I really think Vince dropped the ball on this one. Having Shawn and Bret hug it out was ok, but the typical turn of Vince being the bad guy was nothing new. I wanted to have Bret more involved in the show, maybe meeting with his nephew or something.

Even though Impact rehashed old storylines, it felt fresh now and at least Hogan is acknowledging the young guns in the company as the true stars. If this forces WWE to be less formulaic I'll be happy.

Like I said in a previous comment, iMPACT was better because it had more intrigue and I was glued to the screen because I didn't know what to expect or who would pop out on the screen...

Even with the flaws I thought Impact was exciting and fun to watch. Besides the Bret Hart segments, RAW was it's usual self, lame.

Got to go with TNA this week.

Plenty of surprises. Some entertaining segments. Plus, they gave us a pay per view quality title match.

Hart's return was good (not great). The rest of the show could have been better.

I spent most of my time watching Impact!. I tried to catch the Hart stuff but other than that Impact was much more exciting and unpredictable. A PPV-quality main event doesn't hurt either.

RAW without a doubt, I´ve seen the Impact show a few years ago in a show called, WCW.

I'll have to take the well-written, structured and scripted WWE programming over the messy, seedy clique-like carnivalesque mess that TNA was.

There were very few coherent storyline arcs or even singular segments to the whole show, and while I am ultra-glad to see the Pope getting over like never before (great technical match, too - not just glitter), and hopefully Orlando Jordan will get a bit of time to shine too (he really is far better a wrestler than people give him credit for). Looking forward to seeing Team 3D give the Nasty Boys a deserved beating - good job creative!

That being said, even the Angle/Styles match felt like a rush-job sandwiched in-between a neverending cavalcade of caricatures. There was certainly a sense of urgency to TNA's attempt of throwing everything and seeing if it sticks, but like Paul Heyman said in his blog, this was the actual result of a TV channel war more than it was a new beginning for TNA.

The problem with the aforementioned approach, of pouring in money madly just to compete, already has its precedents.

I felt both nostalgic and sad about seeing TNA ramble on incoherently like an old wrestling star, where WWE's programming was a jubilant, polished event - years in the making, really - that we all wanted to see, that we all found interesting and that personally kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole show.

TNA

I caught the first hour of NITRO, whoops, Impact - but then switched to Raw when the commercials became too much.

I know they have to pay the bills, but I don't want to return from commercials to find out what's happening, and who's coming in a limo, then back to commerical.

WWE's guilty of that, but not nearly as badly as TNA was last night.

As for Hogan, I really could care less.

Well Nitro was the Class reunion that some of us would enjoy to go. It was nice to see everyone after 10 Years and I hope everyone stays well when we get together for the 15th.

I enjoyed seeing Bret Hart again, he was one of my Favorite Wrestlers. It appears that some sort of Hart/VKM will be planned for WM. I hope Vince doesn't make him wrestle. Bret didn't look to steady as it was just standing there, I can't see a program where Vinnie would carry Hart in a match. Now I could see Vince take Orton up on his proposed deal, Orton punts Hart he's out until WM, VKM tells HBK he will not wrestle the Undertaker and HBK will somehow get a WM match with Vince just based on some of the little clues throughout RAW. Then the cherry on top of WM HBK Superkicks VKM and Bret comes in and puts the Sharpshooter on Vince and as Vince said Monday "You all would like to see that". Somehow I feel we have no choice, lol Then the 10 cent question would Michael's then SK Bret?

Impact delivered an intriguing show, but I really hope the NWO tease doesn't become the prevalent storyline.

I can't get past the hypocrisy of Hogan talking about the "younger guys" when he was the man who epitomized holding on to his spot.

two comments:
first, Raw, I absolutely hate it when VKM makes himself the star of the show. His walk, his voice and, most importantly, his ego make me hate the man. He should stay out of the way and let the talent do their job. Next, Impact, the one thing taht confused me was Hogan dressed in black. He was built as the savoir of the company and I expected to the the red and yellow when he walked out to " I am a true American."

