Missed Feuds: Bret Hart vs Ken Shamrock

[Wald]

Here was a feud I was always hoping would take off in 1997 or 1998 (before Montreal obviously) and was one I think could have been an absolute classic had it taken place. I think at one stage it was set in works, but Bret leaving for WCW obviously put an end to that idea.

For those who don't know, Ken Shamrock was a major talent acquisition for the WWF in 1997 from UFC. He had held the UFC Heavyweight title and though the company wasn't anywhere near as big as it is today he joined the WWF with a legitimate kayfabe claim to being able to match the Excellence of Execution in the ring. That was no easy task to instill in fan's eyes, as Bret had been touted as the premier submission wrestler in the world on WWF screens for about 6 ton 7 years by that stage.

Nevertheless I remember Shamrock being announced as the special referee for the Austin vs Hitman match at Wrestlemania 13 as being built that Shamrock would be able to take down either Austin or Bret if needs be. Great claim to make of a debuting superstar. The end of that fight is well documented as Bret putting over Austin in a big way and as the greatest double turn in wrestling history. But what's often forgotten about is the seed that was planted during Bret's post-match attack on Austin, when Shamrock took Bret down and squared up to him:

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The crowd goes pretty wild there at the prospect of Shamrock and Hart getting it on and I'm convinced there would have been money in a feud between the two.

The obvious reason not to do one at this stage is one of timing. Shamrock is debuting as legitimate tough guy, losing his first feud or PPV match, even to a guy like Bret Hart, would have been disastrous for him. Similarly Bret turned full heel the next night on Raw and had feuds with Austin, HBK and Undertaker in the pipeline, he simply would not have been able to put over Shamrock in a PPV match.

Shamrock floated around the edges of the Hart Foundation vs the US feud and we did get to see them wrestle on Raw in October of 1997, with both Bret and HBK making Shamrock look strong in the process

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Timing could have been right in 1998 for a Bret Hart vs Ken Shamrock feud had Montreal not happened, it's one I've always wondered about because Shamrock never really reached the heights it looked like he might in 1997. Working with, and being put over by, Bret Hart could have been just what he needed to move him from the midcard to the upper card

 

[Matty~!]

I think I remember reading in a Wrestling Observer, or maybe hearing on a Meltzer audio show that Bret was on the one to make the play for Ken Shamrock when he came in. Citing a lack of credible or legitimate tough guys at the time as main event players. I think Shamrock was passable as a professional wrestler, his best match from my point of view was at IYH 15 A Cold Day In Hell against Vader.

I don't know that a PPV match or feud with Bret would have been all that killer since his match with Michaels at IYH 19 seemed a let down at the time. I think he lacked a certain edge to be a main player on a regular basis. However was a perfectly fine midcard act.

 

[wrestler36]

I think this could have been a fantastic feud. If Bret had stuck around, this would have been an awesome feud to build Shamrock, ultimately culminating in a submission match at a PPV. Having Bret tap out to Shamrock would have been the ultimate for Ken.

I think Shamrock was better than a 'passable' wrestler. I saw him at a house show in Chicago versus the Rock. Both of them at the time were in WWF for a little over a year and they were already putting on main event caliber matches. I think that Ken caught on really quick, maybe not as quick as Angle, but pro wrestling just seemed natural to him

 

[Fabulous Freebirds]

I liked the idea of a Bret / Shamrock back in the day feud but Shamrock was an awful wrestler that Hart probably had to work a miracle to get a watchable match from that guy. Might be the best that it never happened.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Timing just wasn't there. Had Bret been in the WWF's long term plans than there could have been a story that after WrestleMania, saw Shamrock work through the Hart Foundation on his way to getting to Bret. Shamrock needed some work as he really didn't become a good singles guy till 98.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This would have blown... remember Backlund? Lafitte and even the Mountie?

Bret never did well against equally technical guys, his strength was that he was the technical guy against a bigger guy or a flashier one. You put him in with a legit shooter and it can only ever be a submission match, which is dull. He'd have taken it way too seriously as he'd have had to "uphold the Hart name" and it's soon the same issues as he had with Shawn, only Shamrock would probably have hurt him if he didn't play ball as he had the striking game Bret didn't have.

We saw Shamrock feud with the Harts, Owen and Davey and they weren't great matches... passable but they wouldn't have built him for Bret if he had stayed and he never was a good singles guy. Even after a couple of years he was a botch machine which probably ended his push... I never forget seeing him do the Roman Reigns leap over the top rope in a tag match with Owen... I remember that more than I do Owen for that match so that's telling.

