AS REAL AS IT GETS
Everybody in that gawddamn dressing room knows that I’m the Best There Is! The Best There Was! and The Best There Ever Will Be!!
Usually we find ourselves writing these tribute pieces after someone dies but this time I wanted to honour 1 of my biggest heroes while he is still alive. I’m talking about Bret “Hitman” Hart, the greatest wrestler of all time in my opinion. The further we get from Bret Hart’s career, the more special his performances become bc there isn’t anyone like Bret in wrestling today. People criticize Bret for taking himself too seriously at times but that is part of the reason that he became a global star that is recognized as one of the best ever. The realness of Bret Hart gave credibility to his performances and to wrestling itself. Bret was able to live on the edge of making the action in the ring look real without ever hurting his opponents. Kevin Nash said it best that Bret wasn’t stiff but you definitely felt his offense. Wrestling is pre-determined, not fake. But you have to sell it to the audience as real so they can suspend their disbelief, you can’t just approach it like an actor playing a role in a movie. There are no closed sets, you are always right in front of the fans. While you are working, you have to believe your character is real or the fans will see right through you and your performances will only have so much impact. That’s why wrestling is such a tough business to succeed in, actors can turn it off and say goodbye to a character when the movie is done shooting but the wrestler has to live their character until their career is over. Taking his character and performances seriously got him heat from fellow wrestlers, promoters and fans but it just showed that nobody understood the wrestling business like the Hitman.
My first hero in wrestling was Hulk Hogan and I was a proud Hulkamaniac. I had others wrestlers I cheered for like the Macho Man but Hogan was #1 for me. As I got older, I understood that I was a Canadian and I started looking for wrestlers from Canada to cheer for so of course I was a huge fan of the Hart Foundation, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart. After the Hart Foundation went their separate ways and Bret embarked on a singles career, he quickly rose to become my #2 favourite wrestler with his amazing performances competing for the Intercontinental Championship. When Hulk Hogan left the WWF for WCW in 1993, I was crushed. The video clip of Hogan standing on the street surrounded by WCW fans in a circle who then all run towards Hogan to hug him almost brought 10 year old me to tears lol it was like your best friend moving away and then sending you a video of how happy he was with all his new friends while you were still sad about him leaving. But thankfully I had a hero like Bret Hart ready to fill the void left by Hogan leaving. When I heard that Bret won the WWF title for the first time in Saskatchewan, the province I was born in, I think he moved into a tie with Hogan for my favourite wrestler. But after Hogan left, there was no doubt who #1 was. I was living in Calgary for the 1st half of the 90’s and Bret was doing a signing at one of the McDonalds there. My Dad dressed my spiky blonde haired self up like Bret as best he could with a Pink, white and black Hawaiian shirt, white tank top, Bret Hart-like glasses and pink n black shorts. I looked nothing like Bret but when it was my turn for an autograph, Bret briefly looked at me before looking down but then snapped his head back up and said, “woah, you look like the Hitman.” I was on cloud 9 and in shock on the way home lol I knew I looked nothing like Bret but it meant the world to me to have Bret react like that. I was all in.
Let’s turn back the clock to take a walk through Bret’s life. Thanks to the amazing book Bret wrote called “Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,” we have a front row seat for the journey of a young boy growing up idolizing his wrestler father becoming the greatest wrestler of all time. Can’t recommend that book strongly enough, it is like a time capsule for wrestling. Too many wrestling books get facts wrong but that is not the case in Bret’s book. During his time in wrestling, Bret kept an audio journal of his day to day life so he wrote the book using his real thoughts from thousands of tape recordings. Must have been so cool to hear your actual voice talking about your life. Bret doesn’t just try and portray himself as a saint, he holds himself accountable for his mistakes and shortcomings like cheating on his wife. It actually made me more of a fan to know that he wasn’t perfect and would be the first one to tell you that. The accuracy of the book put me right back into the time and how I was feeling about the events. Bret was born into one of the most legendary wrestling families, the Harts. His father Stu started as a wrestler and transitioned into being a promoter of Stampede Wrestling becoming the leader of the Western Canadian wrestling scene. Stampede Wrestling found major success with the advent of Television being one of the early programs that could draw an audience but a vendetta against wrestling by a local politician got Stampede kicked off of TV causing a major financial blow to the Hart family. Because of this, growing up was tough for Bret and his siblings. The Harts didn’t have much money growing up so instead of new clothes for school it was hand me downs that weren’t in the best of condition making the kids targets for bullies.
But Bret had a natural ability for amateur wrestling, just like Stu, so he was able to defend himself and win some big fights in the schoolyard that kept the bullies in check. He also won an amateur wrestling title which helped Bret bond with his father. Bret was so good at amateur wrestling that he was on track to make Canada’s Olympic team and possibly win a Gold medal but the grind of amateur wrestling wasn’t for Bret. Without many other options, Bret decided to give professional wrestling a shot in his father’s Stampede Wrestling. Bret had been helping sell merchandise and concessions since he was a little kid and as a referee as he got older so he was more than familiar with pro wrestling. But he had a lot to learn about actually competing as a wrestler and received some tough but crucial lessons from his initial trainers Mr Hito and Mr Sakuraba, 2 Japanese wrestlers that worked for Stu. They helped teach Bret the art of professional wrestling and are 2 of the biggest reasons why Bret was so great in the ring. When you’re young and working against experienced veterans, you don’t have much of a choice but to sell a beating which Bret did regularly in his early career. But this experience made Bret a master of selling in the ring. Selling is how you create sympathy for yourself with the fans making them connect to you and want to see you make a comeback to get the win. Bret was an absolute master at this throughout his career and the reason was his early lessons working for his father. Funny story, it was in Bret’s early Stampede days that he almost got into a confrontation with my Dad lol my Dad and his buddy were at a Regina Pats hockey game when they saw Bret and somebody yelled something at Bret who turned around and asked my Dad, “Hey cowboy, you wanna go!?” My dad was a scrapper so his buddy whispered to him, “Perry, that’s Bret Hart!” pretty much telling him to back down so my Dad just said it was someone else and nothing happened. From comments I have seen on my Dad’s Facebook, I think he might not be telling the whole story and maybe was the one who said something lol but he says it wasn’t him. That could have changed his life bc if Bret had decided to fight him I see 2 possible outcomes, my Dad gets the ass kicking of his life or holds his own and gains Bret’s respect who brings him in to see if he is Stampede Wrestling material lol picturing my Dad in Stu’s dungeon makes me laugh but my Dad was the type of guy that wouldn’t have quit so I could have been a 2nd generation wrestler! Or not here at all so I guess I’m cool with how things went down haha
It didn’t take long for Bret to establish himself as one of the best up and coming wrestlers in Stampede wrestling having great matches in tag teams with his brothers Smith, Bruce and Keith. But his best performances were against a young wrestler you may have heard of named the Dynamite Kid. Bret and Dynamite beat the ever loving shit out of each other putting on classic matches that Stampede Wrestling fans still talk about to this day. Not only do these matches hold up as the years pass by but they are better than most of what we see today. They were physical, gritty, bloody, they made you think you were watching an actual fight more than a pre-determined wrestling match. I believe the matches vs Dynamite built the foundation of realism in Bret’s career that separates him from the other greats. Bret’s matches always seemed more real, like legitimate competition. It wasn’t just Bret and Dynamite, Stampede built its reputation and popularity on that realistic style so anyone you worked with you were in for a fight. It really was a great place to learn and it’s no wonder that so many legends spent at least some time working in Stampede Wrestling. But the unfortunate reality for the Hart’s and Stampede Wrestling was that if Stu didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any at all. Stu wasn’t the best with money but he always made sure his wrestlers were paid even if it meant coming up short in other areas like his own pay.
Multiple bad breaks over the years combined with the juggernaught WWF starting to go national moving into any and all territories put Stu in the tough position to have to shut down Stampede Wrestling. Stu cut a deal with Vince McMahon of the WWF to shut down Stampede Wrestling so the WWF was free to run in the Western Canada territory while giving opportunities for some of Stu’s best wrestlers to work in the WWF and make some big money. Unfortunately Stu was never paid by Vince McMahon but the boys did get their opportunities. Bret, Dynamite, and The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith were all signed to WWF contracts. Dynamite and Davey Boy were teaming as the British Bulldogs and had already established a reputation of being great from their time in Japan and Stampede so their position was solid. But Bret was not in the same boat, he was seen as a good hand but not a superstar so he was relegated to enhancement matches. When they finally came to Bret with an idea, it was almost worse than where he started. Thankfully, ‘Cowboy’ Bret Hart never became a reality. Bret went to the booker George Scott and suggested that they team him with Jim Neidhart and call them the Hart Foundation. After a few weeks, the WWF took Bret’s advice to team him with Jim Neidhart and the Hart Foundation was born. The team gelled immediately and put themselves on the map as a team to be reckoned with by tearing down the house in matches vs the British Bulldogs. The 80’s WWF Tag Team wrestling scene is the golden age of Tag Team wrestling that is still unmatched to this day. The Hart Foundation was regularly putting on classic matches with the Bulldogs, Rougeau Brothers, Brain Busters, Strike Force, Killer Bees, Young Stallions, the Rockers, Demolition, pretty much any team they got in the ring with. You hear people say the current AEW Tag Team roster is the best but come on these guys can’t even use a tag rope and they’re better than the 80’s crew? Lol not a chance.
It was during these early years with the Hart Foundation that Bret’s reputation started to rise as a great wrestler. Gorilla Monsoon even gave Bret the nickname, the Excellence of Execution bc of how technically sound Bret’s work was. Bret and the Anvil were the perfect combination, Bret had the agility/technical ability while Neidhart had the physical strength. The Anvil also helped Bret conceal his early weaknesses on the microphone as Bret was very nervous doing interviews but Neidhart was more than comfortable to take the lead. Despite the success of the Hart Foundation, Bret’s skills as a wrestler gave him opportunities as a singles wrestler vs Ricky Steamboat. It was supposed to lead to a match at WrestleMania II from Madison Square Garden but the match was scrapped. Vince McMahon famously said he didn’t think Bret was a big enough name work at MSG which lit a fire under the Hitman to 1 day make Vince eat his words. Bret/Steamboat did have a classic match at the Boston Garden leading up to WM II but it wasn’t enough to get on the WM card. Instead of a match vs Steamboat, Bret and the Anvil were in a battle royal being tossed out last by Andre The Giant. Later on in Oct 1986, Bret had his infamous match vs Tom McGhee that was so good it made Vince McMahon think that McGhee was his next star. Tom McGhee couldn’t keep his performances on that level vs other wrestlers so his push never came and the match was hidden away for almost 32 years. The match became something of legend since so few had ever seen it. We finally got to see it in 2019 on a special for the WWE Network and it was definitely a great match that made McGhee look like a million bucks. Bret’s opponents almost always come out looking better after wrestling Bret.
Things were about to get a lot better for the Hart Foundation. In Feb 1987 the Hart Foundation defeated the British Bulldogs to win their first Tag Team Title. The Dynamite Kid had a severe back injury which is why the Bulldogs were dropping the titles but he gutted out the match out of respect for Bret and Jim. The Title run for the Hart Foundation almost didn’t even get started after Jim Neidhart was arrested for allegedly punching a US Air stewardess but he professed his innocence and Vince had his back hiring a great lawyer to help Jim. It wasn’t a Title match but Bret did get on the legendary WM III card in front of 93,173 fans. The Hart Foundation and Dangerous Danny Davis defeated The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana giving Bret a win in his first WrestleMania match. Since Vince had never paid Stu for shutting down Stampede Wrestling and giving the WWF the Western Canada territory, Stu opened things back up again. Bret would return from time to time for special matches to help draw a good house. The Hart Foundation continued to work against the Bulldogs in matches designed to make it easier for Dynamite to hide his severe back injury. These matches were crucial in establishing credibility for the Hart Foundation as a great, badass tag team.
Bret got a chance to showcase his skills against Macho Man Randy Savage on Saturday Night’s Main Event and they had a great match. The Hart Foundation were part of the Tag Team elimination match at the 1st Survivor Series and Bret’s performance stood out raising his stock even higher. At the 1st Royal Rumble, Bret was the first entrant and put in another great performance going 36 minutes before being eliminated. Unfortunately these great performances didn’t lead to a big match at WrestleMania IV or even a Tag Team match as Bret and the Anvil participated in another Battle Royal. Leading up to WM IV, Vince informed Bret that he received more fan mail than any other babyface including Hogan so they were going to turn the Hart Foundation babyface. Pretty incredible considering all the big babyface stars that were pushed harder than the Hart Foundation. Even in the early days there was just something about Bret that made you want to root for him. Bret was last eliminated from the Battle Royal after Bad News Brown double crossed Bret initiating the babyface turn. In another first, Bret continued his run of great performances at the 1st SummerSlam with the Hart Foundation stealing the show vs Demolition. The Hart Foundation were a part of the Tag Team elimination match again at the 2nd Survivor Series, I loved these matches and I think they hold up today. The talent in the ring on all those 80’s tag teams is unmatched. At the 2nd Royal Rumble, the Hart Foundation teamed up with Hacksaw Jim Duggan to defeat the Rougeaus and Dino Bravo. The Hart Foundation were having great matches on PPV’s and house shows but it didn’t lead to a bigger spot on the WrestleMania V card as they defeated Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine.
A huge moment in Bret’s career happened on a tour of Italy when Andre the Giant specifically asked to work with Bret in a singles match. The respect of Andre asking to work with Bret and the advice Andre gave him before/after the match were so important for Bret’s career going forward. The Hart Foundation had another great match in a losing effort vs the Brain Busters at SummerSlam 1989. Crazy to learn that Bret almost left the WWF around this time for WCW but WCW changed the offer that was originally made to Bret so Bret decided to stay with the WWF. As Bret’s stock was rising, he started pulling double duty as a Tag team and singles competitor having singles matches vs Mr Perfect and Shawn Michaels. The WWF was starting to give Bret more merchandise opportunities with t-shirts, Hitman sunglasses and a spotlight magazine dedicated to Bret and it paid off in sales with the magazine becoming one of the top selling magazines ever at the time. WrestleMania VI took place in Toronto giving Bret an opportunity to perform on a big stage in his home country. The Hart Foundation didn’t have a classic match but they put themselves in contention for the Tag Titles with a 16 second victory over the Bolsheviks. Maybe my favourite squash match ever, absolutely love Bret counts 1.2.3 with his fingers as he looks at camera. So badass. This was around the time that I started to become a big Bret Hart/Hart Foundation fan as WrestleMania VI was a PPV I watched many times. I was beyond excited when the Hart Foundation won the WWF Tag Team Titles for the 2nd time defeating Demolition in an awesome 2 out of 3 falls match at SummerSlam 1990. Their reign wasn’t supposed to last very long as Vince wanted to finally give Bret a big singles push so the Hart Foundation was set to drop the belts to the Rockers in Oct 1990. But during the match the top rope broke making it impossible for the match to be any good and despite the Rockers winning, it was so bad that Vince decided not to air it and just give the belts back to the Hart Foundation.
Sadly Bret’s brother Dean passed away the day before Survivor Series 1990 and Bret showed what a true professional he was by still competing on the show. Things like this make the Montreal screwjob and the lack of loyalty shown to Bret in his final months with the WWF so much worse. Bret was the first wrestler to work with the Undertaker in the elimination match and put on a great performance including an awesome final sequence ending with being pinned by Ted Dibiase. Fitting tribute to his brother Dean. Once again Bret entered the Royal Rumble #1 and lasted 20min before being eliminated by the Undertaker. The last dance for the Hart Foundation was WrestleMania VII losing the Tag Team Titles to the Nasty Boys in a really great match, the best the Nasty’s ever had. As a kid I was so angry that the Hart Foundation lost that I almost shed frustrated tears lol I think the best word I can use to describe my mental state for the finish of the match was distressed, watching the helmet get tossed in and used on the Anvil while Jimmy Hart held onto Bret’s leg drove me insane. I wanted revenge but it would never come for the Hart Foundation however Bret was about to begin his rise to the top of the WWF as a singles star.
SummerSlam 1991 would feature Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship and I was on the edge of my seat hoping Bret would get the win. It almost didn’t happen as Mr Perfect was suffering from a severe back injury that would cause him to actually retire for a few years. But out of respect for Bret, Perfect gutted out the match to put Bret over and build a new star. It worked and the 2 of them had 1 of the greatest matches in SummerSlam history ending with Bret submitting Perfect with the Sharpshooter to win his first singles title. I was so excited and loved watching the match over and over again on home video. This was a big deal bc in 1991 the Intercontinental Title was still seen as the “workers title” given to the guys that were having the best matches on the show and in the conversation to make the jump to the main event scene. It was around this time when we get one of the greatest wrestling stories. The big steroid trial was heating up around this time so the WWF went into lock down and steroids and recreational drugs, no tolerance for any of it. So the night before it went in effect, Vince McMahon joined all the boys for “one last night” of debauchery at a bar in the town they were in. Late into the night when they were all hammered, Hogan goaded the Legion of Doom into giving Vince the Doomsday Device right there in the bar but Hawk barely brushed against Vince who gently fell back to be caught by Hogan and Beefcake. The Anvil declared that the Hart Foundation would have done it which was immediately confirmed by Bret backing them into a corner of, actually do it or lose face in front of the boys. Welp, Neidhart picked up Vince so Bret said fck it and hit a legit Hart Attack clothesline on Vince lol fck yeah they did, the Stampede crew were real ones. Amazing story.
Bret was part of an awesome elimination match at Survivor Series 1991, The Mountie, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase and The Warlord vs Bret Hart, The British Bulldog, Roddy Piper and Virgil, some serious talent on those teams. It was a great match but could have been something really special if they hadn’t gone with the ‘DQing the entire team’ finish. I was definitely disappointed when Bret lost to the Mountie bc of a kayfabe high fever and flu but respected how tough Bret was to wrestle a match in that condition. I believed Bret was legitimately sick until I read in Bret’s book that it was all a work lol it lead to 1 of the all time great WrestleMania matches, Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Title. I got to watch WM 8 on a big screen at a closed circuit showing so it was a great moment getting to see Bret win the Title live. Roddy Piper was infamous for never allowing himself to be pinned, his losses were always via DQ or countout so allowing Bret to pin him was almost like winning a Title. It gave Bret even more credibility as he headed towards becoming a top guy in the WWF. As great as the match was, I loved their pre-match promo and think it is underrated:
“Roddy: We have arrived. First of all I gotta say man, I gotta tell ya how much I love’s your family. I gotta tell ya how much I love your mums. I know’d you, I know’d this guy since he’s been ohhh knee high to a grass hopper. I know, I remember when they were changing your potty pants. I remember even when..of course you weren’t potty trained till you were 7..but AHHHHHH….everybody’s got their problems. Tying, you remember tying bows in our shoes when we were kids? Of course your shoes were always tied together..DOESN’T MATTER. Doesn’t matter to me bc I remember when Mrs Hart, she used to come down and she would make them sandwiches man throw all that baloney…well only 1 piece of baloney but that don’t matter I was hungry! Then she’d come up and she’d go to her…
*Roddy tries to pinch Bret’s cheeks but Bret aggressively pulls Roddy’s hand away*
Bret: Keep your hands to yourself.
Roddy: What is this..oh this is nice huh. Here I am having a little fun, tryin to make you at ease, gonna go have a nice con-keep it to yourself- gonna have a nice contest and here you wanna be a hero all of a sudden huh. You wanna be a hot shot all of a sudden. You want *your* belt all of a sudden, is that the idea?
Bret: Look. All I care about is 1 thing, I wanna win back the Intercontinental belt. You got it, and I’m gonna take it. *Bret touches the IC Belt around Piper’s waist but Roddy smacks his hand away*
Roddy: You keep your hands to yourself! *shoves Bret hard* let me help you out a little bit buddy, we can settle our diff..
Bret: We can do this right here.
Roddy: OH YOU DAMN BETCHA WE CAN!
Bret: We can do this right here.
Roddy: Why do it here when I can have a million people watch me rip your head off!
*Roddy turns to leave but Bret grabs his arm and holds up a fist*
Bret: I would’ve had you.
