Vince Screwed Bret!

[HATECHOIR]

After watching how the WWE dropped the ball Monday night by really under-using The Hitman. I went back and watched "Wrestling With Shadows" the 1998 Documentary done about Bret "The Hitman" Hart. For those that haven't seen this documentary it is a MUST SEE!

It gives you a REAL behind the scene's look at the business, and ALOT of insight into "The Montreal Screwjob" It is more than apparent by watching that Bret didn't "screw" Bret, and neither did Shawn, HHH, Earl Hebner, Pat Patterson, or anyone else involved other than Vince!

First off Bret is offered a huge WCW Contract (9 Million for 3 years), and Vince counters with a 20 year contract (for less money overall). Bret turns down WCW, and takes Vince up on the offer. Which Vince then renigs on, cause he can't afford it (WHAT?). He even ask's Vince to "Give me a reason to stay, it's not about the money just give me a reason to stay", and Vince's reply is"It would be best if he could see if there (WCW) offer still stand's", and basically tells him in not so may word's they need to part way's. Which then leads to Bret having to take the WCW contract, but not just for that reason. You get to see over the course leading up to November 1997. That Vince turns Bret heel, because Austin as a heel is getting more pop's than heat so they basically switch spot's in one match. Which is Vince's way of making his lifelong "Super" face go heel just like WCW did with "Super" face Hogan, but the WWE didnt get the same results. Then after months of having Bret crap all over america, and his legions of fan's they go, and turn Shawn to top heel, and leave Bret nowhere to take his character. So Bret NEVER screwed Bret he just did what he had to do to survive. Not that going to WCW helped him much except in the wallet...lol!

I dont blame Shawn, HHH, Hebner, Patterson, or any other of Vinny's people cause they were just doing there job for the man that signs there check. You know if anyone of them tryed to not do it, or went to Bret upfront where they, and there careers would have ended up too! Vince was on the ropes during this time WCW was owning him, and his choice's weren't the best to say the least. His exscuse for Bret not liking where the business was going was..."This is the 90's! Wrestling isn't black, and white, good guy vs bad guy anymore, it's more shade's of grey"

I find ALOT of humor in that quote coming from him, because 2 years prior to that when The Kliq (HHH,Shawn, Nash, Hall, and Xpac for you youngsters) sat him down, and pitched there idea for The Kliq to be a "Rouge" group of tweeners that stomped all over face's, and heel's that Vince's response was "Wrestling IS black, and white, good guy vs bad guy, nobody will understand or buy that it's too much in the grey area", but then Hall & Nash took that "Grey" idea to Bishoff, and they turned it into the nWo, and thus turned that "Grey" idea into GREEN, and stomped Vince for 80+ week's with it!

I hope however this play's out that Bret gets whatever it is he need's out of this run to move on past it. Cause the one piece of SOLID truth spoke in that Bret/Shawn segment on Jan 4th, 2010 was NEITHER of there career's need to be, or should be defined by "The Montreal Screwjob" They both contributed so MUCH MORE THAN THAT to the sport. Bret's family is wrestling royalty, and i hope after pounding Vince's skull in at Wrestlemania 26 that the wrestling world move's on as well, and get's past it. Vince needs to school these new young fan's on REAL wrestling history, not "Wrestling history according to Vince" It's a shame most youngster's today only know about The Montreal Screwjob when they hear Bret Hart's name, and not about the lifetime he dedicated to wrestling before that, and his father before him!

I've ranted on enough good to see the Hitman back, and look foward to his road to wrestlemania run, and what's in store for all of us on the road to mania! Again those who don't own, or haven't seen "Wrestling with Shadows" go pick it up TODAY! A MUST-See even if your not a wrestling fan it is a GREAT documentary!

 

[kobrad]

Awesome post!

I really like all your facts that you have presented in here. It is just so messed up nowadays with people only believing what WWE wants them to believe, and believe it or not but Vinnie Mac isnt the best guy in the entire world. But Vince knew exactly what he was doing when he didnt sign bret to that contract and it is really pathetic for vince to say that in 1997 he couldnt afford a 9 million dollar 20 year deal, that is just ridiculous because we all know taht Vince had the money to spend on Austin, Michaels, Taker, Sid and so on. Vince just needed a fall guy for this whole thing and Bret was in the perfect position to be that fall guy.

