Bret Hart Interview

[b23k]

I know there is a sizeable amount of wrestling fans on freeones, and no doubt bret hart fans so i thought i'd post this. I went thru a period of 3-4 years when i was really into the WWF (as it was) back when i was 12, 13, 14 .....Bret Hart was my fav wrestler no fucking doubt about it, and the last big PPV event i saw in its entirety was Wrestlemania 10 (which for me, even though i'm speaking blind having not seen any since, is a wrestlemania that can never be topped)...I kind of fell out of watching wrestling from there for no particular reason, but i kept an eye on how Bret was getting on and the last match i saw was his title match with Shawn Micheals, the one in Canada that was to be Bret's last for the WWF before he moved to WCW.

A few years ago, i was flicking thru channels and caught the end of what was a documentary on Bret, which was a real eye-opener. Namely that the end of that match was not supposed to end the way it did, that Vince McMahon had hijacked the events so that Bret would not as expected win, as he was dead against having a situation where Bret would leave the WWF to go to WCW as a WWF champion.

Some of you may or may not know, but Bret sparked Vince out backstage, and his ****** were furious with the other wrestlers around for what seemed like a conspiracy against Bret.

Shawn Micheals even went to his locker room and was full of remorse as he appeared to be genuinly unaware that this was going to happen.

Anyway, having seen the end of that programme i was always curious to find out more about the situation etc, but in the end never bothered reading up on it or anything (i'm real lazy! )

Recently a new channel has come out over here (England), called wait for it..........."the wrestling channel", how original? Anyway, it features long and extensive interviews, and tonight was with Bret Hart so i checked it out.

Amazing watch, for anyone interested in Bret Hart's career....this wasn't some talk show type soundbite interview, it was in a hotel room or something, 90mins long, interviewer asked a question, and Bret would then go into the details for minutes at a time, uninterrupted.

Here are some things i learned which may be of interest i hope to some.

1. When Bret left for WCW, Owen Hart wanted to leave the WWF too after the way Bret had been treated, but he was in a 5 year contract, only 1 and a half years into it, and Vince McMahon threatend legal action against Bret for any attempts to get Owen out of it.

2. When Bret was in WCW, run by Bischoff (sp?), he detailed so many incidents of exactly why WCW in the end collapsed, namely Bischoff was fucking clueless on how to run a story line.

One example, Bret and Goldberg were up for creating a build up that would lead to a big match between them, Bischoff was up for it.........and yet his plan to hype it was by having Bret LOSE to characters that had nothing to do with that situation.

In the end Bret had his match with Goldberg but the hype was rubbish and completely pointless.

Also, a storyline had been agreed that when Bret returned from a 2-3 month injury/surgery. it would be for a rivalry with him and Hulk Hogan (which surely would have been huge), so Bret comes back in a show in Toronto, where the crowd are cheering his name all night, during the pre-show Bret is wanting to know what his part will be in the show, Bischoff so dis-organised has not even come up with anything!!!!!

So Bret is waiting to see whats gonna be put together, he waits and waits, then literally 30 seconds before he is supposed to go on for the interview, Bischoff tells Bret what a great idea it would be for him to slate the canadian fans, and telling them how upset he is with them etc etc etc.........all this while they are screaming his name!!!!

Bret pretty much tells him to go fuck himself, and then Bischoff says, ok, go on and tell them that you are coming after Hogan, but not for a title.......Bret obviously annoyed by this as the whole point was that he was supposed to come after Hogan FOR A TITLE!

Anyway, he does the interview best he can, with literally seconds notice........he comes backstage, and Bischoff has the nerve to have a go at him for coming across too heel!!!!!!!!!!!

3. He talked very openly about the situation with Owen, how he met with Vince McMahon in a park to talk about things, a meeting Vince had requested and the 1st time they have seen or spoken to each other since Bret had left WWF. Bret later finds out from a policeman, that there were policeman all around the park in the event he went to **** Vince!!!!!! Thats how paranoid and gutless Vince was!

The whole conversation was taped etc etc, and basically Bret asked him why he screwed him in the WWF, and more importantly why did he continue the PPV after Owen's tragic event.

Vince fed him bullshit.........and Bret said in the interview something very appropriate. "If it had been little Stephanie who that happened to, do you think the show would have been stopped?"

Bret also set some things straight that have been widely misconceived, that he had no part in the lawsuit against the WWF, saying "If i had it would still be on going today", that his ****** received no answers about Owen's death, and that Vince Mcmahon tore his ****** apart by basically buying off his sisters who then pretty much worked for the WWF side of things in the legal case!!!

