Since I've been not really into MMA lately and find UFC product boring, I've been going back to the glory days of Pro Wrestling, which in my case was the mid-90's-late 90's. I always was a Bret Hart fan, he never was my absolute favorite but I did really enjoy him as a wrestler. However, although I wasn't the biggest Hart mark, I find his place in history absolutely fascinating and feel that I should make a FRAT thread about the story of Bret Hart.
Bret Hart was born into a wrestling family. I'm sure most of you who are reading this don't need me to go into details. Bret was born and rasied in Canada with Stu Hart, a legendary wrestling promoter for Canada. Vince bought his business and Bret was with the WWF. Vince dominated the local terrortories promotions and wanted to expand national and eventually international, which he did. Vince built enough esteem to promote his first Wrestlemania in 1985 which featured his main event star (Hulk Hogan) and even managed to persuade some popular celebrities to particiapte in the show including the most famous boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali.
WWF Wrestlemania was successful. Vince managed to build a show around the popularity of his champion, Hulk Hogan and managed to also promote other big stars at the time of the 80's such as Ultimate Warrior, Andre the Giant, Macho Man Randy Savage, Million Dollar Man, King Kong Bundy, Jimmy Snuka, and more. WWF ruled the world of wrestling in the United States and did manage to go international. Vince McMahon participated on the show as a color commentator.
When a company gets as big as WWF , problems are going to occur no matter what. In this case, it was sexual abuse rumors and steroids that rocked the WWF. The steroid trail was huge and Hulk Hogan testified about using steroids and Vince had a PR problem with his company.
In 1992, Hulk Hogan aka Hulkamania grew so successful, that Hogan could go on to do other projects and make money without being a performer for Vince McMahon's company. At this time, Bret Hart was a mid-card type guy that was gaining lots of momentum. He won the intercontinental belt. Bret was a guy that was a hard worker and a loyal worker behind the scenes. He started as a tag team with his brother in law, Jim Anvil Neidhart. A little unknown fact was that Bret put on his trademark sunglasses to hide his nerves as he was not good at promos. He let Anvil do most of the talking while he was taking care of the in ring skills. By 1992, Hogan started to leave the company more and more to do other things and left the belt vacant.
Bret Hart was a guy that had a fan base for his in ring abilities as well as his good guy character that was based on honor, values and respect. People liked that. He was a good guy that was a great wrestler in the ring who won his matches. Vince wanted Hogan to pass the torch to a new wrestler. But it wasn't Bret Hart he had in mind. It was actually the Ultimate Warrior. In 1991, probably after MUCH negociating, Hogan dropped the belt to Ultimate Warrior at WM 6 in Canada. Warrior was over with the crowd and had the physic to carry the belt. He was a cartoon character in the ring and people loved the excitement of watching a high energy, high impact wrestler. Backstage, was a different story. Warrior was a guy who came from body building background and was a pain to deal with. He didn't care about wrestling. He was an asshole behind the scenes, had no friends. Loner. Complete nutcase too.
Vince has one pet peeve about his wrestlers. Make it to the show. Vince always said that he as a promoter has one job to do - make sure the audience gets what was advertised. The number rule was do not no-show events and leave the fans upset. Warrior was such a dick, he began to miss shows and be just a pain in the ass. At SummerSlam 1991, Warrior and Hogan were scheduled for a tag team match against Sgt. Slaughter, Shiek. Warrior told Vince he would not go out there unless he got paid more money that night. Vince was furious. Vince agreed to pay Warrior whatever the number was, and when Warrior came back to Vince office, Vince did pay him the sum of money (even though he wasn't contractual obligated to do) and fired him on the spot. Warrior was unprofessional and was not a guy to have carry the company.
So after Warrior didn't work out, Hogan wanted to do other things outside of wrestling like acting, Vince needed a guy to carry the belt aka carry the company and draw MONEY.