 

[ipewrestling.com]

This is very simple: BRET SCREWED BRET BY REFUSING TO DROP THE TITLE TO MICHAELS!!! It was wrong. Vince Mcmahon had every reason to do what he did. If YOU were running a multi-million dollar wrestling league, and your champion was leaving your company for the competition, would you want him to just vacate the title bc that's what he wanted to do?!?! No, bc it makes every other worker in your company look weak, like they're not better than the guy who just gave up the belt bc noone could beat him. I can't stand when people cry about Montreal, like Bret Hart didn't deserve what happened. Bret Hart has been around professional wrestling his entire life, he knew what the right thing to do was, but instead he let his out of control ego get in the way of what was right. Bret screwed Bret, nor Michaels, not Hebner, and especially not Mcmahon. If Bret would have done the right thing, and not the selfish thing, the "Montreal Screwjob" would have never happened. On a side note, I've seen "Wrestling with Shadows", and IMO, while it is a good movie, its very one sided. Go figure an egomaniac would make a movie about himself that shows him in an incredibly positive light. And lastly, this post is not to disrespect Bret Hart; he is one of my all time favorites. With that being said, Montreal was his fault, and if anyone got screwed, it was Vince Mcmahon...

 

[THEGRANDSLAM]

Bret Screwed Bret. I have watched the doc a few times like yourself and for Bret to compare losing to Shawn Michaels in a wrestling match to being RAPED in the ring was and is pathetic and it is also pathetic how it took him 12 years to get over it, his book was excellent but was ruined by his bitterness especially in the final chapter when instead of speaking about his family or 'burying the hatchet' he spouts hate about HHH, Shawn, Vince etc. I'm glad he's over it now, he should've dropped the belt and protected the lineage of the most prestigious belt in the sport.
Bret never had the versatility to go heel because he was never a great talker, hence why it didn't work. The Rock was a great heel, a great babyface and probably the best mic man ever. I don't think that was by coincidence.

 

[Jetspete]

i guess working in the professional world has jaded me, but i believe businessmen should honor their contracts. Vince gave Bret a contract that allowed him to have creative control over his character for the final 30 days of his WWE tenure. It is well documented on this site that Bret turned down a heckuva lot more money from WCW just 12 months prior to the Montreal screwjob due to his loyalty to the WWE. Does anyone on this board really think Bret wouldve quit WWE while champion, then showed up on Nitro the next night to defame WWE (ala Alundra Blaze)? His request was simple, "i do not want to drop the belt to Shawn Michaels in Canada." Under his contract, he had the legal right to request that.

And as evidenced in his book, HBK also played a key role in the night's festivities. If anything, HBK's willingness to participate made the night all the more easier for McMahon. But Shawn didnt owe anything to Hart, only vince did through their contract. So yes, Vince screwed Bret, and revenge will be served.

 

[Chopper]

as a Canadian and a massive mark for the Harts, you'd expect me to join the rest of the Canadian marks and whine but Bret screwed himself. I know he did not want to drop the belt in Canada, but he should of asked for an extension and drop it on Raw a week or so later.

 

[The Phenomenal One]

Vince McMahon was just trying to protect his company. I mean, you had the Alundra Blayze incident and the utter craziness that was the Monday Night Wars. I know some want to say, "Bret would never do what Alundra did!" To those people I say, how do you know? How can you be so sure that he wouldn't have done that? Bret should have did the right thing, but his ego wouldn't let him. I've aways said that it wasn't McMahon who screwed Bret, it was Bret's ego that screwed Bret Hart. I honestly don't blame McMahon for doing what he did. The man was simply protecting his company.

 

[reddevil69]

Awesome post!