*Roddy raises his fist which now has a belt wrapped around it.*
Roddy: No you wouldn’t have….BYE-BYE! BYE-BYE! BYE-BYE! I don’t think so. Not today. *takes off the belt and slings it over his shoulder and points to it while staring at the camera* She be mine.”
So great. It was funny to start and then picked up the intensity bigtime by the end, they established their connection as friends but also put over the importance of being the Intercontinental Champion. Perfect way to build hype for the match. When Bret beat Roddy in a legendary finishing sequence after kicking off the turnbuckles and rolling over to pin Roddy’s shoulders and Roddy raises Bret’s arm and putting the belt around his waist, there was no doubt who the next star in the company was going to be. Bret may not have been the biggest draw in the US put up against all the biggest stars but he was up there, however when it comes to being a Worldwide draw, Bret separates himself from the pack. Even before he had got his singles IC Title push, he was drawing great reactions around the world. Jimmy Hart couldn’t believe the scenes of girls and fans cheering for Bret inside and outside the arenas when they were on tour and this was during the Hart Foundation days. Now that Bret was the Intercontinental Champion, the reaction was on another level. Owen who had been wrestling in Germany, told Bret that he was over bigtime in Germany but Bret had no idea until the WWF went on a European Tour after WM 8. Fans chasing the bus pounding on the sides, countless Hitman signs being held up, gifts of flowers/chocolates/teddy bears being thrown at him, girls/women screaming, crying, even fainting like he was Michael Jackson. The reaction when Bret’s music hit was deafening and so loud it was hard to hear yourself think. The fans reacted to every offensive move from Bret and when he was selling offense from his opponent they came alive with loud chants of ‘LETS GO BRET!” When Bret finally picked up the win the place came unglued. This continued in the UK and all over Europe.
With Bret’s star starting to shine so bright combined with Hogan, Warrior and others leaving, the time was right for Bret to ascend to the World Championship level. But first we would get to see 1 of the greatest matches in wrestling history. The only wrestler that was close to Bret in terms of fan support overseas was the British Bulldog who was from the UK and always got a massive reaction. Vince McMahon had decided that SummerSlam 1992 would take place from London, England to capitalize on the WWF’s popularity there. WWF Champion Randy Savage was embroiled in a feud with Ric Flair and the Ultimate Warrior so it wouldn’t make sense for Davey Boy to fight for the WWF Title. But a match for the Intercontinental Championship vs his brother in law Bret Hart was the perfect showcase for both the Bulldog and Bret. Usually the WWF Title match always went last but with the popularity and skills of both Bret and Davey Boy, Bret was able to get Vince to agree that they should be the main event at SummerSlam and that Vince would not regret it. Unfortunately Davey Boy was not in the best condition both physically and mentally leading into the match. Davey was off all summer bc of a bad knee and his drug problems got worse during this time off meaning Bret would have to put the match together himself and lead Davey through it. Thankfully Davey was able to pull himself together by match time and for the most part hold up his end of the match as long as Bret was able to give him the instructions. Davey received a thunderous ovation while Bret got about 50/50 cheers and boos. The match was absolutely incredible with numerous near falls, technical sequences, hard hitting power moves until finally ending the match with Davey dropping to his knees in a sunset flip attempt and hooking Bret’s legs for the 3 count to one of the biggest pops in history. Bret vs The Bulldog was largely responsible for drawing the 80,000 that came to see the show and they gave them something fans still talk about to this day. Bret proved on this day that he could carry a main event and have a PPV built around his matches. This match is a testament to just how great Bret Hart is, the match could have been a disaster but Bret didn’t panic or get mad, he just focused on doing what needed to be done to deliver a great main event. They don’t call him the Excellence of Execution for nothing.
Despite losing, Bret became even more popular due to how great the match was as it was easy to see the greatness in his performance. The European tour after SummerSlam 1992 saw more of the same reactions for Bret as fans hounded the tour bus and went crazy for his matches, with the amount of girls that supported the Hitman he should have been all over those Teen beat magazines. During this tour, Bret worked a lot with Ric Flair who was now the Champion having a great match every night. This would lead into the biggest opportunity Bret had received to that point in his career, a chance to be the WWF Champion. 14 years after having his first match in Saskatoon, Bret would defeat Ric Flair in the same city to become the WWF Champion for the first time. Bret cut a great promo after he finally won the WWF Title:
MEAN GENE: Bret Hart, you were born for this moment. You were born for this day.
BRET HART: Ya know Gene, I can’t tell you right now how proud I am of thus moment. This is the greatest moment of my whole life. I dedicate this moment to the people that believe the biggest dreams can still come true!
MEAN GENE: You know Bret Hart I could not agree with you more. I know about your work ethic because I‘ve watched you personally for your entire career. And I can’t help but believe Bret Hart, that this World Wrestling Federation Title in your hands at this time is the result of determination, it’s the result of perseverance, you’ve paid your dues I’ve seen you the last 8 years in the trenches here in the World Wrestling Federation. And finally this instant, this moment, all of those dreams and all of that hard work has paid off and of course your wishes, your dreams have now come to fruition.
BRET HART: Ya know Gene, since I was this tall I’ve been involved in wrestling, my whole family has been involved in wrestling, I’ve dedicated my whole life to wrestling. My father has taught me, he took me on the mat, he’s made me scream and he’s made me feel the pain and I’ve listened and I’ve learned, I’ve thought about it and dedicated my life to technical wrestling, to learn wrestling and following up on all those last details. The endurance, the strength, that wrestling ability and never, ever thinking that I knew it all bc you never know it all. I’ve had my share of wins, I’ve had my shares of losses but you wait your whole lifetime for one chance, just one single chance and I got that chance. And I gotta thank, I gotta thank every single wrestler that I’ve wrestled against, I’ve wrestled the greatest wrestlers in the world and I’ve learned, I’ve learned so much and I gotta thank every single one of em. And one in particular that I wanna thank is Ric Flair! I wanna thank Ric flair for stepping in the ring with me tonight and givin me that chance. I wanna thank each and every one of my fans around the world for supporting me all these years. I wanna thank all my friends that have backed me up through the thick and the thin. And most of all I wanna thank my family, they’ve been with me from the very beginning since I was just a little baby. And I wanna thank God above, God almighty thank you for the greatest moment of my entire life! I’m proud to be the WWF Champion!
A hero’s promo, great stuff. Bret/Flair had a great match but for some reason it never aired on TV but the fans didn’t care that they never saw it, Bret was the Champion and he was OUR Champion. The selling point for Bret would be that he was a fighting Champion and would give anyone that deserved it a Title opportunity. He proved that by having Title matches vs The Berzerker, Nailz, Papa Shango, Rick Martel, Virgil, The Mountie, Kamala, Fatu, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Lex Luger. The first PPV Title defense for Bret was vs Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1992 and they delivered a great match in the main event, a sign of things to come. Next up for Bret was Razor Ramon who had made quite an impact in a short time debuting 8 months prior and already being in line for a PPV Title Shot. Leading up to the Royal Rumble, they had one of my favourite back n forth promos of all time:
“Bret: You know Raymond, you know what everyone says to me over and over and over, they always say, people’s champion.
*Razor appears on the video wall*
Razor: Yo. Yo. Hitmang. Shut up! Shut up chico.
Bret: What do you want, what is this?
Razor: Oh, Bret Hart. The people’s choice.
Bret: That’s right brother.
Razor: The working man’s champion. 8 and a half years in the WWF. 2 times, the Tag Team Champion.
Bret: That’s right. What are you hiding behind a rock somewhere, why don’t you come out here.
Razor: Shut up chico. 2 times, the Intercontinental Champion. And now, you climb your way to the very, very top. You the main mang.
Bret: that’s right brother.
Razor: You the WWF Champion. Well say hello to the bad guy! Hey chico, squashing, your baby brother, like a cockaroach, that was fun mang. And chico, if I see your Daddy, walking the street, I may slap his face too. Because Razor Ramon, takes whatever he wants.
Bret: Hey let me tell you something Razor Ramon…
Razor: Callate chico! Razor Ramon takes whatever he wants. And Hitmang, I. Want. You!
Bret: You want me?
Razor: I want you.
Bret: You want a piece of me so bad, you think you’re so tough. Why don’t we come out here right now, come out from behind your rock, LET’S DO IT BROTHER!
Razor: You want me? I’ll slap you face you punk.
Bret: We don’t need to wait for the Royal Rumble, we can step out right now, right in that ring and finish this thing!
Razor: I’ll slap your face you punk.
Bret: LET’S DO IT! COME ON! YOU’RE GUTLESS! WHERE’S YOUR GUTS!?
Razor: Oyeme chico, oyeme. Listen to me! Nobody! Tells Razor Ramon what to do. Nobody! Tells Razor Ramon when to do it. You want to fight Razor Ramon!? YOU GO IT! Este Domingo chico, This Sunday! Royal Rumble. And chico, you look at me you punk! There is nothing your fans can do. There is nothing, tu familia, your family can do. And Hitmang, Hitmang, there is nothing *you* can do, to stop, Razor Ramon from taking your precious gold. Hahaha
Bret: Let me tell you something Razor Ramon, the name’s not chico, the name’s Hitman. And i take pride, I take pride in being the World Wrestling Federation Champion, and this Sunday at the Royal Rumble, were allllll gonna take pride, when I kick your butt!!”
Great stuff that had me JACKED to watch Bret beat Razor. We watched Royal Rumble 1993 at a friend of my Dad’s who always taped the shows and he gave us the tape to keep so my and my brother watched the 93 Rumble so many times. The tape also had the 30 min pre-show with all the feud builds so we knew this promo word for word. I was concerned but confident that Bret would beat Razor and really enjoyed the great match they had. Bret won with the Sharpshooter so my focus turned to the Royal Rumble to see who Bret’s next challenger would be. The Undertaker was one of the biggest threats, I was a fan of his but not as big as Bret so I was slightly relieved when he was eliminated by Giant Gonzales. The next threat was the 400+ pound Yokozuna so I was very concerned when he walked out at #27. I was desperately hoping the wrestlers would team up to eliminate him but Yoko survived and won the Royal Rumble. I was really pissed at Macho Man for being an idiot and going for the pin, how incredible would a Bret Hart vs Randy Savage main event have been at WrestleMania IX. Beating Randy Savage a WM 9 and then Hogan at SummerSlam 1993 could have brought on another wrestling boom with Bret Hart leading the charge with realistic, athletic action but unfortunately building up Bret Hart was not the priority.
The schedule that WWF ran during Bret’s career was insane but Jan 1993 was especially crazy to the point that WWF Magazine published the schedule under the heading ‘Killer Kalendar’ and that’s def what it was if you were a wrestler that worked matches like Bret did. Now they had a new TV Show called RAW to create content for putting an even heavier workload on the talent. WrestleMania IX was not a good night for Bret or his fans. Bret did what he could to get a good match out of Yoko but an exhausted Yoko shortchanged Bret’s comeback and went home early hurting the match and the perception of Bret. The match was good for what it was but I was crushed when Yoko pinned Bret after Fuji threw salt in his eyes. Considering Hogan has been my favourite wrestler, I got excited when he came out and won the title. As a kid, there could have been no bigger dream match than Bret Hart vs Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title and I was sure it was going to happen. But as we would learn from Bret’s book, Hogan wasn’t in the business of getting other guys over especially at his expense. Despite plans being made for Bret vs Hogan at SummerSlam 1993, Hogan put the kibosh on them and dropped the belt to Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993 before leaving the company for WCW. Hogan had promised to return the favour for Bret but went back on his word, something that really hurts the overall legacy of the Hulkster.
As disappointed Bret was to lose the title, he was determined to show everyone just what they were missing out on. Up next after WrestleMania was the first ever King of the Ring PPV which would require the winner to wrestle 3 matches in 1 night to win the crown, nobody was more suited for that format than the Excellence of Execution. Bret was scheduled to win and in the first round had another great match vs Razor Ramon that might have been better than their Royal Rumble match. The 2nd round gave us another classic vs Mr Perfect who had returned from his severe back injury, the chemistry Bret and Perfect had in the ring was off the charts. The finals of the tournament saw Bret defeat Bam Bam Bigelow in an awesome match to become the King of the Ring. 3 great matches in one night yet every match was different than the others, that’s why Bret is the greatest. The win was tainted a bit since Bam Bam initially pinned Bret after his manager Luna Vachon hit Bret with a chair but the match was restarted and Bret won. There wasn’t much time to celebrate as Bret was attacked after the finals by Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler who had recently signed with the WWF. Bret took a good beating from Lawler including having the throne picked up and slammed onto him which looked like it really hurt and according to Bret’s book, it did.
So instead of Bret Hart vs Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam 1993, we got Bret vs Jerry Lawler. Not trying to slight Jerry Lawler, he could draw money like nobody else on the microphone and his work in the ring was more than solid. But as a kid I was really disappointed that Bret was feuding with Lawler. Lawler faked a knee injury so Bret worked with Doink first at SummerSlam beating him with the Sharpshooter but Lawler attacked Bret revealing his knee injury wasn’t real. Jack Tunney forced Lawler to wrestle Bret immediately and Bret dished out some payback for the stiff beating Lawler gave him at King of the Ring. But bc Bret wouldn’t release the Sharpshooter after a legit 2 or 3 minutes, he was DQ’d giving Lawler the win. That annoyed me but I def enjoyed the beating and both matches were actually damn good. But it was clear Bret wasn’t being thought of as a top guy at the time being used to put over Lex luger, Yokozuna and even Mr. Hughes! on house shows. This led Bret to consider going to WCW but they were still years away from the big nWo angle that made it worth going to so Bret was leaning more to taking a year off and seeing if there was anything for him in Hollywood. After losing Hogan and wrestling as a whole cooling off, Vince could not afford to lose Bret who was his biggest draw. I understand Vince trying to create other draws in Lex Luger but he should have realized what he had in Bret and gave him a “Hogan” push. Bret wasn’t a guy that took all the glory in his matches, he always made his opponents look good so working with Bret on top could have created a lot more stars.
Bret’s frustration over his direction had got to the point where he was considering leaving the WWF and actually gave notice to the office which got Bret a new contract more favourable to him and one of the best storylines he was ever a part of. Vince pitched a storyline of Bret working with his brother Bruce in a brother vs brother feud that would lead to a big match at WrestleMania 10. Bret liked the idea but fought for the brother he worked with to be Owen instead of Bruce which Vince agreed to. Pretty cool to know that Bret fought for Owen to get the biggest break of his career. The angle would start at Survivor Series 1993 in a match pitting The Hart Brothers consisting of Bret, Owen, Bruce and Keith vs Jerry Lawler and his 3 masked knights. Shawn Michaels ended up replacing Lawler in the match after Lawler got into legal trouble and had to be removed. Great story from Bret’s book about trying to put the match together to make Owen shine but Bruce was all about making himself shine and kept ignoring Bret’s input on the match until finally Shawn spoke up and said, ‘If my brother was World Champion and the best in the business I Think I’d shut the fuck up and listen to him.’ Lol The beginning of the feud started when Bret was on the apron staggering back to their corner when Owen accidentally collided with him sending Bret into the guardrail and Owen was rolled up and pinned. Owen was furious and berated Bret before returning to the locker room. The Hart Brothers finally won the match with Owen being the only brother that was eliminated. Owen returned from the locker room seemingly to celebrate but he was still pissed off about being the only brother eliminated and blamed Bret for it so Owen yanked Bret off the ropes and continued berating him. Nothing the brothers could say calmed Owen down and the show went off the air with turmoil between the brothers.
In the weeks after, Owen started challenging Bret to a match but Bret refused saying he would never wrestle his own brother. Owen and Bret seemed to bury the hatchet and make things right as we got closer to the 1994 Royal Rumble and they were scheduled for a Tag Team Title match vs the Quebecers. In the match, Bret’s knee was being worked over pretty good but it seemed like we were gonna see the Hart boys become the new Tag Champs. Then the pivotal moment came when Bret had a chance to tag a fresh Owen but instead tried to lock in the Sharpshooter. Bret’s knee gave out while he was applying it and Earl Hebner called for the bell deeming Bret’s knee too injured to continue giving the match to the Quebecers. Owen was beyond furious that Bret could have tagged him but didn’t and delivered a hard kick to Bret’s injured knee as he was struggling to his feet. In a post-match interview, Owen was angrily calling Bret selfish for wanting the spotlight for himself and not tagging him in. Owen flubbed a line during the promo which definitely didn’t help his reputation with the people that thought he wasn’t ‘main event’ material but despite that the feud was running hot and about to get hotter. Later on during the actual Royal Rumble match, Bret would enter while limping badly on the knee Owen kicked. Despite the injury making him a long shot, Bret was one of the final 2 participants with Lex Luger. After a brief back n forth exchange, both Bret and Lex went over the top rope and hit the floor at the exact same time. Yet another testament to how great Bret was as this spot was totally controlled by Bret who had a firm grip on the top rope to make sure they would both hit at the same time. Even though there wasn’t a definitive camera angle of their feet hitting the floor, you could tell on other shots that they hit at the same time making history with 2 winners of the Royal Rumble. But when the refs would raise the arm of each guy, it was easy to see the fans saw The Hitman as the winner.
Before WrestleMania, the WWF would embark on another overseas tour of Austria, Germany and Israel where we once again saw why Bret is a legitimate worldwide draw. Bret’s book paints a perfect picture of the tour with fans constantly chanting his name and banging on the tour bus trying to get a moment with the Hitman. He was already ridiculously over in Germany but his star had risen even higher by this tour with the fans reaching a fever pitch and promoters always having a chilled bottle of wine and/or champagne ready for Bret at the shows. The tour of Israel was filled with adoring fans and large groups of school children rushing to meet their hero. Must have been so surreal to see what an impact you have made on people that far removed from North America. Experiences like this are why Bret was always so serious about protecting his character, he was a legitimate hero to millions of people around the world and that was not something to just take lightly. Wrestling is pre-determined but people saw Bret as a real hero so it was his responsibility to be real despite what anyone else thought of him taking things too seriously.
To deal with the fact that both Bret and Lex had claims to a title shot at WrestleMania, President Jack Tunney declared that both Bret and the WWF Champion would wrestle twice at WrestleMania X to make things fair. Bret would wrestle Owen while Lex Luger wrestled Yokozuna for the WWF Title, the winner of Lex/Yoko would wrestle Bret in the main event guaranteeing both men in the main event wrestled twice. This would be arguably the greatest night of Bret’s career. Leading to the show, Bret and Owen cut some great, realistic promos that perfectly tee’d up their brother vs brother match. In the opening match, Bret and Owen put on one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history, an absolute classic that more than holds up today. So interesting to hear that they had a completely different match originally planned that showcased Owen’s athleticism and flashy ability but they realized it might make Owen get cheered when he had a chance to be a really despised heel. So they changed the match to be built around Owen using heel tactics to gain the advantage instead of crazy, impressive moves. They made the right call but I wish we could have got to see the other match too bc Owen was so good it would have been magic to watch. We got some beautiful chain wrestling mixed with high flying moves and hard hitting shots as you could tell the brothers weren’t holding back, esp on some of those slaps lol I loved Owen almost throwing a tantrum, screaming ‘GET HIM OFF’ when Bret got the advantage in an exchange and held on a little longer than Owen wanted. Exactly how a little brother would act. Owen was great constantly pulling hair and tights while Bret tried to stay within the rules. I wanted Bret to win so bad but watching his matches I always had serious anxiety that something would happen to injure Bret’s knee giving the heel a chance to get the win.
Sure enough, Bret tried to vault himself over the top rope to the outside to land on Owen but on the landing hurt his knee and I was worried. Owen locked in a viscous camel clutch even pulling Bret’s hair that can only be appreciated if you have ever let your brother/friend put one on you lol after Bret got out of it Owen was able to put the Sharpshooter on Bret who was able to reverse it but only had it on for a few seconds before Owen reached the ropes. The end came when Owen charged Bret in the corner but Bret got a foot up into Owen’s face. Bret got onto Owen’s shoulders and tried to rol through for a victory roll the same move that won him the King of the Ring but Owen stopped the roll and dropped his knees onto Bret’s shoulders for the 3 count. The crowd in MSG was stunned and watching at home I could not believe that Bret had lost but it was the right call, it gave Owen a big win to vault himself out of Bret’s shadow while not hurting Bret’s stock. A hilarious moment came when Owen walked over to a stunned Bret on the mat and gave him the finger LOL Bret was still scheduled for a title match in the main event and the match vs Owen was so great that both men shined bright. A 5 star match if there ever was one. The greatness of this match continues to grow the further we get from it and that style of wrestling. The win for Owen was the perfect fuel for his bratty, little brother persona esp with what was to come in the main event.
