The fact that WCW couldn't find something interesting to do with Bret following the most talked-about, controversial angle in business history says a lot about their creativity and wrestling IQ.
@@j.3o21 those 3 ideas were all good enough to set themselves apart from the WWE and beat them in the ratings for a while, they just couldn't deliver on the end of storylines, take Starcade 97 for one.
Hogan ultimate creative control. He saw Bret as still a tag team wrestler not main event. Hogan's creative control and bishoff allowing it too happen was a huge mistake. Brets body language when he walked down the ramp first appearance on WCW was like ok I'm here getting paid don't want to be here though. He knew it was not looking good on that first night.
@@MCLogikILL Sting should've absolutely pinned Hogan clean without any screwy phony fast count shenanigans or a Hart run-in which looked like he was interfering vs. setting things right.
It’s even more sad because this was the start of his turmoil not only in wrestling but in his personal life as well. This man genuinely loved doing what he did and regardless if he had a big ego or not, as some might say, there’s no denying that he was the most loyal and professional which would make sense on why he was the also the hurt about what happened to him.
I've met Bret personally many times. Definitely the word genuine is one way I'd describe him. Bret genuinely loved his work and to this day, continues to show a genuine appreciation for his fans. Bret mentioned, "I learned from the get-go that you never forget your fans. They are the ones that put your food on your table and pay your bills.”
Yep just let him leave with the title. Or win just to forfeit it the next night with no value to the wwf…. Makes perfect sense lol. Christ man. Brett screwed himself..
@Gidget Trevathon you really need to pull your head out of your ass. This had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with business. It wasn't a work. It turned into a work over time. but the act of screwing Bret itself was 100% legit.
@@alecaquino4306 I suppose Owen Hart was a work too right? Sometimes real shit does fucking happen... it's rare af, but it DOES. This is universally known to be one of those. Don't you think 25 years after the fact when no money is left to be made, SOMEONE would've told 'The true story of the Screwjob" by now for a book deal? C'mon man. use your fucking smooth brain and think for once.🙄
@@justinleroux5262 He earned that, and as Rock Wild said, the man had an integrity he just wanted to leave with his head held high, 14 years of super loyal service to Vince, not complaining about anything and only missing 2 sick days in 14 years. Yeah I'd say he earned that, not to mention the underrated knowledge of Hart having creative control in his contract, people forget that, that says he can leave any way he wanted. Vince screwed Bret, END OF STORY!
I still believe whatever happens was gonna happen I don't think nobody can cheat their time just like final destination you might cheat that situation but its still your time no matter what
My friend and I met Bret shortly after he arrived in WCW. He greeted us warmly with his smile and hugged us. Yet there was a bit of sadness in his smile. Bret implied to us what he said in this interview: he'd worked for the WWE for 14 years, hardly took time off, and [this was the appreciation he got]. I told him, "I would think that if anything, you should get a 'Best Employee' recognition for all you did!" Bret gave me his warm smile in response. I only wish that Bret, or someone could have foreseen the Goldberg factor. I had/have full respect for what Bret contributed to professional wrestling.
In Sept 1997 I was in Birmingham in the UK at "One Night Only" Shawn convinced Vince that it was best for the company that he beat Bulldog that night, it was changed at the last minute that he did beat Bulldog and there was basically a riot. There was tension everywhere. Never seen anything like it a restyling event. From that point forward i was convinced there was something against the Harts by the McMahons. Brets story since Nov 1997 hasn't changed once. He was totally and utterly screwed. There was never a chance Bret was going to go to WCW with the belt. WCW as they were with Blayze would have been taken to court and they would have lost. The whole thing is harrowing. Owen not being able to leave cost him his life. Bulldog going to WCW got a back injury which caused him to have back issues which caused his addiction issues to get worse and Bret suffers a concussion which leads to a stroke.
Ric flair went to wwf with the wcw big gold belt in 1991 calling himself the real world's champion in front of hogan. I think that idea to have the wcw title brought to wwf in 1991 was vince mcmahon's idea but flair wanted to do it cause wcw head didn't wanna give flair back his money deposit on the belt. Vince mcmahon is a fucking huge egomaniacal hypocrite and a liar and cheat cause he didn't wanna take a risk bret leaving wwf with the belt in 1997 but bret is man of integrity and honor he has too much respect for wrestling to ever have done that but vince deserved what he got being spat on and knocked out since he lied to bret to his face and shawn was in on it and knew about it too. Vince got acquitted in his 1994 steroid trial when hogan lied under oath on the stand saying he didn't give hogan or other wrestlers steroids but any smart person knew mcmahon did cause he was on roids himself, hogan owed mcmahon cause he made him a big star in tbe wwf in the mid 80's to early 90's making him wwf champ alot and made him millions so mcmahon probably pleaded with him that he owed him big time cause if vince was found guilty at his steroid trial wwf probably woulda went under cause wwfs worse yrs were financially were end of 1994 to 1996.
No way! You were there?!?? I know the real life details around that night are sad, but that HBK vs Bulldog match is one of my top 5 favs of all time. That’s incredible that you were actually there!
@@CurtisAndersonCJA yep! I was 13 years old. There's a clip as Brets music played of me going mental in my red England football shirt. As for the match itself. The place was electric. And as it became more and more obvious that Shawn would win the crowd got angrier and angrier. It was complete carnage.
Three things: according to those in the know, Owen didn't want to leave WWE even it was Bret who wanted him to leave. Where else was he was going to go? #2- It was Vince's idea to screw Bret and not Shawn's. #3- According to those who knew him, including Bret, Bulldog was a drug addict long before he went to WCW.
@@killerjoe5628 I haven't once said it wasn't Vince idea, I said it was Shaun's idea to beat bulldog in Birmingham in Sept 1997. Yes Bulldog had substance issues but he wasn't addicted to like he was after screwing up his back in 1998 in WCW which led to his death, as for Owen, he actually wanted to leave wrestling altogether and become a fireman, would he have died if Bret was still there who knows! Vince gave him a massive contract after Bret left, that is fact
I got in a lot of fights in elementary because of Bret when he turned. I still looked up to the Bret from 92-94. Seriously a knife to the heart as a child.
I was also a WWF guy. I didn't know about the screw job as a kid. One night I tuned into nitro and saw Bret and he was a heel. I was like "who the TF is this guy!?!?"
Far as I'm concerned Bret Hart came out ahead on this. WCW screwed up when he came over. Hart was the most talked about guy in the business after Montreal, they should have brought him in and had him going after nWo members from day one, use that momentum and make busting up the New World Order a priority based on the way they (and Bischoff) were screwing everybody in WCW.
Bret was truly hurt. Sometimes a man dies on the inside after trauma. everything he believed in turned into a delusion. He was heartbroken. It wasn't about the championship. It wasn't because of the money. His Boss, co-workers, acquaintances, friends. People he spent so much time with stabbed him in the back. They showed they had no respect for him. They showed they did not care for his feelings.
Agreed. I think there was truth when Bret said that he wanted respect in his promos--respect was commonly said regarding him. Having met him personally many times, he demonstrates this genuineness and warmth which makes it hard NOT to respect him. On his A&E Biography, it was mentioned that Bret "was the first [wrestling] superstar that you saw a human being in." It made sense to me why fans were drawn to him. Yet I wonder if those who turned on him sensed that Bret was a human being and they were more like piranhas.Additionally, his daughter Jade mentioned that she believed that "it was the only time I ever saw my father cry" after the Screwjob happened.
