Thank You HBK ...

So I don't want to say a whole lot about WM until I've seen the RAW to go along with it ... there was a lot of WM that was excellent, depending on how they follow up tonight. But in the meantime I do want to say 'Thank you Shawn Michaels' for a fabulous wrestling career, which I hope isn't over in terms of at least future cameos, screen time, etc. Kudos to the Hart family for putting their differences aside to honour patriarch Stu Hart and to support Bret in his One More Match. May Raw tonight tie up a few of the loose ends I was personally left feeling after WM.

If you want to see more Shawn Michaels post-WM footage with his wife and (now former) co-workers, be sure and check out WWE.com for it - also be sure and check out Bret Hart's Wrestlemania Diary there, which is chock-full of interesting anecdotes and especially photos to relive the weekend.

*A quick apology as well for not doing the 'Best Of' lists etc. promised on Saturday pre-Mania; we had a full day with the little one, then it was Earth Hour, and we actually fell asleep pretty darn close to the end of it ... but we're back now with lots to talk about either later tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. Peace.*

CLICK HERE for the Wrestlemania edition of ITVR

Enjoy the weekend all! :D

Wrestlemania Weekend Posting Schedule

It is upon us! Tomorrow kicks off Wrestlemania weekend with Smackdown at 8pm. We will be posting In This Very Ring shortly thereafter, say around 11:30/midnight, with all our thoughts on Wrestlemania. Saturday we will be posting thoughts on the Hall of Fame. Sunday night, depending on timing, we will of course be posting thoughts on the big event itself. If not, rest assured, Monday of course! :)

Meanwhile we'll be on and off all weekend with fun stuff like best and worst lists, fond memories, all that fun stuff. But to kick this weekend off right ... you know it ... :D

The Survival of the Hitman ... and Trivia Question Winner!

So I'm going to withhold commenting on last night's Raw (short of saying I felt it was pretty darned good) until ITVR (which we're going to have on Friday so we can discuss the final buildup with last night's show and Smackdown), so we can discuss the whole Go-Home week at once; but I did want to share that the Fight Network's "Survival of the Hitman" documentary, aired last night, is now up for online viewing free at the FN's Youtube channel. EXCELLENT piece I recommend checking out.

I also wanted to announce the Trivia Question Winner from ITVR this past Saturday, in regards to who has been in title matches for every one of his Wrestlemania appearances. My good friend Shane from out west responded with John Cena, who has been in US or World title matches in all of his WM appearances. Shane actually sent a really interesting email with some food for thought that Ari and I will discuss briefly on air Friday, but in the meantime one thing Shane brought up was being a TNA fan (and while we do ride the show a bit with the Dynamic Duo of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff now in charge, we HAVE meant to give it a fair shot, as we said and as Shane allowed us in his email, it's just lousy timing they made their big move to Mondays right in the runup to Wrestlemania). So as a TNA fan, Shane we will be burning you a copy of and sending you an awesome TNA DVD in the next week or so. Keep an eye out for that! :)

Have a great night all, I'll be back as news comes up this 'Mania week, and be SURE and join Ari and I for our go-home pre-mania show on Friday night. Peace!

Click here to listen to ITVR

Enjoy the show.

ITVR Tomorrow

Hi guys - unfortunately with having gone to Montreal yesterday, we didn't get to post ITVR last night. We set up instead to watch Smackdown and post tonight, but SD was preempted here in Canada in favour of March Madness. And at this point it's too late in the evening after a long week. As such - we will post tomorrow, hopefully during the day during Little Tyke's afternoon nap. Thanks as always for bearing with us. I have tried to post more consistently this week and will try to continue doing so going forward.

RAW RAW RAW

Last night's Raw was alright, with only a few superficial complaints. Tacking those in no particular order so I can then get on to the praise ...

1. I'm glad they didn't out-and-out tone down Steve Austin's act for the new PG show - and I get short of watering it down they're going to need to censor his act to make it PG-friendly. But I'll be a grumpy sort and say just because I understand it doesn't mean I like it. Especially when most of the 'bleeping' is off and the cursing gets out anyway; then it is not only futile but a distraction.
2. I'm not impressed with the way they're building to a 'let's throw all the Divas together' match again at WM. I was always a much bigger fan of a spotlight match or two for the women. Again, a move I understand them making with Melina and Mickie James both injured, but that doesn't mean I need to like it.

Now the positives:

1. Again, good job with Austin as guest host and I just wish we could have seen him more. His interactions with Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho both were classic; I was a little surprised at his buddy-buddy interaction with John Cena at the top of the show, as Cena is the anti-Austin, but he still did a good job.
2. This was 'Wrestlemania Rewind' night where Raw consists of Wrestlemania rematches; Randy Orton vs. Triple H, John Cena vs. Big Show, Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho are all PPV-worthy matches, more than enough to decimate TNA (missed it again!) in the ratings, and as this was a night the stars shone, it meant some somewhat longer matches; only one or two were the typical Raw 2-4 minute nonsense.
3. Triple H-Sheamus has become at least somewhat more interesting and multi-dimensional with their promos of the last couple weeks, and Bret Hart and Vince McMahon definitely picked up steam with Steve Austin's presiding over the contract signing. While Bret's swerve that he wasn't injured was semi-expected, it was still pulled off well. The build to WM has been strong as usual; if only more PPVs could get this kind of thought and treatment put into them.
4. A big night on Raw as two hall of famers-to-be were announced. Gorgeous George is a long overdue entrant, and Steve Austin confirmed that Stu Hart also will be inducted this year. Two more different, but influential, wrestling stars you could not find; a proud day.

Obviously Ari and I will discuss more of this Thursday night on ITVR - a note that we will be spending the afternoon Thursday in Montreal and aren't 100% sure when we'll return; thus the show MIGHT be Friday night instead. If that's the case I will do my best to keep you posted. Meanwhile have a good night everyone.