Did WWE miss the boat or was Hart vs McMahon a feud 12 years in the making?

[RicSpade]

So we are on the cusp of Wrestlemania and the ground work seems to be set for Vince and Bret at Wrestlemania, but I have been doing a lot of thinking about this and I want to feed your brain on this and we need to go back in time.

1996 when Bret Hart returned after his short hiatus from losing the WWF title had a slow heel turn, but mainly because of Austin. Mainly if you hadn't noticed whenever Bret seemed to be in the ring with Vince there was a shove, a punch, he'd break something, and then we had the screw job of 1997 that really broke the bond between Vince and Bret.

Shortly after Bret left you had this long and memorable feud between Vince and Austin which was something that really broke the mold from the old era of wrestling.

This is where it got me thinking did the WWE miss the boat by not putting the feud between Bret and Vince on 12 years ago? I mean think of what kind of match Bret and Vince could've put on with Vince at an earlier age, and Bret in what was still his prime. Vince and Austin was classic, Vince and Hogan was surprisingly decent considering you had the dinosaurs doing high spots, Shawn and Vince did the limit that they could, Vince and Shane even put on a clinic.

Now we know Vince and Bret can't put on the old school clinic like we would like, but do you think this is long overdue? Is this something that needs to be done to close that chapter? Or is this a case of WWE missing the boat with this and try to rectify the past by giving the old fans something they have waited years to see? What are your thoughts.

 

[Sean Valjean]

Well I'm not sure how you can suggest that WWE "missed the boat" on that feud 12 years since there's no way it would've happened back then with Bret leaving among other things. The screwjob was a real-life thing, it was never meant to develop into any sort of an on-screen feud or anything; Bret was leaving and Vince wanted the title back, simple as that.

Now I think the feud we're going to get now is basically the WWE giving the fans what they've always wanted: Vince vs Bret, 12 years in the making. Though this is purely fan service and it's not to rectify anything. If anything, this will serve as the much needed closure to that entire situation.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Did you really not know that the Screwjob was a real-live event? It wasn't a storyline. Even if it were kayfabe, it would have been crap. At the time, they had storylines where the Undertaker was drawing supernatural powers from an urn, and Ted DiBiase was paying off heels to do things... all these extravagant, crazy, cartoonish storylines, and then... Vince screwed Bret out of his title. I mean, that's the kind of story that would work today, not back then.

Granted, this real-life event set in motion the type of product you see today - a more real life take things.

 

[hunterXhunter21]

What I took away from his post is that he wanted a Hart/McMahon match 12 years ago, not that he didn't know the screwjob was real.

Maybe have it start off Bret does this or that to Vince, the same old stuff he was doing then. Vince ends up costing Bret the title.He still just drops it to Shawn but it isn't in Canada. Not in a screwjob kinda way maybe how the Shawn/Taker feud started maybe Vince is a ref or just even give Shawn a chair. Something so Bret could say Vince cost him the title. This would lead to Bret's last match at S.S. but it is Bret vs Vince in some kind of street fight. Bret goes over on his way out. Everyone is happy.

Now I'm kinda fuzzy here on what other storylines were going on. But didn't they kinda have a D-X vs Hart Foundation feud going on at this time? So the Hart/Shawn match for the belt would still fit in.

The only downside to this. I think Vince really used the screwjob to make him a heel. If things did go down this way would Vince have turned into the heel he was.

 

[P. Nut Butters]

They didn't miss the boat. Neither do I think this guy was saying he thought the Screwjob was just an angle.

I see what is being suggested here, but Bret/Vince 12 years ago had no reason to happen (until after the screwjob itself), because The Screwjob made Vince a marquee name. Vince/Bret 12 years ago wouldnt have sold because the WWE Champion, Hart, wouldve been facing a part-time commentator, businessman... what a clusterfuck.

Think over Bret/Vince/Shawn and the whole story that has come of these 12 years. The Screwjob has become so amped and overtalked that it is bordering the stuff that creates myths and legends. I'm not doubting what happened and the effects it had on the buisness and Bret and Vince and Shawn... but it's been blown up way too much.

That's why now is the PERFECT time! This wrestling folklore story has been debated, but never contested. Bret got screwed and is sour. Shawn changes his story a bit, one minute insisting he didnt know about it, then saying he did but didnt want to do it. Vince is the evil boss that helps draw the WWF/E's modern attention and defines a gimmick goldmine in a villanous boss perhaps only previously seen (on a much smaller scale) when Eric Bischoff headed the nWo back in WCW.

Why is this good time? We see the two bell-to-bell wrestlers of our time 'bury the hatchet' and make peace. Vince is obviously "fuming" still (in kayfabe) as he low blow's Bret. From this, Bret's got Shawn on his side, Vince has it out for Bret and I'm picking Shawn will then proceed to expose Vince McMahon’s brash, evil side and unveil some kind of unknowns (once again, in Kayfabe), like that Shawn was blackmailed into doing the Screwjob by Vince. Shawn will protest with Bret that it was all Vince’s fault – in effect, making the two best athletes in WWE history play Vince McMahon off as the worst ‘bad guy’ in the history of forever. It works for everyone!

 

[itbewilly]

Too much has happened over the years to say its WWE's fault that Bret wasn't back sooner really. Bret has had serious issues with health and stuff and i think its going to be a good send off to get all the main people back involved and finally have closure to what happened.