Bret was no angel either... He shut down every scenario that was suggested to him for Montreal. Imagine you're the boss, you suggest a number of different endings and the your employee basically says no, no and once again no. Aside from that there really was no need to refuse to do the job. It was a high profile match, the main event of the biggest PPV after WrestleMania at that time... Against the most talented wrestler at that time, Shawn Michaels... What more do you want? You have to be pretty delusional and self-centered to think that dropping the belt in Canada would hurt you in any shape or form. And Vince still wanted to give Bret what he wanted before Triple H chimed in and said "F him". From there on the idea of a Screwjob began to grow. And I don't think it was merely because of the belt... I think the drama of the whole thing grew on Vince. But it was Bret who kept shutting down one suggestion after another. Take your reasonable creative control for the last 30 days and shove it up your butt.
@@Confucius202 Bret admitted that he was “no angel,”’as you put it. Yet Shawn has also admitted being a part of something “big, but not positive.” At this point in time, I don’t think there’s any need to go into a rant about this anymore. Bret and Shawn were human enough to make amends to each other. I give them equal credit for doing that. I know people who live in resentment. There’s a phrase: “Resentment is my taking poison and expecting my enemy to die.” That’s because it’s not worth wasting your life(generally speaking)complaining about the past and about the people who you believe wronged you because you end up getting sick. Bret had mentioned that his upset about the Montreal Screwjob was “like carrying around a big bag of rocks.” Shawn also mentioned his regret about it. I believe that it’s great that both of them were able to make amends for what happened and move forward.
@@glamgal7106 I don't think Shawn has any regrets at all... I don't know why he lacked so drastically in the character department, but he never put any value into being a good man. Even the born again christian Shawn was still a fishy and insincere guy, as documented by severel wrestlers. Had no friends in the locker room. I remind you, that in his 2005 autobiography, Shawn (born again christian Shawn) compares Montreal to a mafia hit. He brags about it, is proud of it and looks at it as something heroic. That's why he never figured out why he was never perceived as a hero afterwards. The wrestlers in the locker room weren't behind him, the people weren't behind him. Apparently he had terrible self reflection and couldn't grasp that people can just see that he's not a good guy. Bret admitted that there was a lack of communication, but not much beyond that. He never got fully over it nor do I think he ever will.
I think Vince had it planed for months before Montreal, that's why he made Bret heel for the fans to dislike him before showing him the door, still to this day i hate what they done to Bret Hart 🇨🇦
lol right vince probably was the one to make shawn fake an injury and forfeit the title so he wouldn't have to face bret it probably was all Vincent Kennedy
*Some facts about the double-cross:* -Hebner didn't know about the double-cross until he was going to the ring for the match -Bret offered to drop the belt to anyone apart from Michaels, including the Brooklyn Brawler (Bret also had his lawyer send a letter to Vince telling Vince he'd love to lose the belt to Steve Austin) - Vince never once asked Bret to drop the belt at the Survivor Series -There was never the slightest chance of Bret turning up on Nitro the night after the Survivor Series as his contract wasn't up until December 1st (and Bischoff had given Bret an extra week on top of that, leaving almost a month for Vince to work something out for Bret to drop the belt) -Bret had agreed to multiple scenarios to drop the belt, including on a major MSG house shows or at the December In Your House PPV -Michaels, HHH and Gerald Briscoe were in Michaels' hotel room the night before the double-cross with Briscoe trying to teach Michaels how to escape submission holds for real in case Bret tried to attack Michaels post-double-cross
Many say that this was also the beginning of the end for Bret's career. WCW paid him but never used him. Then when WCW crashed he was on the list of guys Vince didn't want back. He brought Bischoff on before he welcomed Bret back. When he was finally brought back, he was way over the hill and his best days were years behind.
Obviously so much has come out since this interview details wise but I find it so interesting how hard he is still trying to protect the business during this interview. Internet isn’t mainstream yet. Curtain hasn’t been pulled back completely yet and he tells certain things just enough to a point where the veil won’t be pulled back. Through all the bs he went through, he’s still trying to protect the business for his fellow wrestlers and for the fans as well. Internet was the worst thing to ever happen to pro wrestling.
@@listenupkid5978 same way one doesn't have to part take in hard drugs like meth, crack, etc which are actually the worst things around, to understand their bad effects.
Totally believe Brett on this. Vince has been a bad dude probably since the beginning. Thank you Brett for so many years of wrestling enjoyment. Haven't watched any wrestling for years now. But back then I watched regularly. Appreciated wrestlers like Brett back then.
I think Vince has a chip on his shoulder. The guy grew up with an abusive step dad and came from nothing. Normally guys like that tend to think they have made it and rules don’t apply to them
People rag on Bret for saying he didn’t want to lose in Canada but that’s not the case. He quite clearly states that he doesn’t want to “take the veil off wrestling” and as such he used that as an alternative narrative . The truth is that HBK disrespected him and Bret basically said “F this guy” and refused to lose to him on account of it. Read into it as you will, but it annoys me when people bring up the Canada thing - he was protecting the business and he’s on record in recent years with candour saying that the disrespect was the real reason that Montreal happened.
@@xziggy_stardustx6786 yeah its clear watching this back he is actually doing his best to keep kayfabe, and the WWF and many of his detractors used this as an opportunity to make it seem like the screwjob was simply Bret didn't want to lose in Canada , even though it was his last night (which technically it wasn't). Bret leaving the WWF was public already in some manner, Bischoff already had a chance the previous Monday to do what Vince was afraid he would do (or claimed years later after it became common knowledge Bret did have several weeks left with the WWF, because for years it was always told as its his last night and he's champion of course he has to lose) which was go on television live and say they signed Bret Hart (which with Bret still under contract would have been a legal battle WWF could easily win again like the deal with Medusa).
yea he left the company for another company, got a career ending injury all to come back 20 years later to have a shitty match with Vince McMahon, it was all laid out from the beginning
I fully agree with bret in this interview, when I watched SS97 I was 17 years of age and still to this day when watching it said "that was BS, bret was reversing the hold, where the F is ref running off to"
"Hey, hey hey" Ring the bell!" - Hebner swore on his children's live he'd never do this. "Bret Hart gave up in the sharpshooter!" (kinda makes you wonder who told Ross to say that, Patterson?) "You talk about controversy" - most understated comment "Hold the belt high" - Brisco trying to make it look like Shawn wasn't in on this. "Ladies and Gentlemen, good night from Montreal!" - several minutes too early.
@@rlouie05 Patterson didn’t know, he was from Montreal and very close with Bret. Vince intentionally didn’t tell him. People who knew: Vince McMahon Shawn Michaels Triple H Earl Hebner Jerry Brisco Shane McMahon (he was in the truck and pressed the button for HBK’s music when he “won”) Kevin Dunn That’s it. Jim Ross, Sergeant Slaughter and Bruce Prichard didn’t know. It is possible that Chyna knew due to her being with Triple H at the time but Bret said in his book that she denied when he saw her in 1999. It’s also possible that Dave Hebner and Jack Lanza knew because they were waiting for Earl in a car with the engine running.
@@cyrus2546 Sarge claiming innocence is at best sketchy at worst a plausible denial, given he sat right next to Vince once it all went down. The only exception was that he was told to protect Vince at any cost and must've been told the finish could get messy.