4. Goldberg ended Bret's career by going completely crazy in a match they had that has caused damage to his neck that leaves him unable to even open a wrestling school if he wanted, it was also sad to hear what a twat Goldberg appears to be, as Bret called him once after Goldberg had damaged his arm by smashing it thru a window, offering him moral support etc etc..........and in return Goldberg never returned the call, and instead bad-mouthed Bret in the press for mentioning the fact that Goldberg pretty much ended his career.

The final question was does he have any regrets, and his one regret was not being able to get Owen out of the WWF during the contract dispute.

Sorry this has been a real long post, i could have gone on even longer, there was so much interesting material in the interview.

 

[WC-Madman]

Wow, I can't thank you enough for posting the main parts of this interesting interview. You may have seen some of my posts before, and if not, i have a dedication in my signature to Bret "Hitman" Hart. He was, is and always will be my favorite wrestler of all time. He possessed great technical skills which he acquired from his ****** and the teachings he learned in the infamous "Hart Dungeon" where such great wrestlers as his ******* Owen, chris Benoit, and the very underrated(underrated because Vince McMahon doesn't know how to correctly utilize real talent, those who are actually good wrestlers instead of just characters) Lance Storm all trained. Bret was a great face(good guy), heel(bad guy), and could tell a great story in the ring, as he did in Wrestlemania 13 where he faced Stone Cold Steve Austin, and in the greatest story telling match, in my opinion, became a heel after starting off the night as a face as where Austin became a face after starting off the night as a semi heel. He would take on everyone and anyone, as i think he is the champion who took on the most competitors with no fear. He was part of possibly the greatest wrestling match i have ever seen, with his Wrestlemania 12 match where he faced Shawn Michaels in the 60 minute Iron Man match. It is great to see today that people still appreciate what he gave to the sport of professional wrestling. However, it is very unfortunate how his career went downward after that pathetic screwjob Vince did to him in 1997. The documentary you saw is entitled "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows" and is, along with the documentary "Beyond the Mat", the best wrestling documentary i have ever seen, and a must see for every wrestling fan, and nonfan alike. What i find pathetic about the "1997 screwjob" as it is infamously known is that it sheds light on how Vince McMahon does business, and his integrity as a man, of which he has no integrity. How can he have any integrity if before the match, and even months before when Vince wanted out of Bret's 20 year contract, he told Bret that he had creative control and that Bret could leave on his own terms, only to have it all be a conspiracy where everyone was in on it. Yes, everyone, as Shawn Michaels who always maintained that he knew nothing about what had happened, just a year ago admitted on "WWE Confidential" that he knew exactly what was going on the whole time. I lost respect for Vince McMahon, Earl Hebner(the referee of the contest) and Shawn Michaels that night. I have the utmost respect for Shawn Michael's in ring ability and i think he is one of the best of all time, but as for my respect for him as an honest person, it was all lost on that fateful night. Vince told Bret he could win the match, Bret even went in with a wire, so Vince should have stuck to his word. What Vince did is complete bullshit if you ask me. I also think that it was bullshit that Vince wouldn't let Owen out of his contract after the screwjob to his *******. And call me a conspiracy nut, but i wouldn't doubt if Vince had something to do with Owen's "so called accidental" death in 1999. As for Bret's WCW stint, well, that was a hell of a mess that didn't have to be. WCW was a mess because they gave huge contracts to everyone with the promise of guaranteed money which they had to pay. Furthermore, WCW went downhill when the politics of wrestling became too involved. When ex-WWF booker Vince Russo went over there, he tried to take over too much power as writer, not realizing that it is the wrestlers that make wrestling, not writers. Bischoff wanted too much power too, and he had a hand in ruining WCW, but he was let go after awile, only to have Wrestlers such as Kevin Nash and Hogan do the booking, and they did everything in their favor. Bret could have been great in WCW, but they didn't push him, as well as many others right. The politics of wrestling got too involved. They put too much faith in guys like Goldberg who is big, and a good character but can't wrestle for ****. And Goldberg was too spoiled by his many pushes, and demanded too much. Back to Owen's death, of course if Stephanie would have died, the show would have stopped. Personally, I would have stopped the show, but i understand both sides of the argument. If they had stopped the show, the fans may have rioted, and that would have been a disaster. However, I also believe that Vince should have shown a bit of respect by stopping the show. There's no easy answer, but Vince is an asshole, we can all agree on that. But, the good thing, is that Bret has had the last laugh, in my opinion. vince, since the fall of WCW, has been desperately asking to appear at Wrestlemania's and other events, but Bret, has not given him the pleasure of an appearance. Hell, in preparation for this year's Wrestlemania 20, vince apparently sent Bret some wrestling rings so that he could prepare for a possible match or appearance. However, Bret, still recovering from his motorcycle accident and subsequent stroke, may have not been ready to compete in a match. I'm just glad Bret didn't give Vince the satisfaction of showing up. The only way i would like ot see Bret show up is if he got to kick Vince's ass. Sorry for the long post, but this is one of my favorite subjects, and Bret is my favorite wrestler of all time. Keep on rockin and rollin!!