I really like all your facts that you have presented in here. It is just so messed up nowadays with people only believing what WWE wants them to believe, and believe it or not but Vinnie Mac isnt the best guy in the entire world. But Vince knew exactly what he was doing when he didnt sign bret to that contract and it is really pathetic for vince to say that in 1997 he couldnt afford a 9 million dollar 20 year deal, that is just ridiculous because we all know taht Vince had the money to spend on Austin, Michaels, Taker, Sid and so on. Vince just needed a fall guy for this whole thing and Bret was in the perfect position to be that fall guy.

not to mention that Vince had the cash to pay Mike Tyson a reported three million dollars to show up at the Rumble and WM14...all of this coming 8 weeks after Bret left the WWF.

 

[reddevil69]

Vince McMahon was just trying to protect his company. I mean, you had the Alundra Blayze incident and the utter craziness that was the Monday Night Wars. I know some want to say, "Bret would never do what Alundra did!" To those people I say, how do you know? How can you be so sure that he wouldn't have done that? Bret should have did the right thing, but his ego wouldn't let him. I've aways said that it wasn't McMahon who screwed Bret, it was Bret's ego that screwed Bret Hart. I honestly don't blame McMahon for doing what he did. The man was simply protecting his company.

we can all speculate, but from the testimonials of people like Austin Undertaker,Foley and the Rock saying that they don't for one second think Bret would try to screw the company that they, his friends, not to mention his own brother still had to work for, I think it's a pretty safe bet that Bret would not have jumped over to the WCW with the belt...besides, everyone seems to be forgetting that Bret had 23 days left on his WWF contract after Survivor Series, so it's not like he could have shown up on Nitro the next day anyway....something could have been worked out in that time, thru attorneys, agents and otherwise....an extension was not needed, he still was under contract and he could have dropped the belt any time during that period.

In the words of Mark "Undertaker" Calaway: "what happened to Bret in Montreal was not necessary".

 

[ssvegita77]

Bret screwed himself. I know he did not want to drop the belt in Canada, but he should of asked for an extension and drop it on Raw a week or so later.

I completely agree with this. There is a big difference between being Alundra Blaze and Bret Hart. There is no way that Bischoff would have told Hart to "show up w/ the belt or not at all." Bret had tons of integrity and even if Bischoff did pull such a stipulation on Hart I doubt he would have done it (although I or Vince couldn't be sure).

At the same time Bret's request to have Survivor Series 97' end in a DQ and forfeit the title the next night was totally unfair. No exceptions; you leave you job! The End! Bret knew this, and tried to weasel out of it. I think Vince should have been the bigger man and agreed to Bret's proposed DQ idea as long as he was willing to put HBK over cleanly back on U.S. soil. Everybody would have won. HBK would have got what few others ever achieved, a non-controversial victory over Bret Hart (we all know that privledge is only for blood relatives & in-laws). Bret wouldn't have had 12 years worth of baggage hanging over his head/career. And Vince wouldn't have gotten spit at & decked by the Hitman.

Still when you really think about it...what would the Mr. Mcmahon character really have been without the Montreal screw job?

 

[reddevil69]

Bret Screwed Bret. I have watched the doc a few times like yourself and for Bret to compare losing to Shawn Michaels in a wrestling match to being RAPED in the ring was and is pathetic and it is also pathetic how it took him 12 years to get over it, his book was excellent but was ruined by his bitterness especially in the final chapter when instead of speaking about his family or 'burying the hatchet' he spouts hate about HHH, Shawn, Vince etc. I'm glad he's over it now, he should've dropped the belt and protected the lineage of the most prestigious belt in the sport.
Bret never had the versatility to go heel because he was never a great talker, hence why it didn't work. The Rock was a great heel, a great babyface and probably the best mic man ever. I don't think that was by coincidence.

uhhhh,I hate to break it you but Bret was a heel for the first four years in WWF...the Hart Foundation were heels, and I can tell you from someone who lived thru that era and went to countless arena house shows, all of which were sold out, 15-20,000 each and every month, Bret was over as a heel and they were a huge deal as a tag team, main eventing many shows that Hogan did not appear on and sending the crowd home satisfied every night.

People wanted to kill those guys, one show i was at a fan jumped in the ring and attacked Bret while he was pounding on Jim Brunzell of the Killer Bees...people would spit on them, throw garbage at them, and it was not just because of the Anvil...Bret could talk on the mic and stir up the crowd period...he had more legitimate heat than Randy Orton or Shamus will ever have if they wrestle for 50 years.

