CaptainZaltan
Getting Noticed By Management
Question: Why does this have to be a black or white, right or wrong, X screwed Y situation?
On the one hand, Bret had been an incredibly loyal employee and had given Vince every opportunity to prevent him from leaving the fed. It seems as though Bret REALLY didn't want to go to WCW, but couldn't come to terms with Vince on how he could stay. As it happened, Bret had a contract giving himself creative control, and whatever that might have entailed is irrelevant as Bret clearly believed that it involved him deciding the terms of when he would drop the belt (and apparently Vince agreed, otherwise he would have just forced Bret to go to the ring and drop the belt clean). Now given Bret's creative control, he played a little dick move and decided he didn't want to job to Shawn in Canada. Part of this is obviously because Bret (and apparently most of the locker-room) despised Shawn at the time, and he didn't feel like doing any favors for Shawn if he didn't have to. Second, Bret was protecting himself from what he perceived as an attempt to diminish his character and therefore his ability to get over (and therefore his ability to get ahead in WCW). Had Bret not offered to work for Vince for less money and not had an agreement with Vince, I would not expect the WWE to do anything to help out an employee leaving for the competition. But he did. That being said, Bret had said he would drop the title the following night, and as previously stated, under normal circumstances Vince wouldn't have had any reason to doubt that. Not only was Bret a good employee, but the Harts and Mcmahon's were close on a personal level as well.
So was Bret putting his own interests ahead of those of the fed by expecting to be protected on his way out? Sure. But we all would have done the same in his situation. He didn't want to leave and he felt like he was being forced to, so why exactly should he have been putting the WWE's interests above his own? He had a contract that he believed allowed him to exert a certain degree of control and proposed an idea which he felt would allow both parties to save face, one which Vince agreed with.
On the other hand, I guarantee that most of us would have done exactly what Vince did as well. Vince' company was in dire straits. Regardless of their previous personal connection, or Bret's character or employment record, Vince was dealing with a situation where he was about to hand a valuable asset over to a company that had shown a willingness to sink to any depth to beat him down. Even if he and Bret were friends, it would have been an incredibly risky gamble to trust that neither Bret nor WCW would try to take advantage of the situation and tarnish his companies most valuable asset.
Title belt aside, Vince would have been a complete idiot to let Bret march into WCW as the conquering hero. As I stated before, Bret and Vince had a contract, but if that contract really did legally prevent Vince from doing what he did, I assume the matter would have ended up in court. It didn't, so as far as we know Vince is only guilty of breaking a gentleman's agreement and lying to Bret. For the sake of protecting his company, that probably didn't seem like a high price to pay.
Why did it come to it? Why couldn't Bret and Vince sit down and talk the matter out, realize where the other was coming from and work something out? Why were the folks in charge of WCW too stupid to cash in on the massive real-life drama that Bret brought with him coming into WCW to turn him into a mega-face again? Who knows? But the bottom line is, Bret acted a little selfishly and naively and Vince lied and betrayed his confidence, because they were both looking out for their own interests. Just like any of us would in their shoes. It's not about either of them being evil or good or screwing the other one, it's about human beings making stupid decisions in times of stress.
In regards to the 12 year feud, a lot of stuff happened to exacerbate the situation. First of all the documentary: there were a lot of people that would have called Bret a sellout if he had mended fences with Vince after seeing that. It also must have served as a constant reminder to Vince and Bret of all the bad blood. Anyone who doesn't believe that 'Wrestling with Shadows' wasn't a massive obstacle to Vince and Bret making amends is insane. (And asserting that Bret had complete creative control over the documentary for better or worse is even more insane, as that obviously wasn't the case with 'Beyond the Mat'). Second, there's the little situation where Bret's brother died in the ring doing a stupid stunt for Vince's company, and Vince didn't even bother to stop the show. Then there was the massive family feud that happened as a result of the ensuing legal battle with Vince (read Martha Hart's book on Owen). And none of us know what other interactions Bret and Vince might have had during the 12 year span. In other words, it's pretty naive to believe that the Montreal screwjob was the only thing keeping Bret out of the WWE all these years. But the important thing is, when Bret had his stroke, Vince got in touch with him, and they started to make amends. The Bret Hart DVD, the Hall of Fame, all of that has been baby steps towards rebuilding a working relationship and whatever sort of friendship the two families had.
The final point is, it's over. It was a stupid situation that shouldn't have happened, but it did. And both parties are at least partially responsible. So please, no more about one guy screwing the other, because quite frankly it sounds really gay. I don't ever want to think about Vince and Bret screwing.
