Bret Hart and Wrestlemania 14

[Just Do It]

In the Hart vs. Michaels Greatest Rivalries DVD Bret said that he was booked against Michaels originally. I have no clue how they would have worked the finish or what Austin would have done. .

Bret commented on his website that this was a slip of the tongue. he meant Survivor Series.

Great question though. But impossible to answer. Everything is in the execution, you'd have to asl the man with the pen what they were thinking around August 1997 to have a clue. And even then, a lot of stuff can change - and nothing changed more in Federation history than in the post 7 months moving forward.

 

[theHeadliner]

Bret commented on his website that this was a slip of the tongue. he meant Survivor Series.

Great question though. But impossible to answer. Everything is in the execution, you'd have to asl the man with the pen what they were thinking around August 1997 to have a clue. And even then, a lot of stuff can change - and nothing changed more in Federation history than in the post 7 months moving forward.

Ok. Good to know. I just went on his website and couldn't find it, but I'm not surprised. In the DVD they were talking about the events leading up the Montreal when he said they were booked at WM, which I thought sounded out of place. I thought it was funny in the DVD that Shawn never really explained himself when Bret said Shawn told him straight to his face that he wouldn't lose to him. Michaels just kind of made a funny face and chuckled.

 

[Just Do It]

Ok. Good to know. I just went on his website and couldn't find it, but I'm not surprised. In the DVD they were talking about the events leading up the Montreal when he said they were booked at WM, which I thought sounded out of place. I thought it was funny in the DVD that Shawn never really explained himself when Bret said Shawn told him straight to his face that he wouldn't lose to him. Michaels just kind of made a funny face and chuckled.

Just spent ages looking for it and was about to give up hope, but I found it, here you go mate, its about half way down: http://www.brethart.com/appearances/blog-update-nov-25-2011

 

[HBsam31]

The plan all along was for this to be Austin's Wrestlemania. Nothing was stopping that, except for his neck. Thats why I believe a Hart vs Michaels match was at least on the back burner in case Austin couldnt make it. I believe that Shawn would have been the odd man out here. Hart was proud of the work he and Austin did together. They had respect for each other. And I dont think he would have had any problem giving Austin the rub. Michaels on the other hand at that time was... for lack of a better word... a ********. So I feel that it would have not only been Austin's choice, but also Vince's choice for Bret to finally put Austin over.

I agree with this. Wrestlemania 14 was going to be Austin's Wrestlemania no matter what barring some sort of injury. I would have liked the idea of Bret facing Austin with Austin finally going over to take the title, but with the whole Mike Tyson thing I think HBK would have needed to be included in this. I am not a fan of 3 ways at Mania with the title involved, but I think this would have been a perfect time to do that. Imagine HBK, Austin, and Hart all in the ring at the same time with the WWE title on the line. I think it could have been epic. Tyson still could have done what he did, and the 3 of those guys could have settled the score once and for all.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

I heard somewhere that the plan was actually for Bret Hart and Stone Cold to have a rematch from their Wrestlemania 13 match, with Bret putting Austin over to kickstart the Attitude Era, I imagine in the same vein that Shawn did.

I'm thinking I might've read this in Dave Meltzer's account of the Montreal Screwjob that he put out way back in 1997 shortly, after it happened. The report contains many booking scenarios that were discussed by WWE and Bret Hart throughout that year, and I believe one of them was the idea of Bret being the one to put Austin over at Wrestlemania XIV, which obviously Bret had no problem with.

Whether it was Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, or the Brooklyn Brawler, somebody was gonna go in as champion and put Stone Cold over, that much is obvious.

Obviously Taker and Kane would've happened. If the top two matches are Taker/Kane and Bret/Stone Cold, the question is, where does that leave Shawn Michaels. It's possible that if the Casket Match at the Royal Rumble took place anyway (remember Taker's and HBK's feud had no title on the line at first, thus it's likely the feud could've continued whether HBK was champ or not), and thus Shawn experienced his back injury, he may have just retired right then and there and would'nt have been at Wrestlemania. In reality the only reason HBK had one last match was solely for putting Stone Cold over. If Bret is still in the company, then HBK wouldn't have been needed to put Stone Cold over. Even if Shawn had went over on Bret at Survivor Series and been champ and a match between him and Stone Cold was the plan (just like what actually happened), if HBK experiences the career ending back injury that he did, then they could easily change plans and have Bret fill in by getting the title back (maybe on Raw sometime after the Royal Rumble, or at the February ppv) and re-start their old feud with Stone Cold.


But if the HBK/Taker match at the Royal Rumble never happened, and thus Shawn didn't have to retire, and we're still getting Bret/Stone Cold and Taker/Kane, that does leave Shawn with an open spot. I saw someone mention that Shawn was planned to wrestle the Rock. But remember, by Wrestlemania XIV, the Rock was already a heel in the Nation. I suppose we could've had a heel vs. heel match, but I wouldn't that to be likely. Honestly, not to sound pessimistic or like an anti-HBK guy (cause I'm not at all), I could see Shawn having another fit and saying screw it and taking himself out of the equation for Wrestlemania (much like he supposedly did at Wrestlemania 13). If he's not gonna be in the main event against Stone Cold, Bret, or Taker, then "fuck it." I kind of think that scenario is more realistic. I don't see him taking a "step down" to face a mid-carder at Wrestlemania, be it the Rock, Owen Hart, or Ken Shamrock.

