Inside The Squared Circle: Raw Hosts, Returns, Etc.

The guest host thing on Monday Night Raw has really worn thin for me and apparently the fans also showed their displeasure with this past week’s show (hosted by Al Sharpton) which was the lowest rated Raw of the year. So far the only Raw hosts that have been worthwhile are Bob Barker, Shaq and Freddie Prinze Jr, other than that they’ve all been pants.

Next Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger is hosting the show and all of the sanctimonious types are up in arms. According to the AP, the Steelers have a team meeting on Monday and then have off on Tuesday. So what gives? If he gets involved in the ring, then you have an argument, but until then, lighten up.

Roethlisberger, a huge wrestling fan, is doing the spot to promote his charity The Ben Roethlisberger Foundation, which is mainly geared toward helping cops and firemen around the country. Is that really such a bad thing?

Oh yeah, and “Big Ben” is bringing the entire Steelers’ offensive line.

I guess retirements are never final...

Ric Flair has agreed to wrestle Hulk Hogan on his upcoming “Hulkamania” tour of Australia.

Bret Hart – who has ripped Vince McMahon and the W.W.E. for the past decade – is reportedly in talks for a return, though the extent of what his role would be is unclear. Hart wrote in his autobiography that he would never forgive Shawn Michaels and Triple H for "ruining the wrestling business." Of course, this all goes back to the Montreal Screwjob. I can't see why Hart would return other than to help out his nephews.

D’Lo Brown, who two weeks ago announced his retirement on the Between the Ropes wrestling show heard on ESPN 1080 The Team is now working behind the scenes for T.N.A. Brown also says he will may make the occasional in-ring appearance for the company. He even said that owner Dixie Carter is taking the company in an entirely new direction, but he wouldn't elaborate.

Interestingly enough, but D'Lo stated that there is a part of him that thinks the "Montreal Screwjob" was a "work." Brown was using the same locker room that night as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and got a first hand look at what happened between Vince and Bret, i.e. a black eye for McMahon.

If it is indeed a work, then Bret "Hitman" Hart is the greatest conman of all time.