Expect more surprises

By GLENN COLE -- Toronto Sun
Now, you didn't expect Vince McMahon to stay away forever, did you? And the way he came back on Monday night was rather spectacular.

The Raw Is War shows had been rather lame in the past few weeks with Stephanie and Hunter Hearst Helmsley as the main attractions.

They spiced up a little when Shane McMahon returned, but with Vince coming back business really did pick up.

I'm not sure what was more enjoyable -- Vince taking care of Triple H or bashing his son over the head with a chair. Actually, the latter act was sold much better.

Just in time to get in on the hype for Wrestlemania, the WWF pulls one of its aces out of its sleeve.

Look for a couple more surprises in the coming weeks. There always are. You should know that by now.

BODY SLAMS: Word from World Champion Wrestling is that Liz and The Total Package were involved in a car accident before the Thunder taping this week. Their rental car was hit by a bus. Both were a little bit sore, but there were no broken bones and no serious injuries ... Bret (Hitman) Hart is in town this weekend to sign copies of his book. Today from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. he will be at Wal-Mart, 3159 Warden Ave. ... There are rumours in the United States that Time-Warner has been approached about selling WCW to a group called SFX Entertainment. Somebody has to do something with the WCW because it is listing badly. Nitro seems dead ... Looking forward to that Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle match for the Intercontinental title. Not sure why the WWF decided to anoint Angle with the IC and European belts, but he is obnoxious enough to be a champion. Word is that Benoit and Jericho, two Canadians who are former WCW stars, will feud after Wrestlemania. How WCW ever let them get away is beyond comprehension ... Chris Candido and Tammy Sytch (Sunny to a lot of people) are in WCW ... Trish Stratus makes her debut tomorrow on Heat (CTV Sportsnet, 7 p.m.) ... What's wrong with this picture? TSN repeatedly ran shots of Marty McSorley hitting Donald Brashear over the head with his hockey stick, yet won't show the pretend violence on wrestling? Something is amiss.

WWF IRKED AT FLICK: The Beyond The Mat wrestling documentary which was released yesterday in the U.S. apparently has rankled the WWF. Vince McMahon pulled ads for the movie on his WWF shows on the USA Network and Smackdown on UPN.

The official WWF stance is it pulled the ads from its own shows because of a policy of not endorsing other wrestling ventures.

"We chose to pull the ads because we thought they would create confusion in the marketplace," Jim Byrne, WWF senior vice-president of marketing, told a wire service this week. "We have a long-standing policy of not promoting third-party wrestling endeavours or any product that we consider direct wrestling competition to our product."

Lions Gate Films said it has a legal contract, printed on WWF letterhead, to run the ads during WWF programming. It maintains that the WWF pulled the ads right at the last minute and did not inform them, potentially hurting how the film does at the box office.

"Retired" WWF star Mick Foley is featured in the film.

ON THE TOP ROPE: The Hardcore Wrestling Federation continues to grow and will stage a card a week from tomorrow at the Place in Guelph, 100 Garden St. Featured on the card are: Sabu of the ECW vs. Scott D'Amore; Candido vs. Jack Damage; Rhino vs. Larry Destiny; Notorious T.I.D. vs. Bill Skullion; Hollywood Hunks vs. L'Artiste and Derek Wylde; The Rogue vs. The Pitbull; The Anarchist vs. J.Q. Public; and Tommy Twilight vs. The Tornado. Call (519) 763-9581 for further information.