WWE Confidential March 29, 2003

June 21, 2003

WWE Confidential March 29, 2003

Now that all the WrestleMania hype has died down, I'm sure you are all stoked to read about Confidential, which took place 48 hours ago. For those of you who would like to know what my thoughts were on WrestleMania, check out The Smart Mark's WrestleMania XIX Reactions . Also, I would like to plug my WrestleMania 2 review once more. April's tape review will be of RF Video's NWA Worldwide: The Crockett Years 1985-1987.

This week on Confidential, Torrie comments on her Playboy shoot and AHHRRNOLD is back to comment on the Vince-Hogan match.

Gene hypes WrestleMania and follows up with a quick description of Jimmy Hart for the all the marks watching in TV land.

Jimmy Hart kicks the segment off with an overview of his childhood. He was born in Mississippi. He moved to Memphis with his mother. They were very poor and a regular meal consisted of beans and potatoes. No wonder Jimmy is such a skinny guy.

Jimmy used to visit his uncle during the summer. Every Wednesday night the two would go to wrestling in Memphis. Jimmy tried to work his way into the business by selling Coca-Cola at the events. He dreamed of one day being a professional wrestler, but he met a roadblock on his way to achieving that dream. You see, his band ended up with a hit song "Keep on Dancing" and their record sold over a million copies, so The Gentrys went on tour for several years. The highlight of the tour was working the same show as the Beach Boys, Sonny & Cher, and Chuck Berry. Eventually the band broke up.

One day Jerry Lawler called up Hart and asked if he would sing backup for the King's single. Jerry went to high school with Hart, but while Hart was singing, the King was wrestling. Jimmy began to get involved in Memphis wrestling as a ring announcer. Lawler asked if Hart wanted to manage him, Jimmy of course said yes. Jerry broke his leg and was out for a year. Meanwhile, Hart managed all of the heels in Memphis including guys like Hogan, the Funks, the Briscos, King Kong Bundy, and Andy Kauffman. Hillbilly Jim used to work in Memphis, but ending up signing with the WWF. While in the WWF, Jim got wind of McMahon wanting to sign Jimmy Hart. Jim told Hart about this and that is how Jimmy Hart hit it big. Very good segment and the clips were lots of fun. Jimmy is back a little later in the show.

Segment 1: 1/1

Torrie chats with us about her Playboy spread. The magazine comes out on Tuesday, although the pictures have been all over the internet for over a week now. Torrie states that she is a longtime reader of Playboy, for both the pictures and the articles. They all say that... She isn't used to being photographed by such a perfectionist, so that was new for her. She adds that this is the sexiest she ever felt, but is afraid that the issue will not sell as well as Sable's and Chyna's. She doesn't want to let Vince down. Personally, I don't think the article will sell as well because there are not as many wrestling fans today as there were when the other two issues come out. Hopefully no one actually expects Torrie to outsell the other two divas. Based on her comments, it looks like Torrie broke the Playboy curse of growing a huge ego, but only time will tell. Considering there have already been a slew of Torrie-Playboy promos and the pictures have already been seen by the entire IWC, this segment was a waste of time.

The Miller Lite Cat Fight Girls hype WrestleMania. Their segment last night was utterly embarrassing to watch. I don't understand why so much time was wasted on crap like that and horrible music from the likes of Limp Bizkit. I thought Vince understood that fans tuned in to WrestleMania for wrestling, not "celebrities", if that's what you want to call them. Seriously, how many buys do you think Limp Bizkit and the Cat Fight Girls brought in? ZERO! Therefore, the WWE lost money by paying those idiots to appear at a show where THEY generated NO income.

Segment 2: 1/2

Arnold Schwarzenegger comments on the match that was Twenty Years in the Making. He believes that Vince did indeed create Hulkamania, but he adds that Hogan will win, mainly because he has big arms. Arnold is so fucking stupid.

We get a segment devoted to Hogan's WrestleMania history.

Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels both agree that Hulk Hogan is synonymous with WrestleMania. Gerald Brisco adds that Hogan was the right guy to be carrying the company at the time. Matt Hardy believes that Hulk Hogan set the standard for all WrestleManias. He also thinks that if WrestleMania is built around you ONCE, you know that you made it, but Hogan had WrestleMania built around him for almost TEN years now. Flair concludes that Hulk Hogan will be remembered at all future WrestleManias.

WrestleMania Retro- Diamond Dallas Page: I thought DDP was let go... Anyway, his first appearance was at WresleMania VI. Jerry Brisco needed a pink Cadillac to drive Rhythm 'n' Blues down to the ring. DDP owned one, so he got the gig. Thinking this would be his "in", he charged the WWF nothing to use the car and himself as a driver. He also thought his match at X-8 against Christian was one of the best matches on the card. That's not really saying much, but whatever.

Segment 3: 1.5/3

Jimmy Hart is back for more. When he first entered the WWF, the typical manager's logic was "We got out to the ring, take off our guy's jacket, go to back and leave before the crowd lets out". Jimmy Hart wasn't satisfied with just that. He wanted to be part of the show and ringside. This baffled many of the old-school managers like Fred Blassie and Mr. Fuji. Hart also tried to keep the emphasis on his wrestlers at all times.

Vince McMahon came back from a trip to Japan with a megaphone. Hart used to heckle the crowd at ringside, so Vince told him that from now on he was to use the megaphone. This was the greatest thing to ever happen to Hart because the megaphone became more over than he was. Jimmy thinks that he lasted so long as a heel manager because EVERYONE in the crowd, from the five year old kids to the women thought they could kick his ass. He thinks that is why he had a ton of heat throughout his career.

Jimmy was never one to turn down any proposed angles including getting stripped, being spray painted and getting tar and feathered. His reasoning was that the fans mostly remember the performers that stand out the most and not the particular matches. He is proud that he was involved in many angles that are still remembered by the fans. That is the legacy of Jimmy Hart in his mind.

Jimmy runs down the (ENORMOUS) list of charges he has had. He concludes the segment by saying that he would love to have one more run in the WWE both backstage and the on the air. He would like to make some more songs and maybe even take a few of the younger guys under his wing. Hart believes he could give the younger talent an "old-school edge". One thing he always tells people in the business is to enjoy what they do because one day they may be on the outside, looking in and wishing they could have one more run. Personally, I would love to see Hart back and I think Vince would be an idiot for not giving the guy the opportunity to help get some of the younger talent over. This was another awesome segment. I miss ya Jimmy.

Segment 4: 2.5/4

WrestleMania Retro- Trish Stratus: Her favorite match was wrestling in front of her hometown crowd at X-8.

"Where is the strangest place you ever... well.. you know..."

Chris Nowinski: You have to give me a minute. I've had a lot of sex. WHY IS THIS MAN BEING WASTED ON RAW? His real answer is in Harvard's library.

Big: I've never had sex... well, there's a shocker. OK, that was harsh and I apologize. I just have a grudge with Big based on all the shit he has pulled on Tough Enough.

Al Snow: On a rug... in the carpet department of Sears.

Jeff Hardy: A limb on a tree. I doubt that Jeff, you were probably hallucinating... about the sex part... and maybe the tree. C'mon, I'm rockin and rollin tonight.

Maven: In the ocean, during the day.

D-Von Dudley: Train Station.. with the wife.. of course.

Hurricane: I don't know if there is a strange place. If you are just having sex, you should count your blessings. THAT is the right answer my friend.

Hardcore Holly and Spike refused to answer.

That was mildly interesting I guess.

Segment 5: 3/5

WrestleMania Retro- Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin: Matt Hardy considers this match to the be the best example of someone making it to the next level at a WrestleMania. Chris Jericho comments on how the crowd completely turned on Bret Hart in favor of Steve Austin. It's been way too long since I last saw that match.

A few Superstars kayfabe a segment about the Undertaker's win streak. Overall, the segment gets 1/2 a point for the Retro bit.

Segment 6: 3.5/6

THIS IS IT

Jimmy Hart really salvaged this episode. If all goes well, maybe he will start salvaging Raw or SmackDown! too. My only gripe is that this show should have swapped places with last week's show, which was entirely based on WrestleMania.

See ya next week.

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