 

[Slam Master]

It wasn't about Bret taking the belt with him. It was about THE WWF CHAMPION; the top spot, the recogized star, the main man leaving for the competition that's been beating your company by going out on TV saying he couldn't work there anymore and forfeiting the belt. He was leaving to the company that's been winning without losing the belt to go help in the effort to beat the WWF; the company that gave him every opportunity to shine; even more.

That works against all business logic. Flair and Hogan both dropped the belt before they left for WCW and Flair dropped it to Bret! Granted Flair was only around the WWF for 1.5 years he had a big name, high status in the industry, and was very over. Hogan was Hogan, probably the biggest name in wrestling up to that point, and he even dropped the belt, though in a cheap way.

Shawn was a cocky prick back then, but he lost to Bret plenty of times when Bret was being pushed as top dog. Yes Bret dropped the belt to him at WM12but it was Shawn's time. Bret was turned heel because Vince wanted Shawn and Austin to be the top faces with Undertaker and there was no room for Bret, because he was there from basically 1991-1996 as one of the top if not the top face. He became a one trick pony as a heel and wasn't the greatest on the mic. Shawn turned heel and shot passed him again as he did when they were both faces with more versatile, exciting matches and promos while Bret was stuck in wrestling purgatory. He couldn't go back to being a face that soon because he said all that bad stuff about America and his heel act was stale and it was a one shot angle. The creative control over his character has to do with his character persona of Bret the Hitman Hart, not who that character drops the belt to or works with, hence why Bret didn't take him to court afterwards. I'm in no way saying I dislike Bret, in fact he's me 2nd favorite wrestler of all time. This is just how it went down.

 

[Loveless]

This again? Seriously.
I watched that documentary for the first time a few weeks ago and it really didn't do it's cause any good. It shows Bret up for being a delusional egomaniac who had lost sight of the fact that he was an employee.
I've said it before but his contract said "Reasonable Creative Control", reasonable being the key word here. That means no stupid angles, comedy sections, nothing that would damage his potential future earnings. It is not reasonable to say "Hey, I'll decide when, where and to who I drop the belt to" that's not how the business works and people have been fired in the past for trying to pull that crap. The fact is Bret had to drop the belt at Survivor Series and he had to do it to Shawn, changing it on RAW would be throwing money away, the (huge) match was booked, there was no other viable option to take the belt and a DQ finish at a major PPV would have been suicide for the WWE.
What happened was regrettable but Bret had lost touch with reality.

 

[wrestling fan 666]

I love all of these people who claim to have watched the documentary on the Montreal Screwjob. If anybody really watched it, it was a clear understanding that Bret was going to drop the belt the very next night on Raw in a rematch with Shawn. THAT'S why it was a screwjob. All Brett wanted was to not lose in Canada, where he and his family are legends. He knew the business, and understood he'd have to lose the belt before even going to WCW. But why did they feel the need for all the deception against a guy who was willing to stay with the WWE out of loyalty?

I feel that at the time, WCW was snatching up WWE talent and Vince was enraged that Alundra brought over the Women's belt and just tossed it in the trash. He was tired of disrespect he felt for people he created; he helped out financially; who he put bread on their tables.

But from a business stand point, why embarrass a guy who actually showed you the respect by being upfront with you concerning the WCW offers? Like was said prior, Bret even asked for some reason to stay...anything. Even Vinnie told him to go for it; it makes no sense except to create controversy. Why do you think the guys in the locker room were ready to walk? They also knew that Bret was going to drop the belt the next night. It was total disrespect for someone for a talent that helped put butts in the seats for years.