Vince tried to 'clone' Hulk Hogan after he left by taking Lex Luger and making him patriotic, he had the body like Hogan, American patriot, good guy, etc - but the fans did not like this Hogan "sequel"......Vince decided he would put the belt on Bret Hart, the dawn of a new champion for various reasons. If you think about it, Bret was the perfect choice. Vince wanted someone that wasnt a roided monster to get away from the bad PR of steroids. He wanted someone smaller in stature, but could make the audience believe he was good enough to beat a guy 400 lbs like Yokozuna. Bret fit that role with his in ring abilities. He was a great worker in the ring and could make the audience believe he could submit a guy like Yoko. Also, Vince learned from his mistake of the Warrior. Warrior was a difficult person to deal with, wasn't a wrestling guy. Bret WAS a wrestling guy, grew up in the business and was a very loyal and professional worker. Bret fit that role as well... So he could be controlled backstage and erase the roid image of WWF - Bret was appointed to take the belt.
He won it from Ric Flair. Ric Flair was a guy that was a wrestler for the hardcore fans. His fame, his body, his age didn't carry well to mainstream america. Hogan was larger than life in everyone's eyes. But Flair was larger that life in only wrestling fan's eyes. Flair's character couldn't connect with mainstream audience. Flair was such a big name among hardcore fans, that his name is legendary. Then again, Hogan was in Rocky 3 which helped boost his popularity with mainstream America, while Fliar was more dedicated to the wrestling world, which is why fans loved him so much. Hart over Flair was an obvious choice by Vince because there would be a chance Bret , the younger star, could possibly get as high as Hogan. Bret Hart beat Flair and Hart era began in 1992.
Bret Hart as the champ in 1992 wasn't exactly as perfect as it would seem. You have to realize that it is a hard thing to do to fill Hogan's shoes. Hogan was such a success, it would be hard for ANYONE to equal that, let alone top that. So ratings did drop. But the fans that were watching, did recongnize Bret as the champion and the leader of the company.
Bret was a guy who started from the bottom and worked his way to the top, so it wasn't just handed to him. He wanted to do things different than Hogan. Hogan had his own dressing room, Bret wanted to dress with the other wrestlers and be an equal to them all. Bret continued to be a loyal worker to Vince, never missed any shows during his era. Bret felt he would be a different leader than Hogan and not have a big ego, follow boss' orders, and the main thing was be a better performer than Hogan who was NOT a great in ring worker.
The first problem with Bret occured at Wrestlemania 9. Hogan wanted to come back for a little bit and Vince couldn't resist turning down the money he would draw from Hogan who was still the biggest name in wrestling, and even indirectly promoted wrestling from his other projects he was doing. Bret was the established champion, but Hogan wanted to return, so the decision was made to take the belt away from Bret and put it on Hogan. Since Bret and Hogan were both baby faces, they would have to go through a heel (villain) to get the belts from Bret back to Hogan. Bret was obviously pissed about this. Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was the main event and Yoko won the belt when his manager threw powder in Bret's eyes. Then as Yoko held the belt, Hogan ran in the ring as he was so upset by what happened and Hogan leg dropped Yoko and the ref counted three and somehow , which really didn't make any sense, put the belt back on Hogan all in one match at WM 9.
Hogan stayed and left again. Bret felt that he saw this was going to happen where Hogan would just up and leave again for Hollywood. He was going to film Thunder in Paradise tv show for TNT. Now the belt was once again up for grabs and since no one in the company had star power more than Bret, it was decided that Bret would win a King of the Ring 1993 tournament to reclaim the belt once again. The KOTR 1993 was designed specifically for Bret to win the belt back and win fans over to see him beat three ppl in one night and make the audience believe he was the best.
So now 1993-1995 was Bret Hart as champ. He had his prime during these years. He did a GREAT storyline with his brother Owen Hart. Owen was a big name mid-carder that was ready for a push. The two had a storyline where Owen was the jealous younger brother who resented his older brother and wanted the title, so the two had a falling out. That was the story line that connected with the audience. It was a great storyline too because everyone watching had issues with his / her brothers / sisters.... But behind the scenes, Owen and Bret were closer than ever and had a LOT of fun doing the storyline fued. They were brothers and knew they each other so well so could put on a great match.
