promo by Hart who verbally buried Michaels for so long that Raw was forced to go off the air before Michaels had even replied.

   A short time later, Michaels retaliated by cutting a television promo on Hart saying that he had been seeing “sunny days”, exposing what Michaels thought was a real life affair that was going on between Tammy “Sunny” Sytch and Hart.

   Several weeks later, the two feuding wrestlers fought backstage at a television taping in Hartford, Connecticut. The two men give vastly different accounts of the fight. Hart paints a picture of him handedly pummeling a cowardly Michaels, while Michaels recalls skillfully evading Hart’s punches before the fight was broken up by Pat Patterson and Davey Boy Smith. The only thing the two men actually agreed on in their individual descriptions of the fight is that Hart ripped out handfuls of Michaels’s hair.

   Michaels immediately stormed into McMahon’s office following the fight and declared that he was “out of here.” Michaels flew home the next day and his attorney, Skip McCormick (who Michaels actually hired when he learned about Hart’s contract) was sent a letter by the WWF blaming everything, including the fight, on Michaels. The WWF also claimed that McCormick’s client had violated his contract by leaving the event and going home. McCormick replied by sending the WWF a letter stating that the company had failed to provide Michaels a safe working environment and threatened the WWF with legal action.

   Shortly afterward, the dispute was settled and Michaels was asked back by the WWF. Michaels, however, had other ideas:

   “While I was off, I told Vince that I wanted to leave. I asked him to let me out of my contract and let me go to WCW and be with my buddies (Scott Hall and Kevin Nash). I was miserable. Vince wanted to talk in person, so he flew down to San Antonio and we met at the Embassy Suites Hotel near the San Antonio airport.”

   At the meeting, McMahon accused Michaels of having a problem with prescription pills, which Michaels admitted years later was true, but at the time he didn’t think so and “wasn’t going to admit it.” An uncomfortable Michaels asked for his release.

   McMahon argued that whatever Michaels was going through in the WWF would be a lot worse in WCW, as they would have no idea how to use a talent like Michaels. McMahon also used this argument during his contract negotiations with Bret Hart only months prior.

   Michaels complained that he was no longer having fun anymore. Michaels also told McMahon that Bret’s 20-year contract still really bothered him:

   “Vince knew that I was frustrated with the situation and explained how WCW had taken so many of his top guys that his back was against the wall and he had no choice but to sign Bret to the big deal. He told me…sometimes you have to learn to eat crap and like the taste of it. But he also made it clear that he didn’t think Bret would see the end of the contract. The company couldn’t afford to pay him that much for such a long time. Vince said, “We’ll make this work. We’ll get you back to enjoying wrestling and continue to build on it.”

   The meeting, which took place a mere four months before the Montreal Screw Job occurred, would result in Shawn Michaels return to the company a short time later, and a match up at SummerSlam between then WWF champion The Undertaker and Bret Hart.

   Michaels agreed to be the special guest referee for the contest. Hart, who was playing his anti-American Canadian heel act at the time, would win the belt after Michaels accidentally hit ‘Taker in the head with an errant steel chair shot intended for the Hitman’s skull. Hart provoked the chair shot by spitting into Michaels’s face. The result of the match leads to a Shawn Michaels heel turn and took away the heel spotlight from Hart, who now had to share the heel spotlight with Michaels.

   From that point on, Michaels, along with Hunter Heart Helmsley and the recently debuted Chyna, became a white hot heel act known as D-Generation X, an act that was more successful in terms of business (ratings, live attendance, merchandise sales etc.) than the anti-American Hart Foundation angle.

   On September 22, 1997, Vince McMahon summoned Bret Hart to his office to inform him that he intended to breach his contract and wasn’t going to pay him his full salary due to financial problems that McMahon attributed to Ted Turner’s WCW. McMahon, who had promised Hart he would never give him a reason to leave the World Wrestling Federation, recently told Hart that he was having a difficult time paying his contracted salary, but was doing everything he could to pay it.