I have to agree with the guys above. TNA wins hands-down. Much more drama, intrigue, and better action.

Hey,glad I found your post here in Columbia,SC. TNA rocked this past Monday..fast paced matches,just more wrestling.AJ and Angle match was the best on live tv in years.I'm a big Sting mark and was thrilled to see him back in the rafters..too cool.The only time I switched to Raw was for DX and Jerishow..Raw is very predictable,I think that this will hopefully change thier thinking.

Besides Bret, NOTHING of interest happening on RAW.

Hate to say it, but TNA won this one this week.

First off, with all do respect to JR..Best wrestling blog going today, keep the good work coming! I got the feeling that IMPACT had to make their show memorable and had to stand out, which because of the main event with Angle vs Styles, they did..RAW (other than the "closure" with Bret) kinda felt like business as usual..it will be interesting to see how TNA is going to follow-up with the next couple of episodes..that should tell us more about the "New" TNA

RESPONSE FROM KE: Thanks for the high praise. I would never put myself in the same category as Jim Ross, however.

Kevin, it looks pretty close, at this point. The Angle-Styles match was the difference maker for me. THAT was WRESTLING! And I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I do look forward to a Nasty vs. T3D match, as long is it's a crazy, bloody spot fest of yore.

After thinking about it I want my vote back! I voted for RAW but more I thought about it I should have voted for TNA.

Other than the first match, and Bubba the Love Sponge being on, TNA was an enjoyable show. I am not excited with all the has been wrestlers that showed up, but fingers crossed that it was a one night event.

As a WWE fan, and a big fan of the brand, TNA did a great job of providing solid entertainment. The Angle-Styles match was the best I've seen in some time. WWE has TNA beat with its stable of talent in the age range of 30-40, but TNA can match that if they begin training their younger talent, TNA younger guys need better mic skills and better in ring skills such as knowing where the hard camera is and the jib cams and playing to those. Overall the show entertained more than WWE this Monday night.

I'm with most of you guys. I haven't watched a Raw episode in a long time. At the most, I'd flip maybe during commercial of a sports game I was watching or a commercial of a show I was watching. I've never watched a full Raw Episode in at least 3 years. I was highly disappointed with the amount of time Bret Hart saw on Raw. I thought the show was lame and non-exciting. I watched both Raw and TNA (flipping back and forth) and I thought TNA put on a much more exciting show. I think Vince has become very complacent with the WWE the last few years. They lost mega-superstars in the Rock and Stone Cold and haven't been able to replace them. Watching the same old thing is very boring.

Many would criticize me for saying this but I miss the funny promo's, Bra and Panty Matches, excitement in the show. To me, the WWE is World Wrestling Entertainment. The last word is key; Entertainment. I watch(ed) the WWE to be entertained. I don't see that same entertainment I saw 6-7 years ago. The best segment on Raw was the one with that guy (Santinalli or something) imitating Jericho. That was halirious. I understand the WWE trying to go PG, but as a 24 year old male, it gives me no motivation to turn in. Raw of old wasn't MA or rated R, more like PG-13. I feel as if the WWE is trying to reach certain demographics while excluding other demographics. That's fine if it leads to more money, because at the end of the day it's a business. I just have a hard time believing that the WWE is growing and will draw more fans to it. The shows are not entertaining anymore and it provides no excitement.