1993-1995 was Bret's era. Top of the mountain. But in order for Bret to become larger than life and over with the fans to draw money, you need other wrestlers to help Bret achieve that success. Vince was great at marketing superstars of his company. You have to try to create as many superstars as you can because thats how you draw money. You can't just have one guy. To make one great, you need to have that champ compete against other great superstars to get him to reach higher level of success. Vince still ruled wrestling in 1993-1995. WWF contained superstars that were helping the company draw money including the Undertaker, Owen Hart, Bulldog, Razor Ramon, Diesel, Lex Luger, 1-2-3 Kid, Tatanka, IRS, Yokozuno, Syscho Sid, and of course Shawn Michaels.....
There were always other companies trying to start their own organization to compete with WWF and gain success. NWA was an old school company that reformed into a company called WCW with the ownership of Ted Turner. They had loyal southern fans and featured great wrestlers such as Vader, Sid, Ric Flair and his Four Horsemen, Road Warriors, an early Steve Austin with Brian Pillman, Sting, Cactus Jack (Mic Foley). But it was a organization designed for the southern old school wrestling fans. A very rich and wealthy billionare named Ted Turner who owned Atlanta Braves, CNN, tv networks such as TNT and TBS bought the company in 1988. Ted was a Georgia based business man who wanted a wrestling show for his cable networks, so he bought one , renamed it WCW and they did okay, nothing like WWF.
As the company was small potatoes compared to Vince, a young color commentator threw his name into a hat of people to take charge of the company. His name was Eric Bischoff. He started making some changes to the company to make it more successful. He wanted the old school southern company to 'get with the times more'. In 1994, Eric met with Hogan since they both were in Florida, Eric for WCW filming shows and Hogan for filming Thunder in Paradise. Eric talked him into signing with WCW. This was in 1994 and that meant a possible rivalry with WWF since Hogan was the biggest name in wrestling history and could actually put WCW on the map and make it as big as WWF, the same way he did with WWF back in 1985. Hogan immediately fueded with the champion of WCW at the time, Ric Flair. At Bash at the Beach 1994, Hogan beat Flair winning the belt. That gained a lot of fame for WWF. Ted Turner brought in Eric Bischoff and sat down with him and said "What do we have to do to compete with Vince ?" ... Eric answered "Give me primetime." WCW was always on shitty time slots. Saturday afternoon. Ted turned to his guy and said, give Eric primetime. In 1995, WCW Nitro debuted on TNT at the exact same time as WWF Raw which was on USA network. That was the dawn of the Monday Night Wars. Now WWF had Hart as their champ and WCW had Hogan as their champ...... And as history showed us, Hogan was still way more popular than Bret Hart.
During Bret Hart's era, a new name was growing in fame and success. His name was Shawn Michaels. He ironically had a similar path toward success as Bret did. He started as a smaller tag team guy like Bret. Like Bret, he was not a roid monster like Warrior or Hogan. And also like Bret, he was able to do the in ring abilities and perform much better than the older guys like Hogan, Macho Man, etc... But Bret's weakness was his gimmick and his charisma. Bret wasn't that great on the mic back then. He was obviously getting better as time went on, but Shawn Michaels aka HBK had a natural charisma that really got to fans. Shawn was excellent on the mic. He could be a GREAT heel. In fact, many will say that HBK was a better heel than a baby face. The thing that makes a great pro wrestler is when that wrestler is himself in the ring with the volume turned wayyyyyy up. HBK was a cocky arrogant guy backstage. A pre-madonna. He was fucking Sunny behind Chris Candino's back (who was dating Sunny), he befriended Razor Ramon, Kevin Nash, 1-2-3 Kid and they became known as the 'Kliq' , a group of friends that sort of ruled the locker room. The problem was these guys were cocky and had their egos. Razor, Diesel and Shawn were all three main event level wrestlers that were extremely popular.