 

[TheLegendKiller777]

just A alittle note..it is obvious both views of this are never going to be reasoned, and im not going to post my liffe story on here because is it really going to make a difference, no. i just had a thought, i was reading not to long ago about how hbk was not planning on dropping the title to austin at mania, hbk is my all time favourtie, but it was stated and as many of us know shan wasnt the happiest person at the time and he wasnt exactly thinking logically, so the undertaker apparently sent his threat out tha if hbk didnt drop the belt to austin that he was going to do something about it so he taped his hands up before the match just incase, calloway is all about business, we all know that and that he would do anyhing for it.. so why is it that when Bret Hart doesnt want to drop the title for business in montreal in 97, taker has nothin to say about it, except, " what happened to bret in montreal was unnecessary" so what is the difference, i think and still believe there is alot more to the whole thing then we all know, theres always more to something if your not involved and dont kmow yourself, thats how business is

 

[justinept]

Geez people. Stop re-writing history. Some of these comments are so borderline ridiculous that it's hard to tell if some of you were even old enough to watch Raw in 1997.

For people on this threat to say that Bret Hart wasn't over as a heel is completely ridiculous. The guy was as over as they came. People like to say that WWE overtook WCW in 1998. Well that might be so, but the company caught up to WCW in 1997 when the Hart Foundation feuded with DX and Steve Austin.

IMO, the final four-five months of 1997 was one of the best stretches the company has ever had. All you need to do is go and watch the footage from January of 97 and then rewind to August 97. You'll see a completely different product being delivered. Check out the signs and see the real heat that these guys had from the live crowd. It was unbelievable.

Watch a Raw that emanated from a US arena and then watch one that emanated from a Canadian arena. There was a distinct difference in how the characters were portrayed ... I always felt it was the single-most underrated angle the WWE ever produced. Maybe it gets lost in the mix because WCW was so far ahead of WWE up until that point.

As for the MSJ. Vince screwed Bret. If Vince didn't want Bret to leave the company then he shouldn't have let him walk. If Vince didn't want Bret to leave the company with the belt then he should have had him drop the belt before he signed with WCW or he should have forced Bret to give a 60 days notice before leaving the company.

The whole problem here stemmed from the fact that VKM gave Hart creative control for the final 30 days of his contract. Hart had the right to say No to dropping the title to Michaels - which he did. Hart allegedly gave VKM a list of people he'd lose the title to instead of Michaels - the list included the Brooklyn Brawler. VKM refused to choose one of those opponents.

Bottom Line. Vince broke his contract with Bret Hart, and screwed him.

 

[reddevil69]

just A alittle note..it is obvious both views of this are never going to be reasoned, and im not going to post my liffe story on here because is it really going to make a difference, no. i just had a thought, i was reading not to long ago about how hbk was not planning on dropping the title to austin at mania, hbk is my all time favourtie, but it was stated and as many of us know shan wasnt the happiest person at the time and he wasnt exactly thinking logically, so the undertaker apparently sent his threat out tha if hbk didnt drop the belt to austin that he was going to do something about it so he taped his hands up before the match just incase, calloway is all about business, we all know that and that he would do anyhing for it.. so why is it that when Bret Hart doesnt want to drop the title for business in montreal in 97, taker has nothin to say about it, except, " what happened to bret in montreal was unnecessary" so what is the difference, i think and still believe there is alot more to the whole thing then we all know, theres always more to something if your not involved and dont kmow yourself, thats how business is

there's a difference. Shawn was being a complete jerk and being difficult for the sake of it in not wanting to drop the belt to Austin, who was clearly the top guy at that point, and Shawn was leaving with a back injury. Bret was not being difficult for the sake of it, his reasoning was that Shawn was not one of the boys, was a troublemaker and was disrespectful to him and he didn't feel that Shawn deserved the honor.

He agreed to drop it to Taker, Foley or Austin at Survivor series....and he only nixed dropping it to Shawn that night, not entirely. His reasoning was that the angle was built for the Canadian hero to emerge victorious, or at least leave with the belt. He had three weeks left on his contract and had agreed to drop it to Shawn anytime after Montreal.

According to Austin's book, Shawn did not want to drop it to him or anyone else for that matter, that is why Taker had words with him (and he didn't tape up his fists by the way, I have an interview with Calaway where debunks that part), because he was causing unrest in the lockerroom...Bret was not disrupting the locker room and had the respect of all his peers with the exception of HBK and HHH.