I understand having Bret Hart come back and "burying" the Montreal Screwjob. However, I thought after the first segment they should have moved on to having Bret guest referee a match or something. Maybe even put a heel in the sharpshooter. The hug was nice for fans to put this to rest, but you could see from Bret's face when HBK hugged him it wasn't sincere. I do not like HBK, but to his credit it looked like he was whispering something kind/sincere into Bret's ear. HBK I knew had a reputation for being a cocky jerk but it looks like he's grown up. I respect Bret because even though many call him a hypocrite, I feel that he could have his reasons for coming back. Money, getting his dad into the hall of fame, a DVD, and possibly even waiting to put it to rest for good is good enough reason that would persuade any of us to come back. The thing about Bret you have to respect is he doesn't seem like a fake guy. When someone bad mouths him he doesn't act like their best friend to their face and talk smack behind their back (like many people do). If he doesn't like you, he doesn't put on a front. I respect that about him. Although the hug seemed for the fans and for the storyline. Call me optimistic but I think Bret truly wants to move past the Montreal Screwjob. Has he forgiven HBK or Vince completely? I doubt it, but maybe he's forgiven but not forgotten what happened? Maybe after all bret's gone through in his life (health issues, marriage, family members dying) and taking more years to think about it and let the wounds heal, he's ready to move on. Even though I thought the show wasn't great, as a person who watched Bret as a kid, I was happy to have him back to put this to rest. I would like to see him on future shows in the WWE but without this storyline as the focus. Thanks all

I would have to go with impact. The highlight for raw to me was the Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels confrontation and Bret, Vince angle. A.J. Styles and Kurt had the match of the night in my opinion. Jeff Hardy coming back to tna was the shocking. I felt Bret could have been used on air a little more.

The problem with TNA is that the show got ratings off of surprises. There can't be big surprises every week so while WWE was the same, they stayed consistent. But now for TNA to stay where they are or gain more popularity it's going to be shock after shock every week. They won't be able to do that.
My vote this week will go to TNA because they at least tried to give us something.

Raw and WWE is always gonna be the top dawg no matter what..but Impact does give us wrestling fans that other alternative...Impact is kool to watch just cause of the younger wrestlers they have..but now with hogan and bischoff running the show we might see the old WCW again...but Impact needs to stil give there young guys a push and thats whats exciting about Impact compared to the Raw/WWE..WWE doesnt give its younger stars much of a push and it gets tiring watchin the same ol' at times with DX and Cena and Triple and Jericho..ect..But overall Raw is still the better show..

I have to vote Raw. Most of TNA for me was confusing. It was 3 hours of programming, but parts of it was coming out of commercial to see Hall and The Kid making it past security to be at ringside, and then back to commercial. And the quality of the production i thought stunk. At one point, i think they started the feed too soon, as I heard over the loudspeakers for the crowd to start cheering. I did enjoy some of the surprises TNA had though. Raw's matches were ho-hum, though i did like the DX vs Jerishow match. The drama of Hart and Michaels and Hart and McMahon had me glued. Match of the night was Angle vs Styles though.

I think Impact was better, despite all of Hogan's cronies being on the show. i.e. The Nasty Boys - they have no business in wrestling anymore.

Get past the Hall, Nash, Waltman, Bischoff and nWo teases, this was a really good show. I really don't care to see that anymore, but Impact did what WCW did in its glory years... It kept the viewer hanging just enough at the end to want to tune in next week. That was the reason I was so hooked on WCW back in the 90s.

There were enough surprises (i.e. Jeff Hardy and Rick Flair) to counter the busts... why was Orlando Jordan of all people on TNA?

TNA has been drawing me in for months — thanks to the Beautiful People. I can't get tired of watching that ring enterance — and I feel the youger talent level is much better with A.J. Styles, Matt Morgan, Desmond Wolf, etc.

[KE: Spoiler deleted]

I think TNA has enough momentum to build on Monday and recreate the Monday Night Wars. I am super excited.

I watched Raw and DVR'd TNA. Clearly the best choice. Seeing Hull, 123 kid, lol, and Sting was pleasant, but, I wouldn't pay to see a Foghat reunion, if you know what I mean. I did watch though, so that says something about curiousity. And curiousity killed the cat. I found Punk, and Henrys return to ECW much more entertaining. RIP TNA. Your time was Monday. The defence rests!

RESPONSE FROM KE: First Foghat reference ever on this blog. Well done!