It won't shock any of us to eventually see a Table for 3 with Vince, HBK & Bret finally admitting this to "save the company". Ironically, both men stopped wrestling in the WWF 5 months after this event with McMahon ultimately assuming the lead heel role for up to 5 years afterward (minus a few face turns for the sake of keeping things fresh).
Even now watching this,is very emotional😥Bret tell.s it as always in truth!🤔and his integrity shines through.💖Great honest wrestler,and great looking!😁🤘💗
Anyone who is saying this was Bret's fault or that Bret was even just 1% responsible is wrong. This was 100% on Vince MacMahon. Bret's last day wasn't even the Survivor Series. He still had another month and a half. Even if that was his last day. The second that he was signing with WCW, Vince should have said "Bret we need you to lose on Raw. Who do you feel comfortable losing to?" They could have broken up the Hart Foundation and given Owen the belt on Raw. Or replaced Shawn at the Survivor Series with Owen. Then had Owen lose to Shawn the next day. Shawn would have cried but he wasn't going anywhere. He was a place holder for Austin.
Hugo Nongbri Bret is for me the best wrestler of all time, However, I believe he brought this on himself. He can't keep his story straight about why this ended the way it did. Vince had every reason to be deeply fearful about how Bret might leave. If Bret had been more humble he could've made millions at WCW leave on good terms, and then return in shape very rich during the attitude era. Bret was dead set on forfeiting the world title with a farewell speech and that's just not something Vince could accept, because belt or no belt the WCW could forever bill him as the lineal WWF champion during his run. Sorry Bret, but when the WCW was the dominant force in wrestling there's NO WAY Vince was going to accept a lameduck champion and the lineage being stopped.
you can forfeit the title if you are still part of the WWF you can't forfeit the title if you are leaving for your promotions biggest, currently more successful, rival.
@@patriceaqa288 You say that Bret is the best wrestler of all time for you and yet despite being a big fan of his, you have no clue about about why things ended for Bret while he was in the WWF back in 1997. Instead you say he cant keep his stories straight. Bret was very clear about why things ended the way they did. 1. Bischoff offered Bret a $2.8 million dollar contract to go to WcW back in 1996 and Bret turned that down to stay with Vince, out of loyalty, for much less. 2. In 1997, the day after the PPV, One Night Only, Vince says to Bret I cant afford to pay you the contract we have; Vince suggests to Bret that he (Bret) should go see if he could get the contract offer back from Bischoff from the year prior. Bret does not want to go to WcW and tells Vince, I will stay for far less money and asks Vince to lay out for him, where he would go with Bret's character. Vince lays out 5 scenarios, (all after Montreeal) 4 of them all have Bret jobbing out. Why would he stay for any of that. Bret was more so forced out, period.
@@kranix9166 I standby that he's the best professional wrestler. As I think Kofi Kingston said 'he was so crisp in the ring he never missed a beat.' And for someone who took wrestling so seriously but was so proud of never intentionally injuring another wrestler that speaks volumes. However this was essentially an impossible situation to deal with from Vince's standpoint. WCW collapsed because of signing big names on big money WITH creative control. There was absolutely no guarantee that Bret would cede to any demand set to him when a risk was outrageous he'd turn up in WCW as the lineal world champion the physical belt was irrelevant. People wonder why his run in WCW was so badly managed and ignore the fact that they didn't know how to book the lineal WWF champion so to speak without breaching contract breaking kayfabe and messing with property names rights disputes. Bret should've agreed to lose the title cleanly, and thought long term. Knowing as much as I know about the whole thing from a personal aspect to what was going on in the WWF I believe Bret should've swallowed his pride
@@kranix9166 Yes Bret said 'I don't want to talk money just make a commitment to me.' Whilst completely ignoring the deal agreed wasn't affordable for Vince anymore and so they WERE talking money. Vince could not afford Bret's longterm contract anymore so the reason he agreed for him to go was to escape that financial commitment. Bret wasn't going to accept a massively reduced deal financially. Vince's idea so to speak was for Bret to lose the title go to Turner and then come back three years later rich and a free agent. It came down to Bret refusing to lose the world title to whom the promoter wanted and that's just a 'no no' in professional wrestling whatever beefs exist in the lockerroom.
Bret said himself that Big Van Vader told him before the match that he (Bret) was going to get screwed. Bret said, "I know. I'm just going to try to stop it." So there it is folks. Bret knew, but he couldn't stop it.
Bret Hart is a victim. He’s a victim of having morals in a corporate world with none. He’s a victim of the emphasis of marketability over content. He’s a victim a backstage politics and oneupmanship. He’s a victim of circumstances and timing. He’s a victim of dishonesty and betrayal by Vince and sadly he’s a victim of grief. What Bret said about the direction the business was going in the attitude era has ultimately come to pass. The business reached short term highs but at what cost? Bret knew in the long run the abandoning of the fundamental attractions of wrestling would harm the industry but nobody listened and nobody cared. He was right. Bret Hart is a victim but what should be remembered here is he was a bloody well talented one who deserves the upmost respect.
Lol Bret's ego is out of control... He is so bitter and it's really sad when I look back. Bret was a cry baby and there is not much more to it than that.
Bret is dead wrong. You really think if someone tried to not lose the title when his dad wanted them to that Bret would side with the wrestler? Spare us
Lol Shawn and DX had nothing to do with this. Both Bret & Shawn are my favorite wrestlers but Bret was about to leave with the company’s prized possession, who knows what he would’ve done to the belt at WCW. We’ve seen belts get thrown in the garbage on live television. Vince couldn’t let that happen
I imagine what happens if the screw job didn't happen. Bret will relinquish the title on Raw the night after and was interrupted by Michaels ending with a "forceful" handshake to bret and all wrestlers would come down to the ring giving a proper send off to Bret
Bret had no problem with dropping the belt to shawn, he offered to put shawn over and showed respect, shawn replied I appreciate that but I'm not willing to do the same for you.
Bret's surprised at how he was treated, when eleven years earlier, they pulled the same stunt on Wendi Richter when Richter faced a competitor called "The Spider Lady" and got screwed out of her Ladies Championship and out of the entire WWF? Oh sure, you can make all kinds of excuses...Vince didn't want/couldn't afford to have Bret walk out on WCW television with the WWF Championship in hand and toss it in a trash can like Medusa did, but come on. Bret's as honest as the day is long, and he's got more integrity than that. I don't understand why they didn't have Bret win in Montreal and have him relinquish the belt in the ring that same night after the match, say goodbye to the fans and go proudly into that good night. But I guess when you're a compulsive liar and a control freak who absolutely has to have it your way all the time come hell or high water...and you OWN the company...I suppose Vince McMahon feels perfectly justified in perpetrating that other time-honored tradition: de-value and screw over the talent on their way out.
@@TrollinThru Yeah, and I've got some swampland in Florida to sell you if you think that honoring contracts means anything when it comes to getting what Vince McMahon wants. Come on now.
4:47 Bret said with his mouth and I quote "THIS WAS CAREFULLY PLOTTED OUT" so I KNOW not believe that the Montreal Screwjob was SET UP BY THE MASTERS OF WRESTLING!!
It was ALOT of people's "idea". According to Cornette it was his idea, according to Russo it was his idea, according to HHH it was his idea, and according to Prichard he jokingly threw it in the air as well.