The only other possible scenario is that maybe they could've begun a power-play angle with D-X and have him face Triple H for control of D-X. Perhaps with Shawn not getting the title from Bret, and maybe losing to Taker at the Rumble (or barely beating him like what happened), Triple H could start to question HBK's leadership and come out and say he could be a better leader. This could lead to jealousy and tension, and finally a huge confrontation and a match for control of D-X is set up. Then maybe the New Age Outlaws could've interfered in the match, or X-Pac could've returned one night earlier, and cost HBK the match, thus forcing him out of D-X and starting the Triple H era of D-X? Which could've then turned HBK back into a babyface for awhile until he later joined the Corporation to get revenge on D-X.

Yeah, I think that's what I'll go with. Your main matches for Wrestlemania XIV:

Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF title

Undertaker vs. Kane

HBK vs. Triple H (for control of D-X)

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

and maybe a match between Owen and Davey which would've added another classic match to this Wrestlemania, making it even better.

 

[dd23beatlesfan1]

And as far as the question of "how would Mike Tyson have fit into a match with Bret Hart and Stone Cold?" Well I think it would've worked just fine.

Keep in mind that Mike Tyson was a rebellious and controversial figure at that time. This was just about 7-8 months after the infamous fight with Evander Holyfield where Tyson bit part of his ear off. And of course Tyson had had many legal issues during the 1990's. So while he was famous and glorified and even admired at that time, he was not a good role model. Which leads us to Bret Hart. Bret could've continued his anti-America heel role and could've begun criticizing Mike Tyson just as much as he was Stone Cold. After the Stone Cold/Mike Tyson confrontation at Raw, maybe a few weeks later, we could've had Mike Tyson come out again, this time with Bret Hart interfering and talking about how bad of a role model he is for America, and how much class he lacks and how he's a lunatic that doesn't belong in wrestling. Mike gets pissed (kayfabe), and we get ANOTHER Mike Tyson confrontation/tussle/fight, this time with Bret Hart. The Stone Cold confrontation brought tons of media attention to the WWE. A second Mike Tyson fight/confrontation will double the exposure!

So with Tyson having tension with both Stone Cold and Bret Hart, this leads to the mystery of who will Mike Tyson side with/help at Wrestlemania? Will he call it down the middle? Will he screw over both of them? Tune into Wrestlemania XIV to find out!!!!


*sigh* What could've been

 

[Emmet]

I agree with what Jake says, Bret would have been in the middle of the card somewhere. If HBK wins at SS'97, I can't see that Bret wins it back at the Rumble just to then drop it again to Austin at WM14 (although a rematch between them two for the title would have been another classic in my book).

Bret would have likely have been in a match with Shamrock/Mankind or Rock, trying to elevate them guys, pretty much like his role was throughout most of 1995.

He might have feuded with Austin as champion in summer of '98.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Austin vs Bret waould have been a better idea than the HBK Austin match was, imo. That's the beauty of Bret, he was so good he had feuds with two performers that people wanted to watch. It would have been simpler to build up, you wouldn't need Mike Tyson but still you could involve him, only he wouldn't be a member of DX. It would be hard for Bret and Austin to top WM 13, but the feud was well done and deserved a resolution at WM rather than just trying to make some patchwork feud with HBK.

 

[pshanbhag92]

If Bret Hart had never gone to WCW, he would obviously not have lost the title the Michaels at Survivor Series. I'd think he would have been champion till WrestleMania, where he would lose the title to Austin in a WrestleMania 13 re-match. Another classic. :')

Leading upto WrestleMania, Bret Hart would get into a feud with Ken Shamrock for a short while and have triple threat matches against Shawn and Taker for the WWE title, during the remaining time.

Now the question arises, whether Shawn VS Undertaker would happen at Royal Rumble? Which would make all the difference in the world since this is the match that was the nail in the coffin for Shawn's injuries.
I doubt we'd have seen Undertaker VS Shawn Michaels. Maybe Bret Hart VS Shawn Michaels or a Triple Threat match.

Either way, at WrestleMania.. Shawn would maybe face and beat Bulldog, who would have never left. Or Owen. Or Mankind. Which mean we wouldn't have seen the dumpster match, which I enjoyed a lot. Or maybe Shawn would have been pissed off about not being in the main event and would have not competed at all.

 

[FlairFan2003]

HBK & DX were the perfect foils for Austin, not Brett Hart. One, while Austin was the the fans hero at this time, DX were the top bad guys. They had many of the anti authority, rebellious traits of Austin but were far more cowardly, greedy, reliant of rule breaking and gang warfare. Remember, DX was the WWE knock off on the NWO, the top heels in the business bar none. 2nd, HBK was way more charismatic and entertaining than Hart. Hart had a great rep from the early 90s, but he lacked the charisma and excitement on the mic that Michaels had, essential in making the audience want to see the villain lose. Hart's whiny "I dont like Attitude" would not have been as engaging as Michaels and DX turned lose. WWE knew this, wether Hart (who they let go, even though reports state HBK asked for his release before and was told "no") wants to admitt it or not.

With DX a better foil in the build to Austin's coronation, likely much of the post Survivor Series story would have been the same. HBK would have been moved away from Hart and into a top tier feud (that he would win), Taker being the best choice

 

[The Warlord]

I know there were plans for Hart/Michaels at 13 until Shawn bailed out. WM 14 was going to feature Austin in the main event regardless. With how strong DX was at the time I cant see Shawn NOT being in the main event. Taker vs Kane was going to happen regardless. Perhaps a Rocky/Bret Hart match could have taken place with a NOD/Hart Foundation rivalry reaching the apex at Mania.