Boston Mass., was the home of Survivor Series this Sunday with the co-main events being the return of John Cena facing Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight title, along with a Triple Threat: Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jeff Hardy…at least that’s how it was supposed to turn out. The main events delivered for the most part, but the undercard was relatively bland and un-spectacular. In any case lets get to the results:

First off Jim Ross announces that Jeff Hardy was found unconcious in his hotel room today. The slimy thing is that they made it sound serious and with Hardy’s past drug problems hinted towards a possible overdose. Looks like it will only be Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov for the WWE championship.

 Match 1: Team HBK (Shawn Michaels/Rey Mysterio/Cryme Tyme/Great Khali) vs. Team JBL (JBL/Kane/Miz/John Morrison/MVP)

In theory having HBK and Rey Mysterio starting off a pay-per-view should light up the crowd, however, the overall wrestling looked out of synch. MVP quickly eliminated JTG of Cryme Tyme, and while showing off afterwards was on the receiving end of a Khali Chop to be pinned. The end comes when Michaels beats the 10 count, leaving JBL on the outside to be counted out. HBK then connects with Sweet Chin Music on John Morrison to pick up the win for his team. Michaels, Mysterio, and Khali are the survivors.

WINNERS: Team HBK

Match 2: Team Smackdown (Michelle/Maria/Maryse/Victoria/Natalya) vs. Team Raw (Beth/Mickie/Kelly/Candice/Jillian)- Diva’s Survivior Series Elimination

This one moves insanely fast with 9 eliminations in 9 minutes! Unfortunately it was sloppy awkward exchanges and was definitely the bathroom break match of the night. The last competitors are Beth Phonenix and Maryse, with Phoenix picking up the victory.

WINNERS: Team Raw

Todd Grisham speaks with Matt Hardy and it is revealed that Jeff is at the hospital and was actually attacked in his hotel room.

Match 3: Casket Match- The Undertaker vs. Big Show

Show puts Taker through the ECW announce table via a leg drop early, and almost closes the casket on The Dead Man. Big Show flips over the casket and tries to leave up the ramp, but Undertaker uses his mystical powers to have a wall of fire appear infront of the giant. Druids bring out a new casket. The crowd is not into this one at all, and it looks like even the popular casket gimmick can’t save this snooze fest. The casket has been placed standing up, and Undertaker is able to throw Show into it, causing the lid to slam shut. Taker wins, albeit in an un-spectacular manner.

WINNER: The Undertaker

Match 4: Team Batista (Batista/Kofi Kingston/CM Punk/R-Truth/Matt Hardy) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton/William  Regal/ Cody Rhodes/Mark Henry/Shelton Benjamin)

CM Punk takes out the new I.C. champ right off the bat with the Go To Sleep. Shelton Benjamin makes the next elimination by getting rid of R-Truth. Orton then eliminates Kingston. Cody Rhodes finishes off Punk with a DDT. After Hardy is eliminated by Mark Henry, Batista is left as the only member of his team. The Animal spears Henry for a pinfall, and looks to have Rhodes beat, however, Orton is the legal man. Batista is RKO’d, and the survivors are Randy and Cody.

WINNERS: Team Orton

Match 5: WWE Championship- Triple H (c) vs. Vladimir Kozlov

It was officially announced that Hardy will not be in the match-up tonight. Kozlov looks very out of place in the main event slot, and the crowd chants “boring” on a couple of occassions. I think The Moscow Mauler’s nose dive from the top program will begin next week. A relatively uninteresting match until Triple H delivers The Pedigree and looks to have the match won, when GM Vickie Guerrero interrupts. She says that the title bout is a Triple Threat and that “he’s here”. The crowd is expecting Hardy but out comes…Edge! And he has a big beard! The Rated R Superstar connects with a spear immediately on Triple H and it looks like Edge is going to sneak out another world title win. All of a sudden Jeff Hardy appears and receives a deafening pop from the audience. Jeff is all bandaged up, and grabs a chair, however, Edge then spears Hardy. Edge is able to scramble over and cover Triple H for the 1-2-3 and become the new WWE champion!

WINNER: Edge

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship- Chris Jericho (c) vs. John Cena

An interesting note is that Cena does receive a huge reaction from his hometown Boston fans…but not as loud as Hardy. This was a solid 21 minute battle, but John is definitely showing some ring rust, and may not be at 100% yet. Jericho’s focus is the surgically repaired neck of Cena including sinking in the old school Lion Tamer version of the Walls of Jericho where he lowers his knee right down onto John’s neck. Y2J is able to escape the STFU, however, he cannot get out of the FU and with that there is a new World Heavyweight Champion.

WINNER: John Cena

I am very surprised that both world titles swapped hands this evening, and I’ll say again that Cena is better in the chase role rather than as the champion. The most exciting thing to come out of this pay-per-view is the return and surprise win of Edge.