Shawn was loathed by pretty much everyone in the WWF locker room at that point with the exception of hunter...even Rick Rude who was working as Shawn's enforcer couldn't stand him and was clearly behind Bret that night.

point being Taker nor anyone else saw a reason to discipline Bret because he was not really out of line, Shawn was standing in Austin, who earned his spot and the company's way at WM14 and there was too much riding on the match to let Shawn fuck it all up.

at this point who gives a shit. I'm glad Bret's back, it was great to see him again and I'm glad he a Shawn have buried the hatchet...I never saw i'd see those two in the same ring again, let alone embrace each other and I think Bret said it best, he and Shawn have accomplished far too much in wrestling to have their career's tagged by one incident that all involved wish never had to happen.

I am a fan of both men and I for one am happy to see them put it to rest and move forward.

 

[LongHessa]

Oh my god this thread is sad. Some of the comments here are insanly ridiculous. You "kids" or "idiots" whichever you are..... completly ignore facts and reason. Vince screwed Bret and screwed him good. Bret didnt want to leave the WWF, he tried all he could to stay (including turning down a huge contract from WCW) he just tried to save his dignity. Shawn was an immature prick and Bret was right not to lose the belt in Canada to him. He would have lost it any night after to Shawn or anyone else but Vince just wanted to screw him. Read the facts you 14 year old idiots...jesus.

 

[UseYourBrain]

First off, nobody came out of it smelling like roses. All parties involved were selfish and manipulative.

Second, the documentary was very heavily edited to make Bret look like a hero. That's show business for ya. There are so many inserted sound clips in the documentary where you can tell the people aren't saying that exact thing at that exact time that it's ridiculous. Go back and watch the scene where Bret's wife tells Bret "I don't believe it" in regards to the finish, hinting at her suspecting a screw job long before it took place. Her mouth isn't even MOVING. That documentary was about telling a story, just like a reality show is. The Real World has a team of writers who come in and work the footage and clips into a more compelling story. That's what Wrestling With Shadows was. A dramatic story with a good guy battling an evil corporation. In reality, both sides were jerks.


Finally... for those who say it's as simple as "Vince screwed Bret", let me ask you this:

If you're Vince McMahon, and you just HELPED Bret find a better deal in WCW, and Bret tells you he won't lose to Shawn Michaels but he will lose to a number of other wrestlers... what real reason do you have to screw him out of the belt and give it to Michaels? Based on those facts, you have zero reason to do something so sinister. As a business man, it makes NO sense to do what they did in Montreal based simply on those facts. Use your brain. There's more to the story than any of us realizes or will ever know. We weren't there. Bret's not the hero of this story and neither are Shawn or Vince. All hands were dirty.

These people travel from town to town FAKE FIGHTING. They are carnies. They don't have benefits and only recently starting getting guaranteed contracts. To an extent, they are all con-men and if they want to make a living, they have to be able to make people feel bad for them... or they have to maneuver themselves into positions they want to be in. What pro wrestler not currently in WWE DOESNT have a sob story or talk sh*t about Vince? None of them. Know why? Because they're professional liars. All of them. It's their job.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

i would say that the whole truth of the matter is this, Bret did screw bret for refusing to drop the title in Canada. I don't have any idea why he didn't want to drop the title in Canada cuz no matter where you drop it the whole world will see it i mean your hometown will watch just about every match your in don't matter if its in Asia, Texas, Russia, or Canada. Now Vince did kinda screw bret for having his face turn heel and say shit about American where a wrestler wrestles about 80% of the time and he pushed him out the door, Bret did want to stay and Vince was the one who said take WCW on there offer cuz i can't afford you anymore. If Vince did want Bret to stay there was possibly no way he could win the American fans back over. So in a way like i said before Bret did kinda screw himself but Vince did Screw him also. Now i am just saying can we please let this whole screwjob please die already it was 12 years ago people

 

[K Bro 30]

I don't know all the specifics of his WWE contract at the time, but here is what I think. I doubt Bret had creative control on his WWE contract, and if he did not, he should have dropped the title when, where, and how Vince wanted him to. That's just the way it is. He's under contract, and needs to do what he is told.