   McMahon was going back on the agreement he desperately offered Hart to keep him from jumping to WCW. Now, McMahon was anxious to send Hart to the company that threatened to put him out of business, and move in a different direction:

   “(Vince said) I have no problem if you want to see if WCW will make you the same deal as before.” (Vince said) if I left, I would actually be doing him a favor because he was about to downsize into a northeastern U.S. promotion…he said, he wanted to give me the opportunity to be able to approach WCW before everyone else did, since he’d be letting a lot of wrestlers go. He described me as the first guy in the lifeboat. “You don’t even have to drop the belt if you don’t want to. You hold the cards.” He even said that he would secretly help me negotiate my deal, if I wanted. His final words to me were that he’d see whether he could find the money somewhere to pay me, but for now I shouldn’t breathe a word to anybody. If the news leaked out that Vince was in trouble, it would hurt my chances with Bischoff. Hurt my chances? I was so stunned by how many promises he broken in one short conversation that I didn’t know what to reply.

   It was clear at this point that McMahon had no intention of honoring Hart’s contract and was forcing him out of the company. Hart would, amazingly, trust McMahon to live up to the “reasonable” creative control clause in his contract over his final days in the company, and continued to work for the company through the Survivor Series pay-per-view November 9, 1997.

   McMahon wanted Hart to drop the title on his way out the door to Shawn Michaels, but Hart refused to do the favor, citing that he would not lose in Canada and would not lose to Shawn Michaels. Hart claimed that Michaels told him directly he was unwilling to work with him and unwilling to put him over.

   McMahon insisted that Hart do the favor, per the long held traditions of the business, for Michaels, but Hart wouldn’t budge on his stance. Hart wanted to come out on RAW the following night and drop the belt on live television, but McMahon was afraid that Hart would take the belt, a la Alundra Blayze, and show up on Nitro instead, given Hart’s stance on not working with Michaels.

   Hart claims in his book, Hitman, that he would have been willing to put Michaels over on RAW, where there would have been a larger audience, but it is easy to see why McMahon doubted Hart, considering that he had just told him that he wouldn’t put over Michaels at all.

   McMahon doubted Hart so much that he ordered that the bell be rung while Hart was trapped by Michaels in his own finishing submission hold, the Sharpshooter, signaling the end of the match and awarding the belt to Michaels. As Hart reached for Michaels foot and attempted to counter into a Sharpshooter of his own, per the plan for the match that Hart understood, Hart realized that he had been screwed by McMahon, and found himself on the outside of Vince McMahon’s locked office door, yelling in frustration that the “rat bastard” wouldn’t come out and face him.

   How did it come to this? What backstage political forces, other than Bret’s contract, may have been at play in the Montreal Screwjob? Was the Screwjob the right thing to do? What effect did the Screwjob have on the business altogether? Tune in next Tuesday and find out.

   *- Due to the fact that company now known as World Wrestling Entertainment was then known as the World Wrestling Federation, WWF is used to referred to the company in this piece.

9. by Svyato Rovenchuk
   2 months ago

   A fun little piece I put together. check it out if you can.
   http://bleacherreport.com/articles/238312-tag-team-matches-the-world-needs-to-see#page/1

10. by Daris
    2 months ago

    Much more than a slideshow, I put some time in on this. Give your thoughts either way.

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/237713-the-most-dominate-pro-wrestlers-by-decade?just_published=1

11. by manny
    2 months ago

    I JUST WROTE THIS- Please read it. Its about a new standard for hiring and firing Gm and Coaches in the NBA

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/237691-the-new-standard-for-hiring-and-firing-nba-coaches-and-gm-tm

12. by Callum
    2 months ago

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/236495-bleacher-report-prediction-league-hard-justice

13. by Daris
    3 months ago

    Enter the Smack the Mic Contest tonight on HTR!

    Details later tonight. Call in to enter.

    Plus an exclusive interview with former WCW champ Buff Bagwell as he talks about his career, life after WCW and what his future holds.

14. by Gonzo
    3 months ago

    The Nov? You actually have the power to send the month of November after me? Now that is awesome...

15. by Svyato Rovenchuk
    3 months ago

    Are you ready for this one?
    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/234397-somethings-missing-could-it-be-a-tna-vs-wwe-feud

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