Maybe a "draw" option should be added? I voted TNA just because of the move itself in going 3 hours with 2 hours head to head with Raw.

Honestly beyond the Bret-HBK thing there wasn't anything on Raw we haven't seen before & the stuff the matches were more representative of the stuff we've been complaining about over the last few years.

Impact had the surprises, but I didn't like the opening match, and neither did the crowd. I thought heading into this Hogan had read all of the criticisms, and I thought they had "played it off" very nicely by having The Nasty Boys get turned away by security, yet there they are feuding with 3-D. Hogan should have kept them off TV at least, if he insisted on securing them jobs.

Honestly the inclusion of Hall & Waltman & The Nasty Boys would have worked just fine as a one-off joke, but them being worked into the only real storylines built thru the show isn't going to do much to silence the people who predicted doom & gloom for TNA under Hogan.

Also Bubba The Love Sponge needs to be sent packing, it didn't work with Don West, and at least West is a professional that did get better at it. Bubba is a radio guy who isn't going to work his @ss off for TNA.

While it was fun seeing Bret Hart back in the ring, his angle seemed pretty lame. Unfortunately for WWE, that was still the highlight of RAW.
TNA's show was very good. The Kurt Angle v AJ Styles match was better than anything I have seen on RAW in a long, long time. Hogan, Hall, Waltman and Biscoff's roles were entertaining, as was Val Venis'. Jeff Hardy's appearance made up for the false rumors that Rob Van Dam would appear. And, it's not every day that you get to see Tara's butt! That "cracked" me up.
Impact was far from perfect- Bubba the Love Sponge brought absolutely nothing to the show, I'm still wondering why Rick Flair debuted by simply standing around, and while the Nasty Boyz were amusing I cringe thinking about them actually trying to get into the ring and wrestle.
Best of all, the real winners were the wrestling fans, because I believe this had to be a wake up call to Vince that he needs to take RAW off auto-pilot and give us some fresh faces and creative angles. Low Ki, now wrestling for WWE's "minor league" promotion in Florida under the ring name of Karval, is putting on more entertaining matches than anyone on the RAW roster. Vince should consider bringing him up in a hurry.

I think TNA was better then Raw. The real reason wasn't because of the segements both shows had good segements although TNA had more surprises. The real reason is the Matches. TNA's show Impact arguably had the best Matches I mean raw only had 2 realy good and entertaining matches Show and Jericho vs DX and Orton vs Koffie kingston. Where as TNA had one great match after another Im the show started with a steele asylm match it doesn't get any better then that not to mention that phenomenal main event

RAW won...Did you forget Sheamus vs Bourne? It was lame. Next week, Sheamus vs Hornswoggle.

Yeah im going for Tna aswell its not perfect but atlest its fresh and somewhat unpredcitable i mean we can pretty much guess the build up to a wwe pay perview we pretty much know what happens every week on raw its a stale repative process, i mean i cant predict what will happen in the few months in t.n.a, whereas wwe i know half of the wrestlemania matches planned and pretty much that the faces will win all of them.

TNA has its virtues, but it is basically train wreck television to me. Part of the reason WWE seems "dull" is that it is so wonderfully delivered. Is there a better production team in TV?

I have to vote for Raw until the minor leagues reach the same stratosphere in terms of production. It's like watching the high school AV squad's basketball highlight reel vs. an ABC Christmas Day NBA telecast.

Both shows had good and bad moments. The Bret/Shawn and Bret/Vince (before the kick) confrontations on Raw were gold and seemed to be more like what they were truly feeling than scripted.Hell I loved the Bret/Jericho moments too.
Downside is that Hunter got the pin on Jericho for 2000th time. Seriously Hunter needs to stop being insequre and stop squashing Jericho and every other wrestler not called Shawn.

As for TNA The Angle/Styles match was gold and shows what wrestling is all about.