Yokozuna defeated Lex Luger in controversial fashion so the main event was set as Yoko vs The Hitman. Bret lost in the opener and walked into the WWF Title match on a bad knee so I was extremely concerned watching but had faith Bret could get it done. Relatively short match but it was good for what it was. The finish came when Yokozuna had Bret in position for the Banzai Drop but lost his balance and fell off the turnbuckle as Bret moved out of the way and covered him as special Ref Roddy Piper made the 3 count becoming WWF Champion for the 2nd time. As a kid I was both extremely excited but also disappointed that Bret basically won by fluke but the disappointment was bigger down the road as I re-watched the match and had a chance to analyze it. In the moment I was just so excited that Bret was back on top of the mountain. Burt Reynolds was the special guest ring announcer for the match and really had to fight to be heard over the roar of the crowd after Bret won. Burt even got in the ring after the match and looked genuinely excited and proud of what Bret had just accomplished giving him a big hug. It got even better when all the babyface wrestlers like Macho Man Randy Savage, Lex Luger, Razor Ramon, 123 Kid, Bob Holly, Gorilla Monsoon, etc.. came out and lifted Bret on their shoulders while he held the WWF Title high in the air. Owen came out but stayed in the aisle with his arms crossed shaking his head as Randy Savage invited him in the ring. The camera caught Owen mouthing ‘what a bum’ at Bret lol Even Vince McMahon, who told Bret 15 years earlier that he didn’t have a big enough name to work MSG, left commentary to enter the ring and celebrate with Bret. Moments like that don’t happen for everyone and are extremely special. If Bret wasn’t a top guy already, this cemented his place at the top. To win the WWF Title in the main event of WrestleMania at the Worlds Most Famous Arena Madison Square Garden and have all your peers lift you onto their shoulders to celebrate, just doesn’t get better than that. Despite the loss in the opener, Bret had an all time great match vs Owen and an epic WWF Title win in the main event so I think this was probably Bret’s greatest night in wrestling. The next night on RAW he cut a great promo to kick off his second WWF Title reign:
VINCE MCMAHON: An unbelievable afternoon, WrestleMania X Bret Hart. And you might say that fate was on your side. Everyone will remember this huge 558 pound WWF Champion Yokozuna who had you in the corner, who was gonna Banzai drop and as fate would have it lost his balance on the rope. And then from there, there was only 1 thing left to do and that was for you to pin Yokozuna!
BRET HART: Took me a long time, and I know I didn’t start out on the greatest footing yesterday afternoon, but it doesn’t look like I disappointed too many of my fans. Now that I’m back on top as the World Wrestling Federation Champion, I just wanna say that I gonna take off right where I left off before. I’m gonna take on ALL challenges, I don’t care who it is they’ll all get their shot at the championship belt. And that means Yokozuna, I know you want your rematch, you’ll get your rematch. And that goes for every single top challenger in the World Wrestling Federation.
VINCE MCMAHON: There’s no question Bret that you will be what you have been, the fightingest WWF Champion ever. However, let’s take you back to WrestleMania. And let’s talk about the WrestleMania moment that I’m sure you will never forget notwithstanding your victory. There was also a defeat, but prior to that defeat there was a Sharpshooter applied. And I guess there is a counter, there is a reversal, there was another Sharpshooter applied. And then from there, as you perhaps attempted the Victory Roll, your brother Owen the Rocket defeated YOU!
BRET HART: I’ll just say in response to what happened with my brother Owen, that I don’t need any excuses, I did the best I could with my brother Owen. It was 1 match, that’s all it was. He won 1 match and he won that match fair and square. Owen, all the power to ya but ya know, things are just a little bit different now. I’m the World Wrestling Federation Champion! Owen, sometimes you can’t always just get what ya want but I’ll tell ya what, sometimes you just get what ya need, that’s all. *holds up WWF Title*
VINCE MCMAHON: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE NEW WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPION, HE IS THE HITMAN BRET HART!!
Another overseas tour awaited Bret after his big win and the reactions were even bigger than previous trips. 1 little boy in Israel stood out as like me, he tried his best to dress up to look like Bret and carried a sign that read ‘HITMAN NEW REL WORLD SIMPION.’ Unlike some other top stars, Bret took the time to give this boy his moment with the Hitman, Bret was his hero and he rode his bike alongside the tour bus as long as he could. Stories like this and the scenes of crazy fans all around the world are what separates Bret from others in the conversation of the greatest wrestler of all time. Bret worked with Owen every show on the tour and their matches just kept getting better which is hard to believe considering how great their WM X match was but all accounts corroborate it. Wish I could watch every single match, Bret and Owen were magic in that ring. Reading Bret’s book, I absolutely loved hearing about them getting to spend quality time with each other overseas and in places like Hawaii eating fried chicken and drinking cold beer. Their matches headlining the house shows were bringing in the best business for the WWF since the height of Hulkamania and Bret was bigger than ever in Germany having to shut down major streets in Berlin to deal with the crowds for an autograph signing. Must have been amazing to see posters advertising Bret vs Owen main events right outside the Colosseum in Rome where Gladiators fought for real.
Bret’s 2nd title reign was also defined by being a fighting champion facing a wide variety of personalities like Kwang, Randy Savage, Bam Bam Bigelow, Bob Backlund, Jim Neidhart, 123 Kid and of course Owen. Bret had a a really great match vs the 123 Kid that holds up as the best match of Sean Waltman’s career which says something considering how great a worker he was. Bret vs Owen headlined the majority of the house shows during Bret’s reign and the even had a couple 60 min Iron Man matches which by all accounts were absolutely amazing to watch. Next up on PPV for Bret was a champion vs champion match at King of the Ring 1994 with the new Intercontinental Champion Diesel. Kevin Nash is a great worker for a big man but in 1994 as Diesel he was still finding his groove and relied heavily on Bret to make sure they would have a great match. Bret vs Diesel was the first of 3 big matches vs each other and it wasn’t my favourite but it’s still a really good match. I was just soured on it bc Bret technically lost by DQ. Even as a kid I was focused on Bret not only winning but looking strong so back to back finishes vs Yoko and Diesel that didn’t make Bret look the best had me pretty frustrated. Jim Neidhart made his return to back up Bret to counter Shawn Michaels being out there with Diesel and caused the DQ when he attacked Diesel after Bret was hit with the Jack Knife power bomb finish. Later in the night, Owen was in the finals of the King of the Ring vs Razor Ramon and we saw Jim Neidhart show up to attack Razor costing him the match and helping Owen become King of the Ring. Fans quickly realized that the Anvil was only helping Bret so that Owen could eventually win the title from him. This set up the big match at SummerSlam 1994, Bret vs Owen inside a steel cage.
The WWF was taking major heat from the steroid trial, injury lawsuits and groups focusing on the violent content which would handcuff Bret and Owen on what kind of steel cage match they could put on. The option of having a bloody, brutal match was out of the question so they had to build it around the escapes and drama of who would walk out with the Title. I’ve seen criticisms of the match about how quickly and often Bret and Owen tried to escape the cage but it made sense in the context of the feud. Their rivalry wasn’t about beating each other to a bloody pulp, it was about who was better. Bret won King of the Ring so Owen won it the next year. Owen beat Bret in their first match but later that night Bret became WWF Champion so Owen’s goal was to win the WWF Title any way he could. Bret never even wanted to wrestle Owen nevermind hurt him so the cage match focusing on each guy trying to escape to win made perfect sense. The match itself may not be the best cage match ever but it’s a 5 star match and probably the best cage match without blood. The big spot in the match was Bret superplexing Owen off the top of the cage, Owen had to put complete trust in Bret to execute the move safely and Bret made sure it came off flawlessly. Given how Owen’s life ended, it’s emotional watching the match and seeing that spot knowing the trust between brothers. At one point Owen had completely let go of the cage and was trying to drop down while Bret had him only by the hair, at the time I was on the edge of my seat hoping Bret would hold on but in hindsight I wish he had slipped and Owen won the match. Owen deserved to be WWF Champion and knowing what was coming in the rest of the year, it would have been so much better for Owen to win here but it did finally give Bret a definitive win during his 2nd reign. After the match Owen and Neidhart attacked Bret before he was finally saved by the British Bulldog. I was hoping this would lead to matches between the 4 but it didn’t really go anywhere other than some tag matches on an overseas tour.
After SummerSlam the next big PPV would be Survivor Series where Bret would defend his WWF Title against Bob Backlund who had just turned heel attacking Bret after spending his entire career as a babyface. As a kid I was not interested in this feud or Bob Backlund at all so I was just waiting for Bret to mow through him onto the next challenger. What a shocker it was to learn that Backlund had defeated Bret at Survivor Series, I couldn’t believe it and felt a similar energy to the Hart Foundation losing to the Nasty Boys. They had come up with a great angle for the finish, Owen and the Bulldog were in Backlund and Bret’s corners respectively with the responsibility of throwing in the towel to end the match. Bret had Backlund locked in the sharpshooter but Owen was able to break it up while the ref was distracted with the Bulldog. Seeing this, the Bulldog chased Owen around the ring until Owen dropped down and tripped Davey into the steps knocking him out cold. At this point Backlund had snuck up on Bret and sunk in the cross face chicken wing which is a painful hold almost impossible to apply lightly. Backlund had the hold on Bret for a legit few minutes before a tearful Owen begged his mother and father who were at ringside to throw in the towel. Stu refused but Helen couldn’t take it anymore and grabbed the towel throwing it in the ring, ending the match and Bret’s title reign. Owen immediately turned off the tears and jumped around excitedly after his plan worked to perfection. I wanted Bret to go down as 1 of the greatest champions ever and to have a long reign so to say I was pissed was an understatement.
Backlund was not meant to be a long term champion, he only won the belt so Vince could get the title on Diesel who he saw as the next big star. Despite the houses Bret was drawing around the world, the merchandise he was moving and the great matches he was having with everyone on the roster, Vince still for some reason was always looking for someone else other than Bret to be ‘the Guy.’ I wish that they had given Owen the title instead of Backlund. Obviously it would have been awful for Owen to win it then drop it 3 days later in a total squash but Owen deserved to have that accolade on his resume. Bret was off ‘injured’ until Royal Rumble 1995 where he had a match vs Diesel for the WWF Title. Diesel had turned babyface the night he won the title and had not been in the WWF long enough to build a loyal fanbase so he was having trouble getting off the ground carrying the company as champion. The fans universally loved Bret so this easily could have been a disaster of a night for Big Daddy Cool but Bret is a true professional and designed the match to try and get the fans on Diesel’s side. Bret stayed as the aggressor throughout the match almost taking things too far at times creating sympathy for Diesel which is crucial for a babyface to get over and not always easy to get for bigger guys. It would have been easy for Bret to play it the other way and have the fans booing Diesel out of the beginning ruining his title run before it got started. I wasn’t a very big fan of the match as a big Hitman fan and someone that preferred cleaner finishes so the no-contest ending was kind of blah to me. But I did have more interest in supporting Diesel after seeing the mutual respect between him and Bret so the match accomplished what it needed to do.
Next up was probably the worst match of Bret’s career, an I Quit match vs Bob Backlund at WrestleMania XI with Roddy Piper as the ref. On paper you would think it would be great but the match was a complete disaster. Piper constantly asking ‘Whaddya Say’ was more comical than serious and Backlund was not at his best this night but Bret also was not able to get anything going. Coming into the show I was extremely disappointed this was Bret’s match for WrestleMania and afterwards I never wanted to see Bob Backlund wrestle again. In the main event, Shawn Michaels did the exact opposite of what Bret did at the Royal Rumble, Shawn wrestled the match to his benefit and the crowd started to turn on Diesel so they turned Shawn babyface making him direct competition for Bret. It was around this time that ‘The Kliq-Shawn/Diesel/Razor/HHH/123 Kid’ started to come together even asking Bret to join them but Bret was a lone wolf and always one of the boys. Wrestlers were starting to get annoyed at the influence the Kliq was having working all the big matches against each other while making life hard for anyone they didn’t like. If you look at Bret Hart’s 1995, the rise of the Kliq was not kind to him.
Next up after WrestleMania was the first In Your House PPV where Bret would wrestle 2 times, first against Hakushi and then against Jerry Lawler. I always wanted Bret in the title picture but was excited to see the newcomer Hakushi face Bret and they delivered an awesome match. They would have an even better match on RAW in the summer, Bret and Hakushi def had chemistry in the ring. In the match vs Lawler, Hakushi costs Bret the match giving Lawler the win which def annoyed me. For a feud I didn’t want to see, Bret/Lawler always made you enjoy the stuff they did but the matches they had in Memphis were the best bc Lawler was free to do more. This led to a Kiss My Foot match between Bret/Lawler at King of the Ring 1995. The vignettes of Lawler trying to get his feet ridiculously dirty were fun but I wanted more for Bret and was happy it was over with after Bret defeated him. But it wasn’t quite done as SummerSlam 1995 saw Lawler bringing his evil dentist Issac Yankem to the WWF to face Bret Hart. Issac Yankem is Glen Jacobs who would go on to become a legend as Kane, he held his own here and Bret did his best to carry him but the match was just ok. Bret technically won by DQ but the DQ was bc Yankem wouldn’t stop choking Bret in the ropes so Bret didn’t get a decisive win or come out looking very strong. Thankfully it pretty much just ended there and we didn’t get another match between them.
Bret would go from 1 cartoony feud to another when he was set to work with Jean-Pierre Lafitte who was working a pirate gimmick. Lafitte stole Bret’s ring jacket to start the feud…yeah. It actually led to a really good match at In Your House 3 but it was not making the best use of Bret’s talent and popularity. In Your House 4 was in Winnipeg and the first PPV I attended so of course Bret wasn’t scheduled for a match on the show, only doing commentary for the main event. Bret did wrestle Issac Yankem in a dark match but I was expecting more. Before Survivor Series, 1 of the only good things about Bret’s 1995 was his role on the TV series Lonesome Dove. The show was actually pretty good and Bret did a great job playing his character. Survivor Series 1995 would see Bret Hart face Diesel for the WWF Title in a really great, physical match. This match gave us the first table spot in the WWF when Diesel shoved Bret off the apron and he crashed through the announcers table. This was before guys would clear the table to get it ready so when Bret crashed through he was covered in TV monitors and equipment, it was an awesome visual and looked devastating. Diesel dragged Bret in the ring and was ready to deliver his jack knife power bomb but Bret kept collapsing and Diesel looked to have some compassion for Bret. But Bret used one last burst of energy to jump up and catch Diesel in a small package to get the 3 count and win the WWF Title for a 3rd time. Great finish to an awesome match, might be the best of Kevin Nash’s career and is one of Bret’s best for sure. After the match a pissed off Diesel hit 3 jack knife powerbombs on Bret and Bret was legit hurting since Diesel didn’t do much to protect Bret. Diesel also yelled down at Bret, ‘remember who did you the fuckin favour.’ This stuff is why people didn’t like the Kliq.
Even though Bret was now the Champion he was still treated as an after thought as Diesel made the win seem like a fluke in interviews and the focus of the shows turned to building up Shawn Michaels as the next top star. Bret had a title defense against the British Bulldog at In Your House 5 that received little to no build on TV but they still put on an awesome, bloody match. I remember thinking that Bret took a nasty fall into the steps and was cut the hard way but after reading Bret’s book you learn that Bret bladed knowing the match needed it and he was right. He was so good that nobody was the wiser about the blade. Bret was still the WWF Champion heading into 1996 and I was happy to see 1995 In the rear view mirror. First up for Bret in 1996 was a match vs The Undertaker at the Royal Rumble but it would be more of the same from 1995. They had a damn good match but the finish saw Bret lose by DQ after Taker had Tombstoned Bret but Diesel pulled the ref out of the ring before the 3 count. The focus was on Taker/Diesel while Bret, the WWF Champion was in the background. It was the same scene at the Feb In Your House PPV where Bret faced Diesel in a Steel Cage match. Diesel had the match won when Undertaker came up through the ring and pulled Diesel down allowing Bret to win the match. So for the 2nd PPV in a row, the focus was on Taker/Diesel while Bret looked weak in the background. I believe this is where a famous story took place of Bret speaking up for himself as Taker/Diesel were putting the match together and Taker responded, ‘motherfucker it’s not all about you.” I always found that story ridiculous bc Bret was the WWF Champion and the focus always goes on the Champion. You wouldn’t have said that to Harkey Race. It should have been a priority to keep the champion looking strong but it clearly wasn’t.
I was def disappointed with how Bret’s 3rd reign was going but the excitement kicked up when I realized 2 of my favourite wrestlers were going to wrestle in the main event of WrestleMania XII. Leading up to the match, Roddy Piper the acting commissioner of the WWF declared that it would be an Iron Man Match. There could be multiple falls and whoever had the most at the end would be the WWF Champion. I was excited at the prospect of seeing the of the best work for an hour straight. The vignettes leading up to the show featuring Bret and Shawn working out were being designed to make Shawn look better than Bret. Shawn was doing Rocky-like workouts while Bret was running gingerly on ice and swimming in his pool. Not exactly the best look for Bret but when it came time for the match, Bret would prove there was no problem hanging with Shawn. The Iron Man Match was an incredible display of pure wrestling and one of the greatest matches of all time. 2 spots that stand out for me are Shawn almost decapitating the timekeeper with a Superkick, such a brutal shot. The other was Shawn charging Bret in the corner and Bret backdrops Shawn over the corner to the outside, I thought that was so crazy at the time. The match gets criticized for having no falls during the 60 min time limit but it perfectly built the drama and once you realized that it was getting close to 60 min and that the next fall would probably win it, those last 10 min are so exciting. Watching live I was going out of my mind wondering who was gonna come out the winner. You were waiting for 1 guy to make a big mistake and Shawn finally did in the last minute going for a dropkick off the ropes but Bret caught his legs and locked in the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring. Time expired with Shawn in the Sharpshooter but he didn’t submit. Gorilla Monsoon restarted the match under sudden death overtime rules, the next fall would win the match. Bret tried to go back on the offensive but his anger over having to compete in overtime caused him to walk right into a Shawn Michaels Superkick. It wasn’t enough to finish as Shawn was still hurting from the Sharpshooter and Bret even got to his feet before Shawn. But Bret was out of it and walked right into a 2nd Superkick that got the 3 count giving Shawn his first WWF Title win.
Unbelievably great match, if you love wrestling then you love this match. After the match you can see Shawn telling Earl Hebner to ‘get him the fuck outta my ring.’ I was pissed off about this for years until Bret revealed in his book and on a DVD that it was all planned to build to a return match so they def got me lol Bret looked legitimately pissed off leaving the ring even tossing a Canadian flag aside that someone put on him, he really was a great actor. After WrestleMania Bret was scheduled to take a 6 month break from the WWF to film a full season of Lonesome Dove but it was unfortunately cancelled. But after 12 years in the WWF working a brutal schedule and how he had been treated in the last year+, Bret decided to take the break anyways. It wasn’t a full break, Vince still needed Bret to work the overseas tours bc he was such a big global draw. You would think that would make Vince appreciate Bret more but it didn’t. On these tours after WrestleMania XII, Bret finally got the chance to work with Steve Austin, a guy he told Vince to sign years ago. This cemented to Bret that when he came back to the WWF full time, he had to work a program with Steve Austin.