 

[LUMPYSULLIVAN]

Was it just me or did anyone else think that in the tag team match Bret would appear to cost DX the titles?? He could have gotten involved or just been a distraction at ringside, that caused DX to lose. Shawn then complains to Vince which steamrolls this feud.

If their match isn't till Wrestlemania, should they not be building this up slowly? Verbal jousting, Bret interferes in DX matters, Vince in Hart Dynasty, stuff like that? Not sure if this situation can hold heat for 4 months for the kiss-off.

 

[RawIsRamsey]

Maybe....juuuuuust maybe....we've been getting worked for 12 years.

Maybe Vince really is the smartest businessman ever.

Maybe Bret is completely fine and will wrestle a 5* classic against HBK at Mania.

We don't know ANYTHING. All we know is Bret is contracted until after WM and things on RAW finally got interesting.

Something tells me we haven't seen the last of the Shawn and Bret saga, though...you can sorta see how reluctant BOTH of them were during that opening segment...and I REALLY want to know what Shawn whispered in Bret's ear...

 

[BigAdz]

Ok, biology lesson for all thinking Bret Hart's gonna get back in the ring with HBK at WM26: Bret's a stroke survivor. Stroke survivors never truly recover from it. There is permanent brain, muscle and blood vessel damage involved whenever a stroke occurs. Trust me, 3 members of my family have suffered them, they were never the same.

Bret Hart will never be Excellence of Execution ever again. Not even close. No doubt he's still got that spark that made him great but compared to HBK, who doesn't wrestle full time and is in good shape physically, he's a pale shell of his former self.

BUT...could he wrestle a one time only match against Vinnie Mac for 15 minutes on the greatest stage of them all to give fans the ultimate closure to a 12 year running feud? Now that bares some possibility, kids. Vince is older and less experienced than Bret, the match wouldn't be as strenuous if it were in a brawling, street fight setting.
It could work. And I hope like hell it does, cos that would be a jewel in Wrestlemania's crown. If they managed to get HBK vs Undertaker 2, The Rock comes back for a one off against Cena and Randy Orton obliterating Batista, it'd be the most jizz-worthy event in the history of ever!!


....pardon me, need to change my jocks now....

 

[Stormwind]

Personally I think it's a big mistake for Vince reviving the Mr.Macmahon heel gimmick and start a feud with Bret. This whole story happened over 12 year ago. Vince is old now, Bret can't wrestle due to his injuries and stroke. And simply put I think people are just tired of this whole story. A simple handshake would have sufficed and give a good enough pop and finally lay this whole fiasco to rest. The Montreal Screw-job was not a work, so it shouldn't be treated like one now.

Quite frankly I'm highly disappointed with them attempting an angle like this. It was nice seeing Bret back in WWE, and perhaps a proper send off would have been better rather then start an angle using a tired old and ugly story.

 

[Jwhunt316]

I agree with stormwind. Although, I don't mind them bringing back the screwjob stuff & to have Bret & Vince settle things once and for all but Its just the one on one match between them both is to me a bad idea. Bret does indeed have his injuries & had a stroke & I believe Vince doen not look like the muscular type posing man he once was. I think they should just pick representatives for a match at Mania where it could possibly be a Kiss My Ass challenge. In the end, Bret could just plainly put the sharp shooter on him but not before Vince kisses Brets Ass first.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The Vince McMahon/Bret Hart segment that ended Raw drew a 4.4 rating. It was the most watched segment of either show last night. A 4.4 rating is somewhere over 6 million people. So, more than 6 million viewers tuned in to the last 10 or 15 minutes of Raw alone to see the McMahon/Hart confrontation. Roughly 3 times the number of people tuned in to watch the last 10-15 minutes of Raw than watched all of iMPACT last night. So no, I'd say the WWE definitely hasn't missed the boat as fans wanted to see what would happen and the way it ended last night only has them wanting to see more.

 

[Spaceman Spif]

The Vince McMahon/Bret Hart segment that ended Raw drew a 4.4 rating. It was the most watched segment of either show last night. A 4.4 rating is somewhere over 6 million people. So, more than 6 million viewers tuned in to the last 10 or 15 minutes of Raw alone to see the McMahon/Hart confrontation. Roughly 3 times the number of people tuned in to watch the last 10-15 minutes of Raw than watched all of iMPACT last night. So no, I'd say the WWE definitely hasn't missed the boat as fans wanted to see what would happen and the way it ended last night only has them wanting to see more.

Amen brother. The WWE has not missed any boat whatsoever with this angle/feud. It's what any person who has watched wrestling for over 20 and less years even wants to see. I can't wait to see this myth/legend, even this stain on wrestling history ended, done, finished. And what better way to end it, then having the two key components in the whole mess, beating the hell out of eachother at Wrestlemania. It's going to happen, it needs to happen and trust me, it doesn't need to be scientific, fast-paced or action packed for it to be good, because it's going to be 12 years of animosity, bad blood, history in one match. So how's the boat being missed at all?

 

[theHeadliner]

I still can't believe Bret went for all that. The cheap shot kick to the balls and selling the hell out of it. He always said he would never step into a WWF/E ring again after what happened with Owen. I can understand him wanting closure and giving a nice send off to the fans, but the angle with Vince, which caused so much pain, sorrow, anger, and other negative feelings to Bret and altered his career as well as sky rocketed Vince off of Bret's personal misfortune. I know its the past and they all want to bury the hatchet and that's fine, but I don't want to see Bret take a shot to the head and drop dead by a sloppy hit by a 60+ year old guy who is a wannabe wrestler.