Bret didn't have a problem with the Kliq or Michaels at the time. They all respected Bret and they had to work with Bret alot. Diesel and Bret had many storylines together. But as Bret Hart continued his reign as champion, fans were really starting to take notice to Shawn. At WM 10, where Bret Hart rematch Yokozuno so he could get his 'clean' win as sort of a way of Vince apologizing to Bret for WM 9 with the Hogan fiasco - Shawn had a ladder match with Razor Ramon. That match was voted one of the greatest of all time. Shawn was equal to Bret in almost every level, but exceeded him in charisma. Vince noticed this and the fans were being listened to. With WCW breathing down Vince's neck, Vince had to do what he had to do in order to stay at the top of the wrestling world and not let WCW take over.
It was decided that Vince would go the direction of Shawn as the new champion over Bret Hart. Hart's era was from 1992-1996. During this time, he gained much success and even made it as a guest appearance on an episode of the wildly popular tv show 'The Simpsons'. Bret knew months in advance for WM 12 in California that he would drop the belt to Shawn Michaels. He didn't have a problem with that on the surface. Deep down, Bret's ego was probably a little hurt and upset that he wasn't going to be 'the guy' anymore. A conversation with Shawn took place where Shawn said "when i get the belt, im going to work with HHH, 1-2-3 Kid, Diesel, Razor", which Bret felt was a little unfair that Shawn just wanted to work with his friends , members of the Kliq and help them over. Bret always felt that when you are the champ, you're the leader of the locker room and have a responsiblity to do the right thing. Bret felt uneasy about Shawn as the champion. Shawn was also very cocky backstage and was even beaten up by 6-10 guys at a bar after a show.
Wrestlemania 12 - HBK vs Bret Hart for the title in an iron man match, which was an hour long match who ever got most pin falls or submission would win the match. The match went over time as the score was 0-0, and HBK won the title in OT. Bret was upset he had to pass the torch as anyone would be in his shoes. Can't really blame him. No one likes to be told, okay - this guy is better than you, you have to lose to him. As Bret continued 1996 as the number two guy, Bret was starting to get more upset at Shawn. Shawn kept getting injured. One thing that Bret was upset about as when Shawn couldn't wrestle and had to give up the title, but was doing flips in the ring. Bret felt Shawn didn't care about being champion, he only cared about the fame and money aspect of it. Bret truly felt he was the best wrestler in the company and deserved to be the champ. Another thing people didn't really realize was that Bret wanted to do a rematch at next years wrestlemania (13). He wanted to continue a long storyline with Shawn as he felt they were the two top guys in the company and the iron match was very popular with the fans who would want to see them wrestle again. So when people say they really didn't like each other at the WM 12, it was more of a work than people realize. Bret didn't HATE Shawn until 1997, which I'll get to. In 1996, it was just an ego being hurt for Bret and a little bit of resentment of Shawn, but no bad blood between them at all. In fact, Bret said it was one of his best matches ever at WM 12.
Times were tought for WWF in 1996. As Shawn and Bret were trying to carry the company, WCW managed to sign two of Vince's biggest stars - Diesel (Kevin Nash) and Razor Ramon (Scott Hall). Not only did Eric Bischoff managed to get the top talent from WWF, but its how he used them that put WCW over WWF in 1996. Nash and Hall entered WCW as 'Outsiders', people thought that the WWF was invading WCW. Hall would walk down from the crowd and jump in the ring and interupt the matches which back then was unheard of. And since there was no internet (al gore didn't invent it yet), people really thought WWF was invading. The ratings for WCW Nitro soared.... Vince sued WCW claiming they were using his company in their storyline. He even made a fake Razor and fake Diesel as a way to show that he owns these characters, and the fans resented the fake Razor and Diesel as it was one of the worst ideas ever. At Bash at the Beach 1996, Outsiders wrestled Sting, Macho Man, and Luger with a third mystery partner. Plans were to have Sting or Luger as the third member, but Hogan expressed interest in turning heel. As Hogan walked down to the ring and joined the bad guys, Hall and Nash to form the nWo - wrestling world was rocked. Eric had done it with the help of these wrestlers and ted turner's money. WCW over took the wrestling world and Vince was now number two....