Vijay Kanuga that's the whole point. As a younger man I thought Bret was badly treated, but looking back he forced their hand. You cannot refuse to drop a world title, or choose to whom you drop it you when how why etc? 3 million a year on 125 days in front of you and you can't agree to lose to Michaels???
Disagree totally. They ruined Brets character on purpose. Shawn Michaels refused to lose to Bret prior so Bret refused aswel. Bret was totally correct and had the contract
@@chrismale9976 Bret was one of, if not the most, fortunate, pro wrestler on the world when he left WWF. He is for me the greatest wrestler of all time, BUT he simply took wrestling too seriously. Every wrestler on the planet who is amateur looking to turn pro, or just professional, would literally contemplate pushing their own mother down the stairs to be where Bret was in 1997. Just lose a damn match go make your multi millions, and always have the door open to return to the WWF. Given the type of ridiculous humiliation nearly every wrestler has to go through in their career, it really was NOT a big deal agreeing to lose to Shawn Michaels in Canada.
So is forcing your champion out of the company while he has the belt. Making up falsehoods that are still perpetuated such as Bret was gonna show up the next night on Nitro. Well, why didnt he?? He was still under contract to the WWF until December. Bret didnt have to let Vince out of a legally binding 20 year CONTRACT!!! In response to that, Vince said he could leave any way that he wanted. Its OK for Shawn Michaels to go around bragging about not doing any jobs in the territory. Such hypocrisy.
I could make a case for both sides, Hart's side and McMahon's, however I think Hart here has the stronger case, he was "screwed" and it wasn't right or fair since he was super loyal (reminds me of myself) to the company for 14 years, having only missed 2 shows in those 14 years which is pretty amazing. I think Hart's demands were reasonable, and McMahon didn't take into account that Michaels told Hart that he'd never put him over, part of the reason why Hart didn't want to lose to Shawn. As I said, I could make a case for both sides, but I'd definitely favor Bret's side as he has the stronger case, he WAS in fact a Canadian Hero and he didn't want to tarnish that, so he didn't want to lose to HBK, they should have had it end in a DQ or something with DX and the Harts coming down in a big brawl, to conclude the match in a DQ. Bret clearly stated that he'd relinquish the belt and give his farewell speech the next night on Raw and then he and the WWE would have parted ways amicably. I'm sorry but IMHO that's what Vince, should have done, despite Hart not wanting to honor the "time honored tradition". I think an exception could have been made for a man who carried the company on his back in 1994 and a good part of 1995 as well but how quickly Vince forgets about that. I'm glad they ultimately got everything settled in the mid 2000s, an argument can be made for both sides being wrong, but Vince was definitely more wrong then Bret, Bret wasn't wrong, so much as he was a tad bit selfish, caring only for the dignity of his character and his Canadian pride and all of that but ultimately Bret is right here, Bret didn't screw Bret, that's a blatant lie out of Vince's mouth, Vince screwed Bret and that's the end of it.
Why should he just get to give up the belt, go to the competition to make almost double the money he was getting in WWF. There was no need for a substitute cause all of their booking was positioned for Shawn to be the top guy and pass the torch to Austin the next year. That was the plan. Why should they just give in to Bret when he wasnt even in the main events as champion? Taker and Shawn were drawing the houses and ratings, along with Austin while he was recovering from the Summerslam match.
@@ronmichaels9206 The simple answer is because he's Bret Hart that's why. I think you should do your homework on the subject matter. First of all Bret was a main eventer and he carried the company on his shoulders between the years of 1992 and 1995. Yes, I get it, in 1996, the company was going in the direction of Shawn, and Taker was always being pushed along the way but the belt was being held by Bret and Shawn during that time. Bret was in the company for 14 years and only missed 2 days (1 of which I recall was because he got sick) out of 14 years of loyal service to Vince, who by the way, (again do your homework) is the one that pulled out of the 20 year contract that he himself drew up, which is precisely why Bret opted to go to WCW instead. You say why? because it's Bret that's why, what's the big deal of having Bret go over Shawn and having Bret go out with his head held high (again 14 years of faithful service to Vince and the WWF), Shawn was a prick during those days any way, both his character and in real life so you know. I mean his character deserved to lose that match if you ask me but that's just me speaking in terms of kayfabe. Shawn said he'd never put Bret over and was generally unprofessional but he (Shawn) was Vince's chosen guy at the time, so that's why things went the way they went. I mean it is what it is but I just think some of us should do our research on the matter before we speak on it, that's just my thoughts. I loved HBK too but on November 9th 1997 the wrong man walked out Champion that night. It's a shame that the only thing that Survivor Series 1997 is known for is that match and the "Montreal Screw job", nobody really remembers anything else about that card.
@@linvol20 right, and Vince didn't even care to honor that, so technically (as per Bret's "Creative Control" contract) Bret could have left any way he wanted, but meh it is what it is, I guess Vince didn't care to honor that, despite the fact that it was his contract.
Undertaker said he was willing to be involved as a transfer champion between them. Bret said he was willing to relinquish the title on RAW BUT I thought of a better idea that would have been similar in controversy as that night was. As heated in real life as Bret and Shawn were. They eventually sell a seemingly shoot fight, both shoving or throwing referee out of the ring. Vince McMahon enters to get between them and Bret throws him out of the ring and sells a serious fall outside, PPV goes black. No winner apparently. Next night on Raw Vince announces he has stripped Bret of the title for his un-sportsman like conduct on him the referee, shawn, etc. Adding I own this company dammit, breaking that kayfabe officially.
That would've been great but that still would've been like giving in to Bret. Bret was supposed to lose to Shawn and that's what Vince wanted. His company, his rules.
Bret would never have gone for that. Knowing him, he would have taken it as a “loss in Canada” and put all the leverage on Vince and the WWF at the time.
Cool idea! Problem is Hart wanted a win and nothing else against HBK. Both men had a relationship break down beyond repair at that stage. The best would have been an interim champion like Taker.
Dec 97 is when wrestling exploded, there were documentaries on tlc, a&e on pro wrestling and the screwjob , first time i saw wrestling on front page news, it all happened because of the bret hart controversy, the most exciting year to be a wrestling fan
When this story is told it's often said "It was shitty to do it in Canada". But according to Jim Cornette, they gave Brett suggestions on where he could lose and he just refused all of them. 1. "How bout losing on this night?" - No, that's PPV. 2. "How bout losing on Saturday in Detroit?" - No, cause the next fight is in Canada and I can't go into a fight in Canada not being the champ 3. "How bout losing the event after that" No, that's in Canada. Not saying they were right to screw him, if his contract said he had creative control. Just that the "it was in Canada" factor probably wasn't all that important.
As far as the suggested scenario of Bret beating Shawn then come LIVE on Raw the next day and stepping down as WWE champion and skip off to WCW??? Dont make me laugh! Absolutely not!! No promoter will allow that
Bret could even give the belt or quit it . Vince will allways be called chicken for what he did. U work for so many years u be loyal and then your boss does this shit .. bret should have taken the belt .. I wish bret made some backup plan the. If some shit happens owen or bulldog would take the belt and run to Canada lols . And then vince would pay millions to return the belt back hahah
Ra M , what is wrong with a wrestler who is champion winning his match then next day on Raw steping down as champion giving the belt up before moving on to another company.....he is not going to another company with the Belt he gave it up......... I mean when a wrestler is Injuryed they give up the belt and vaccated it ... thy don't wrestle and lose the belt that way.........and no one fusses about it....... Batista was injuryed and did that and so did other wrestlers over the years. Yet Bret wants to win the match and then give up the belt and Vince has issues with it..... sounds kind of petty to me.