During his 6 months off, Bret was connected with WCW President Eric Bischoff who made him an unbelievable offer of 2.8 Million a year for 3 years to come to WCW. Bret never wanted to leave the WWF but an offer like that was unbelievable money and there was no way Vince could match it. The mid-90’s were far removed from the glory days of the 80’s and the WWF was closer to bankruptcy than they were to financial security especially with WCW surging in popularity. The last thing Vince could afford was to lose a guy like Bret Hart. Vince couldn’t match the WCW offer but countered with a 20 year contract that would pay Bret 1.5 Million a year for 3 years and then the rest would be spread out over 17 years as Bret transitioned into a backstage agent type role and eventually a Babe Ruth type spokesperson role promoting the WWF product. Bret would have made as much as the 20 year deal was worth in the 3 years WCW was offering but Bret helped build the WWF and it was in his blood. Plus Bret was loyal to a fault. Vince told Bret that WCW would never know what to do with a Bret Hart and he was absolutely 100% correct. Bret accepted the WWF offer and was gearing up to make the last 3 years something special. Vince promoted a segment for RAW where Bret would have an interview and decide whether to stay with the WWF or sign with WCW. Bret announced that he was re-signing with the WWF and challenging the best wrestler in the company, Stone Cold Steve Austin to a match at Survivor Series 1996.
The Bret vs Austin match was an incredible 5 star match. It had brawling, technical wrestling, close near falls, everything you want from a wrestling match. They borrowed the finish from Bret/Piper at WM 8 when Bret kicked off the buckles while Austin had a million dollar dream locked in and pinned his shoulders for the 3 count. This match kicked off one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history. Bret worked another overseas tour after this and his absence hadn’t affected his popularity at all, the shows were sold out and the fans were going as crazy as ever for him. At the December In Your House, Bret had a title match vs Sid who had beat Shawn at Survivor Series and it was a good match that ended when Shawn left commentary and got on the apron to argue with Bret. Sid knocked Bret into Shawn and then Sid hit his powerbomb for the win. This was supposed to be building to a Bret vs Shawn rematch at WrestleMania XIII for the WWF Title. Bret was scheduled to win the 1997 Royal Rumble but Vince Russo went on WWF TV and flat out said Bret was winning so Vince decided to change things up. During the Rumble, Steve Austin was dominating until Bret finally entered and that is a classic moment. Austin acting bored looking at his watch until the Hitman’s music hits and a look of shock and fear comes over his face. Eventually Bret catches Austin off guard and tosses him out of the Rumble but the refs were busy trying to control Mankind and Terry Funk so they didn’t see it. Austin got back into the ring eliminating Vader and the Undertaker then going over to eliminate Bret. This was probably the most angry I have ever been at wrestling, I was so fucking mad I would have strangled Austin with my bare hands lol
When Bret realized that Austin was the “winner” he absolutely lost his shit in one of the greatest acting performances in wrestling history. Bret looks legitimately furious and even the most skeptical wrestling critics had to be questioning whether something went wrong and this situation was real. Bret manhandling the referees was done to perfection although it now makes me chuckle after hearing Jimmy Korderas, one of the referees, was in serious pain bc Bret had a hold of his chest hair through his shirt while shaking him around LOL my anger was made worse by Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler acting like Bret was just being a sore loser when they clearly just saw Austin eliminated only to come back in. Lawler telling Bret to get over it when it just happened 2 seconds ago made me want to strangle him too lol Bret even went over to Vince roughing him up a bit screaming and asking him if he was gonna do something about this. It was a significant moment bc Vince was not acknowledged as the owner of the WWF on TV, he was just presented as a commentator. I wish Bret would have won but if they were going to pull a swerve, that was a great piece of business.
The next night on RAW, Bret showed up in a rage and cut a great promo:
“There’s something I gotta say, there’s something I gotta say to you! *points at Vince McMahon* Ya know when I decided to come back to the World Wrestling Federation, you promised me that I would get an opportunity to fight for the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. You put me in the ring with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and said that if I could beat Stone cold Steve Austin I would be the #1 contender for the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. Don’t you think it’s just a little bit convenient that for some stupid reason, Shawn Michaels finds himself out at ringside announcing in my World Championship match with Psycho Sid. I don’t think it was any kind of coincidence either, so Shawn Michaels jumps up and sticks his nose in my business and costs me the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt with blatant interference. The boy toy cost me the championship, and they go ‘Oh that’s ok, don’t worry about it bc now you can go in the Royal Rumble and you only have to fight 29 other guys. And then! You’ll get your opportunity for the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt.
So I went in the ring, and it’s very, very clear to me that I won the Royal Rumble! And I should be getting a World Wrestling Federation Championship match. Where is my opportunity? The way I look at things right now, I’ve been screwed by Shawn Michaels the boy toy. I’ve been screwed by Stone Cold Steve Austin. I’ve been screwed by the World Wrestling Federation. And I’ve been screwed by YOU! (Vince McMahon) I don’t like to make idle threats, the way I see things, it doesn’t look like I’m gonna get my opportunity for a shot at the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. So I quit…”*Bret leaves through the crowd*
Bret would come back when it was announced that to make up for the controversial ending to the Royal Rumble, there would be a 4 man battle royal between Bret, Steve Austin, Undertaker and Vader. This match was supposed to be to determine who would face Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title at WrestleMania XIII but plans would soon change. The infamous “I lost my smile” promo from Shawn Michaels happened a week before the PPV and Shawn forfeited the title. 1 of the more infuriating moments in wrestling history, Bret had put Shawn over at WrestleMania XII clean in the middle of the ring but when it was time to return the favour, Shawn decided to back out of it. They could have made a lot of money working together at WM 13 and beyond but Shawn was deteriorating as a person thanks to drugs. Such a shame to think about the classic Bret vs Shawn matches we missed out on bc they couldn’t get along. It’s hard to really regret not getting Bret vs Shawn at WM 13 bc instead we got arguably the greatest wrestling match ever between Bret and Steve Austin. I give Bret a lot of credit for being such a professional with Shawn bc after forfeiting the title due to a knee injury, not getting surgery and coming back weeks after to do some athletic moves like backflipping off the top rope landing on his feet in the ring, I might have just beat the shit out of him. But Bret was the ultimate professional and always maintained a respect for the business and the wrestlers in it.
Bret would win that 4 way battle royal to be come WWF Champion for the 4th time and it was actually a great match that is kind of forgotten about these days. It was exciting and hard hitting, Vader even accidentally busted himself open the hard way and was bleeding significantly which added drama to the match. But this title reign was extremely short lived as the next night on RAW, Bret lost the Title to Sid after Austin cost him the match setting up the Bret vs Austin match for WM 13 in a big way. As a fan I was extremely disappointed Bret had such a short reign but was more than ready to see Bret give Steve Austin the ass kicking he deserved. Reading Bret’s book, it is frustrating to hear that the plan was for Bret to put over HHH multiple times including on a European tour leading up to WM 13. Beyond ridiculous considering how over Bret still was overseas and that he should be kept strong to build anticipation for the match vs Austin. The perception of the Kliq has changed to be more positive over the years but in they were an absolute menace. Bret had enough stroke with Vince to keep things under control for the most part but for guys that didn’t, it’s easy to see why they would despise the Kliq.
The week before WM 13, Bret had a cage match against Sid for the WWF Title and just when Bret was about to win the Undertaker slammed the door in his face and Sid ended up winning. As Bret was in the ring pissed about what happened, Vince entered to try and interview him but Bret grabbed the mic and pushed Vince to the mat.
VINCE: Obviously Bret Hart, you’ve gotta be extremely frustrated over what has just happened…
*Bret shoves Vince to the mat*
BRET: Frustrated isn’t the gawddamn word for it…this is BULLSHIT! You screwed me, everybody screws me, nobody does a gawddamn thing about it! Nobody in the building cares! Nobody in the dressing room cares! So much gawddamn injustice around here, I’ve had it up to here! Everybody knows it, I know it, everybody knows it, I should be the World Wrestling Federation Champion. Everybody just keeps turning a blind eye, YOU(points at Vince) keep turning a blind eye to it, I got that Gorilla Monsoon he turns a blind eye to it. Everybody in that gawddamn dressing room knows that I’m the Best There Is, The Best There was and The Best There Ever Will Be!! If you don’t like it, TOUGH SHIT!
AUSTIN(who appears on the titantron): Kiss my ass Bret! All you wanna do anytime you get in the ring is cry like a baby! I tried to come out there and help ya and you threw it all away! Bc you’re a loser! It could have been you and me for the Championship at WrestleMania but you blew the whole damn thing bc you’re a loser! At WrestleMania you will quit! One of these days when it’s you and me for the title, you’re lookin at the next champ and there ain;t nothing you can do about it!
BRET: You know why they call you Stone Cold? Bc your stones are so cold you won’t come out here and step in the ring with me yourself! You always gotta jump me from behind, you don’t got the guts to come out here! COME ON! Everybody knows whether it’s Psycho Sid….*Sid start walking down the ramp* If you think for 1 second that belt belongs to you, you are wrong! That’s my belt! You know it, I know it, everyone in this building knows it!
SID: I don’t know shit! (LOL)
Taker and Austin eventually come out and it’s a big brawl to end the show. Man that interview got me so fired up as a kid bc I was right there with Bret, I was sick of him getting screwed over and seeing nothing done about it. The intensity of his words and the GD’s thrown around were mind blowing to me at the time. I remember in the early days of the internet, I was always searching for entrance themes and found a Bret Hart theme with quotes from this interview mixed in, it was fn awesome. Wish I still had it. I always say that the reason why Bret is given a hard time from some people is bc they know he is the Best There Is, the Best There Was and the Best There Ever Will Be and Bret isn’t afraid to let people know it too. I loved the feud with Austin, there were so many classic exchanges including a great line from Austin, “If you put an ‘S’ in front of Hitman you have my exact opinion of Bret Hart” LOL even as a Bret Hart fan I have to laugh at that one. Another funny one was, “Bret you always talk about being screwed. Well I ain’t bringing a box of condoms but I am bringing a hell of a can of whoop ass!” lol
That brings us to WrestleMania XIII with Bret Hart facing Steve Austin in a submission match. It seemed set up to fail since Bret’s worst match ever was a submission match vs Bob Backlund and Austin didn’t even have a submission finish at the time but they delivered a match beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. This match was absolutely incredible and has a legitimate claim to being called the Greatest Wrestling Match of all time. Just like the title of this piece, Bret Hart vs Steve Austin at WM 13 was as real as it gets. The hard hitting action had you questioning whether they were actually fighting. The intensity was off the charts and they had the crowd in a frenzy through the 20+ minutes. 1 of the underrated things about Bret is his great mind for the business and this match was a testament of that. The plan for the match was to execute a ‘double-turn’ where Bret started as a face and ended as a heel while Austin started as a heel and ended as a face. A very difficult thing to do but they pulled it off to perfection. In Bret’s book, we learn that Bret told Steve Austin the match would require him to bleed in order to create sympathy for himself but they would have to be discreet about it since there was a strict ‘no-blood’ policy in the WWF at the time. Austin had never bladed before so it would be up to Bret to do it for him. It’s extremely dangerous to allow another wrestler to cut you but if anyone could be trusted to do it, it was Bret.
Not only was Bret completely safe in doing it but was able to disguise it so the fans and even Vince who was just feet away had no idea it wasn’t a legitimate cut. Watching the match back it seems like Bret did it with a punch as Austin comes up bloody after a big shot from Bret which is just fn incredible. Bret was 100% correct about his call that the match needed blood bc the shots of a bloody Austin would become some of the most iconic in wrestling history and help ignite 1 of the most profitable periods for the WWF. After an epic war, Bret was ready to end it and locked Austin into the Sharpshooter. A bloody Austin fought and fought almost breaking the hold but Bret was able to hang on and synch it back in but Austin refused to give up. With 1 more attempt to break it, Austin pushed up on his fists and gave it everything he had causing the blood to come pouring down his face, this shot would be what the Attitude Era was built on and a reason why Austin became so popular. The attempt to break the SharpShooter was unsuccessful and Austin passed out in a pool of his own blood cementing himself as the ultimate badass. Bret held the SharpShooter a bit longer and finally let go but to hammer home his turn to heel, went back for more as revenge for all of the verbal and physical abuse. Ken Shamrock the guest ref had enough and grabbed Bret by the waist and lifted him backwards away from Austin. Bret came up with his fist cocked but decided against a confrontation with Shamrock and left the ring as fans bought the heel turn and jeered him all the way to the back. Austin struggled to his feet to the tune of a huge ovation from the crowd. Their plan had worked to perfection, a legendary match was delivered along with the double turn of Bret and Austin. This match and the Tyson confrontation are the 2 biggest catalysts for Austin becoming the mega star he did and I don’t think anyone would argue differently.
RAW the night after WM 13 was historic bc this is where the Bret Hart heel turn really kicked into high gear and got 1 of my fav periods in wrestling started, the Bret Hart vs USA storyline. Bret cut 1 of his best promo’s on this night and had a great exchange with Shawn Michaels.
BRET: First of all I want to apologize. I’d like to apologize to all my fans over in Germany, I’d like to apologize to all my great fans over in Great Britain, actually I’d like to apologize to all my fans all over Europe, all over Japan the far East. I’d like to apologize to my fans in the middle East, as far down as South Africa. And I’d especially like to apologize to all my great fans in Canada. And to you, to all my fans across the United States of America, to you, I apologize for nothing. You know, it seems really strange to me that no matter how much, I try, that when I beat Stone Cold Steve Austin to a bloody pulp, ya know I find myself no matter how much I win, when I walk back to the dressing room, the way you American fans treat me across the United States of America I feel like I lost. You take that gutless creep Stone Cold Steve Austin and you beat him to a bloody pulp, even though he knows and you all know that he lost, you cheer him on the way back to the dressing room like he won! Ya know it didn’t just start right here, lets go back to WrestleMania last year when I was the World Wrestling Federation Champion when that belt was around my waist where it belonged, you cheered on a pretty boy like Shawn Michaels and you allow him to screw me out of the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. I find myself at home watching the WWF on TV in Canada, and saying to myself the World Wrestling Federation needs a hero, they need a role model, someone they can look up to, not somebody that’s got earrings all over himself and tattoos. Not somebody that poses for girlie magazines, and by the way I don’t think it was a girlie magazine I think it was a gay magazine. So I found this calling for myself to come back and set the record straight and clean up the World Wrestling Federation.
So I came back in the Survivor Series, and I beat Stone Cold Steve Austin there and I think I garnered a little respect. So then I found myself stepping in the ring with Psycho Sid, and your hero your pride and joy Shawn Michaels cost me the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt. Nobody cared. Nobody did anything about it, you people didn’t do anything about it. They say, oh don’t worry about you can get in line with 29 other guys and you can go in the Royal Rumble. Being the man that I am, I got no problem fighting 29 other guys, so I went in the Royal Rumble and I won. I was the last legal man standing in the Royal Rumble. And again, everybody just turns their back on it and somehow justify in your minds that Stone Cold Steve Austin won. A bitter man, a bitter man would’ve quit, maybe I should have quit and gone home. I got Gorilla Monsoon and Vince McMahon on their hands and knees beggin me to come back, ‘don’t quit, don’t quit, think of your fans.’ I thought of my fans, so I came back and they come up with this idea for the Final Four, the winner of the Final Four will get a World Wrestling Federation title fight at WrestleMania XIII. Sounds good to me, I accept, I come back. Then all of a sudden, your champion, your hero, Shawn Michaels, life ending career ending knee injury. *pretends to wipe tears*(LOL) and he forfeits the title so he can go home and find his smile. That’s ok. You people think that that’s just fine I see everybody crying in the audience for that. You talk about me crying!? So I go into the Final Four, with the outcome now being whoever wins the Final Four will be the World Wrestling Federation Champion. And who won the Final Four? I did! Right in the middle of the ring I defeated 3 other guys in one night. I defeated Vader, I defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin, and I defeated the Undertaker and became the World Wrestling Federation Champion for a 4th time.
Then they come to me and they go ‘wait a minute, you don’t get to rest even though you fought 3 other guys. Even though you’re beat up and sore, you gotta go in and fight 6 foot 9 Psycho Sid and defend the title.’ Do you think I ran and hid? You think you went and found me forfeiting any titles? NO! I put the title on the line, and I took Psycho Sid and I tied him in a big knot right in the middle of the ring, there he was in the Sharpshooter. After being booed all the way through the match by my American wrestling fans, you somehow justify, only in America can you do this, Stone Cold Steve Austin climbs right up on the ring and whacks me over the back of the head with a chair. Somehow you justify that, that that’s ok, that’s acceptable in America. So I asked, or as he said “I cried,” to Gorilla Monsoon and I asked and I begged and I pleaded, give me Stone Cold Steve Austin, give me a match with this guy that seems to be making my life a miserable hell. So I get Stone Cold Steve Austin to agree to a match, a submission match. And they go ‘oh wait we’ve got some better news for ya. We will give you Psycho Sid in a 15 foot high steel cage match, nobody will be able to interfere in that and you’ll have your shot at the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt bc we respect you.’ Well, in that match, outside interference played a big factor in that match again, and somehow for some reason the Undertaker is out there and he finds himself slamming my head in the door costing me the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt for a 5th time!
So I got 1 thing on my mind, after being screwed over by everybody in the World Wrestling Federation, after being abandoned by all you great fans in the United States of America, I decide I’m gonna go into this submission match with Stone Cold Steve Austin and give him just a little bit of what he deserves, give him a good old fashioned ass whipping. So when I do it, when I actually take that lousy stinking hyena Stone Cold Steve Austin and beat him to a bloody pulp, you somehow find it in your hearts to abandon me and cheer for him. I’ve proven myself so many times here in the World Wrestling Federation, and I’ve tried to be everything you wanted me to be, but it seems to me that you don’t understand what it means to have dignity. To have poise, to bring prestige to the World Wrestling Federation, to be a man that brings a little class. Bc you’d rather cheer for heroes like Charles Manson and OJ Simpson. Nobody glorifies criminal conduct like the Americans do. All the countries I go to around the world, they still respect what’s right and what’s wrong. Respect! Now that we’ve made everything really clear with ourselves here tonight. It’s obvious to me that all you American wrestling fans from coast to coast, you don’t respect me. Well the fact is, I don’t respect you. You don’t deserve it. So from here on in, the American wrestling fans from coast to coast, can kiss my ass!!
SHAWN MICHAELS: Yo, Hitman. Let’s get one thing perfectly straight, you can come out her and say whatever you want about me, everyone does. And you don’t have to explain to me or anyone in the World Wrestling Federation that you would never give up the WWF Title bc nobody knows better than me or the WWF that you need a hand written note from the Lord Almighty to get that belt from you. But Bret, what you don’t understand is just bc I come out here and choose to live my life openly and freely instead of putting on a façade like you, does not make you a better man Bret. I am well aware of my faults. I can admit them up and down the line. As far as Steve Austin is concerned, Bret I was there last night, he didn’t give up. Alright, now I’m no fan of Steve Austin’s but he passed out and you even have to admit, somewhere in there there’s gotta be some of the old Hitman left, even you gotta admit that he’s 1 tough SOB. Now Bret I have tried and tried and tried to take the high road, I’m in no shape to wrestle and I know you’re tougher than me blah blah blah I admit that, that’s fine. I don’t have to be number one. I don’t obsess like you do. I do this bc I like it. You do this bc in your mind, Mark Man, you really think all of this is yours. What you need to understand, every time they reach into their pocket and pay money to watch you, me, or anybody else they have the right to cheer or boo anybody they want. Now, hey, you don’t have to tell me, they’re cheering me now but they booed me before. But you didn’t see me get all bent outta shape about it. You wanna know why Bret, in this country we have something that’s called the First Amendment and that amendment allows us to live our lives the way we see fit, as long as it is causing harm to no one. If that guy there wants to stick a belly button piercing through his navel he can do it whether you like it or not. If that girl over there chooses to go out with someone that you don’t approve of, tough titty said the kitty and she’s gonna do it.
Now I don’t want to get on my high and mighty rollercoaster here Bret, well you my friend gotta look at this, I’m in no shape to go but if you wanna go, what the hell let’s go now. You know, we’ve got a saying in the United States of America, it’s called ‘America, love it or leave it!’
BRET HART: Shawn Michaels, boy toy, I think you should go back to the dressing room and just get the hell out of my face.
SHAWN MICHAELS: You know me Bret, I’m not real good with authority. By the way, how’d you know I was in that girlie magazine, you couldn’t help yourself could ya, you had to flip through the pages just a little bit.