Back over at WWF, Shawn was not a good champion, kept getting hurt, people were tired and bored of Bret Hart. Same good guy gimmick - people wanted something new and they found it on WCW Nitro with the nWo, the hottest thing in wrestling. King of the Ring 1996, a bad guy wrestler known as the Ring Master, Steve Austin tried his best to be a villain. He cussed, he spitted, he gave the middle finger to people he didn't like, he was managed by Million Dollar Man. But WCW at the time was stealing all of Vince's talent and bringing them over to WCW, so Austin was left with no manager - so they didn't know what to do with him , so they just let him go out there and raise hell. He broke the rules, he cussed at everyone. King of the Ring 1996, Steve Austin beat Jake the Snake to win the KOTR tournament. But something happened, instead of people boo'ing him like Vince expected people to do - they cheered him. Stonecold was born. A wrestler fired from WCW back in 1995 was now a fan favorite when he was suppose to be a heel !
Vince was warming up to the idea of Austin as an "Anti-Hero", but didn't want to break his formula of good guys vs. bad guys just yet.... Bret Hart returned for a storyline with this up and comer, Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996. In the 80's, Hart would have been cheered to beat Austin - but now here in 1996 , the fans changed, the times changed. People were boo'ing Bret Hart ! The good guy. Austin was being cheered even though written as a villain. If they are going to boo you, you mine as well just embrace the boo's and become a villain and thats what Bret Hart did.....
Wrestlemania 13 - HBK vs. Hart rematch was scrapped. HBK was hurt and Austin was a new character that fans were excited to see. Hart vs. Austin rematch from Survivor Series 1996, only reversed roles - Hart being the villain, Austin being the hero, a more of an anti-hero. Hart put him in the sharp shooter and Austin refused to quit and tap out, so he passed out, blood was pouring down from his face and the fans loved the fight of Austin. Hart kept beating him after the match to truly make himself the heel now. Ironically, this new version of Bret Hart might actually surpass his 1992-1995 era as champ.
A great wrestler is a guy who is himself in the ring with the volume turned way up. And this is how Bret Hart become even better in 1997. Bret was an old school traditional wrestler. He liked and embraced honor , respect, and values gimmick and he enjoyed the fans liking this gimmick. It was himself in a way, or how he thought of himself.
But as the fans were changing and boo'ing him when he was all about respect and cheering a guy flipping everyone off and cheating to win, cussing etc - that pissed off Bret Hart. He had a resentment toward the fans. So he went out to the ring and expressed himself. He really was himself and turned the volume up and attacked the fans verbally saying they suck and how he can't believe they boo Bret who is about honor and cheer Austin. It made a great heel. The best part was Bret was still cheered for in Canada. Vince picked up on this and decided to create a mega USA vs. Canada angle. Using Bret as a heel in America and a hero in Canada shows - and Austin, HBK a heel in Canada and a hero in America. It created a rivalry between the fans of the two countries, which made great television.
WCW was trying to steal all of Vince's top talent. In 1996, Bret's contract ran up. WCW wanted to sign him, obviously. Bret was the top dog and Vince's people convinced him that he can't let Bret go. They saw the Nash and Hall success over in WCW and thought Bret was bigger than both of them and would really bring huge ratings to WCW. So Vince gave Bret a very big contract to stay and Bret stayed.
As 1997 rolled over, Austin was gaining huge fame and it was obvious that he would be the top champ very soon. HBK came back in 1997 and convinced Vince that they should be degenerates heels, causing mischief, chaos, anarachy - sexual humor, anything goes type of thing. Shock value. SInce Austin proved that the fans were changing, HBK also backed up this theory that the fans were indeed changing as him and HHH formed 'D-X' , a group that crossed lines and boundries of the old school WWF.