The downside is they seriously mishandled Jeff Hardys entrance and when the crowd are chanting bull s@@t its never a good sign.
While did we really need all of Hogans cronies coming in and squashing all the guys on the roster. Way to bury your own talent Dixie (I know Hogan doesnt care he will have his pay check and begone when the proverbial hits the fan) by having Bubba literally squat over them.

To heck with the wrestling, did you see those 2 babes in the audience when Bret Hart came out? That won the battle for me right there!!

Both shows were better than average, which is a hopeful sign for the business. Compared to their typical levels, TNA raised its game more than WWE -- but WWE puts on a better show to start with. I found them about equally entertaining (and occasionally annoying).

Magnificent Mark , I agree VKM should stay out of the way, however these days he just doesn't have the talent carry the show. Just look at how much camera time Hornswaggle gets. Somebody has to step up and unfortunately all too often it's Vince. It's sad to see how much WWF/WWE has declined. Just look at how many people are tempted to watch TNA.

I feel that TNA over-did it. Perhaps they should have saved some of these returns for future weeks instead of having all their major aquisitions show up on the same night. Sure it was a fun show, but I can't imagine it'll ever be that good again now they they have all their cards on the table.

As for Raw, it was business as usual. I think the Bret Hart situation would've been twice as entertaining had HBK kicked him instead of Vince, but oh well.

I'm big on shock value, whether its assumed (Scott Hall, Sean Waltman) or surprising (Jeff Hardy). That's what made the Monday Night Wars of the 90's so great.
That being said, TNA was much more interesting this week.
The Bret Hart return was very disappointing, especially the forced hug with your boy.
Now, get Jarrett or Angle (not Booker T) to show back up on Raw unannounced, then we have something.

Before I express my opinions on Monday's shows, let me start by saying I don't have SPIKE TV, so I generally don't watch TNA. Considering the circumstances, however, I felt it was worth getting my hands on a copy of the show.

RAW: I was extremely excited for the last few weeks, ever since I first sniffed the possibility of Bret Hart coming back in any way to WWE. I cant remember the last time I've been as excited about seeing any wrestling show. In the end, however, I was left a little disappointed. First of all, Bret Hart didn't really "host" RAW. I'm actually not sure why they called him the host at all. His on-screen time was less than I would have liked, and I wish he had interacted with more of the talent. As far as the interaction with HBK and VKM, I think the most accurate comment I've seen is that it was "good" not "great." The rest of the show was basically business as usual. To sum it up, I think they could have done much more with the show, but I'm still holding onto hope that this will all lead to a huge payoff at Wrestlemania.

TNA: Honestly the show was really hard to watch. There was some good wrestling (better than what I saw on Raw) but the non-wrestling parts of the show were just outrageously bad. (And why on Earth didn't someone pull the plug on Scott Hall before the show started? Did someone interact with him backstage and seriously decide it would be a good idea to give that guy a microphone?)

I'll give them some credit for opening the show with what could have been a solid match... but what the hell kind of cage is that? Has anyone seriously ever climbed out of that? You'd have to be friggin spiderman for crying out loud. No wonder they went with a non-finish, I doubt anyone could have actually escaped that thing. And Jeff Hardy? Really? Ok, forget about the outside-of-work trouble he's in... Hardy had more fans in 2009 than Hall and Nash had combined in the 90s, and THAT'S the best they could think of?

The highlight of the show was definitely the Angle/Styles match, but honestly, had I not read how good it was before I watched, I probably wouldn't have kept the show on long enough to get to it.

To sum up Monday, I'm going to give my vote to Raw by default. TNA was, in my opinion, an absolute train-wreck. At least Raw had me on the edge of my seat for a few minutes... even if I quickly leaned back for the rest of the show.

I tried to watch Raw and flip to TNA, but ended up doing the opposite. If Hogan is legit about putting over the young guys, TNA has a bright future.

The Legacy break up is just stale and unengaging. Having an all-business, win-or-get-booted thing just isn't that interesting. Either have Rhodes and DiBiase stand up to Randy or don't.

The Angles-Styles match was can't miss - I even missed some of the Hart stuff to catch it live.