Andy’s Survivor Series picks: 2 out of 5 (I’m not including the WWE title match since Hardy was not inculded)

Overall pay-per-view picks: 21 out of 33 (63.6%)

Andy McNamara is a SLAM! Wrestling writer, and play-by-play broadcaster for Toronto Maple Leafs inter-county league baseball, along with university basketball and volleyball on Rogers Television in Toronto. He is also the Host of Oakville Blades hockey on TV Cogeco

It is time for one of the big 4 pay-per-views on the WWE calendar, as we get set for the 22nd Survivor Series from the TD Northbank Gardon in Boston, Mass. 6 matches are on tap so lets take a looksee:

WWE Championship- Triple H (c) vs. Vladimir Kozlov vs. Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy finally gets his world title tonight in this Triple Threat… but it comes by pinning The Moscow Mauler, not The Game. If Hardy doesn’t pull out a victory here then he 100% has to be out of the title picture because his quest to win “the big one” has reached it’s limit.

Pick: Jeff Hardy

The Undertaker vs. Big Show (Casket Match)

This is the rubber match in this average, rather uninteresting feud. Casket Match’s are usually entertaining as a gimmick so that should add some intrigue. Undertaker debuted at Survivor series many moons ago so there is no way he’s losing here. Give the win to The Dead Man.

Pick: The Undertaker

Team Batista (Batista/Kofi Kingston/CM Punk/R-Truth/Matt Hardy) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton/William  Regal/ Cody Rhodes/Mark Henry/Shelton Benjamin)

I’m picking Batista and Kofi to be the last remaining for this traditional Survivor Series match. Hopefully Rhodes is kept strong to keep the stable Priceless looking good.

Pick: Team Batista

Team HBK (Shawn Michaels/Rey Mysterio/Cryme Tyme/Great Khali) vs. Team JBL (JBL/Kane/Miz/John Morrison/MVP)

JBL will emerge as the sole survivor for his team. He will use some underhanded tactic to eliminate Michaels and the whole point of the match will be to further the HBK vs. JBL feud.

Pick: Team JBL

Team Smackdown (Michelle/Maria/Maryse/Victoria/Natalya) vs. Team Raw (Beth/Mickie/Kelly/Candice/Jillian)- Diva’s Survivior Series Elimination

This is pretty much a pick’em, and I anticipate a lot of in-fighting on both teams as the babyfaces and heels have trouble co-existing. I’ll go with the Raw Diva’s to win with Kelly Kelly and Candice as the survivors.

Pick: Team Raw

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. John Cena

The roof is going to blow off the arena in Boston as the hometown boy John Cena makes his return from neck surgery. It would make sense for Jericho to hold onto the strap and lose it at The Royal Rumble to set up a Batista vs. Cena WrestleMania title fight. I hope the writers don’t go for the home victory just to get a big fan reaction. Cena does not need to be champ right now and Y2J can cheat his way to victory.

Pick: Chris Jericho

Make sure to check back FAN Wrestling Nation late Sunday night for the full Survivor Series results and commentary.

Andy McNamara is a SLAM! Wrestling writer, and play-by-play broadcaster for Toronto Maple Leafs inter-county league baseball, along with university basketball and volleyball on Rogers Television in Toronto. He is also the Host of Oakville Blades hockey on TV Cogeco

Well the WWE has pulled out the chop block again and has let go 3 performers over the past couple of weeks. Usually these cutbacks come in chunks so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see 1 or 2 more over the next week or so.

1. Super Crazy: Released on Nov. 5. The sole survivor from the Mexicools time ran out and it is a shame since he had been a strong talent since his arrival on Smackdown in 2005. With the cruiserweight division essentially being eliminated the 35 year-old has been relegated to job squad duty and has had no real storyline in quite some time. He has slowed down somewhat in the ring so all in all this release probably makes sense on both sides. Super will be fine and will either get plenty of work back in Mexico or maybe even appear in TNA.

2. Chuck Palumbo: Finally Palumbo’s boring reign of terror has ended! The biker’s second WWE stint finished on November 7. The WWE tried their best to cram him down the throats of fans as a good guy biker with Michelle McCool, and then a heel…neither worked. Now in fairness Palumbo is not a bad power move big man, but the charisma is just not there and the audience simply does not care. His only real success came during his first run in the Billy and Chuck tag team. In any case, hopefully the WWE has learned its lesson and we never ever see Mr. Palumbo again.