Austin was fueding with Owen Hart and Owen accidently piledrove him on top of his head to injure his neck and Austin, the guy that was going to take over the as the champ was now hurt badly ! With WCW still on top, Vince used D-X vs. Hart and his Canadian family angle in 1997.
Bret Hart starting getting vocal backstage and was really upset at everything. He was upset that the fans indirectly forced him to become heel. He was upset about the shock tv Vince was doing. Like I mentioned, Hart was an oldschool type guy, a traditionalist. He began to get on Vince nerves backstage. Bret Hart was beginning to become a crybaby backstage when he wouldn't get his way...Undertaker vs. Bret Hart match happened at SummerSlam 1997, and Shawn was the special guest referee. The match was designed to set up a Taker / HBK fued without Bret in the picture, this pissed off Bret. He felt that he wasn't getting involved in the proper storylines, Austin, Taker, HBK was really getting pushed to the main event, with Bret not really having a place except just a good wrestler that was popular. Once Vince realized Austin was back in the picture and going to be healed, he knew it would be Austin to be the answer to overtake the ratings war with WCW, not Bret nor Shawn for that matter.
Bret Hart was holding onto the belt and not wanting to let it go on Vince's orders. He was being a pain backstage. HBK and Bret Hart fued was turning into real life. HBK would tell Bret, "yeah go out there and rip me a new one". Then Bret would do it and HBK would be like "You didn't have to go that far"...Really alot of miscommunications between the two that esculated into a real life fued. Their characters were going from the ring to real life / backstage. Bret didn't like HBK and didn't want to drop the belt to him.
Vince was having money troubles. WCW was kicking his ass in the ratings. They had Hulk, the nWo, more and more former WWF stars were signing with WCW including 1-2-3 Kid, Bossman, Million Dollar Man, etc. The nWo was the biggest thing wrestling has ever seen. Budget cuts had to be made. Vince called up Bret and told him to go back to WCW negoications and get a good deal. Vince couldn't afford Bret anymore. He wasn't worth the money. He had D-X, Austin, Taker and he was working on the other mid-card talent like Bulldog, LOD, Nation of Domination featuring The Rock, Owen, Ken Shamrock, HHH, Goldust, Vader, Mankind, and a new character named Kane. Bret was not worth the money. No one liked that good guy gimmick anymore. They were going in a new direction. Bret was great as a Canadian heel and his mic skills improved as he was turning the volume way up - but as great as that was , it wasn't worth the millions of dollars vince was paying him.
Bret went back to WCW and negociated himself 9 million dollars for 3 years, an amazing contract that could secure him for a long time. It was settled. Bret was going to leave, save Vince a lot of money and Vince could focus on D-X, Stonecold, Taker and other directions he was going known as the "Attitude Era". People thought Eric wanted Bret to come over with the belt, but that wasn't true. Bret made it clear he wouldn't do that to Vince and Eric claims he told Bret to finish up with WWF and get rid of the belt to come over to WCW fresh. Bret's ego really got the best of him. He had to leave the WWF on a high note and make himself look good to enter WCW as great. But it was a difficult task to leave without losing the belt to someone. So Bret had it in his contract that he had creative control of his character the last 30 days of his departure. So Bret was telling Vince he wouldn't drop the belt this way or that way.
Vince claims that Bret was refusing to do things before the 30 days hit, he was being real big pain backstage. Vince knew without Bret, WM 14 would probably be Austin obtaining the title from the number one guy in the company, most likely that was going to be HBK. So he needed to get the belt on HBK in order to set up Austin vs. HBK angle by Royal Rumble 1998. Many don't realize Survivor Series 1997 wasn't suppose to be a 'bret last wwf show' or a farewell match - it was designed on paper to be the seeds of a future Austin / HBK storyline, but that needed to be set up, so HBK needed the belt... But Hart flat out refused to drop the belt to HBK. There are many, many different versions of WHY Bret did not want to drop the belt to Shawn in Survivor Series 1997. One of the big rumors was Bret did not want to lose in Canada. Another one was that he just hated Shawn and he would have dropped it to anyone BUT Shawn. Another one was he didn't want to lose at all because he didn't want to go into WCW as a loser.