"Who hasn't called you?" "Shawn Michaels and Hunter" Damn... the 2 who were in on it. Hunter was the final one to convince Vince to do it and swore by them he'd never implicate them
He didnt want to lose on his way out the door. Thats the bottom line. If he loved the business as much as he says, he would have done the right thing. He screwed himself because he didnt want to drop the belt
Back in the day i didn't understand what Bret was complaining about saying he was screwed unless you were a smart fan and understood the business backstage as a kid in the 90s the business was very protected .the inner works of the business wasn't exposed like today . Fans in 1997 didn't know Vince was the boss of wwf he was presented as a commentator and he never wanted fans to know he was the boss until WCW took over as the number one wrestling company
Was Landsberg actually siding with Vince on this? Bret didn't even need to show up as he already fulfilled his yearly dates and could have just sent the belt to Vince and left to WCW
Yeah, in what was one of the most unconvincing "reconciliations" ever. 😆 Brett looked like he still wanted to bury the hatchet into Shawn's spine, and it came across like two kids who despise each other, being forced to apologise to each other by their parents or teachers.
@@VitZ9 It's an awkward situation the last time Bret saw HBK, he was hated. I'm sure they reconciled back stage as Bret said he's good friends with Shawn
Bret's story changes through the years. In his 2005 DVD he says "Montreal wasn't about Bret Hart losing in Canada, yet 03:09 he basically says I refuse to lose in Canada. Its convenient to use Shawn as an excuse, but I don't think Bret had interest in droping the belt to anyone that night.
you some kind of hotshot ny lawyer or something? Because my momma burned herself getting some clam chowder down in the bayou. Could you look over everyone's statements and find the inconsistencies.
Around 17:10, Bret says “I never did see the thing with the [little person].” Did they not show that very thing in the Wrestling with Shadows documentary…him watching that segment from home with his wife Julie? When they okay the clip for Bret during OTR and Bret sees it “for the first time,” Bret talks about the clip the entire time it’s playing like he had already seen it. If it was new to him, he probably would have watch the entire clip before commenting on it. IDK
Loved Bret and his career. But he needed to drop that belt to Shawn. He grew up in the business, this was his life, he knows full well the right thing to do was drop that belt to Shawn.. He forced Vince's hand.. To this day he is too stubborn to admit that he was wrong.
Butt Hurt didn't have a lick of business sense. The fact that WCW gave him that contract saved his life, but being the infant minded shell he is THAT company is what he cries about the most. 😂 Of course, he ran back to his pimp Vince as any prostitute would. Useless without their pimp. The guy who harmed Bret the most is the guy he loves the most.
@@RG-lr4pk He actually did NOT collect on most of the WCW money because Goldberg ended his career with that kick to the head.. You can find Bret ranting about that all over youtube..
This Canada gimmick took over him to the point in which he didn't want to lose in Canada vs HBK. HBK didn't help things either with his attitude. Bottom line is Bret should have stayed with the wwe. WcW with Hogan and hall and Nash calling shots alone should have educated Bret. Fans forget the foundation was starting to get cheers towards the end in America . Bret eventually could have turned face again and enjoyed the attitude era making a ton of money. The 2 men who loved him in real life. The rock and Austin. Those 2 would have had his back vs the haters.
And maybe in the result of that Owen Hart would still be alive because he would not have to be the blue blazer character... He would be just Owen Hart...
Bret said here, just a month after the screw job, that he just wanted to step down the next night after SS-97 I think the thing people don’t talk about enough, it’s not simply Bret being the reigning champion and showing up with WCW with the “belt” But rather WCW being able to say, WWFs champion who never lost the belt but instead decided to forfeit WWFs championship to come and compete here at WCW. The perception of that would be horrible for WWF It understandable that WWF couldn’t have allowed it. Could another solution have been gathered? Sure! But one thing they couldn’t do was let Bret leave as champion NOR could they just have Bret “forfeit” their championship to go to their competition.
My fave moment 15:50 There are still idiots to this day that will say "But Bret was gonna leave for WCW?!" Yes he was, but not until the day after the December WWF PPV. WWF could've built up a huge match for December and embarrassed Bret there, instead they did it in Canada. It's something a criminal gang would do to another gang to show strength. And after all we learned about Vince in real life it all makes sense.
He wanted to go out in a classy way by relinquishing the belt and going to the major competitor. C'MON BRET!?!?!?!?! I love you but THIS IS FUCKING WRESTLING.
@Gidget Trevathon again so? He wasn’t in the meetings or on the phone calls. I don’t think Vince or Bret would have waited twenty years to talk if it was a work
I still think Brett, Shawn and Vince were all in on this. Brett is also a screen writer and does acting. I'm not surprised this could have been put together to look legitimate.
@@VF1Skullangel I hear what you're saying but the fact Brett's story has stayed exactly the same all these 30 years while everyone else flip flops more than pancake batter leads me to believe he's pretty solid
@@Ellypoem Bret is also a very loyal person. Who's to say he's staying Loyal to Vince and Shawn? I believe he's kept his side of the story the same knowing this ordeal was plotted to take down WCW. Scott hall is on to something but knowing Brett he wouldnt change his story because it would automatically make him look bad and instantly throw shawn and vince under the bus.
I love Bret and initially I was on his side when he got screwed over, but now when I think of it..the situation was unfortunate but there’s no way you can walk out via forfeiting to a company that is basically your rival and is winning the Monday night war (during that period). Vince had to save his company from this humiliation..
Yea, its a weird situation. I would blame bret but control was in his contract. I cant blame him. Bret brought up a great point about shawn forfeiting 3 titles and not doing "honors". Cool find
contractually he had that right. I felt something like that myself until I found that out. And he offered to lose the title later, even the following raw. not only that, he was willing to finish out the days on his contract as well. all within his realm or rights contractually.
@@riseill Fair enough contractually. But at the same you have look at the situation and the circumstances. If your employer tell you drop the title you drop the title.
@@TheFlamingPike not everyone knew. I definitely had no idea that was real until I saw the documentary a year later. You have it remember not everyone had access to the internet in 97. I didn’t. I’m just glad this documentary was able to show Bret’s side of this situation.
The thing that I liked most about Bret was his integrity. I never thought that he was the best there was, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, and Sting were better. They could wrestle any style and had more moves and unpredictability. He was very good. I never cared for Shawn. The Midnight Rockers were a variant of the RnR Express who also inspired other undersized teams back in the day. He was obnoxious and selfish. Vader should've been a dominating World Champion there and there's no way Shawn could've beat him in reality. I saw the backstage video and Bret was honest about how the post-match activities, especially about Shawn cowering away from Bret and his wife.
WCW should’ve had Brett join nWo and nobody else. Scott, Kevin, Hulk, X-PAC and Brett. All wrestlers who left the WWF to take it out on WCW. I think that would’ve worked for Brett, especially if he kept bringing up being mistreated like Hulk did with the fans turning on him.
![Bret 'The Hitman' Hart - Off The Record [02.11.03] FULL](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2JSJOKjo-XA/mqdefault.jpg)
The fact that WCW couldn't find something interesting to do with Bret following the most talked-about, controversial angle in business history says a lot about their creativity and wrestling IQ.