 

[WC-Madman]

Here's a link to "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows" if you are interested in owning it. It is only on vhs, but well worth it. Keep on rockin and rollin!!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000INF5/104-6489449-3854352?v=glance

 

[b23k]

Thanks for that WC, alot of interesting things there that i had not known also.

I should have said in the initial post, that the interview was recorded in the middle of 2001, so i am unaware of what has happened to bret since.

You say he had a stroke? Wow, how is he doing?

Like you i always like Bret's technical ability etc, I always hated Hogan even though all my friends at the time loved him....its funny the dumb things you argue about at that age, namely who was the better wrestler? Who would win etc etc?

Speaking of Benoit, Bret also said in the interview that a match he has with him was the best he had ever had.....I haven't seen any of these matches, cos like i said my interest in wrestling had gone at that stage.

My only connections with wrestling since the shawn micheals match, is watching the end of that bret documentaty, watching "beyond the mat", and everyone now and then when flicking thru the channels, coming across Steph or Trish, and then i'll watch that segment and then tune out when Steph's tits leave the screen!

I was aware of what a ruthless and just generally crap human being Vince is, but this interview really brought it out. You can just see in Bret the anger in him whenever he talked about Vince, often referring to him as a "snake" and "slimey"

Hes definetly somewhat bitter, and justifiably so, look what vince has done to his ******, its disgusting. Owen is dead, Davey-Boy is dead, his ****** was torn apart during the legal case, Bret was saying how his sisters turned against him thinking Bret's motivations were only for revenge over Vince about Montreal....and how disappointed he was that his ****** could think that of him, but they were blinded by the money vince was handing out to them.

Bret was also asked what he thought about Vince buying WCW, and he just said that if any wrestler thinks they can have any say in anything ever again.....that they are dreaming, its over and they will forever now be vince's slaves. And that it will always be like that now, cos lets face it he said "its not like the WWF is going to collapse"

Since you mention Vince Russo, Bret also said that Owen and he dispised the guy after his involvement in Owen's contract dispute, and that he basically assisted Vince Mcmahon in the proceedings and it enabled Vince to keep Owen against his will as a hostage in his dispute with Bret.

The slimey guy that Vince is was emphasised further when he had the nerve to ask Bret to come back to WWF after Owen died!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah right, so that he could get the high ratings when "The ******* of the dead wrestler returns"

Also, Vince told Bret he would be free to use any footage for his books or videos, but was never allowed and only has pictures which his *** had taken.

On WCW, Bret said that although he had well-known disputes with Hogan and Flair....that they surprisingly never gave him any trouble while he was there, and that even though Hogan had some say in the running of WCW that Bret was not aware that Hogan was ever pulling the strings regarding Bret, "If he did, he certainly did a good job keeping it quiet", Bret also said that the fact he was left out of PPV events at WCW was just further indication of how stupid they were, and how misguided Bischoff was.

He had no criticism of Bischoff interms of back stabbing or anything like that, only that he was inept in running the show.

Bret said there was one thing that Vince had said to him in the past that he agreed with and was proved right on "He once said to me, that the difference between WWF and WCW was that WCW would never know how to handle and market a Bret Hart"...and Bret agreed that the comment had proved very true.

BTW, did you actually see the Owen incident? Cos i have never seen it, or any pictures.....when it happened, did you immediately know something was very wrong (ie. that he may have been dead), or did it just look like a bad accident and he may be injured but nothing more.

Also how much of the show was left, and were viewers kept informed of what the situation was....or was it just business as usual?

Another thing Bret said that pissed him off, was the tribute to Owen show (i have never seen it), he said he felt bad for the wrestlers who were having to cry on tv about it, and he thought it was shabbily done and would have been better just to have shown some of Owen's best matches rather than some hollow tributes.

He also said that he was writing a book at the time (i imagine this is old news by now) but that it would be a "positive" book, talking about his fav wrestlers and things like that, rather than a controversial book that would dish the dirt etc etc

Personally, i respect Bret alot for having that attitude, but my interest would be reading about the "dirt", its very interesting to learn all the politics that was going on that back then being a 12 year old *** i knew nothing about, but now it interests me to know.

 

[Darkhorse]

you guys might be interested in a vince interview??? its all about the bret scandal,

http://tsn.ca/shows/otr/

bottom right you should find soemthing.