Survivor Series 1997. November 1997. The last match Bret had before his WCW career. Bret was being a pain and refusing to do the job to Shawn. He had it in his contract that he had creative control and was going to exercise that right. Bret decided that the main event would end with DX / HArt foundation interferring and it would be a DQ and Bret would go on Raw the next night go on Raw and give up the title.. Vince knew Bret was contracted obligated to return on Raw the next night, he could literally go on Nitro with the belt the next night and not be sued what so ever.
A large conspiracy backstage happened. Shawn, HHH, Vince, the ref and Vince all agreed that for the best interest of the company, they got to get that belt away from Bret and onto HBK that night at all costs.... None of Bret or his entourage knew what would happen.
The match was a great match, Canada was a fun crowd. Austin just beat Owen for the IC title in the co-main event. Toward the end of the match, Shawn put Bret in a sharp shooter in which BRet was suppose to reverse the move. As Shawn put Bret in the sharp shooter, Vince told the ring announcer to ring the bell and HBK's music blasted. Bret and Shawn had a very awkward stoppage and they both turned to Vince, which was the one of the first times a match just stopped and broke character. Almost like a play stopping and the actors just stopping what their doing for one thing or another. Bret knew right away what happend. He spit in Vince's face. Vince and the crew went backstage. Bret continued to throw a temper tantrum in the ring. He signaled WCW letters and them smashed equipment.
Vince waited for Bret backstage. He told his entourage "I'm going to let bret get in one good hit and thats it" Vince is a guy that takes responsibility for his actions. He was ring side when he made the call. He was never ring side for any reason except color commentary. But this was different. Bret came back and told Vince "You're dead and your company is dead". He mumbled something else. He got out of the shower and Vince walked up to him and said he would give Bret an explainiation if he wanted one. He felt Bret was entitled to know why he did what he did. Instead, Bret clocked him , hit him right in the eye. Vince left and Bret left. Bret was WCW bound.......
WCW had many of their own problems. Top named wrestlers had creative control in their contracts which was a huge mistake. Eric Bischoff couldn't control the locker room. Egos ran wild. Hogan had a lot of power in the company and he was talent. The truth is WCW had no idea what to do with Bret. They just wanted all the top guys and had no direction for any of them. The nWo was running stale. Too many people, people were bored with it. But EVERYONE was anticiapting Bret's WCW debut. In the Hogan vs. Sting match at Starcadde PPV, the biggest match they were building for two years, Bret ran in to help Sting win the match from a 'corrupt' ref , sort of playing off the survivor series fiasco. Bret looked odd in the ring with Sting / Hogan. He was painted in WWF colors and did not look like he belonged at all.
Bret said Eric treated him very good. But they didnt know what to do with him. Eventually, they did a Ric Flair / Bret Hart angle for the US title. Eric claimed he brought in Bret because WCW was so big, Ted Turner wanted a TBS 'Thunder' show on Thursday nights, so he needed some talent for that program.
Over at WWF, Vince was the most hated. He single handedly 'killed' Bret Hart. He embraced the negativity and became the 'boss' gimmick. He did an interview after Survivor Series saying the days of good guys vs. bad guys are over and everything will be shades of gray. Wrestlemania 14 had the Austin / HBK match and even managed to sign Mike Tyson to participate in it, he was coming off of the Holyfield 2 ear biting incident, so everyone was tuning in to see what part Tyson would play in WWF. Ratings started to pick up for Vince while WCW was decreasing more and more. They had Bill Goldberg who was a rising star and had a great program where Hogan did the job to him and he won the title in 1998 on Nitro, which would have been a successful ppv, but Eric was obsessed with beating Vince in the ratings rather than make money.
Hart was left with nothing to do in WCW. Too many egos and main event guys. Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Hogan, Sting, Luger, Macho Man, Flair, DDP, Giant - all wanting to do different things with their characters... Just utter chaos. They gave him the US Title and stuck him as a mid carder. He would never regain the success of his WWF days.