Bischoff only had 3 ideas...
the nWo
Mexican luchadores/Japanese matches and Goldberg, apart from that not much else
@@j.3o21 those 3 ideas were all good enough to set themselves apart from the WWE and beat them in the ratings for a while, they just couldn't deliver on the end of storylines, take Starcade 97 for one.
I agree
Hogan ultimate creative control. He saw Bret as still a tag team wrestler not main event. Hogan's creative control and bishoff allowing it too happen was a huge mistake. Brets body language when he walked down the ramp first appearance on WCW was like ok I'm here getting paid don't want to be here though. He knew it was not looking good on that first night.
@@MCLogikILL Sting should've absolutely pinned Hogan clean without any screwy phony fast count shenanigans or a Hart run-in which looked like he was interfering vs. setting things right.
It’s even more sad because this was the start of his turmoil not only in wrestling but in his personal life as well. This man genuinely loved doing what he did and regardless if he had a big ego or not, as some might say, there’s no denying that he was the most loyal and professional which would make sense on why he was the also the hurt about what happened to him.
I've met Bret personally many times. Definitely the word genuine is one way I'd describe him. Bret genuinely loved his work and to this day, continues to show a genuine appreciation for his fans. Bret mentioned, "I learned from the get-go that you never forget your fans. They are the ones that put your food on your table and pay your bills.”
"I was never driven by money I was driven by respect..." I like that
Well Scott Hall did call him the $10,000 champion, the lowest earning champion in WWE history.
@@shadycnetwork That would be his buddy Diesel. Also Shawn Michaels was champion in 1996 and was the lowest drawing champion ever except for Deisel.
@@cyrus2546 I said lowest earning not drawing.
@@shadycnetwork who tf cares why are ppl so obsessed with others money??
@@shadycnetwork don't worry about brets money and scott hall with all due respect was a loser in real life
Thank you so much for posting this. Bret was a serious class act
More coming as I find them. Thanks for watching
@@CurtisAndersonCJA amazing. Can't wait. Wwf/e whatever they're calling themselves now is nowhere near as awesome as it was
I just found a few more Bret Hart clips. Can’t wait to post them. Check back next Friday.
@@CurtisAndersonCJA yay!! Thanks so much! If you happen to find any on the Lex/Tatanka drama, that would be cool too !!
It hurts to see Bret hurt so much. He had more integrity in his little finger than either Vince or Shawn has in their whole bodies.
Yep just let him leave with the title. Or win just to forfeit it the next night with no value to the wwf…. Makes perfect sense lol. Christ man. Brett screwed himself..
@Gidget Trevathon you really need to pull your head out of your ass. This had nothing to do with wrestling and everything to do with business. It wasn't a work. It turned into a work over time. but the act of screwing Bret itself was 100% legit.
Professional Wrestling is a work dude. Grow up!
@@alecaquino4306 I suppose Owen Hart was a work too right? Sometimes real shit does fucking happen... it's rare af, but it DOES. This is universally known to be one of those. Don't you think 25 years after the fact when no money is left to be made, SOMEONE would've told 'The true story of the Screwjob" by now for a book deal? C'mon man. use your fucking smooth brain and think for once.🙄
@@justinleroux5262 He earned that, and as Rock Wild said, the man had an integrity he just wanted to leave with his head held high, 14 years of super loyal service to Vince, not complaining about anything and only missing 2 sick days in 14 years. Yeah I'd say he earned that, not to mention the underrated knowledge of Hart having creative control in his contract, people forget that, that says he can leave any way he wanted. Vince screwed Bret, END OF STORY!
Be loyal to yourself before being loyal to the company.
Butt Hurt spent his life hating and slandering those type of people.
Shit man Shart is a combination of those old baby dolls that cry and cry and a huge sacks of hot Leakey garbage.
Only if Owen have gotten his release from WWF as Bret Hart wished 😭😭
RiP Owen Hart 😢
I still believe whatever happens was gonna happen I don't think nobody can cheat their time just like final destination you might cheat that situation but its still your time no matter what
And what if Brian Pillman stayed in WCW? He'd probably still be alive.
@@Rambo20244 Yes he racked up too much bad karma for himself. Tried to paralyze Steve Austin and then Dan Severn. Owen's time was coming.
@@VCthaGOATdunker I wouldn't go dat far bruh
@@VCthaGOATdunker those were storylines. Injuries are accidents. You are absolutely insane for thinking that was real
The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be. Hope all is well for Brett hart
Sad hearing him wanting Vince to let Owen go and Owen pass away down the road in the ring
@@trainwrecktracker4552 Vince probably did it
My friend and I met Bret shortly after he arrived in WCW. He greeted us warmly with his smile and hugged us. Yet there was a bit of sadness in his smile. Bret implied to us what he said in this interview: he'd worked for the WWE for 14 years, hardly took time off, and [this was the appreciation he got]. I told him, "I would think that if anything, you should get a 'Best Employee' recognition for all you did!" Bret gave me his warm smile in response. I only wish that Bret, or someone could have foreseen the Goldberg factor. I had/have full respect for what Bret contributed to professional wrestling.
In Sept 1997 I was in Birmingham in the UK at "One Night Only" Shawn convinced Vince that it was best for the company that he beat Bulldog that night, it was changed at the last minute that he did beat Bulldog and there was basically a riot. There was tension everywhere. Never seen anything like it a restyling event. From that point forward i was convinced there was something against the Harts by the McMahons. Brets story since Nov 1997 hasn't changed once. He was totally and utterly screwed. There was never a chance Bret was going to go to WCW with the belt. WCW as they were with Blayze would have been taken to court and they would have lost. The whole thing is harrowing. Owen not being able to leave cost him his life. Bulldog going to WCW got a back injury which caused him to have back issues which caused his addiction issues to get worse and Bret suffers a concussion which leads to a stroke.
Ric flair went to wwf with the wcw big gold belt in 1991 calling himself the real world's champion in front of hogan. I think that idea to have the wcw title brought to wwf in 1991 was vince mcmahon's idea but flair wanted to do it cause wcw head didn't wanna give flair back his money deposit on the belt. Vince mcmahon is a fucking huge egomaniacal hypocrite and a liar and cheat cause he didn't wanna take a risk bret leaving wwf with the belt in 1997 but bret is man of integrity and honor he has too much respect for wrestling to ever have done that but vince deserved what he got being spat on and knocked out since he lied to bret to his face and shawn was in on it and knew about it too. Vince got acquitted in his 1994 steroid trial when hogan lied under oath on the stand saying he didn't give hogan or other wrestlers steroids but any smart person knew mcmahon did cause he was on roids himself, hogan owed mcmahon cause he made him a big star in tbe wwf in the mid 80's to early 90's making him wwf champ alot and made him millions so mcmahon probably pleaded with him that he owed him big time cause if vince was found guilty at his steroid trial wwf probably woulda went under cause wwfs worse yrs were financially were end of 1994 to 1996.
No way! You were there?!?? I know the real life details around that night are sad, but that HBK vs Bulldog match is one of my top 5 favs of all time. That’s incredible that you were actually there!
@@CurtisAndersonCJA yep! I was 13 years old. There's a clip as Brets music played of me going mental in my red England football shirt. As for the match itself. The place was electric. And as it became more and more obvious that Shawn would win the crowd got angrier and angrier. It was complete carnage.
Three things: according to those in the know, Owen didn't want to leave WWE even it was Bret who wanted him to leave. Where else was he was going to go? #2- It was Vince's idea to screw Bret and not Shawn's. #3- According to those who knew him, including Bret, Bulldog was a drug addict long before he went to WCW.