3. Paul London- This is by far the most disappointing release (Nov. 7) as London is simply phenomenal. His drop sault and overall athleticism is unreal, but again he falls victim to the lack of a cruiserweight division. While his former tag partner Brian Kendrick has got a push, London has fallen to the side and was largely unused as of late. London has actually been with the company since mid 2003 and had success as both a cruiserweight and tag team champion. Unfortunately London’s mic skills aren’t overly developed and that is something he has to improve on in order to make that next step. Realistically he will end up in Ring of Honour and most likely follow that with a TNA stint. I personally believe that he will return to the WWE in the next year or so.

Still the oddity that is Hardcore Bob Holly not being let go amazes me. Fire him already!

John Cena’s much hyped return takes place at Survivor Series where he will battle newly crowned world heavyweight champion Chris Jericho for the title. Cena underwent neck surgery back in August, the same kind as Kurt Angle had and not the fusion, which keeps wrestlers out for at least one year. It will be interesting to see if there is any ring rust. With the amount of air time Cena tribute videos have been getting on WWE programming expect a monster crowd reaction. I will analyze whether Cena should win the belt at the pay-per-view during the Survivor Series preview later next week, so make sure to check back for that!

Andy McNamara is a SLAM! Wrestling writer, and play-by-play broadcaster for Toronto Maple Leafs inter-county league baseball, along with university basketball and volleyball on Rogers Television in Toronto. He is also the Host of Oakville Blades hockey on TV Cogeco

This week we will stay with the mid to late 1990′s stable theme and look at a group that helped define the WWE Attitude era. And that stable is:

 *The HART FOUNDATION*

The original Hart Foundation of course was not a stable but a tag team. The brother in law duo consisted of Bret “Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, managed for the most part by Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart (no relation to Bret).

The Hart Foundation had two runs with the tag titles, the first coming in February 1987 over The British Bulldogs, and the second at the expense of Demolition on November 23, 1990. From there Bret Hart went onto singles fame by becoming a multiple Intercontinental and WWE Champion, while Neidhart faded away.

The reformation of The Hart Foundation into an actual stable came about as a result of Bret’s heel turn following his famous heel/babyface flip submission match against Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. Hart was disgusted with the American fan reaction to him and the cheering they poured onto Austin’s disrespectful antics.

During this time Bret and brother Owen were feuding on and off in a sibling rivalry. The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith was also involved and one of my personal favourite Raw moments came in the spring of 2007. Bret gave an emotional speech to Owen and Davey Boy about how they cannot go on fighting, they must band together as a family, and how “blood is thicker than water”. Family friend Brian Pillman signed on as an honourary member, and Jim Neidhart popped back onto the scene by saving his former tag partner from an attack on Raw.

The Hart Foundation definitely covers the formula for a successful stable. Bret was the main event level world champion, Owen was the high flyer who could compete at a strong mid card level for the Intercontinental belt, Davey Boy was an athletic strongman and was always in the mix for the European or Intercontinental strap, and ‘The Anvil’ was the enforcer who was able to be paired with any member to make a formidable tag team. Due to his complicated ankle injuries Pillman was relegated to outside interference and acting as an entertaining spokesman. When Pillman’s tragic death occurred (due to an unknown heart condition) the faction stuck with only the four family members. This foursome at one time or another held all the major titles in the federation, although not at the same time, and rivaled DX as the top stable in the company.

The new Hart Foundation’s rivalries were emotional and epic, mainly revolving around the Canada vs. U.S.A. theme. The wars they had with DX and Steve Austin elevated all parties involved and was a huge factor to the start of the wrestling boom period that lasted till about 2002. A historic 10 man tag team battle took place at the Canadian Stampede pay-per-view in Calgary where they took on the American team of Stone Cold, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, and The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal). Owen Hart got the eventual pinfall on Austin, much to the joy of the pro Canadian crowd, and this was followed by the entire Hart clan celebrating in the ring.

One of the factors that made The Hart Foundation, and any U.S. foe they fought with so intense was the crowd reaction on opposite sides of the border. The faction had the unique ability to be the hottest babyfaces in the WWE when in Canada or overseas, and the very next day be the most hated villains in America. The quality of matches provided by each member was also top notch.

The group disbanded due to the infamous ’Montreal Screw Job’ at Survivor Series 1997 in Montreal where Bret “lost” the world title to Shawn Michaels when Vince McMahon prematurely rang the bell. Bret went to WCW, Jim Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith soon followed, and Owen remained out of fear of being sued for breach of contract.

The only knock on The Hart Foundation being considered the greatest stable of all time is the length of time they were together. For no fault of their own the group was around for under a year, and that is a real shame because the crowd reaction they drew (good or bad) and the phenomenal storylines made them one of the most entertaining factions in pro wrestling history.

Andy McNamara is a SLAM! Wrestling writer, and play-by-play broadcaster for Toronto Maple Leafs inter-county league baseball, along with university basketball and volleyball on Rogers Television in Toronto. He is also the Host of Oakville Blades hockey on TV Cogeco