Vince stopped being color commentator as internet was more popular in late 90's and everyone now knew he was the owner of the WWF. So he played the boss role and Austin was the renegade anti-hero that rebellled against the system and his boss. Austin vs. Vince main event on Raw was the first Raw in years that beat Nitro in ratings. Austin / Vince storyline with the rise of HHH, Rock, Kane and the Mankind and Taker character changed for better entertainment. WWF was heading back on top and they did just that...
Sadly, Owen Hart, doing a blue blazer gimmick which he was carried down from the rafters of the arena went wrong and he died on a PPV. Eric told Bret to take as much time off as he needed. Vince paid for the funeral, but Owen's widow blocked that, possibly on the advice of her lawyers who were setting up a wrongful death lawsuit against WWF. At the funeral , Vince did as much as he could to make Owen's family happy, but Bret was not a guy that would be pleased. At the funeral, Bret walked up to Vince and went on and on about how Vince ruined his career, kept bringing up Survivor Series incident. Vince couldn't believe what he was listening to. Vince said that it was like looking at a skeleton. Bret didn't even mention Owen Hart, Bret was just talking about himself and his career and his character. Vince was horrified at what Bret had become. A bitter old man who's best days were behind him. Bret used Owen's death as a way to get back at Vince. I hate admitting he would do something like that, but it was obvious. He became best buddies with Owen's widow and was in her ear at all times after Owen's death. Three weeks after the death, a lawsuit was filed. It was settled in 2000 when Vince paid Owen's widow 18 million.
Eventually, WCW signed Bret's closest friends and family, Bulldog and Anvil. WCW also didn't know what to do with them either. WCW signed Ultimate Warrior and had him as a magical character where he vanished in the smoke and reappeared in different places. A fued with Hogan where Hogan gets his win back from 1991 Wrestlemania, or at least that was the rumor. A trap door was used for Warrior's disappearing act. Bulldog was wrestling an opponent and accidently landed on the trap door where wrestlers weren't suppose to take bumps. Bulldog injured his back badly, got addicted to pain killers from the incident and died.
An 'Off the Record' episode where wrestlers do shoot interviews, the host asked Bischoff "What are you going to do with Bret Hart". Eric replied "I don't know yet". Then he hinted that he does know what ot do and will have a great fued with Hogan in 1998. WCW was choas. Bret Hart would do main event matches with tag team stuff with Goldberg, Hogan, Sid, Nash, Hall, etc... But nothing ever came from the matches. No great story line was told like the USA vs. Canada angle in WWF or the brother vs. brother angle from WWF. Bret Hart won the WCW Championship by defeating Chris Benoit in a tournament final. He then faced Bill Goldberg at Starcadde 1999. This would be Bret's last match. During the match, Goldberg kicked Bret right in the head, giving Bret a concussion and forcing him to retire out of injuries. Bret was fired in a letter. He felt disrespected they didn't tell him face to face or even a phone call. That a letter saying his services are no longer needed.....
After retiring in 2000, Bret suffered a stroke while riding his bike. Bret was taken to a hospital. The first person to call Bret to see if he was okay was Vince McMahon. Vince has an uncanny ability to forgive people and put things in the past in the past... Bret cried on the phone to Vince. Bret later met with Vince to discuss a DVD release of his career. Bret didn't want Vince to erase his place in history of WWF, now renamed WWE after a lawsuit from the World Wildlife Foundation. Bret also agreed to participate in a Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2010, the unthinkable happened. Bret returned to WWE on Raw and particiapted in a Vince vs. Bret Hart match at Wrestlemania 26. When asked about why Bret wanted to return, Bret said 'I was bored at home and missed it'.... Bret ultimately forgave Vince and wants to end that bitterness toward WWE. Bret married a 27 yr old black woman, his third marriage. He divorced this second wife because they couldn't decide where they wanted to live.
Bret saw his ups and downs of the wrestling world, but whether you like him or not....you have to agree on one thing...
That he is the best there was, the best there is, and the best there ever will be !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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