@@killerjoe5628 I haven't once said it wasn't Vince idea, I said it was Shaun's idea to beat bulldog in Birmingham in Sept 1997. Yes Bulldog had substance issues but he wasn't addicted to like he was after screwing up his back in 1998 in WCW which led to his death, as for Owen, he actually wanted to leave wrestling altogether and become a fireman, would he have died if Bret was still there who knows! Vince gave him a massive contract after Bret left, that is fact
I got in a lot of fights in elementary because of Bret when he turned. I still looked up to the Bret from 92-94. Seriously a knife to the heart as a child.
Omg im sorry why would they fight u over bret hart?
I was also a WWF guy. I didn't know about the screw job as a kid. One night I tuned into nitro and saw Bret and he was a heel. I was like "who the TF is this guy!?!?"
Finest storyteller to ever grace the business. There’s no match like a Bret Hart match .
Agreed
Former World Wrestling Federation Champion, Bret Hitman Hart. In his 1st interview, post-Survivor Series and the RAW Segment that followed.
Far as I'm concerned Bret Hart came out ahead on this. WCW screwed up when he came over. Hart was the most talked about guy in the business after Montreal, they should have brought him in and had him going after nWo members from day one, use that momentum and make busting up the New World Order a priority based on the way they (and Bischoff) were screwing everybody in WCW.
@@McMahonHater they could of pretty much did anything better with bret than what he did
Thanks for this inside info
We have eyes. We can see
Bret was truly hurt. Sometimes a man dies on the inside after trauma. everything he believed in turned into a delusion. He was heartbroken. It wasn't about the championship. It wasn't because of the money. His Boss, co-workers, acquaintances, friends. People he spent so much time with stabbed him in the back. They showed they had no respect for him. They showed they did not care for his feelings.
WELL SAID!!!
Agreed. I think there was truth when Bret said that he wanted respect in his promos--respect was commonly said regarding him. Having met him personally many times, he demonstrates this genuineness and warmth which makes it hard NOT to respect him. On his A&E Biography, it was mentioned that Bret "was the first [wrestling] superstar that you saw a human being in." It made sense to me why fans were drawn to him. Yet I wonder if those who turned on him sensed that Bret was a human being and they were more like piranhas.Additionally, his daughter Jade mentioned that she believed that "it was the only time I ever saw my father cry" after the Screwjob happened.
Bret was no angel either... He shut down every scenario that was suggested to him for Montreal.
Imagine you're the boss, you suggest a number of different endings and the your employee basically says no, no and once again no.
Aside from that there really was no need to refuse to do the job. It was a high profile match, the main event of the biggest PPV after WrestleMania at that time... Against the most talented wrestler at that time, Shawn Michaels... What more do you want?
You have to be pretty delusional and self-centered to think that dropping the belt in Canada would hurt you in any shape or form.
And Vince still wanted to give Bret what he wanted before Triple H chimed in and said "F him".
From there on the idea of a Screwjob began to grow.
And I don't think it was merely because of the belt... I think the drama of the whole thing grew on Vince.
But it was Bret who kept shutting down one suggestion after another.
Take your reasonable creative control for the last 30 days and shove it up your butt.
@@Confucius202 Bret admitted that he was “no angel,”’as you put it. Yet Shawn has also admitted being a part of something “big, but not positive.” At this point in time, I don’t think there’s any need to go into a rant about this anymore. Bret and Shawn were human enough to make amends to each other. I give them equal credit for doing that. I know people who live in resentment. There’s a phrase: “Resentment is my taking poison and expecting my enemy to die.” That’s because it’s not worth wasting your life(generally speaking)complaining about the past and about the people who you believe wronged you because you end up getting sick. Bret had mentioned that his upset about the Montreal Screwjob was “like carrying around a big bag of rocks.” Shawn also mentioned his regret about it. I believe that it’s great that both of them were able to make amends for what happened and move forward.
@@glamgal7106 I don't think Shawn has any regrets at all... I don't know why he lacked so drastically in the character department, but he never put any value into being a good man.
Even the born again christian Shawn was still a fishy and insincere guy, as documented by severel wrestlers. Had no friends in the locker room.
I remind you, that in his 2005 autobiography, Shawn (born again christian Shawn) compares Montreal to a mafia hit. He brags about it, is proud of it and looks at it as something heroic.
That's why he never figured out why he was never perceived as a hero afterwards. The wrestlers in the locker room weren't behind him, the people weren't behind him.
Apparently he had terrible self reflection and couldn't grasp that people can just see that he's not a good guy.
Bret admitted that there was a lack of communication, but not much beyond that. He never got fully over it nor do I think he ever will.
I think Vince had it planed for months before Montreal, that's why he made Bret heel for the fans to dislike him before showing him the door, still to this day i hate what they done to Bret Hart 🇨🇦
lol right vince probably was the one to make shawn fake an injury and forfeit the title so he wouldn't have to face bret it probably was all Vincent Kennedy
*Some facts about the double-cross:*
-Hebner didn't know about the double-cross until he was going to the ring for the match
-Bret offered to drop the belt to anyone apart from Michaels, including the Brooklyn Brawler
(Bret also had his lawyer send a letter to Vince telling Vince he'd love to lose the belt to Steve Austin)
- Vince never once asked Bret to drop the belt at the Survivor Series
-There was never the slightest chance of Bret turning up on Nitro the night after the Survivor Series as his contract wasn't up until December 1st (and Bischoff had given Bret an extra week on top of that, leaving almost a month for Vince to work something out for Bret to drop the belt)
-Bret had agreed to multiple scenarios to drop the belt, including on a major MSG house shows or at the December In Your House PPV
-Michaels, HHH and Gerald Briscoe were in Michaels' hotel room the night before the double-cross with Briscoe trying to teach Michaels how to escape submission holds for real in case Bret tried to attack Michaels post-double-cross
Vince did ask him to drop it bret says so in his book
Nuh uh!
So Vince just wanted to screw him over
@@albert3671Pretty much, all thanks to HHH and Shawn Michaels, who were in Vince's ears all the time.
Vince asked bret to drop it....its one of the main things that let to this whole shabang. Bret refused to. Both parties are equally wrong
Has bad as this was for bret at the time, he became the hottest free agent in wrestling history. Its such a shame WCW messed up his run.
Many say that this was also the beginning of the end for Bret's career. WCW paid him but never used him. Then when WCW crashed he was on the list of guys Vince didn't want back. He brought Bischoff on before he welcomed Bret back. When he was finally brought back, he was way over the hill and his best days were years behind.
Obviously so much has come out since this interview details wise but I find it so interesting how hard he is still trying to protect the business during this interview. Internet isn’t mainstream yet. Curtain hasn’t been pulled back completely yet and he tells certain things just enough to a point where the veil won’t be pulled back. Through all the bs he went through, he’s still trying to protect the business for his fellow wrestlers and for the fans as well. Internet was the worst thing to ever happen to pro wrestling.
Internet IS the worst thing to happen ever. Period. Have a good one!
@@vanessawagner6209 amen
Funny how you all commenting on internet
@@kosmicamun How could they possibly understand it without taking part in it?
@@listenupkid5978 same way one doesn't have to part take in hard drugs like meth, crack, etc which are actually the worst things around, to understand their bad effects.