Now if he did have creative control, clearly it was Vince's fault.

Bret knew he was in the scripted fighting business, and it was his last night on the script, he could not leave with the title. He didn't have to have Michaels win clean, he just had to have Michaels win, but he refused to drop the title, and you can't say all of the blame goes to the other parties, because Bret deserves some blame, business is business after all.

 

[benm1989]

Vince McMahon was just trying to protect his company. I mean, you had the Alundra Blayze incident and the utter craziness that was the Monday Night Wars. I know some want to say, "Bret would never do what Alundra did!" To those people I say, how do you know? How can you be so sure that he wouldn't have done that? Bret should have did the right thing, but his ego wouldn't let him. I've aways said that it wasn't McMahon who screwed Bret, it was Bret's ego that screwed Bret Hart. I honestly don't blame McMahon for doing what he did. The man was simply protecting his company.

you are right dude.
vince had every right to do it.i like hart but how did vince know he would not do what alundra blayze did.
the man was in a war with bishcoff and wanted to make sure under any circumstances that it didnt happen again.
he did the right thing as you can see he is still in charge of the biggest wrestling organisation in the world (well at the moment lol)
i would have done the exact same thing as would any1 else.
the man had a company to run and was under alot of pressure to deliver at the time
good post by the way

 

[UltraHottie]

Let's just put it this way: Bret and Vince screwed each other! Had Vince not backed out of their new contract, Bret would have never sot confort in a new company. Bret didn't want to lose to Shawn in Canada because he is a proud Canadian. He did have creative control over his final days in the WWE at the time and was okay with giving the belt to Shawn the next night on Raw. I keep on asking myself why this didn't happen. I was even watching Surivor Series that night, and was upset. I was even more upset the next night on Raw where Shawn and DX were making fun of Bret Hart. Thank god for Owen, who came out to defind his Brother's honor. I stopped watching wrestling after that for years (but I would always come back to see what was happening). We all know that Bret would never go to WCW with anything that belonged to WWE, so why would Vince believe that?! Had Vince not been such a jerk to begin with, Bret would've never had left. These days, one needs money to survive and needs a secure job. If you know that your job isn't secure, then you look to a company that will give you a better paying job. But would you go, if you knew in the long run that Eric Bishoff didn't know what to do with your career and made you startfrom the bottom and work your way up again? This is what was stated in the DVD WWE made about Bret's career. If things in an alternitive univise were different, Bret would've been open to a different contract and stayed with the WWE for less money. He would never had a concusion after being in a match with GoldBerg. And he would've never had a stroke. He would still be wrestling, and his career would be bigger than Shawns. The He would never had been screwed by Vince period. In a perfect world, this is how it should be, but it isn't.

Had the screw job not have happened, then we the Wrestling fans, would have nothing to talk about.

But, it is, like Bret said on this past Monday Night Raw, time to leave the past in the past, and look forward to the future.

 

[justinept]

I want to get to the first point made in this thread - that Bret Hart was underutilized on Monday Night Raw.

I disagree with that. Sure, he wasn't in as many segments as some of the previous guest hosts, but unlike those guests hosts, Hart's appearance isn't a one-time thing.

For Hart to act like a GM one night and make a few enemies would be counter productive to his future involvement over the next few months. For example, if he used his power to cross multiple heel wrestlers, then we'd expect to see those wrestlers to seek "revenge" on Hart when he no longer had the GM power. So it made sense not to involve him too heavily in the traditional GM role.

Also, since the company has Hart locked up until WrestleMania, they are able to draw out any program they put him in. There was no need to give it all away at once. If you want to see where it's going, then you have to watch next week and the week after. Involving Hart too much on the first night back might have been too much too soon for a guy they more than likely plan to put in a bigger, more drawn-out angle.

 

[justinept]

But the internet world is the only one's that know Bret is here til Wrestlemania the average fan thought it was a ONE night only deal!

That's true. But the OP who claimed to be upset about Bret's lack of air time on Monday is obviously aware of Hart's current deal. He's posting in a forum on a wrestling website that still has the terms of Hart's deal listed as a top story.