*Bret attacks Shawn Michaels and puts on a figure four around the ring post*
Incredible promo from Bret. The exchange with Shawn Michaels was awesome but it’s crazy to think their next match against each other would be at Survivor Series 1997. The next RAW saw 1 of my favourite segments when Bret interrupted a Owen/Bulldog match to try and get them all on the same page. Owen’s performance stole the segment as he had tears rolling down his cheeks as Bret was saying they shouldn’t be fighting eachother for the American fans, that the American fans don’t understand family. “Owen, I love ya” lol so great and my excitement was off the charts. I always wanted Owen to become a ‘good guy’ but teaming up with Bret and the Bulldog was never something I thought possible. I was all in for this new Hart Foundation. I gotta high lite that amazing exchange:
BRET HART: Can’t you see! Can’t you see that this is what all of these people want. Family values…that’s what they want they’ve had us fighting for years. All of these people right here that have had all of us fighting. What are you fighting for!? For what!? To satisfy a bunch of people that don’t know the first thing about family values. Listen to me, I’m asking you, I need ya, I need ya…Yeah USA, you’re talkin about a country that’s based it’s entire history on brother against brother. They’ve got talk shows all over this country with families airing out their family problems bc they all hate each other. That’s what they’ve done, they’ve taken our family and turned us into a bunch of haters. They turned you(Bulldog) against me, we fought, we fought like 2 men in Wembley Stadium and after you won I hugged ya. We came back to America, they turned us against each other. Listen to you and me, look what they’ve done to you(Owen) and me! I was the one that brought you into the World Wrestling Federation. Yeah you(fans) laugh…they push you and they push ya and they push ya. They pushed me, they pushed us against each other. They’ve driven this wedge in between the whole family. You(Bulldog) know, what did they do to Diana. Owen, I’ve known you since you were a baby, I dressed you for school, I dressed you for school everyday, I was the one that made sure you made the school bus. How many times, how many times did I take you, remember that school St Michaels and that teacher, that teacher was pickin on you. I was only 13 years old, I went to that school and I set the teacher straight.
Who was there for you (Owen) more times than I was? Who was the one that even taught you to become a wrestler. Only 2 people in the entire family that really excelled in wrestling and it was you and me and they turned us against each other. They turned me against my own sister Diana. Because Americans don’t understand family! They don’t give a damn about family! Owen, Davey, I’m asking you for your help bc I need ya. Owen, Owen look me in the eye, nobody was there for you more times than I was. I want you to hear me, I want you to hear me loud and clear, I don’t care about these people! Not anymore! Owen, I love ya. I love ya. *group hug*
Fcking legenday moment. Later that night we got the 1 and only match between Bret and The Rock who was still working as Rocky Maivia. Pretty cool to read in Bret’s book that HHH wanted Bret to beat Rocky clean but Bret saw the potential in Rocky and got it changed to a DQ to protect Rocky and the heat for Bret’s heel turn. This new heel turn was working better than anyone imagined as Bret now had to dodge spit, coins, garbage, anything the fans could throw on the way to the ring and had to outrun angry mobs on the way out of American towns. I was so excited when Owen won the Intercontinental Title from Rocky Maivia, really made the Hart Foundation a formidable threat and got the storyline really cookin.
Bret went on another overseas tour to South Africa and Kuwait and was welcomed as a hero so the plan was working to perfection. But unfortunately Bret injured his knee near the end of the tour which would force a change if plans for the middle of 1997. Vince begged Bret to work the April In Your House PPV vs Steve Austin to save it from bombing so Bret agreed to schedule the surgery for after the PPV. Considering Bret had a knee that needed surgery, the match was damn good although def the worst of their 3 big matches. The finish came when Austin had Bret locked in the Sharpshooter and The Hart Foundation attacked Austin causing a DQ giving Austin the victory. The following night Bret fought Steve Austin in a street fight that turned into a big schmozz with interference all over it. We learn in Bret’s book that Bret had to go out for this fight without any knee protection so when Austin was bashing his legs with a chair, it probably caused long term damage that Bret still deals with. But it led to a legendary moment when they load Bret into the ambulance as Owen is pleading, “Watch his knee! Get him to a hospital!” it is revealed that Austin is driving the ambulance and viscously attacks Bret. Amazing segment.
Bret had knee surgery but 4 days later Vince was asking Bret to make the trip to RAW to keep the heat going. The Hart Foundation vs USA storyline was benefitting multiple wrestlers on both sides of it and everyone was desperate to keep the momentum going so Bret agreed to do it. Things like this make the Montreal Screwjob even more pathetic. At the end of RAW, Bret was seemingly caught alone on the ramp by Steve Austin who was ready to permanently injure Bret when a returning Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart made the shocking save. Such an awesome moment that had me jumping around cheering. The Hart Foundation was now complete with Bret, Owen, Bulldog, Pillman and the Anvil. The heat they were generating across America was off the charts. They looked so damn cool with the pink n black Hart Foundation leather jackets customized for each guy. On May 12, Bret cut a great promo with some legendary lines:
BRET HART: You know I surrounded myself, with the BEST that the World Wrestling Federation has to offer. I would take these men into the mouth of hell to fight the devil, I would trust these men to breathe for me and to pump my blood with their hearts. Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, my lovable brother Owen, and Brian Pillman! We are the Hart Foundation! Last night, you know the more I think about it, it’s really pathetic that somehow all you people out there are trying to paint me out to be the bad guy. I’m no bad guy. If you really wanna know who the bad guys are around here, take a good look at yourselves! You like to cheer on scum! That’s what you stand for. Stone Cold Steve Austin, now there’s a real hero. This babbling ass, full of warmed over Texas clichés with barnyard overtones. This guys is nothing but a dirty, rotten, stinking hyena. And you all look at him like he is some kind of great hero. That’s fine and dandy to jump everybody from behind and sucker everybody, rotten stinking cut-throat that he is. The second he gets a little bit of his own medicine, you people are screaming for justice. What kind of a hero, would pick on a guy in a wheelchair? That’s what it’s come down to isn’t it, oh great American hero he’s gotta pick on an invalid, a helpless guy that, what am I supposed to do in a wheelchair!? You know it just makes me sick! The fact of the matter is, Stone Cold Steve Austin is a loser! And he’s not very happy that he lost the World Wrestling Federation belt, your great American hero couldn’t even win it one time. But he shouldn’t worry too much about that bc as far as the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt goes, The Undertaker another great American hero, he needn’t get too attached to that Championship belt, bc sooner or later were gonna have it right up here with all the rest of the glittering gold that the Hart Foundation has.
And there’s no guilt or innocence in the World Wrestling Federation anymore, wake up! Now there’s something I wanna say, I wanna say 1 thing, there’s something that I haven’t talked about with the Hart Foundation. That’s a shock to you guys, it’s gonna be a shock to all you imbeciles out there, it’s gonna be a shock to everyone of my fans all around the world, and it’s gonna be a big surprise to my family and a shock to everybody. And I just wanted to say that, I have the biggest surprise and if you people would just shut up…ok that’s it.
*Bret and the Hart Foundation leave*
At the end of the night Bret continued the interview and called out Shawn Michaels to the ring. This was the night that started the escalation of the Bret/Shawn feud into unhealthy territory. The plan was for Bret to verbally berate Shawn until Shawn finally superkicked him out of his wheelchair. But Bret had a line he wanted to finish with and the noise of the crowd caused him to lose his train of thought so he was stalling trying to remember the line but ended up going past the end of the show. So instead of the end seeing Shawn superkick Bret, it ended with Bret berating Shawn and Shawn was livid thinking that Bret did it on purpose. This caused Shawn to respond the next week with the line about Bret having ‘Sunny days recently’ implying that Bret was sleeping with Sunny. Things reached a boiling point when Bret’s son Dallas and his friends asked Bret if he was doing stuff with Sunny. That remark crossed a line you don’t cross in wrestling. Bret’s family was now involved and being hurt by the comments being made so things were gonna get ugly. Bret’s knee recovery was going slower than expected and Shawn’s pill problems were starting to show more and more so Bret decided to pull out of the planned King of the Ring match between him and Shawn. Looking back, maybe things would have turned out different for the rest of the year if they had been able to tear the house down together at King of the Ring. Sucks bc there should have been so many more Bret vs Shawn matches.
After the Sunny days comment and fallout, Bret was ready to deal with Shawn physically. Funny to read in Bret’s book that the Anvil of all people was trying to be the voice of reason telling Bret to keep his cool as the Anvil was just hired back and really needed the job so he didn’t want a confrontation with Shawn to jeopardize it. But a physical confrontation was inevitable and came to a head at the RAW after King of the Ring. Bret and Shawn saw each other backstage and harsh words were exchanged before eventually getting into a brawl with each other although Bret himself describes it as more of a cat fight. The “brawl” saw clumps of Shawn’s hair hit the ground and afterwards Shawn tried to quit but was back a few weeks later. The next PPV on the schedule was an In Your House in Calgary that would be known as Canadian Stampede and despite Bret’s knee needing more time to recover, he had to work this show. The Canadian Stampede PPV was probably the mountaintop for the Hart Foundation storyline as the main event saw The Hart Foundation face off against Steve Austin, Legion of Doom, Goldust and Ken Shamrock. This Hart Foundation vs USA storyline had sparked huge interest across Canada but this night in Calgary was one of the hottest crowds in wrestling history. People think it was just a hot crowd but I don’t think they realize that every one of those 19,000 people were ready to jump the guard rails and fight alongside the Hart Foundation. People in Canada see the Harts as family and this storyline lit a fire under everyone, it’s a good thing the Hart Foundation won bc they may have had a riot if anything else went down.
The Hart Foundation entered one at a time, first Pillman, then the Anvil, then The Bulldog with Diana, then Owen and finally the Hitman. As each one entered the noise would increase hitting a peak when Bret made his entrance and the building was actually shaking. Man it’s emotional to watch the entrances considering 4 of the 5 guys are no longer with us. The Hart family at ringside, a jam packed arena in Calgary full of rabid fans, hundreds of thousands watching on PPV, The Hart Foundation part of a hot angle making good money, man you could just stop time there. When all 10 guys were in the ring facing off with each other you could cut the intensity and anticipation with a knife. As Bret and Austin started the match and Bret started raining down punches and kicks the roaring crowd was close to legitimately blowing the roof off of the Saddledome. It was a great match with hard hitting action and tons of great spots. The Hart Family got involved after Austin grabbed Stu with 19,000+ ready to do the same. In Bret’s book we learn that Bruce had been talked about joining the Hart Foundation but some stiff shots to Austin’s kidney during the match put a stop to any of that. The fans were waiting for the finish and came unglued when Owen caught Austin in a roll up for the 3 count. The entire Hart Family got in the ring to celebrate and it is still an emotional scene to this day. Owen with Oje waving a little Canadian Flag, Davey and his kids, Bret and his kids, the Anvil and his kids, Stu & Helen and all the Hart brothers and sisters, man what moment and this is why I say it’s the mountaintop for the Hart Foundation storyline.
The next night on RAW from Edmonton the crowd was just as hot and I have vivid memories of watching this up at my Uncle’s place excited beyond belief. To start the show Bret cut one of my favourite promos:
BRET HART: Hello there, eh. First of all I just wanna say, thank you for letting me still be your hero. And thank you for believing in me. A few weeks ago I was told, America: Love it or leave it. Well I’ve travelled all around the world, I’ve been all over the United States of America and the one thing I have looked forward to, is lovin leaving it! I want everybody to understand, that nobody is more proud of being Canadian than I am. And I’m not really sure how things have escalated, but the one thing is I’m not so much anti-American, I’m just very, very pro-Canadian! Americans think that they’re always better than us, they think they’re better than everyone. But all you have to do is look at Donovan Bailey and you realize, that they’re not as great as they think they are. America, for me, Canada is a country where we still take care of the sick and the old, where we still have health care. We got gun control, we don’t shoot each other and kill each other on every street corner. Canada, isn’t riddled with racial prejudice and hatred, across Canada we all care for each other. I am proud to be Canadian and I am proud to be your hero. And I promise I’ll continue to live up and try and do my best and to keep my word and there’s one promise in particular that I wanna make. And that promise is, in the SummerSlam, in America, when I step in the ring with the World Wrestling Federation Champion The Undertaker, that I will not let my Canadian fans down! And I will be the World Wrestling Federation Champion for a 5th time! I wanna make 1 promise, if I don’t come to Canada with that World Wrestling Federation Championship belt, if by hook or by crook I lose, I will never, ever wrestle on American soil ever again. And that is a promise.
Now I wanna call out to you, the man that beat the great American scum last night, the Intercontinental Champion my brother Owen, the best technical wrestler in the World Wrestling Federation! I know my brother Owen is gonna destroy Stone Cold Steve Austin at the SummerSlam but I also wanna invite out, the most powerful man in the World Wrestling Federation today, the European Champion my brother in law the British Bulldog! Now we all saw what the British Bulldog did to Ken Shamrock last night, the so called worlds most dangerous man. Well he only got a taste of it last night bc at the SummerSlam, the British Bulldog will annihilate Ken Shamrock. For the past couple months, I’ve had to live with the fact that you see everything through American television, the commentators are American, the cameramen are American, the fans are American, the wrestlers are American, the World Wrestling Federation is American, so on behalf of all them tonight, I would like you all to stand up and look at the screen and listen to this!
*Oh Canada plays but Austin attacks them from behind with a chair*
BRET HART: I just want everyone to know this is what I go through every night. I don’t care when they walk all over me, and they walk all over my family, but I promise they WILL NOT walk all over Canada!!
Oh man such a fn great promo that had me so jacked up to be Canadian and consider Bret Hart one of my heroes. Cutting promo’s was prob Bret’s biggest weakness but I don’t think he gets enough credit for the promo’s he cut in 1997 bc they were almost all great. The next PPV was SummerSlam and every match with a Hart Foundation member had a stipulation and I just loved it. Made the PPV seem like a huge deal with the stakes so high and it was one of the most excited I have ever been for a wrestling PPV. The next week on RAW from San Antonio, the Hart Foundation got the complete opposite reaction they got in Canada and this is part of what made the storyline so special. 1 week they were beloved heroes and the next they were despised villains, created such an awesome dynamic. We got another great promo outlining the stipulations for the matches at SummerSlam:
BRET HART: (the boos are so loud you can’t hear Bret’s first comment) Ya know Alberta where I come from, is once again rat free but you can’t say the same thing about right down here, right in San Antonio. It’s filled with rats! Now I tell ya most of the rats are back there hiding, bc they know that the Hart Foundation is a force that WILL BE reckoned with! You know it’s in my contract, it’s all written in there nice and pretty, Gorilla Monsoon has decided to take me at my word. Which is fine. That if I lose the World Wrestling Federation title match against the Undertaker at the SummerSlam…
VINCE MCMAHON: Now let me correct you, what you said was not that, what you said that if you don’t WIN the World Wrestling Federation Championship at SummerSlam you’ll never again wrestle on American soil. That’s what you said. And as you just aptly put, that is now in your contract is it not?
BRET HART: It is in my contract. And that is fine with me bc there is one thing we Canadians pride ourselves on, we will always do our best and we will always keep our promises. And after the SummerSlam, the Undertaker is gonna be spiralling down, free falling like a dead star bc you’re looking at the 5th time World Wrestling Federation Champion right here!
VINCE MCMAHON: Alright well speaking of titles, of course you Owen Hart you unfortunately have the distinction of facing the toughest SOB in the WWF, Stone Cold Steve Austin!
OWEN HART: Well I could really give a damn whether it’s Stone Cold Steve Austin or anybody else bc the bottom line is, Bulldog and myself tonight will regain the WWF Tag Team belts that we should have never have lost! And as for you Austin, at SummerSlam you better pucker up son and get your blistex ready, bc at SummerSlam you’re gonna kiss my ass boy!
VINCE MCMAHON: Hey, hey, hey! Again that was a promise that I must say, being fair, Gorilla Monsoon does have in that contract as well. Austin will have to be a man of his word, if he loses the match against Owen Hart will have to kiss his derriere. Now what about you British Bulldog, you’re meeting the worlds most dangerous man Ken Shamrock for the European gold.
BRITISH BULLDOG: Let me get it straight McMahon, he’s the self proclaimed worlds most dangerous man. I am the strongest man in the World Wrestling Federation, but if I was to lose my European Title at SummerSlam, the British Bulldog will eat a can of dog food immediately after the match.
VINCE MCMAHON: And you Brian Pillman, you already stated what you would do if you lost the match to Goldust..whats the matter?
BRIAN PILLMAN: Dusty, I know you’re watchin, I love you! Ha NOT REALLY I just like your style! Years and years of abuse and neglect on your little boy Dustin while you fed your massive ego and your fat face on top of it! Turned your little son into the most celebrated drag queen of the century! But Dustin, I know your daddy broke your heart, come SummerSlam I’m gonna rip it out of your chest! And if I don’t, the next night on RAW, I’ll wrestle you wearin a dress and it might as well be one of Marlena’s. And I can promise you, if I’m gonna do that, that won’t be the only thing of hers I’ll be getting into! HAHA
VINCE MCMAHON: Well in any event, Jim ‘the Anvil’ Neidhart that leaves you, of course always on guard with the entire Hart Foundation.
THE ANVIL: You know if any of the Harts lose at SummerSlam, I will shave my goatee off the next night at RAW.
VINCE MCMAHON: I would suggest that most of the Hart Foundation members feel very confident about SummerSlam.
BRET HART: What you’re talkin about is commitment. Ya know somethin, Candian women are prettier, our money is prettier, our sports are tougher, and our men are tougher, our beer tastes better, and whether you Americans like it or not, it’s gonna be a Canadian summer!
*The glass breaks as Steve Austin comes out onto the top of the stage and is joined by Shamrock, the Patriot, Sid and Shawn Michaels*
Brian Pillman was so great lol but damn man too bad we never got that 10 man tag. Another reason the Montreal Screwjob sucked is that we never got a proper finish to the Hart Foundation vs USA storyline, there def should have been another big 10 man tag this time on US soil that the US team would have won and then you build the rubber match. But this promo had my anticipation through the roof for SummerSlam with all the stipulations. The next week RAW was back in Canada from Halifax and this was a legendary scene as the fans were unbelievably hot and went fn crazy when the Hart Foundation came out, they even had Vince McMahon taken aback who was in the ring to conduct interview. This was also the night where Bret and Vince got into a physical altercation after it was announced that Shawn Michaels would be the special guest ref for the Bret Hart vs The Undertaker match at SummerSlam. Another great promo from Bret:
VINCE MCMAHON: WOW! Mr Hart the mic is all yours.
BRET HART: It’s nice to be home, it’s nice to be in God’s country! You know last week, I had this horrible nightmare that I was in San Antonio Texas, where they like to spit at ya and throw stuff at ya, for the simple reason that you tell the truth. Did ya ever notice that the United States of America is shaped like one big giant toilet bowl. And the reason is, is most Americans are just plain full of crap! There’s all the American wrestlers back there in the dressing room…*huge US Sucks chant*..all these American wrestlers back in the dressing room, are all hiding none of them want to step up to the plate. I made a challenge last week and not 1 single American wrestler has come forward to accept the challenge, which proves to me that they’re full of crap! I think the perfect guy to come out here for starters, The Undertaker, we don’t need to wait till SummerSlam we can start it right here in Halifax, Nova Scotia!
BRITISH BULLDOG: Well ya know, all the great Canadian wrestling fans just saw the British Bulldog powerslam the most dangerous man Ken Shamrock right through the mat! Let me tell you something, tough guy, there’s plenty more where that came from so let’s not wait till SummerSlam, let’s do it right here tonight in Halifax! Let’s get it on!
VINCE MCMAHON: We know who Bret and the Bulldog want in the 6 man match, if you had your druthers, who would you want in the 6 man match?
OWEN HART: Well if I had my wish, I wish that that Stone Cold slime Austin would come on out here, and why wait until SummerSlam, I don’t know what kind of a pervert he is or what kind of a sicko, he wants to come out and kiss my butt. Well I don’t wanna wait till SummerSlam, if he’s any kind of man, I damn well know he can’t kiss my butt, and he certainly won’t kiss my ass, but if he wants he can suck my toes!