On the one hand, Bret had been an incredibly loyal employee and had given Vince every opportunity to prevent him from leaving the fed. It seems as though Bret REALLY didn't want to go to WCW, but couldn't come to terms with Vince on how he could stay. As it happened, Bret had a contract giving himself creative control, and whatever that might have entailed is irrelevant as Bret clearly believed that it involved him deciding the terms of when he would drop the belt (and apparently Vince agreed, otherwise he would have just forced Bret to go to the ring and drop the belt clean). Now given Bret's creative control, he played a little dick move and decided he didn't want to job to Shawn in Canada. Part of this is obviously because Bret (and apparently most of the locker-room) despised Shawn at the time, and he didn't feel like doing any favors for Shawn if he didn't have to. Second, Bret was protecting himself from what he perceived as an attempt to diminish his character and therefore his ability to get over (and therefore his ability to get ahead in WCW). Had Bret not offered to work for Vince for less money and not had an agreement with Vince, I would not expect the WWE to do anything to help out an employee leaving for the competition. But he did. That being said, Bret had said he would drop the title the following night, and as previously stated, under normal circumstances Vince wouldn't have had any reason to doubt that. Not only was Bret a good employee, but the Harts and Mcmahon's were close on a personal level as well.
So was Bret putting his own interests ahead of those of the fed by expecting to be protected on his way out? Sure. But we all would have done the same in his situation. He didn't want to leave and he felt like he was being forced to, so why exactly should he have been putting the WWE's interests above his own? He had a contract that he believed allowed him to exert a certain degree of control and proposed an idea which he felt would allow both parties to save face, one which Vince agreed with.
On the other hand, I guarantee that most of us would have done exactly what Vince did as well. Vince' company was in dire straits. Regardless of their previous personal connection, or Bret's character or employment record, Vince was dealing with a situation where he was about to hand a valuable asset over to a company that had shown a willingness to sink to any depth to beat him down. Even if he and Bret were friends, it would have been an incredibly risky gamble to trust that neither Bret nor WCW would try to take advantage of the situation and tarnish his companies most valuable asset.
Title belt aside, Vince would have been a complete idiot to let Bret march into WCW as the conquering hero. As I stated before, Bret and Vince had a contract, but if that contract really did legally prevent Vince from doing what he did, I assume the matter would have ended up in court. It didn't, so as far as we know Vince is only guilty of breaking a gentleman's agreement and lying to Bret. For the sake of protecting his company, that probably didn't seem like a high price to pay.
Why did it come to it? Why couldn't Bret and Vince sit down and talk the matter out, realize where the other was coming from and work something out? Why were the folks in charge of WCW too stupid to cash in on the massive real-life drama that Bret brought with him coming into WCW to turn him into a mega-face again? Who knows? But the bottom line is, Bret acted a little selfishly and naively and Vince lied and betrayed his confidence, because they were both looking out for their own interests. Just like any of us would in their shoes. It's not about either of them being evil or good or screwing the other one, it's about human beings making stupid decisions in times of stress.
In regards to the 12 year feud, a lot of stuff happened to exacerbate the situation. First of all the documentary: there were a lot of people that would have called Bret a sellout if he had mended fences with Vince after seeing that. It also must have served as a constant reminder to Vince and Bret of all the bad blood. Anyone who doesn't believe that 'Wrestling with Shadows' wasn't a massive obstacle to Vince and Bret making amends is insane. (And asserting that Bret had complete creative control over the documentary for better or worse is even more insane, as that obviously wasn't the case with 'Beyond the Mat'). Second, there's the little situation where Bret's brother died in the ring doing a stupid stunt for Vince's company, and Vince didn't even bother to stop the show. Then there was the massive family feud that happened as a result of the ensuing legal battle with Vince (read Martha Hart's book on Owen). And none of us know what other interactions Bret and Vince might have had during the 12 year span. In other words, it's pretty naive to believe that the Montreal screwjob was the only thing keeping Bret out of the WWE all these years. But the important thing is, when Bret had his stroke, Vince got in touch with him, and they started to make amends. The Bret Hart DVD, the Hall of Fame, all of that has been baby steps towards rebuilding a working relationship and whatever sort of friendship the two families had.
The final point is, it's over. It was a stupid situation that shouldn't have happened, but it did. And both parties are at least partially responsible. So please, no more about one guy screwing the other, because quite frankly it sounds really gay. I don't ever want to think about Vince and Bret screwing.
