I'm sure just like the majority of posters here it was a bitter sweet thing to watch.
On one hand you're glad to see Bret Hart leave on a High Note in Canada to make up for the MSJ (well nothing will make up, but they did do a lot for the man to try to get him to forgive)
On the other you just had Bret Hart make the Miz (one of you're most over stars) submit within 2 seconds of the move being applied. This is the same finisher that guys like Austin and Owen stayed in for close to a minute before tapping/getting to the ropes/going unconscious. I just think the spot should of been better done.. in my mind it was a cluster...
So many questions of mine were going on during it..
A) What happened to Kozlov and Regal? It's almost like the Hart's came out and hit them with a couple rights and they went down for the rest of the segment?
B) Once again just like Kozlov and Regal... why was Jericho down that long..
I personally thought they had so much more to gain with Bret pulling the swerve and announcing the debut of Bryan Danielson (not Daniel Bryan) as his replacement.
I agree with your first two paragraphs.
You honestly have a problem with how quickly the Miz tapped? First off all, it's his gimmick to tap that quickly. Miz is a coward (kayfabe). Miz would tap that quickly to any hold he was put in, the Sharpshooter being no exception. The Miz isn't a "tough guy" heel like Austin, or even to some extent, Owen Hart. Austin didn't tap because that was his character; he was too much of a bad ass to tap. Owen didn't tap right away because he would have rather died than lose to Bret. Can't compare the characters of Miz, Austin, and Owen. They are far too different. The spot was fine.
Who cares what happened to Kozlov and Regal. But just to satisfy your curiousity, let's speculate. Maybe The Harts hit them with a bus. Maybe they locked them in a cage. Maybe aliens came down from the heavens and took them to Mars. We don't know, because they didn't show it. They didn't show it, because it wasn't supposed to be the focus of our attention. I am glad they didn't show what happened, because I don't care. They got hit with chairs, eaten by the Cloverfield monster, who knows.
Same thing with Jericho. This is nothing new. You see it all the time, especially during matches like MITB and the Royal Rumble, where guys are hit with seemingly nothing, and do not recover for several minutes....it's fake. If this were something new, I might agree with you. But seeing this has been happening as far back as I can remember, I think it's a bit petty.
They have something planned for Danielson, without a doubt. But this was Bret's night in Canada. Remember, this storyline isn't over yet. Bret may give the title up, and it goes to a tournament. Hell, he may HAND it over to Danielson (no, I don't think that will happen). What I'm trying to say is we have no clue how this is going to turn out, except for being fairly certain Bret will not be United States champion after Raw next week.
I just don't get how having Danielson come out of nowhere and beat Miz last night could have been better than having Danielson (or another mid card guy like him) win an entire tournament filled with guys who are tougher/as tough as the Miz. If Danielson wins a tournament for the US title, will that not make him look stronger than beating a surprised Miz??