*glass breaks and out comes Steve Austin*
STONE COLD: You come out here, and you say this is God’s country, this ain’t nothin but a living hell! You want the truth, the truth is I’ll come down and shove all of your toes straight up your asses! We ain;t got to wait till SummerSlam, I’ll be a part of your stupid little flag match and that’s the bottom line.
I just fn loved this time in wrestling. This was also the show we saw the legendary sign with the Hart Foundation peeing on the US flag lol after Shawn Michaels announces he will be the special guest ref, a furious Bret Hart comes out to ringside during the HHH/Patriot match to confront Vince McMahon while Owen and the Bulldog try to keep him calm. In another moment that made you question whether it was real or fake, Bret smacks the headset off Vince and goes after Vince who pulls Bret’s shirt over his head and they have a hockey tussle. Such a fn great moment. Later in the night we got to hear the full Canadian national anthem an
d an awesome Flag match with the Hart Foundation vs Stone Cold, Dude Love and eventually The Undertaker. The Hart Foundation won to a HUGE pop thanks to interference from Brian Pillman. One of my favourite episodes of RAW. The next RAW came from Pittsburgh and continues the run of great promo’s from Bret and the Hart Foundation with one of my all time favourite lines from Bret:
JIM ROSS: I wonder what you’d like to say to these American fans right here in Pittsburgh, PA. *HUGE USA chant*
BRET HART: First of all, I’d like to say the little chit chat I had with Mark Messier, opened up his eyes. As for the kangaroo court, justice in America, all you have to do is look at OJ Simpson, and you know there’s no such thing as justice in America. 1 thing I’ve learned is that Americans will do absolutely anything to screw ya. When I said that if I didn’t win the World Wrestling Federation Championship belt at SummerSlam against the Undertaker, that I would never, ever set foot on American soil again. *huge cheers* I didn’t mean it in a literal sense, I just meant it as a figure of speech. And this goes to show ya that they do absolutely anything to paint you in a corner to stack the deck against ya, but see the big difference is, in Canada, we stick to our word. And my word is as good as the gold that the Undertaker wears around his waist, and even though everything is stacked against me, ya know fear and hope are the same underneath and I know everyone thinks I got everything to be afraid of but I haven’t lost hope. And next week in the SummerSlam, despite the fact that you got…let me ask you, Shawn Michaels, ya I bet you’re happy about that, all fixed up nice for everybody. Shawn Michaels, and just supposing that Shawn Michaels doesn’t call this one fair, what happens then? I still get screwed and he sits home for another 10 years lookin for his smile. *big Austin chant*
I’m just gonna say this, next week in the SummerSlam whether you Americans like it or not, I will be a 5th time World Wrestling Federation Champion. I’m gonna address something else, Shawn Michaels, after all the crap he said about Canadians last week, it’s bad enough what he says about me, and it’s bad enough what he says about my family and the Hart Foundation. But you better apologize to the Canadian fans for the trash that came outta your mouth, and you better do it for your own health and welfare. Last week, I said the United States of America was shaped like one big giant toilet bowl, if you were gonna give the United States of America and enema, you’d stick the hose right here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!(LOL) You know why, cause you’re the pits! I’m gonna say one last thing, last week, the Patriot decided to stick his nose in my business. Now, here’s this guy, walks into the World Wrestling Federation, the new kid on the block and starts preaching to me about American values.*crowd is really getting rowdy* The Patriot, you’ve aligned yourself with the wrong people, you come out on stage in San Antonio, Texas, you got Shawn Michaels on one hand, you got Stone Cold Steve Austin on the other, to me you’re setting the wrong example. That’s like Bill Clinton walking out with the Unabomber and Richard Simmons, it just, it doesn’t read right to me. So tonight in front of all you American fans, I’m gonna set 1 more example, and The Patriot you’re just gonna be 1 more name that I’m gonna add onto a list of Americans that I’m gonna flush down the toilet!
JIM ROSS: You’re making a challenge to the Patriot?
BRET HART: I’m making a challenge to the Patriot, I’m gonna flush him down the toilet right here tonight on RAW. And Undertaker, you’re the next one on my list and by hook or by crook I will be 5th time World Wrestling Federation Champion and I promise to bring the Championship belt back to Canada where it belongs!!
Man that enema line is so great lol I could literally type out every single promo from this storyline bc they were all gold. That brings us to SummerSlam 1997 and I would have to say that it was the last truly great night for the 1997 Hart Foundation as things seemed to go downhill after this show. Pillman lost to Goldust after Marlena interfered, Bulldog defeated Shamrock via DQ, Owen lost to Austin but the biggest story was the botched piledriver from Owen that paralyzed Austin for a few minutes and started the neck problems that would eventually end his career. The Hart Foundation was 1 for 3 but in the main event, Bret defeated the Undertaker to become the WWF Champion for a 5th time. This was an awesome match and def the best of their 3 PPV matches, Bret even gave Taker the honour of being the only guy to break the Sharpshooter by kicking Bret halfway across the ring. To say I was concerned watching at that point was an understatement lol There was an added stipulation that if Shawn Michaels didn’t call the match down the middle then he would never wrestle on US soil again. Bret was thrown onto Michaels by the Undertaker and Shawn was pissed and grabbed a chair. Bret said ‘Fuck you’ to Shawn and spit on him so Shawn swung the chair but Bret ducked and the chair nailed the Undertaker. Bret covered and Shawn had no choice but to count the 3. It’s a great moment watching Shawn reluctantly count the 3 and immediately act pissed off and disgusted. I didn’t care that it wasn’t clean, Bret was the Champion and I was on cloud 9.
Bret looks so damn good with that ‘winged eagle’ WWF Championship belt it was like it was made for him. Gonna high lite 1 last great promo from Bret the night after SummerSlam:
JIM ROSS: I know your fans across Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany are proud that you are the WWF Champion. I’ve got a gut feeling that the fans here in Pennsylvania are not too proud that you are the WWF Champion for a 5th time. Some say it was fate, what do you say?
BRET HART: Don’t it make you smile. Huh? They say you’re supposed to suffer for your crimes, well if you’re not suffering maybe it’s not a crime. Ya know I went in there last night and proved what I’ve been saying for the longest time, that I am the Best There Is, The Best There Was and plain and simply the BEST There Ever Will Be! And I proved it against all odds, against a man that’s from the darkside, a man that’s from the devil and death and despair. I proved it with a referee that was against me all along and he favoured the other guy throughout the entire match. Ya know I stuck to the letter of the word of the whole agreement, I stuck to my word but what I can see so far is that the World Wrestling Federation, they’re not sticking to their word. They said that if Shawn Michaels showed any kind of favourtism that he would never, ever wrestle in the United States of America again. Now, you know here in America and everywhere else, all my fans around the world know that Shawn Michaels favoured the Undertaker from the start of that match to the end of that match and the only reason that I’m standing here today as the World Wrestling Federation Champion is the simple reason that this Canadian is gonna be smarter than both of those Americans whether they like it or not!
So what I wanna know is what the World Wrestling Federation is gonna do? Are they gonna stick to their word? I want this guy out of the World Wrestling Federation, I want this guy out of American wrestling and I want em to stick to the letter of the law. They owe it me, to stand by their word.
JIM ROSS: You have a matchup Sept 7th at Ground Zero against the Patriot, a man that defeated you right here on RAW last week. What are your thoughts on that athlete?
BRET HART: Unlike last night, that was a total complete fluke. And the only reason the Patriot even won is from outside interference from Shawn Michaels. He knows it, I know it, Shawn Michaels knows it. So Patriot, you know all you are to me is a missile with nothing in it, you mean nothing to me. You talk about American values and American morals and you come out with Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels. You mean nothing, you don’t mean anything to me. I’ll tell ya what does mean something to me, the British Bulldog. Last night, went in there gallantly against Ken Shamrock, and this guy showed absolutely no discipline whatsoever, he made a mockery of himself and a class act of the World Wrestling Federation*points at the Bulldog* and under no circumstances will Ken Shamrock ever get another shot at the British Bulldog’s European Championship belt. As far as Brian Pillman goes, the Hart Foundation, we don’t wear dresses. We’re not gonna wear a dress bc there’s a new boss in town, a new sheriff and this sheriff says Brian Pillman’s got far too much class to ever lower himself to that level and be wearing a stupid dress.
And as far as my lovable brother Owen, what happened to my brother Owen was nothing but another classic example of American justice. And Owen, you tell em…
OWEN HART: You know Bret, you can’t imagine the rage, the anger, how mad I really am bc last night I did a real stupid thing. I showed compassion to Stone Cold Steve Austin and I beat myself is what I did. But Austin, in doing that I made you a crippled freak. You’re paralyzed, you’re in a hospital somewhere in New Jersey I don’t know where the hell you are but I ended your career last night. You may have stole my Intercontinental Belt but you’ll never wrestle again son, I left you in the ring a crippled freak, you could barely move and the only reason you beat me is bc I had compassion and I beat myself. But the only thing to do son, is for you to forfeit that belt and give it back to me or either come out and let me kick your ass again bc you’re a crippled freak, you’ll never wrestle again. The only way to solve it is by giving me my belt back.
JIM ROSS: I’m sure that your words have not fallen on deaf ears. As a matter of fact our new commissioner has been listening, I’d like to introduce the new commissioner of the World Wrestling Federation, Sgt Slaughter!
SGT SLAUGHTER: Well first off, Bret Hart, I’d like to let you know a little secret. You aren’t the new sheriff in town, I AM! And I make the rules of the World Wrestling Federation, not you! And my first decision as the commissioner of the World Wrestling Federation is that you will defend your title at Ground Zero, against the man that beat you right here in RAW, The Patriot!
BRET HART: Why does he get a title shot!? Who did he ever beat to get a title shot?
SGT SLAUGHTER: You! And you Bulldog, you will have another match against Shamrock and it will be soon, and that’s an order! And you Brian Pillman, you will honour your agreement from last night and you will wear a dress tonight right here on RAW or you’ll be suspended! And you Owen Hart, you will have another rematch against Steve Austin when the doctor gives his approval and when Stone Cold says so!
*glass breaks and out comes Steve Austin*
STONE COLD: Stone Cold says so right now Owen Hart. I don’t need no doctors approval, I ain’t gonna wear this piece of crap they gave me. The fact that you dumped me on my head last night, don’t mean a damn thing to me. The fact of the matter was, you were too stupid to cover me when you had the chance. The bottom line is, you’re a loser Owen Hart. Not bc I say you are but bc it runs through your veins, bc your Mom n Dad gave that to ya and aint nothing you can do about that. Tonight I truly will open up a can of whoop ass and show you exactly what Austin 3:16 is! And that’s the bottom line!
Can’t give these promos enough praise, they are phenomenal. Bc of how the end of the WWF Title match at SummerSlam went down, Taker moved into a feud with Shawn Michaels and Bret was scheduled to work with the Patriot, who was a good worker but it was def a step down from the Undertaker. It was frustrating as a fan for Bret to be the WWF Champion but not the main event however I was really looking forward to him kicking the Patriot’s ass. Bret and The Patriot actually had a really good match but the Patriot just kind of appeared on the scene so he didn’t have a lot of heat behind his character, all the heat came from Bret Hart battling another American. After this PPV, Bret was given the huge honour of wrestling Terry Funk in Amarillo in what was supposed to be Terry Funk’s last match. If you know anything about the wrestling business, you know that retirements are never a sure thing and nobody retired and came back more than the Funker lol but it was still an incredible moment for Bret to wrestle Funk in a retirement match and actually beat him with the Sharpshooter. That win is right up there with beating Roddy Piper and shows what kind of respect the other wrestlers had for Bret.
Next up after the match with Terry Funk was the UK PPV One Night Only and it is one of the darker nights of this storyline and in WWF history. Bret was set to take on The Undertaker but once again was not in the main event as that honour went to the British Bulldog vs Shawn Michaels for the European Title. Bret/Taker was an awesome match but the main event is what had everyone talking after the show. Bulldog was obviously a huge star in the UK and had assumed he was going to win so he made big promises of victory to his sister who had cancer and a young boy that was burned badly in a fire but would be attending the show. Unfortunately on the day of the show, Bulldog was informed that he would be losing the European Title to Shawn and this still makes me mad to this day. There was just absolutely no reason for Shawn to win a belt that he didn’t want and clearly couldn’t have cared less about, he only defended it twice in 90 days and lost it in a joke match to HHH. Shawn just wanted to embarrass the Hart Foundation, Bulldog and Bret. DX was interfering throughout the whole match while the Hart Foundation were nowhere to be seen making the whole scene even more ridiculous. Fans littered the ring with a significant amount of garbage but the heat was not worth the damage that trash booking did. After Shawn had won and the damage was already done, the rest of the Hart Foundation finally came out to help the Bulldog. In Bret’s book we learn that Davey was devastated at the embarrassment of it all and Bret believes he saw the light die in Davey Boy that night. In the 4.5 years that followed, Davey’s demons got worse and he died in 2002 so I don’t think Bret was exaggerating. We love and miss you Davey, Godspeed brother. Little did the fans know that 2 days after One Night Only was when Vince told Bret that he couldn’t live up to their 20 year agreement. Vince was going to break the deal and give Bret an opportunity to accept a big money offer from WCW. A moment in time that would change wrestling forever.
One Night Only was a UK exclusive PPV so I couldn’t watch it, I was really disappointed to learn the results but I figured there would be some revenge coming for the Bulldog over Shawn so I didn’t think all was lost but the revenge never came. I didn’t think things would get worse after that but boy was I wrong. Badd Blood was next and we couldn’t afford to buy the PPV so I had to miss it. I was intrigued by what the Hell in a Cell match was going to be but extremely underwhelmed that the WWF Champion Bret Hart was in a tag team Flag Match with the Bulldog vs The Patriot and Vader. However none of that mattered when the devastating news broke that Brian Pillman was found dead. These were the days where if you didn’t buy the PPV, you could still go to the channel and sometimes hear and see scrambled picture/audio so that’s what I was doing. I still remember the wave of shock that came over me when I managed to hear the news about Brian Pillman on the pre-show. The feed got worse and worse the closer it got to the show starting and eventually you couldn’t see/hear anything making it very frustrating. I remember going out with my friends that night and trying my best not to cry thinking about Brian Pillman as the Hart Foundation were like family. I can just imagine how much better everything would have been in 1997 if Pillman didn’t have his car accident and was closer to 100%. The Hart Foundation went on flawlessly that night in tribute to their fallen brother but all were carrying the deep despair of the moment. The Hart Foundation storyline had lost significant steam after SummerSlam with Shawn Michaels turning heel and the questionable booking decisions but after Brian Pillman died, you could see the beginning of the end. Just want to add that we love and miss you Brian, Godspeed brother.
After Badd Blood, all roads were finally leading to a big match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997 from Montreal. As a fan I was so excited for this match but little did I know that it would be the end of Bret’s full time wrestling career in the WWF. The build to the match was white hot with Bret and Shawn cutting scathing promo’s on each other, I was a big fan of both guys but when Shawn put the Canadian flag up his nose, I wanted to him to pay and was 100% on Bret’s side. Still pisses me off when I watch it now. Shawn and HHH were amazing at being obnoxious pricks considering it is 23 years later and they are still making my blood boil lol at the time, I was a teenager looking for a way for the attitude in me to come out so I really enjoyed the DX stuff but I thought Bret and Shawn were good friends backstage. It wasn’t until after Survivor Series 1997 and I got access to the internet that I realized what was really going on between them and knowing that def would have changed things for me. You can understand why guys that loved the wrestling business hated Shawn Michaels considering he referred to the WWF Title as a “piece of tin” multiple times. The look of disgust on Bret/Owen/hart Foundation faces during these promos was def real. It’s fn tough to deal with someone that has no respect or seriousness for anything and is living within kayfabe in one sentence and then shooting in another. Gotta high lite one more promo as it has 1 of my favourite lines and was a great one:
BRET HART: Boy Toy! Yeah, ‘USA,’ You can go ahead and look at your big hero, cause this is what it’s come down to! You have no self-respect for yourselves bc you’re lookin at a guy that’s got no respect for anything or anyone. Shawn Michaels…
SHAWN MICHAELS: Yes, Bret Hart
BRET HART: You’re a disgrace to professional wrestling. You know, I’m a second generation wrestler, I paid my dues, like a lot of second generation wrestlers, and you are nothing but the lowest form of scum that I’ve ever come across. Shawn Michaels, you are nothing but a degenerate! And I think, I know, as the rest of the Hart Foundation knows what the ‘H-H-H’ stands for and HBK, you’re nothing but a homo, and that guy there in that green shirt is nothing but a homo!
HHH: Oh, I’m not queer.
BRET HART: You may have barebacked your way through some kind of main events, one pay-per-view after another, but the fact is, I made more money, than all three of you guys combined in the ring, and this here is what it’s all about.(WWF Title) And until you have this, I don’t care what you say or what you think, but you will never ever EVER be the showstopper, until you take this thing away from me.
You’re not the first one who beat the Undertaker. You’re just a little too late. You know Shawn Michaels, the Kliq, and those other two guys that you’ve got with you. Well you know what? Your other boyfriends Diesel and Razor, I ran those two guys out of town and I’m gonna run both of you out of town! And you know what? I’m gonna start with that degenerate right beside you in the green shirt, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Tonight, I issue you a challenge to step into the ring with the best there is, the best there was and the best that there ever will be.
SHAWN MICHAELS: Yeah, but you want him to wrestle YOU tonight! The question is, you want him to wrestle YOU.
BRET HART: I want Hunter Hearst Helmsley, cause I don’t need to come down and take you right now. I’ve got you at the Survivor Series, and when that day comes, I’m gonna kick your little scrawny ass!
SHAWN MICHAELS: BWWWWWWRRRRRRRR. I got two words for the Hitman Bret Hart…SUCK IT! And I got more, I got news for ya, you may have MADE more money, but you do not HAVE more money, because the Heartbreak Kid is the main event. He wrestles once a month, once a week. The Hitman is working every day for his money, cause he needs it. The Heartbreak Kid is in this business, cause this business needs the Heartbreak Kid, it needs Triple H, it needs Chyna, it needs Ravishing Rick. Bret Hart, you are a zero my hero, and the only way for you to get in the main event at Survivor Series, is to wrestle the Heartbreak Kid! Otherwise, you will always be a paper-champion and you will always be nothing more, than just support on MY pay-per-view events. The Heartbreak Kid and his Kliq will rule the World Wrestling Federation from this day until the day I decide differently! Triple H, Chyna, Ravishing Rick and my friends, Oh and by the way, Bret Hart, you didn’t destroy the Kliq! Do not confuse expansion with destruction. The Kliq OWNS this business and at Survivor Series, the Kliq and the Heartbreak Kid are gonna OWN, YOU!!
I fn love the ‘kick your scrawny ass’ line. Obviously the ‘homo’ stuff doesn’t hold up very well but that was something Shawn Michaels and HHH specifically asked Bret to say about them. Bret tried to protest but they insisted. And this was not controversial in 1997, Bret would never say any of this stuff now bc he was matured and been educated but in 1997 nobody batted an eye at this kind of rhetoric. Not saying it’s right just explaining the reality of the situation. Beyond frustrating to hear Shawn Michaels brag about being the main event while Bret is WWF Champion ‘supporting’ Shawn’s main events and not working every show/tour and using Bret’s work ethic/commitment against him. In Bret’s book, we learn that despite everything between them, Bret tried to find a common ground with Shawn and tell him that he had no problem with putting him over only for Shawn to say, “I appreciate that, but I want you to know that I’m not willing to do the same for you.” Unbelievable, I don’t know how Bret kept his cool and didn’t give Shawn the ass kicking he deserved. During one last overseas tour, Bret was still as popular as he ever was but Vince was still determined to push him out the door to WCW.
That brings us to Survivor Series 1997, the Montreal Screwjob. This night has been talked about to death so I’m gonna go very in depth on it. Bret’s book provides a great look into how things materialized with WCW and led to Montreal so I highly suggest everyone give that a read. There is also Dave Meltzer’s in-depth write up about it, too many interviews to count with all involved, the documentary Wrestling With Shadows which I also highly recommend checking out and the great Bret/Shawn Rivalry DVD they did together. I carried a lot of anger about Montreal with me for years but watching Bret/Shawn bury the hatchet In 2010 and watching the DVD they did together, it gave me closure and I have moved past all the anger. I love both guys and wish they had been more on the same page throughout their careers. Obviously I’ll never support it or say that it was the right call, but I’m not actively angry about it anymore. If both guys could go back, I guarantee they would squash all the bullshit and get on the same page so they could deliver 100’s of amazing matches over the years and make more money together. It’s criminal how few Bret vs Shawn matches we got.