On balance Bret didn't miss out on any feuds in the later years of the WWE. The ones he missed were earlier ones that clearly could have been were that aborted singles run after Mania 4. Had they not gone back to the Hart Foundation and Bret had stayed singles it would have been Bret v Bad News, then DiBiase, then Perfect and Rude. Only the Perfect feud ever happened and it happened too late cos they wasted much of Perfect's run with Beefcake. Bret beats Bad News at Summerslam 88 and wins the first Royal Rumble (instead of Hacksaw) dumping out DiBiase, thus begins his feud that goes through Mania where he narrowly loses it goes to Summerslam and he wins the Million Dollar belt before losing it back in the Rubber match at the Rumble when Rude and Perfect interfere... He goes to Mania against Perfect and so on... Those are the feuds that would have been valuable to Bret as would a true feud with Hakushi and perhaps the most bitter miss - Brian Pillman. Pillman was still 'Flyin' albiet very much the loose cannon and when he signed there can be little question the plan when Vince signed him was to have him win KOTR and feud with Bret via stirring his rep in ECW. Pillman in his prime v Bret, with the Dungeon connection, the unpredictability of Pillman on the mic and the quality of both guys in the ring would have made it an epic feud that would have kicked off Attitude exactly the same as Austin did. 3 days after signing came the crash... Pillman was done as a viable main eventer but passed his ideas onto his old partner who used them himself and took the feud with Bret. His role in the Foundation was his reward for doing the right thing...

In Shamrock's case they couldn't do much more than they did. I am sure they intended for Bret and Shamrock to feud or at least have a match. The ending of 13's match proved it and it might even have been Vince's sneaky way to get Bret out of the company by provoking a legit confrontation between he and Ken so Shamrock would go into business and force Bret out of WWE with his tail between his legs. But come June he was working notice and his leaving was a done deal.

I don't really see Shamrock as missing any feuds in his WWE run as the guys who he could have had good matches had gone and they just brought in guys like Severn and Williams who didn't have it for the WWE.

If there is one I could kinda see it would have been more with Pillman. With his ankle as it was there would have been a true edge to the feud of him avoiding the ankle lock and going to any lengths to do so. Sadly his death took that one off the table but to be honest, it needed to be pre-crash Pillman like with Bret.

 

[harrythem]

there can be little question the plan when Vince signed him was to have him win KOTR and feud with Bret via stirring his rep in ECW. Pillman in his prime v Bret, with the Dungeon connection, the unpredictability of Pillman on the mic and the quality of both guys in the ring would have made it an epic feud that would have kicked off Attitude exactly the same as Austin did. 3 days after signing came the crash... Pillman was done as a viable main eventer but passed his ideas onto his old partner who used them himself and took the feud with Bret. His role in the Foundation was his reward for doing the right thing...

Cool story, apart from the fact that the crash happened while he was negotiating with WWF and WCW. Although it does go to show the genius of Pillman that, even though he must've known his top level days were already done, he was able to hide his condition from both companies and get himself the best dollar figure possible...

I'd agree with the idea of Pillman being a missed feud, although I'd say it was more for Shawn Michaels than for Bret Hart. If BP hadn't got injured I'd say he could've probably pushed for a bit more go on the mike than he got (the fact his mike work was still great, but being stuck on crutches/in a wheelchair limits your ability to get involved in a company when you're new there). A freshly arrived in ECW BP vs Shawn Michaels could've been a really interesting feud as the matches would've worked and BP would've known just how to get the 1996 issues riddled HBK riled enough that the mike work would've been blistering and, dare I say it, even more personal/intense than Hart vs HBK in 97.

As for Shamrock? They had him turn heel and put him with Vince McMahon in 1998 and he still never reached above mid-card level because he just didn't have that X Factor to get him over the hump and into the true main event bracket....

I still kinda wished that they'd gone the Bret/Bulldog vs Owen/Austin route they were hinting at in December 1996. Could've still ended up the way it did (with Bret vs Austin at WM13) and could've made the tag title scene at the end of 96 much more exciting than it was (not that it would've been hard to do so).

 

[Goldie]

I think great things were expected from Ken when he first arrived... in terms of star quality. He was immediately thrust into the hottest fued the WWE had going at the time (Bret vs Austin) .... and portrayed as more than Brets equal after the WM13 match where his defiance saw Bret back down and walk away from his post match beatdown of Austin.

The seeds could have been there for a Bret-Ken fued ... but it would have had to have happened quickly after WM13 whilst the confrontation was still fresh.
Maybe this wasn't feasible ... as after WM13... Bret took Ken to the dungeon to help his pro wrestlng training... It was the summer of '97 when Ken was ready to wrestle... at which time Bret became WWF world champ.... a case of too much too soon for Ken working his way up the card.

Had Montreal never happened... by 1998 Austin would have inevitably risen to the world title by then... a Bret vs Ken fued could have happened. However I think it was apparent by then that Ken wouldn't become one of the top liner stars... more a solid addition to the midcard. Ken lacked the verbal skills and charsima to reach up to that extra level (to a Shawn, Austin, Rock).

Had they fueded I think Bret may have been pushed on top.

 

[RicSpade]

I think it was an interesting concept to have Hart vs. Shamrock feud and it could've went over well had they had something else for Austin after WM and left the payoff there, the only problem I see with Shamrock was the same problem Vince has with most guys he brings in, if a guy gets a substantial push to the top too fast, it can come back to bite him, I mean look at Brock Lesnar, his quick rise was his undoing, and more.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I think it would have made for a good quick side feud for Bret. Could have had an ok match but shamrock just wasn't that good. Ill disagree that a feud was in the works because of wm13. I think Bret backing down to shamrock was done to make sure Bret looked cowardly so the crowd had an easier time turning on him