For some reason, the concept of this thread just strikes me as humorous. Let me get this straight; multiple autobiographies have included, in detail, their portrayal of that night. Bret Hart, Vince, and to some extent, Shawn, have all went to any sort of dirt sheet outlet, and stated their case to the masses. Hell, an autobiographical movie, unintentional as it may be, was devoted to this entire night. People have been debating this subject for a good twelve years, and strong feelings still, to this day, resonate over the subject. And
you are going to be the one to end all of that, in one fell swoop, in one thread, on a wrestling forum?
.... Good Luck With That
Now then, I suppose that really offers nothing for this discussion, so I’m just going to throw this one out there; I’m shocked by the multitude of people who have taken such a strong stance on this subject, which does indeed tell me one thing;
Bret Hart was, indeed, right in saying that he was viewed as a hero to all in Canada, and all of his fans. Not many wrestlers could ever assemble so much outrage for one man, and him being screwed over. Hell, even Hulk Hogan didn’t get this sort of treatment from fans, when he was “screwed over” by Vince Russo. I mean, sure, people were pretty pissed by the booking, but you don’t see people at TNA crowds chanting “You Screwed Hogan”, or other such things. Granted, one will say that WCW was closing down, so it didn’t matter nearly as much, and I’d be the first to admit such a thing. However, for people to have been outraged for so long regarding the matter certainly must mean that Bret had some type of a hero status in Canada. Surely, if you felt that you were viewed in that light, even if you’re wrong in your assessment (And quite frankly, I don’t feel that Bret was too far off in his perception. He may be a bit arrogant, but even I’ll admit that Canadians surely love their idols, and track their career from its origins), I can indeed see why you’d long to protect your image in front of others. Vince, to me, breached contract, in some sense, as he had let Bret out of his contract. Some will say that Bret was still under actual contract to McMahon, and that holds some bit of truth, I suppose, but Bret really had no reasoning to not go along with Vince’s plan for The Survivor Series. The man had it written that he had Creative Control, and if Vince was so worried about a wrestler having control over his character, he never should have offered such a thing to Bret in the first place. Bret himself does have an image to maintain, and though it may be a bit immature to be so conscious about one’s image, it happens to be a common issue regarding wrestler’s at the top. Men such as Hogan, Flair, Michaels, and even Austin were notorious for having massive egos. The common feeling shared by these men, who we have heralded as greats in the sport for completely warranted reasoning, have a duty to protect their own image. So what if Bret’s view of himself is a little skewed? I’d say he had every reason to have a little bit of an ego, considering that, from a work rate standpoint, Bret served Vince loyally for thirteen years, without much complaint on the matter, except regarding one issue in general, this being it. He dropped the belt when necessary, and his only complaints were when he felt like Vince was telling him one thing, yet also doing another thing behind as back. It’s called being two-faced, and we all hate it just as much as anyone else. And when said matters happen, we tend to call out said two-faced party. With the exception of that, however, Bret had always done the job when necessary, and worked with any man that Vince put in his way. If you were working for a company, and had busted your hump for that long, wouldn’t you hope for a little recognition on your way out, especially if your last day of work was in a place where people (allegedly. Though I buy it) idolized you and where your status is along the lines of men like Gretzky and… Well, those other Canadian athletes (I’m not Canadian myself; so admittedly, I’m not sure who is adored by you Canadian folk.)? It’s called having an ego, folks, and though society portrays a negative view on such a thing, we all have one, and we all like to have it stroked every once in a while. And, apparently, it’s something that is necessary once you reach the top of the business, if you plan on staying there for a long time. Legends like Hogan and Flair have egos just as massive, if not more so, than Bret’s, and while sometimes we call them out on it, we usually don’t care too much when it comes to their in ring performance, because we love how they work in the ring.
However, neither of these men presented as much a threat to Vince to walk out with their championship belt. One has to remember that this was in the midst of the Monday Night Wars, and one perilous mistake by the McMahons could lead to his business going belly up. Vince has to calculate every move he makes on a normal basis, but at this point, he was walking a tightrope of what he could do, and how WCW would react to it. Typically, when a wrestler does leave, he jobs on his way out, and if he holds a championship to his name, he must lose it, or otherwise their stands the risk of that superstar walking to the competition with that title. Ric Flair did it, and to a lesser extent (Yes, I do say lesser, as while it might have been controversial, it was still merely burying the Women’s Division. Vince does a good enough job of that by his own hand, on his own show.) Madusa did this exact same thing. Imagine the pressure of feeling as if your championship belt could wind up on the competition’s show. If there ever would have been a deadly blow for the WWE, this would have been it. I’m still, quite frankly, shocked that the WC W survived the departure of their title, but then again, even when they did see their World Title go to the competition, it would take three years to build themselves back up to the normal status, and within those three years, they managed to sign the biggest name in pro wrestling, Hulk Hogan. It took that to right the ship, after losing their World Title, and embarrassing WCW. And quite frankly, at the rate the Monday Night War was going, and the amount of money Vince was losing, Vince neither had three years to make up that sort of damage, nor did he have the resources to match Eric for any of the big names Eric had purchased under Vince’s nose. Losing the WWE Title was going to be the last thing that could very possibly have killed his company. The very same company in which he and his family have made their living for generation upon generation, and the only type of security Vince actually owned in their world. All of his other chances to explore options outside of the WWE had failed miserably, and this was Vince’s livelihood. Vince had to do whatever he could to preserve his business, and even if that meant screwing over a man that had loyally served him for years, so be it. Vince had done enough to help Bret by driving up the price for Bret, even though there was no way in which he had to do such a thing. He allowed him out of his contract, not only because he couldn’t afford to match Eric’s offer, but because he wanted to allow Bret to succeed. Vince didn’t have to let Bret out of his contract, as he could have kept him there all twenty years, nor did he have to help Bret drive up the cost for his services.
Jesus…. But I know what you’re asking. You’re probably thinking, “Tenta, who the fuck are you pulling for here? You never really picked a side here, and you just made a case for both men.”
Well, it should be fairly obvious here…
neither of these parties are wrong in this situation, and both parties were working towards what I could only assume is their best interests. Pure enough, both men were working towards their best interest, and given the circumstances, neither man really owed anything to the other. Vince didn’t owe it to Bret to potentially put his company in jeopardy, nor did Bret owe it to Vince, in this particular instance, to agree to working a match in which would, in his perspective, belittle him in front of his fans, and make him seem inferior to a man that has always given him trouble while in the WWE. That isn’t to say that Bret didn’t bring some of this trouble upon himself, but what did Bret really owe to Vince at this point, in which he had to perform to Vince’s every whim. He had Creative Control, and that means he can decide things. However, if Vince does not like Bret’s decision, he is completely within his rights to change things, and preserve his company should he choose to. If that means he has to be a little deceptive, then so be it, because he’s only looking into what he feels is the best interest of his company.
Isn’t that right, Hulkster?
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… Does anyone else miss NorCal’s avatar?