In the weeks before Survivor Series, I had heard the rumours of Bret going to WCW but didn’t want to believe it. The absolute last thing I wanted as big Bret Hart and WWF fan was for him to leave and go to WCW. I was hoping it would all prove to just be talk and Bret would stay. I was watching that night and excited to see a great match. One of the big shames about the Screwjob is that they were having a fucking great match before it went down. We watched Shawn put the Sharpshooter on Bret and then all of a sudden the bell rings as Bret is about to reverse the hold. Bret stands up and immediately spits on Vince and you couldn’t have asked for better spit lol all over Vince’s face, hair and chest to the point he couldn’t even wipe it off lol Bret then paints ‘WCW’ in the air with his finger and starts smashing monitors at ringside while a stunned Owen/Bulldog watch. I think Bret knew if he continued he might start a legit riot so it’s a good thing he stopped. Most of the aftermath was not shown on the live PPV broadcast so I had no idea what we just watched. It was only in the weeks/months/years after that we saw all the different camera angles showing everything that happened. Eventually the story started to come out and the realization that this was real hit me and Bret was screwed out of the title and out of the WWF. I was pretty devastated watching my hero be treated like that and beyond bummed that Bret was going to WCW. Bret has described it as the WWF taking the Hitman character out back and putting a bullet in his head and that is exactly what they did. I’ll forever have respect for Rick Rude for actually quitting the WWF after the screwjob bc he was so disgusted. Mick Foley also quit but went back the next day bc he was just getting hot and it would have been career suicide for him to go to WCW, nobody including Bret had anything but respect for Mick. At least he tried to take a stand. One of the saddest, shameful nights in the history of professional wrestling. I wanna high lite part of the promo Rick Rude cut on Nitro the day after the screwjob that pertains to Bret bc it’s fn great:
RICK RUDE: Oh what a difference a day makes. Twenty four little hours. You know and we all have our fifteen minutes of fame and I’d like to take a couple of my fifteen minutes to talk about the rights and the wrongs in the world of professional wrestling. What’s wrong in the world of professional wrestling is Shawn Michaels claiming to be World Champion when he never beat Bret Hart. What’s wrong with the world of professional wrestling is for Vince McMahon to instruct the referee to ring the bell in order to rob Bret Hart of his title. But on the other hand what’s right in the world of professional wrestling is for Bret Hart to abandon the Titanic and swim to the refuge of the nWo.
So awesome, Rick Rude was a real one. When you look back at Bret’s career and all the sacrifices he made and how hard he worked for the WWF and how many great matches/moments he delivered, it makes being forced out of the WWF via the Montreal Screwjob so much more pathetic and disgusting. We would learn that before Bret left the building that night, he knocked Vince McMahon out cold. Vince knew he was wrong, you don’t prepare to take a punch like that if you are in the right. As I said, there are so many other things that tell the Montreal story better than I could, there is no point in me rehashing it so I’ll just move on. The post-Montreal scene in the WWF was a disgrace. Vince had a sit down interview and uttered the famous line, “Bret screwed Bret. I have no sympathy for Bret Hart” which is complete bullshit. This promo is a major reason ‘You Screwed Bret’ chants followed Shawn/Vince/Hebner for years and I loved every second of those chants. I was disgusted when Shawn/HHH brought out a little person dressed like Bret Hart to further humiliate and mock the real Hitman. Then they had to humiliate the Anvil having him join DX only for them to turn on him at the end of the night. Felt like a nightmare I desperately wanted to wake up from, I longed to go back to the days when the Hart Foundation vs USA storyline was running hot and RAW was off the charts exciting. You would think that WWF would see the money in giving Owen a big push to avenge his brother against those responsible for Montreal, which they kind of started at the In Your House Degeneration-X PPV by having Owen attack Shawn but it quickly turned to nothing as Owen jobbed out to Shawn and HHH before settling into a midcard spot. That really bummed me out, man.
Even though the WWF was in my blood, I was gonna follow Bret to WCW and was very interested but not optimistic to see what they would do with him. In Canada, the showings of Nitro were never live and very sporadic, never in a consistent time slot. Sometimes it would show consistently for a few weeks and then nothing. Sometimes it would show really late at night or in the middle of the afternoon. I would never call myself a WCW fan but I loved wrestling and the Monday Night Wars were great times so I wanted to watch Nitro if I could. We did get the Nitro after the screwjob, WCW could have made a new fan that night but instead they disappointed me beyond belief. Watching the nWo come out with Canadian flags, mocking Canada and purposely singing an atrocious version of Oh Canada killed any interest I had and made me depressed at the thought of Bret going to wrestle there. It was much different than when Hogan left the WWF for WCW. When Hogan left and I saw that video of him being hugged by the fans, it was like your friend happily moving away to make new friends. When Bret left the WWF to go to WCW, it was like watching your friend be dragged off to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. To go from the excitement of the Hart Foundation vs USA storyline to Bret leaving for WCW a few months later felt like a nightmare, it was fn awful. We didn’t even get a proper ending to the Hart Foundation storyline, like Bret it was just taken out back and shot.
Vince McMahon famously said that “WCW would never know what to do with a Bret Hart” and my God was he right on the money. It’s mind boggling how bad his coming to WCW was botched. Here you have Bret Hart, the WWF Champion that was screwed out of the title legitimately, he never lost. WCW could claim they have the rightful WWF Champion and that Shawn Michaels was just a paper champion. Eric Bischoff was the boss that screwed WCW and was now helping the nWo. It doesn’t take a lot of brain cells to figure out that putting Bret vs Hogan for the title is where the money is. After Sting won, they could have had him screwed out of the title after a few months and pivoted to Bret/Hogan. But instead a few months after Bret’s WCW debut, they had him turn heel and join the nWo lol just so stupid. If you’re gonna turn Bret heel, at least have him form a new Hart Foundation to continue that red hot storyline. I honestly don’t even want to talk about Bret’s time in WCW bc it is so depressing filled with ridiculous storylines and constantly hot-shotting the titles. Bret did have some great matches with Curt Hennig, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Booker T, DDP, Sting and Chris Benoit but they were in the middle of non-sensical storylines.
The greatest moment for Bret in WCW was when he goaded Goldberg into spearing him during a Nitro in Toronto. Goldberg speared Bret but was knocked out cold and Bret revealed that he was wearing a steel plate under the Maple Leafs jersey he was wearing and then quit WCW. Brilliant spot. In reality Bret had torn his groin and needed surgery. After the surgery, Bret was on his way to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno to promote his return when he learned the devastating news that Owen had died during a WWF PPV. This was obviously a crushing blow to Bret who had to take a few more months off to grieve and be there for his and Owen’s family. We love and miss you Owen, Godspeed brother. Things got a bit better when Bret came back, he had one of his best matches against Chris Benoit in a Owen Hart tribute match. WCW started taking advantage of the global draw Bret was and did shows in Canada, one of them featured a WCW Title tournament that Bret won. Shortly after this would see the injury that ended Bret’s career and probably contributed to the stroke he would have a few years later. In a match vs Goldberg at Starrcade 1999, Goldberg threw a kick full force that connected flush with Bret’s head and gave him a serious concussion that was then mis-diagnosed. Bret kept wrestling until he was physically unable to do so anymore.
Bret stuck around a bit more to cut some promos and join the nWo 2000….ugh yeah it was bad. Due to his inability to physically perform, WCW terminated Bret’s contract via Fedex and Bret announced his retirement soon after. Not at all the way a hero like Bret should have ended his career. In 2002, Bret was riding his bike when he hit a hole which caused a seemingly harmless fall off his bike but when Bret landed he couldn’t move and was later diagnosed as having a stroke. Miraculously Bret was able to fight and grind his way through rehab to make a full recovery and has become a hero and inspiration to millions of stroke victims around the world. Bret’s details this period in his life and it is nothing short of extraordinary that he came out of it as healthy as he did. During this time, Vince reached out to Bret and they started to repair the bridge between them that could eventually lead to Bret becoming involved with WWE. Bret didn’t want to be erased from wrestling history and wanted his matches/moments celebrated. This led to a 2005 DVD release featuring an incredible documentary and compilation of his greatest matches.
In 2006, Bret agreed to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, a place that he absolutely deserved to be. Stone Cold Steve Austin inducted him and Bret delivered an amazing speech while accepting, here is a transcript of the speech but if you have the means, watch it bc it’s better to see it with the fans and wrestler responses:
Thank you! I just wanna say, it’s an honor to be here and it’s an honor to be up here with so many great legends like everybody said. And, you know, nobody’s more surprised and more amazed to be here than I am. But, this is a big night for me.
And despite what anyone thinks, many years ago when I had my fallout with Vince McMahon at the 1997 Survivor Series and all that, I made a promise to myself THAT DAY, that if they ever asked me to do the Hall of Fame I would be here.
I wanna say that while I’ll never forget what the WWE took away from me, I also wanna say that I’ll never forget all the great things that they gave to me. And I’ve had a great great life and I’ve had a great career here. And first of all I want to thank the McMahons, especially Vince, for giving me the chance to work on his canvas.
Every night that I went out years ago when I first started, I, I was just honored to be in the ring and wrestle for the WWE.
You know when I think back years and years ago, when I was about, well three years old I think, I was watching my first wrestling matches on TV and I was watching Killer Kowalski. And, I think in my family everybody just became ingrained from the very start to love this business and love the circus life. My family growing up, I mean, everybody loved wrestling and we always been grateful for all the funny adventures and stories that we’ve had through this great business.
I want everyone to know that I came here to celebrate my career, not to mourn over it. And, I had a fortune cookie today that said, “You’re welcomed at any gathering,” on my Chinese fortune cookie today.
I want to go back to when I was a little kid. I remember going to the wrestling matches for the very first time, and I’d be riding in the car down to the wrestling matches with my brothers, and right from the very start I can remember I’d be riding in the car and my dad would pull up to the hotel and , I remember when I was real young they picked up the midgets.
And, I remember I thought “Cool, finally I got some wrestlers that I can play around with,” you know. And it was, I remember Sky Low Low and Little Beaver and that whole bunch, they just all get in the backseat.
My dad had a big stretch limo with four different rows of seats, just enough for all us Hart kids and, he let the midgets climb in there and they get in the back and I can remember I thought, “Great.” And I remember trying to headlock them and stuff like that.
And if you ever, if you knew midget wrestlers you know that you don’t want to be headlocking them — they don’t appreciate that too much.
But anyway, wrestling’s always been part of my life. I can remember my first experiences with wrestling. I was about, 10, 12 years old and I’d go down to the basement, and my dad had all these huge wrestlers. And I remember you were kind of safe when you were about that age — 12 you’re OK you know — you could sit down there and as long as you didn’t say anything. And it was pretty interesting to watch my dad put these guys into all these holds and they’d be screaming for their lives down there. I think my mom sometimes, I don’t know what she thought, I think she sometimes phoned the police. She was worried someone’s getting killed down there.
My dad was an amazing character and I want to say first that… I owe everything I am today to my dad. And, the man I always longed to be was the one I first thought my father was. He was a one of a kind guy in this business. And I can remember when I first got in, I always introduced myself around the dressing room as Bret Hart, Stu Hart’s kid, and this was always my passage to safety. Everybody I know who really understood him and got to know him loved him. He was everything that was good about the wrestling business. I know he’d be really proud of me standing here today.
I, got all kinds of funny stories and memories. I’ll try to not go too long here. It would only be right for me to tell a few funny stories about my brother, Owen.
My brother Owen was, he was a hilarious guy.
I remember being on the road getting a call from somebody telling me that someone from delivery service was giving me a free pizza. I think I already eaten, but they would sell me on it. It was free and bringing it up and it’s on the house. And I was like OK. And the next thing you know I would be arguing with the guy about how he wanted me to pick my toppings — what kind of toppings I wanted. And it was like OK. So I started going through the toppings and then he starts pushing more toppings on you. Then finally he tells you after all that he’s going to charge you for the toppings. And you go through this charade, anyway, that was Owen.
One time we were checking into a hotel in Dayton, Ohio. All the wrestlers were walking in and, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was there with his wife, and he went to his room.
We were all standing around the front desk signing in. Duggan phoned down and asked the guy at the front desk, “Where’s the gym?” The guy puts his hand over the phone and he goes, “Anyone know where the gym is?”
And Owen goes, you know, “Give it to me.” So he hands the phone over to Owen and Owen gets on the phone and of course, Jim, Hacksaw just thinks it’s somebody at the front desk. Anyway, Owen tells Hacksaw, “Why don’t you look it up yourself, YOU LAZY BASTARD.”
So Hacksaw got all worked up and Owen tells him, “If you wanna do something about it, come down here and I’ll kick your ass.”
Hacksaw couldn’t believe it. So then Hacksaw, you know, he’s getting dressed to come down to the lobby to straighten out this front desk guy. And I remember Owen just hands the phone back to him and the guy goes, “Don’t do this to me!“
Owen goes, “Don’t worry, just tell him it’s me, Jim Powers.”
Hacksaw comes down to the lobby and the guy goes, “Hey, it wasn’t me! It was Jim Powers.”
I remember that night in the dressing room, Hacksaw came up to Jim Powers and, well, that was funny anyway.
If you knew Owen, I’m sure he pulled a joke on you somewhere.
I remember in the beginning of my career I had a chance to, I got called and they said they needed me to take the Dynamite Kid’s place. He was going to wrestle in Madison Square Garden against the great Tatsumi Fujinami from Japan. Anyway, Dynamite Kid couldn’t get across the border and I was called up at the last minute.
I remember I got to the building — this was such a big thing for me… I was only about 20, 21, and I remember I was walking through the lobby getting ready for that big walk over to Madison Square Garden and I kept thinking to myself, “One day I get to tell my kids that I wrestled in Madison Square Garden.”
Anyway, they met me, the Japanese guys that brought me in for this. They stopped me in the lobby and they said, “We have to take you off the card. You don’t have a big enough name to wrestle in Madison Square Garden.” And I remember that in the beginning of my career, When I first got to the WWE in 1984, I was fortunate and lucky enough to be a part of this new surge in wrestling thanks to Hulk Hogan, Vince and the whole team of wrestlers that took wrestling to a whole new level.
Back in those days wrestling was pretty tough. I worked 304 days my first year and I think I worked pretty much close to that for the next six years that I was in the WWE. Double shots. It was a tough life. But I want to say I would never have made it through those years if it hadn’t been for my tag team partner, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.
Jim Neidhart was you know, he was just the greatest character. I got a little pug over in Italy right now that I keep just because I think he reminds me of Jim. He’s got those sad puppy dog eyes you know, and he always wants you to have one more round.
I got so many funny memories and stories of Jim Neidhart, but I’ll just tell one. I remember Owen had just flown in; I think he was getting a new start with WWE back in 1991, maybe. We just did one night in Texas, I worked with a guy named Skinner. Anyway, all the wrestlers were kind of celebrating and I took Owen to a strip bar in San Antonio.
Owen wasn’t really prone to those kind of places but I managed to talk him into it because it was a big night for him. He was starting back in WWE and he’d flown in from Germany. And it was a crazy night, that night in Texas, I’ll tell you that much. We were all drinking in the bar and everyone’s kind of talking and stuff, Next thing you know I see Vince walking in.
And Vince had a few soda pops somewhere else. He was primed and ready that night. I bet Sergeant Slaughter remembers this — he was driving, thank God.
But anyway, I remember just kind of hanging out in the bar with Owen. And Hulk, you know, he could always stir up shit, you know.
He was stirring up the Legion of Doom. Hulk got them all worked up. And I remember Hawk and Animal were talking about how they were going to do their finisher on Vince.
And I remember watching it and I’m thinking, “No way. They’re not gonna do it. Nobody would do their finisher on Vince.”
And um, next thing I know I see Hawk saying he’s not kidding and Animal’s kind of going along with it. Quite a few of the wrestlers were starting to mark out over this, and see if it’s gonna actually happen.
Anyway, next I see Animal come up behind Vince. And like I said, Vince was already in a pretty good state of mind. So Animal came up from behind and he hoisted Vince up. I look and there’s Hawk right there on the little table with the poles.
And I’m waiting. I’m watching. I’m thinking, “Here it is… they’re gonna take Vince’s head off.”
Hawk came off the table with a little powder puff clothesline and I remember Hulk, Beefcake and everybody kind of caught Vince and set him down. I think they even gave a little golf clap.
And I remember I had a beer in my hand. I think I had a shot of Jack Daniels. And I can see Jim pulling on his beard. He goes,
“HART FOUNDATION WOULD HAVE DONE IT!”
I remember thinking, “I better get the hell out of here.” I couldn’t set my drinks down fast enough. I told Owen, “Listen, I gotta get out of here RIGHT NOW.” Next thing you know, Jim’s got Vince up in the bear hug position…
I remember Hulk looking at me like, “So… what’s gonna happen here?” Was Bret really going to take the boss’ head off? Would Bret really do it?
Anyway, I took Vince’s head off! Hart Attack to Vince!
Jim Neidhart… I remember so many funny stories about him. I can’t resist telling this one. Whenever we stayed at a hotel we would always forget to put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob. We’d be lying there in bed and I can hear the maid fumbling with the key to come into the room. I’d be sound asleep and I remember just sort of hearing Jim pull the whole blanket off, and just be lying there like a big old starfish. And then you see the maid come in. I mean, we went through this quite a few times. It was standard Hart Foundation. You hear them scream and run out of the room as fast as they could. Over a period of time I think we could do it in stereo, you know. Anyway, I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.
There’s a lot of wrestlers I wanna take the time to thank. In my early days, I’ll never forget Cowboy Bob Orton, Roddy Piper, Don Muraco, Mr. Fuji, Iron Sheik and so many others that, every night, they were my family. And, I love those guys. I had some…
“ONE MORE MATCH!“*
Huh, we’ll see
I wish. I wish I could have one more match. I wanna take the time to, think about and remember some of my great matches and great experiences I had. I’ll never forget the matches I had with Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig.
He was, he was just the greatest guy to work with every night. I never looked at working with him as work. It was a night off. He was just the greatest guy to work with every night. He was just so much fun and he was so safe and so careful. And I miss him.
I remember wrestling Curt Hennig in Anchorage, Alaska. It was sold out and I remember it was a big crowd. Andre was working in those days with Warrior, and they were going about 25 seconds every night. Not exactly workhorses, these two…
So they needed some extra time, you know, for someone to do the work out there. I was working with Curt that night, and I don’t think I ever had a bad match with him, but I remember that night we, we just had such a beautiful match that I’ll never forget it.
Another guy I wanna tell you a story about is Earthquake. Earthquake, you’re in my prayers. Wherever you are out there I hope you’re doing OK.
I remember we were flying from Columbus up to Seattle or something, and we had about a six in the morning flight. I remember we got delayed for hours and everyone was sleeping on the floor near the gate. It took hours and hours. And everyone was really tired and really cranky. We finally got off and we’re in the air on our way to Seattle. Poor Earthquake, he was in the very last seat in the airplane. You know, he was a big guy so he was against the wall sleeping with his head down. I remember going to the back of the plane to use the bathroom, but someone was already in there. And, Jimmy Hart was across from Earthquake, and I was talking to Jimmy.
Anyway, this little black kid came up and he was about four or five years old. He wanted my autograph and I remember I signed it for him, and then he asked Jimmy to sign it. And then he looked over at Earthquake and he goes, “Should I wake this guy up?”
Jimmy Hart goes, “Yeah go ahead.” I say, “Yeah, he’s a pussycat.” But Earthquake had a long day, you know, he had about enough. I remember this kid pulling on his coat like “Hey hey!”
And I remember Earthquake just looked up, and his eyes were like red holes. He yelled at the little kid and told him to GET OUT. So then he put his head back down…
I remember the little kid looked around like this…and he just leaned back and I couldn’t believe it, he just slapped Earthquake as hard as he could right on the forehead.
