Hey pals,

Hope you are having a wonderful start to the year. My football season is over so I anxiously await baseball spring training (which I like better anyways) and the Royal Rumble, my favorite WWE event. Even more than WrestleMania. Until then, frowns all around:

I lived in New Orleans during a very impressionable time of my life and miss the city a great deal. Always wished I could have experienced it more as an adult and WrestleMania XXX taking place there is pretty exciting. So exciting, in fact, that Mattel managed to squeeze a couple of hugely sought after Elites from their toy-baby makers and brought us a WrestleMania XXX Commemorative Elite Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart. Dig that New Orleans 'Mania themed packaging, myself. Whatever the reasoning, the 'special release' Elites are a great idea, especially if it means getting figures like these.

Hey, bro. Check out my package(ing).

Bret Hart has never been my favorite like he is for so many others. Guess I was on the evil end of the Screwjob but nevertheless he's always amazing to watch and after the Pink & Black Attack figure this is the essential look that many were after. When I think of Bret, I think of this outfit. Through and through, this is true Pink & Black. Highlights are definitely the shiny sunglasses and the detail in the upper body coloring and design.

"You never knew it but I can't see through these and have always walked to the ring blind."

For me, the Shawn Michaels from this set takes the cake. Ahhh, DX before they became the half-hearted-bastard version of themselves. This Shawn has been requested almost since Mattel began the line, is lucky to see the light of day and looks worth every penny. The hair's great and Mattel didn't have to skimp out on any details so the DX logos are there. Current stable members take note, this is how you remain an individual and still be a part of a group. Why it doesn't happen more often is beyond me.

"So easy for me to go to the bathroom, yes indeed."

The chaps and chains look horrible in the package but when you take them out, it seems Mattel has finally found that malleable plastic that is great for the clothing items that are too expensive to mold or make soft goods of. This bends, stretches and stays on correctly. The paint job could be improved, but the paint job could always be improved on just about everything so that's a minor gripe. Hopefully the flexibility here sticks in comparison to the opposite end of the spectrum, the Team Johnny T-Shirts.

"I don't like you...but I RESPECT you. So I won't make any your mama jokes..."

It's hard to believe the Screwjob is almost 20 years old. I can't say I love where wrestling has gone but The Network (which is a great thing not just for WWE, but for streaming all around. I have to hand it to them, they took the bull by the horns) has so much possibility for improvement. Promos, all kinds of things. The possibilities are endless and they should pull no punches because they seriously have so much time and so much to showcase there's nothing to lose. Stealing Ringside Or Riot, if they were smart, would be the first order of business, so I could get pissed and come kick their door down and show them how to really make a wrestling show. JK.

The Bromance That Wouldn't Die

How annoying is it that Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart still have to talk about it (The Screwjob) and each other after all this time as if it HASN'T been 20 years? Ask new questions like what kind of conditioner Bret uses or if Shawn combs his chest hair. In the meantime, these two figures hopefully satisfy the classic need many of us have. I know they did for me.

Follow Tom on Twitter at @TSFive!

Find the Mattel WWE Elite WrestleMania XXX figures here!

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