TNA was fresh even with the NWO tease. I had stopped watching WWE because it became boring. Even my 7 year old son and 10 year old daughter didn't want to watch it anymore. I haven't seen my children scream at the TV in excitement for quite a while when watching a wrestling show...and they don't like Hogan...it was just the freshness of the show. I hope TNA keeps bringing surprises..

I think with Linda McMahon's impending election to the US Senate, it seems the WWE is playing to a new audience tha thas me confused...TNA seems lke it has gotten a bunch of new toys and doesn't know what to do first...they should just relax and keep up with the dream matchups..thought it was awesome the way Mick Foley shot from the hip that he would work for Dixie Carter, Hogan but would never , ever work for Eric Bischoff...Kev what's the scoop there?

Also, just read while making a movie, Mountain Men, Stone Cold Steve Austin broke Sylvester Stallone's neck!

both shows disappointed me. but wwe did much better.

TNA was certainly more riveting, but for all the wrong reasons. I think the consensus on Raw is that the Hart segments were great, but outside of that, it was the humdrum, status-quo we've had for quite some time now.

TNA gave me at least two dozen groan-enducing moments. I find myself watching Impact with a "come on, Russo, don't disappoint me" kind of attitude. He never does.

Impact won this Monday Night War! Not in the ratings (which nobody expected that to happen) but they definetely won the battle of the better show! I have been a WWE fan for years, but TNA won the war on this night! WWE is the same old crap every week and with TNA you have to tune in to see what they are going to do next! TNA currently has the better product, in my opinion! If I was Vince, I would step up my game because the WWE fans that are tired of the same old crap every week will hear about TNA and turn the channel to watch the better product! WWE, step it up or the Monday Night Wars will happen all over again and just as feirce as before!

I will say that TNA could and maybe should have saved some of their returns for weeks to come to keep the audience tuned in, but the main reason I think TNA won is the unpredictability in their show while the WWE continued to keep their show very predictable! I mean did you really think Vince and Bret were just gonna kiss and make up right there at the end and drop their fued after a 12 year drought? Yeah right! TNA's main event of Angle vs. Styles will probably hold up as the match of the year and it beat any main event that the WWE has had since WM 25 with Taker vs. HBK and any main event of RAW in years and years! And yes TNA is using all the older guys that already hit their peak like Hall, Waltman, Flair(maybe), etc but who dosen't want to see that? I mean they have been gone for so long I thought it was great to see them back in pro wrestling! They need to use Flair a lot better next week however! Other than Sheamus, the WWE has continued to use the same older guys on top like HHH, HBK, Taker, etc and nobody complains about that! If TNA can move out of the Impact Zone to bigger arenas, move permanantly to Monday Nights, become a better marketing company, and possibley move to a different/bigger network, they will compete with the WWE, and in my opinon win!

OK so I have finally got round to watching some of the highlights of Impact on youtube (it doesn't air til saturday here), and the thing that really got me was the Jeff Hardy angle, and the way it was dealt with, particularly by the announcers. I'm a fan of his and all, but he's certainly not in my top five, however I really don't think I'm exagerating by saying that at the time he left WWE, and for about a year before, Hardy was the most over pro wrestler in the world - every crowd reaction he got was uniformly rapturous. To reiterate, I really believe this is not an exageration. Unless TNA had managed to sign John Cena or The Undertaker, I can't see that they could have been able to get anyone who holds more sway with the fans than Jeff Hardy. Why then was his return heralded as just another surprise on a night that was full of them, why didn't Tenay or Taz go into full-on JR 'Stone Cold!!, Stone Cold!!' mark-out mode? If Hardy has only signed a short-term deal, is going to do jail time, or worse, is indeed going back to WWE, then I suppose I can see the logic in the decision to almost downplay his appearance, but on a night that was all about TNA trying to prove that they can be real competition, I think more should have been made of what was effectively them poaching one of WWE's top guys.