And I remember Earthquake, good thing he had a seat belt on, he tried to explode out of that seat. And I remember Jimmy Hart was trying to find a place to hide and I remember I kept praying whoever’s in the bathroom better come out, you know.
Anyway, as you can tell I had a life filled with all kinds of characters, and great stories and memories…
*THANK YOU BRET!*
You’re welcome.
I wanna say that everything I did and accomplished in wrestling I did it for my kids. Everyday, you know, you get up and it’s not the easiest thing in the world to go out there all the time and entertain everyone else’s kids. It seemed like birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, you’re just always entertaining somebody else’s kids, and you’re always packing your bags. Your kids pay the ultimate sacrifice. I just want them to know that everything I did, I did it for them.
I remember a few months before “THE SCREWJOB” I, I was trying to put my youngest son, Blade, to bed. It was in the summer time. I ordered him to go to bed and he went up. I remember he got really mad, and he’s got a pretty bad temper anyway. He was slamming doors and making quite a fuss. I remember finally putting him in his room. I went back downstairs and I was sitting in my kitchen. Like half an hour later, all of a sudden I see Blade come down. And he’s got on Shawn’s t-shirt, Shawn’s hat, and he’s got the Shawn glove and he’s looking at me like this and he’s opening his hand. I said, “So, what are you supposed to be?”
I said, “So, what are you supposed to be?” He looks at me and he goes, “I’M IN THE KLIQ” I still put him to bed. I remember telling Shawn that story.
But, you know, when I think back to those days of the Hart Foundation… with, Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, The British Bulldog, Owen…Those were the happiest days of my life. And I, I always look back on those days with a real deep fondness.
And I was lucky — I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the great fans I’ve got all around the world. If I could give any advice to all the young wrestlers out there: never forsake your fans. Never forget them. Because if he’s a fan of yours, you’ll want to hold on to them for as long as they’ll take ya.
I wanna say that I was a real world’s champion. I traveled around the world, and, I was really proud to be a world champion. I wrestled in India, Israel, South Africa, the Philippines. I wrestled in so many places. And Germany, I wanna say a special thank you to all the fans I had in Germany. I remember they knocked down the barricades just to come up and give me a big hug before my match, or after my match. It was a beautiful experience that I’ll never forget. They were probably the most loyal and devoted fans I ever had. Canada, you know, I was always a Canadian first. I never ever forgot where I came from.
People always say why would you wear pink? Pink was a very special color for me. If you mix a little red and white together, you get pink. Sometimes I thought maybe I should have had a better color throughout my career. Maybe black and gold or something would have been a little nicer. But you know, there was something very neutral about pink as a color. I always said it took a real man to wear pink. Pink can be whatever you want it to be. And I, I love the color pink.
I’m getting ready to close but I wanna say that, to the wrestlers, you need to pace yourselves for the long haul. And it’s not so much about hurting one another. It’s about respecting the art.
I wrestled for 23 years, and it’s not easy to go out there every night and describe yourself as the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. But I wrestled 23 years and I never once injured one wrestler ever. That I know of, anyway. And I was a pretty physical wrestler. And the whole business is about trust and respect. And there’s a deep meaning behind the words, “Doing the honors.”
I wanna thank every wrestler that I ever worked with anywhere around the world. And in closing, um, I want to thank my wife in Italy. When I had my stroke a couple years ago, I remember I got emails and letters from fans all around the world saying they were praying for me. And they must have been praying good because I was lucky and fortunate enough to have been blessed with a great recovery. And I’m standing here today.
If I didn’t have the recovery that I had, then I would never have met the sweet angel that saved me over in Italy. She’s over in Italy now with my pug and I just wanna say hi to her. Cinzia, thank you for being my angel.
And, I wanna thank everybody for all the great memories. Wembley Stadium, all my fans in England…
That was my favorite match that I ever had, and I’m happy to tell you that. And I wouldn’t change that minute, that moment for anything.
I guess I’m gonna wrap up here but I just wanna say that, to all the wrestlers and everyone around the world, if I could give only one message to them it would be this. “The best chance you have if you want to rise to the top is to give yourself up the loneliness. Fear nothing, and work hard. One thing you’ll discover is that life is based less than you think on what you’ve learned and much more than you think on what you have inside you right from the very beginning.”
And I’m happy to say that, you don’t have to worry about me anymore. I’m good, I’m happy to be alive, I’m glad to be here. And I thank each of you for coming out here tonight. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
So fn great. Even though Bret accepted the Hall of Fame induction, he was still not ready to actually come back to WWE TV and did not appear the next night at WrestleMania 22 with the rest of the inductees. However by 2010, Bret was ready to make that step back onto WWE TV and returned on the Jan 4th, 2010 edition of RAW. Shawn Michaels would come out and we would see these 2 fierce rivals bury the hatchet and actually hug. I think it was therapeutic for Bret, Shawn and their fans to finally let go of all the hate and animosity that had built up over the years.I know it was a great, therapeutic moment for me. In addition to his injuries, I think that carrying around all that negativity might have contributed to Bret having his stroke so I was happy to see him let it go. Bret’s return led to an angle with Vince McMahon that would lead to a match at WrestleMania XXVI. Given all the history between Bret and Vince, there was no need to do anything else but they ended up trying to do some angles on TV to build up to the match. Gotta admit it was kind of hokey with Bret being “injured” by a car and Vince buying off all the Hart family members to help him only for them to turn on Vince. But In the end it got the family some exposure and a pay day so it’s all good. The Bret/Vince is looked at negatively by most fans but I fn loved it lol as a huge Bret Hart fan, I could watch Bret tattoo Vince with a chair all day long, 15 with the flat of the chair and 3 with the edge LOL damn. Bret def wasn’t gonna waste this opportunity to give Vince what he had coming for everything that happened. It ended with Vince tapping out to the Sharpshooter, not one of Bret’s greatest matches but a sweet, sweet victory for the Hitman.
Surprisingly enough, Bret’s in-ring days were not over after WrestleMania as he ended up challenging the Miz for the US Title on RAW. Thanks to help from DH Smith the son of the British Bulldog and Tyson Kidd who wrestled as the Hart Dynasty, Bret actually defeated the Miz to win his 5th US Title. We all wish Bret could have had one more great match but that just wasn’t possible so seeing him get this moment was great. Bret was named the new RAW General Manager so he vacated the US Title but Vince ended up firing Bret as General Manager a few weeks later. It was nice to have Bret back on WWE TV regularly but the General Manager role didn’t really suit him. In another shocker, Bret would join John Cena’s team of 7 guys to take on the Nexus at SummerSlam 2010. Bret couldn’t engage in much physicality but it was really cool to see him part of that team and match. There would be 1 more match for Bret in Madison Square Garden on ‘Bret Hart Appreciation Night’ as he joined the Hart Dynasty to take on 3 of the Nexus members and got the win for their team when Justin Gabriel submitted to the Sharpshooter. Given all of the tragedy and turmoil Bret faced in his life, must have been so refreshing to compete 1 more time in a place as special as MSG. Bret’s last match took place in 2011 as he teamed with John Cena to defeat Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez when Bret submitted Rodriguez with the Sharpshooter. It wasn’t a Shawn Michaels 2002-2010 comeback but given that Bret had to retire due to injury and had a stroke, it’s such a huge blessing that he was able to come back and end his career with some great, fun moments.
Bret has made more random appearances over the years as a guest ref, panelist, another ‘Bret Hart Appreciation Night’ in 2013 in Calgary being honoured buy people like Pat Patterson, Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. He also has supported Natalya the daughter of Jim Neidhart in some big matches she had like the awesome 2014 NXT Takeover match vs Charlotte Flair. In 2019, Bret became a 2 time Hall of Famer going in alongside Jim Neidhart when their tag team the Hart Foundation was inducted. There was a crazy moment when a fan hit the ring and threw Bret to the ground which could have had disastrous consequences considering Bret’s history but thankfully Bret was fine and it was great to see how many current wrestlers immediately jumped in to help Bret. It isn’t just WWE that has big respect for the Hitman, later in 2019 Bret was asked by AEW the new #2 wrestling promotion to present their new World Championship at their inaugural PPV Double of Nothing. The career of Bret Hart has forged respect amongst the entire wrestling community and hopefully when this pandemic is over we will see many more appearances in the future.
But his career wasn’t just exclusive to wrestling, Bret made some memorable acting appearances over the years including a legendary guest spot on The Simpsons playing himself. Bret delivered big laughs during a guest starring spot on MADtv and had roles on shows like Honey I Shrunk The Kids TV series, The Adventures of Sinbad, Big Sound, The Immortal and was the voice of the Hooded Fang on the TV series Jacob Two-Two. There was even a theatre performance as Bret played the Genie in a stage production of Aladdin. In addition to his legendary autobiography, Bret wrote a popular column in the Calgary Sun for 13 years. In what must have been a humbling honour, in 2018 Bret was honored with a traditional Niitsitapi naming ceremony and named ‘Courageous Chief’ by Siksika Elder Miiksika’am as recognition for promoting interest of the sport of amateur wrestling among indigenous youth throughout Western Canada. Bret should be on Canada’s Walk of Fame, there aren’t many people that have done more to promote and represent Canada around the World than Bret Hart. I remember voting for it and he got enough votes but their board decided he wasn’t a big enough name to be on it so they denied him. Some things never change I guess. Last but not least, Bret became a founder and part owner of the Calgary Hitmen, a team that still carries the Hitmen name as tribute to Bret to this day. The respect for Bret Hart knows no boundaries and will live on in generations to come.
The brings us to the end of this walk through the legendary life of Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart. If I had to use 1 word to sum up what Bret’s legacy will be to wrestling and the world, I would use ‘hero.’ Bret Hart was a hero to millions of people across the entire world and lived up to that role every day of his life. People will criticize Bret for ‘taking himself too seriously’ but I would counter that most of those people don’t take themselves serious enough. Some wrestlers wonder why they aren’t over to the level they want, well part of the reason is that they don’t treat wrestling or themselves as real and the fans can see that. Bret went into the ring like it was a legitimate competition. Outside of the ring Bret presented himself as a legitimate Champion. Even though wrestling is pre-determined, you have to be real to win the crowd and connect with them. Fans are putting their real emotions into the matches and moments so if your emotions/energy are not real then you will not connect. When Bret was the Champion, he expected to be treated like a real Champion while many other guys just looked at the Title as a prop or an ATM. This is what causes people to scoff at how Bret conducts himself but it is also what separates Bret from the rest of his peers. Ric Flair did the same thing just in a different way but gets celebrated for it while Bret is often criticized for it. When the question of ‘who is the greatest wrestler ever’ comes up, my answer is always Bret Hart and Ric Flair. There are 1000 guys that wrestle like Shawn Michaels in the business, def not on his level but there is nobody that wrestles like Bret Hart and Ric Flair. I know they haven’t always gotten along but to me they are in a class above everyone else but Shawn is right behind them.
I’m thankful that Bret/Shawn/Vince have buried the hatchet and moved on from Montreal bc it would be a damn shame if that horrible night defined Bret’s legacy but thankfully it isn’t. It will obviously be talked about until the end of time but it won’t be the first thing people think of when they hear Bret’s name. Still drives me crazy that people say the Screwjob was justified bc Bret wouldn’t do the job to Shawn but ignore everything that Shawn did/said to Bret. Shawn Michaels can be disrespectful to everyone, do and say whatever he wants and nobody cares, people just shrug it off like “Oh that Shawn was an asshole” yet Bret is held to some high standard where he has just accept the disrespect and do nothing about it. Bret was completely justified in his decision to not drop the belt to Shawn. When you read everything that Shawn did and said to Bret, there is no chance anyone with a shred of self-respect would do a job for Shawn Michaels. Wrestling is about trust, both in safety and performance, you job for me when it’s called for and I job for you. Shawn took a piss on that trust by showing up to work inebriated and telling Bret to his face that he wouldn’t do the job for Bret even though Bret was willing to do it for Shawn. Given the situation, Vince should have pivoted to someone else and had Bret drop the title to them, you could get it onto Shawn at any other point.
You hear people say that, Bret didn’t respect the business when he refused to drop the title on his way out but they are conveniently changing the narrative. Shawn Michaels told the World Champion to his face that he wouldn’t put him over, I’d like to see what would have happened if he said that to Harley Race when he was World Champion. You don’t get more disrespectful to the business than that. Bret Hart respected the business and that is why he had to take a stand. Shawn Michaels didn’t respect the business so Bret reacted accordingly. Anyone that truly loves and respects the wrestling business would support Bret and completely condemn the Montreal Screwjob. I just shake my head at guys like Jim Cornette who act like they are protectors and patron saints of the wrestling business yet Cornette is just giddy to try and take credit for the idea to screw Bret Hart. So many people try to take the credit for it like it is some sort of prize, just fn pathetic. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves and their role in it. If Bret had just tucked his tail and did the job for Shawn in Montreal, he wouldn’t be the hero that he is and always will be. Well what do you know, I said I would move on and not let myself get worked up and look what I did lol I guess there is still some fire left in me about it all.
Writing this piece has made me feel so grateful that I got to be alive at the same time as Bret Hart and be the age where he could be my hero. I’m so grateful I got to experience the excitement of 1997 and the Hart Foundation vs USA storyline easily my favourite time in wrestling. Being Canadian, I felt like I was apart of the Hart Foundation. Having a younger brother myself, I related to the Bret/Owen story and loved watching them feud with each other. I just wish Bret had been there in 1999 bc if he had then Owen would still be with us. The family bond and brotherly love they had is stronger than death and will live on forever in the hearts of all the wrestling fans that watch their story for generations to come. The further we get from the end of Bret’s career, the more special his talent becomes. As I said earlier, you don’t see anyone that wrestles like Bret in today’s wrestling and wrestling has changed so much you don’t even see that same style of wrestling anymore. Bret Hart for me is the greatest wrestler to ever lace up a pair of boots and when you look at his career, it’s amazing that it ended up that way. His first WWF Title win wasn’t even televised. His second WWF Title win was basically a fluke and he lost it to a guy that got beat in 10 seconds 3 days later. Look at Bret Hart’s 1995 to WM 12 – no contest vs Diesel, Bob Backlund at WrestleMania, Hakushi, Jerry Lawler Kiss My Foot match, evil dentist Issac Yankem, evil pirate Jean Pierre Lafitte, 3rd WWF Title win vs Diesel after Diesel had him beat but showed compassion and got caught in a small package, WWF Title defense vs Bulldog with no build or focus, match was lost but won via interference vs Undertaker, match was lost but won via interference vs Diesel, lost WWF Title to Shawn Michaels. I mean my God that is atrocious, it’s amazing that he came out of that with his respect and popularity in tact. Let’s keep going, win his 4th title in a battle royal and lost it 1 night later. Won his 5th title after Shawn hit Taker with a chair. A lesser man may have crumbled but Bret persevered and proved his greatness by delivering at any level of the card with anybody they gave him to work with.
Not sure why Vince never really went with a hard, strong push for Bret and made him ‘the Guy’ like Hogan, Shawn, Austin and Cena. Obviously he did give Bret some big pushes but he never booked Bret as a dominant force. Despite that you have to give Vince credit for the chances he did give Bret and having faith in him to be the WWF Champion 5 times. I think Vince has a lot of love for Bret but I believe there is some subconscious jealousy in Vince towards Bret. I mean, Bret was everything Vince wanted to be when he was younger but wasn’t given the chance from his father. Promoters son, great wrestler respected by all, cool look, popular with fans and women, World Champion, like I said Bret was everything that Vince wanted to be at one point. I don’t think it was personal in 1997, Vince knew that Shawn and Bret couldn’t co-exist and decided to go with the younger guy. That’s it. Bret was 40 in 1997 so I think Vince saw that he could get more mileage out of Shawn with Bret out of the picture so he made the move to push Bret out of the WWF and into WCW. Even though the Screwjob brought the Mr McMahon character onto TV and sparked the Attitude Era one of the hottest, most profitable periods in wrestling history, I truly believe nothing would have changed if the screwjob never happened. Austin would have still emerged as one of wrestling’s biggest stars and may have even reached greater heights with Bret there to continue to have great matches with. Bret was already starting to push the Vince McMahon onto TV as a character so I think the Mr McMahon character was inevitable. Bret Hart set the table for Steve Austin to connect with the fans and become the mega star he became. I’m not giving Bret all the credit, I just don’t think it would have happened the same way if Bret hadn’t worked with Steve. Just wish they could have had 1 more great match.
Before I bring this to a close, Im gonna list my top 10 Bret Hart singles matches:
1 – vs Stone Cold Steve Austin @ WrestleMania XIII
2 – vs Owen Hart @ WrestleMania X
3 – vs Shawn Michaels @ WrestleMania XII
4 – vs British Bulldog @ SummerSlam 1992
5 – vs Mr Perfect @ SummerSlam 1991
6 – vs Roddy Piper @ WrestleMania VIII
7 – vs Diesel @ Survivor Series 1995
8 – vs Stone Cold Steve Austin @ Survivor Series 1996
9 – vs The Undertaker @ SummerSlam 1997
10 – vs Mr Perfect/Razor Ramon/Bam Bam Bigelow @ King of the Ring 1993
I know the last spot is 3 matches but I see that night as 1 great performance and I couldn’t just pick one match. Canadian Stampede 10 Man tag was more of a great moment than a great match for Bret so I had to leave it off but it was one of my favourite nights in wrestling. The best Hart Foundation match on TV was probably SummerSlam 1990 vs Demolition but you could put on any match vs any 80’s WWF Tag team and say that one is the best, esp against the Bulldogs. I wish we had video of all the matches they had at live events bc by all accounts they were always incredible. The only bad match I ever saw Bret Hart have was WrestleMania XI vs Bob Backlund and it’s still a passable match just bad by Bret’s standards. Bret’s work more than holds up and the further we get from the end of his career, the greater his matches become. Anyone that worked with Bret came out looking better for it. I actually really enjoyed the matches in 1995 vs Hakushi and Jean Pierre Lafitte despite wishing he was working higher on the card. Mic work was definitely Bret’s weakness but he cut some truly great promos over the years, esp in 1997 and was much better than he gives himself credit for. His theme music is iconic, both Hart Foundation era and the upgraded version for most of his singles run, 2 of the all time great themes. As a global draw, I would say that he might be #1. Guys like Hogan and Austin were bigger draws in the US but Bret was no slouch in the USA and was a rock star in Canada and overseas. Bret wrote the book on selling in the ring to draw sympathy from the crowd, his psychology was second to none, his technical ability was at the highest level, his work was tight and physical but not reckless or sloppy. To borrow a line from Steve Austin, the bottom line is that Bret was the best in the ring, great on the mic, drew big money all around the world and that is why I can say confidently that he is the greatest wrestler of all time.
I am really happy that I did this now, our heroes deserve to be honoured while they are still alive. I know chances are Bret will never read this but I’m just happy to put it out there in the world for the World to read if they ever come across it. It’s tough to look at the roster in the 2000’s and think about the matches Bret could have had if he didn’t have to retire due to injuries but that’s the way she goes. You never know what other paths may have led to so I just spend my energy being grateful for what we got. Bret has been a hero to millions of fans like me but that comes at the expense of time with his family so it’s awesome to see on Instagram and Facebook how much time he is able to devote to his kids and family now that he is retired. I’m thankful to Bret’s kids and family for allowing him to perform for us and be a hero to strangers around the world. I’m so thankful to Bret for the sacrifices he has made throughout his career to perform at the highest level in every town he could and giving fans like me our small moment here and there. I’m thankful that Bret took his role as a hero so seriously and never wavered or sold out despite a great cost to the peace of his soul at times. I can speak for most Bret Hart fans when I say we have his back no matter what and would follow him into the mouth of hell to fight the devil himself if Bret asked us to. I send out all my love to Bret and his family and send up prayers of peace, good fortune, happiness, continued good health and longevity in life. Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart will always be my hero and when I have kids some day, I’m gonna show them all of his matches and make sure the Legend of the Hitman lives on through them.
‘The Best There Is, The Best There Was and the Best There Ever Will Be’ wasn’t just a catch phrase, like Bret Hart, it’s as real as it gets.
