Reported by Paul Nemer of WrestleView.com
On May 27, 2002 at 19:01:49

This opinionated column is about the first WWE Confidential show...in other words, it concerns the 1997 Survivor Series. If you're sick of reading about it, you don't have to read it -:)

Before I start, I just want to point out that this is my first column on WrestleView and probably my last. I will stick with what I do best, and that's run the site. The reason I wrote this column is because believe it or not, many people requested it and really wanted to hear my opinions... So here it is:

As many of you know, Saturday night, WWE debuted with a new show at 11:00 PM, WWE Confidential, hosted by Mean Gene Okerlund. Most of the show revolved around Survivor Series 1997.

Shawn Michaels admitted that he knew about the outcome of Survivor Series 1997, this didn't come as a shock, not one bit, since we knew years ago, but when people debated the topic about wether he knew or not, had no actual proof of it, but, we just knew that he knew, bottom line is, he knew, would that change anything? NO. But it actually took Shawn Michaels five long years to finally admit it? This reminds me of Diego Maradona's hand of God in the 1986 World Cup, where in 1998, he finally confessed so to speak... anyway, I'm off topic here.

Saturday's Confidential show was pure crap, they tried to make us think that Bret Hart is the villain in this. What did we expect Shawn, Vince, Brisco and Hebner to say, "Bret was right and we were wrong"? Of course not. Gerald Brisco made some pretty stupid comments at the end by saying that after that night, Shawn Michaels became a real man, a real stand up guy. With all due respect, what kind of cheap crack is Brisco on?

There was a huge lie thrown by Mean Gene Okerlund, when he said that Bret Hart refused to relinquish the WWF title to anyone under any circumstances. That is 100% false. It has been well-documented that Bret Hart refused to job to Shawn Michaels, but was willing to drop the title to anyone on the roster, including Steve Lombardi (The Brooklyn Brawler). Reason for Bret's refusal? Quite simple. Shawn made it very clear to Bret that he would NEVER job to him. Let's not forget that HBK forfeited his WWF title a couple of months before WrestleMania 13, so he wouldn't drop the title to Bret.

Let's not kid ourselves here folks. What else did we expect from a WWE show? They have to make Bret look like the bad guy in this whole situation, which he wasn't. And Vince making excuses for that punch? "I allowed Bret to strike me", or "Brisco broke my ankle before the punch", ah give me a break, Bret knocked him out, faster than a speed of light.

Can we blame, Earl Hebner and Shawn Michaels for this? Maybe blame 0.1% of this on them... But the 99.9% of the blame goes on Vince McMmahon.

People wanted to hear my opinion on this, and they did. This was my opinion and only my opinion with some valid facts brought up.

I thank you for reading,
Paul Nemer