The best there is! The best there was! And the best That will ever be!💯
Totally believe Brett on this. Vince has been a bad dude probably since the beginning. Thank you Brett for so many years of wrestling enjoyment. Haven't watched any wrestling for years now. But back then I watched regularly. Appreciated wrestlers like Brett back then.
I think Vince has a chip on his shoulder. The guy grew up with an abusive step dad and came from nothing. Normally guys like that tend to think they have made it and rules don’t apply to them
People rag on Bret for saying he didn’t want to lose in Canada but that’s not the case. He quite clearly states that he doesn’t want to “take the veil off wrestling” and as such he used that as an alternative narrative . The truth is that HBK disrespected him and Bret basically said “F this guy” and refused to lose to him on account of it. Read into it as you will, but it annoys me when people bring up the Canada thing - he was protecting the business and he’s on record in recent years with candour saying that the disrespect was the real reason that Montreal happened.
@@xziggy_stardustx6786 yeah its clear watching this back he is actually doing his best to keep kayfabe, and the WWF and many of his detractors used this as an opportunity to make it seem like the screwjob was simply Bret didn't want to lose in Canada , even though it was his last night (which technically it wasn't). Bret leaving the WWF was public already in some manner, Bischoff already had a chance the previous Monday to do what Vince was afraid he would do (or claimed years later after it became common knowledge Bret did have several weeks left with the WWF, because for years it was always told as its his last night and he's champion of course he has to lose) which was go on television live and say they signed Bret Hart (which with Bret still under contract would have been a legal battle WWF could easily win again like the deal with Medusa).
Brett’s Canadian spirit is Amazing 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thanks for watching. I’m digging through piles of unmarked VHS tapes and finding a bunch of random old Wrestling clips so keep checking back.
Bret
Thanks for all the great Canadian content ✌️🥰
Got more great stuff coming. Thanks for watching.
That's what 14 years of loyalty and carrying the company through the Monday night wars gets you
Bret couldn’t carry dick nor ass. He was a walking punchline his entire career. Cups of urine and batteries greeted him at every show.
If this was a work, we are the biggest marks ever haha
When he said that this was totally out of the blue, you can see how he’s hiding a smile.... what’s up with that
@@heltongomez8865 That's called 'Duper's Delight'...thou I'm still 99% certain it was a shoot.
yea he left the company for another company, got a career ending injury all to come back 20 years later to have a shitty match with Vince McMahon, it was all laid out from the beginning
I have thought that. That it was all a collaboration. It only brought more attention. They would have known that.
Part of me still thinks it was a work
I fully agree with bret in this interview, when I watched SS97 I was 17 years of age and still to this day when watching it said "that was BS, bret was reversing the hold, where the F is ref running off to"
"Hey, hey hey" Ring the bell!" - Hebner swore on his children's live he'd never do this.
"Bret Hart gave up in the sharpshooter!" (kinda makes you wonder who told Ross to say that, Patterson?)
"You talk about controversy" - most understated comment
"Hold the belt high" - Brisco trying to make it look like Shawn wasn't in on this.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, good night from Montreal!" - several minutes too early.
@@rlouie05 Patterson didn’t know, he was from Montreal and very close with Bret. Vince intentionally didn’t tell him.
People who knew:
Vince McMahon
Shawn Michaels
Triple H
Earl Hebner
Jerry Brisco
Shane McMahon (he was in the truck and pressed the button for HBK’s music when he “won”)
Kevin Dunn
That’s it. Jim Ross, Sergeant Slaughter and Bruce Prichard didn’t know.
It is possible that Chyna knew due to her being with Triple H at the time but Bret said in his book that she denied when he saw her in 1999. It’s also possible that Dave Hebner and Jack Lanza knew because they were waiting for Earl in a car with the engine running.
@@cyrus2546 Sarge claiming innocence is at best sketchy at worst a plausible denial, given he sat right next to Vince once it all went down. The only exception was that he was told to protect Vince at any cost and must've been told the finish could get messy.
Just like Jim cornette always says…the Montreal screw job is the greatest work shoot double cross in wrestling history
It won't shock any of us to eventually see a Table for 3 with Vince, HBK & Bret finally admitting this to "save the company". Ironically, both men stopped wrestling in the WWF 5 months after this event with McMahon ultimately assuming the lead heel role for up to 5 years afterward (minus a few face turns for the sake of keeping things fresh).
Even now watching this,is very emotional😥Bret tell.s it as always in truth!🤔and his integrity shines through.💖Great honest wrestler,and great looking!😁🤘💗
Anyone who is saying this was Bret's fault or that Bret was even just 1% responsible is wrong. This was 100% on Vince MacMahon.
Bret's last day wasn't even the Survivor Series. He still had another month and a half.
Even if that was his last day. The second that he was signing with WCW, Vince should have said "Bret we need you to lose on Raw. Who do you feel comfortable losing to?"
They could have broken up the Hart Foundation and given Owen the belt on Raw. Or replaced Shawn at the Survivor Series with Owen. Then had Owen lose to Shawn the next day. Shawn would have cried but he wasn't going anywhere. He was a place holder for Austin.
Vince was a control freak and wanted to humiliate Bret
lol he could off had bret lose to austin
Bro for that shit to happen to Bret.... he's still such a class act...respect!!🤛💪
Hugo Nongbri Bret is for me the best wrestler of all time, However, I believe he brought this on himself. He can't keep his story straight about why this ended the way it did. Vince had every reason to be deeply fearful about how Bret might leave. If Bret had been more humble he could've made millions at WCW leave on good terms, and then return in shape very rich during the attitude era. Bret was dead set on forfeiting the world title with a farewell speech and that's just not something Vince could accept, because belt or no belt the WCW could forever bill him as the lineal WWF champion during his run. Sorry Bret, but when the WCW was the dominant force in wrestling there's NO WAY Vince was going to accept a lameduck champion and the lineage being stopped.
you can forfeit the title if you are still part of the WWF you can't forfeit the title if you are leaving for your promotions biggest, currently more successful, rival.
@@patriceaqa288 You say that Bret is the best wrestler of all time for you and yet despite being a big fan of his, you have no clue about about why things ended for Bret while he was in the WWF back in 1997. Instead you say he cant keep his stories straight. Bret was very clear about why things ended the way they did. 1. Bischoff offered Bret a $2.8 million dollar contract to go to WcW back in 1996 and Bret turned that down to stay with Vince, out of loyalty, for much less. 2. In 1997, the day after the PPV, One Night Only, Vince says to Bret I cant afford to pay you the contract we have; Vince suggests to Bret that he (Bret) should go see if he could get the contract offer back from Bischoff from the year prior. Bret does not want to go to WcW and tells Vince, I will stay for far less money and asks Vince to lay out for him, where he would go with Bret's character. Vince lays out 5 scenarios, (all after Montreeal) 4 of them all have Bret jobbing out. Why would he stay for any of that. Bret was more so forced out, period.
@@kranix9166 I standby that he's the best professional wrestler. As I think Kofi Kingston said 'he was so crisp in the ring he never missed a beat.' And for someone who took wrestling so seriously but was so proud of never intentionally injuring another wrestler that speaks volumes. However this was essentially an impossible situation to deal with from Vince's standpoint. WCW collapsed because of signing big names on big money WITH creative control. There was absolutely no guarantee that Bret would cede to any demand set to him when a risk was outrageous he'd turn up in WCW as the lineal world champion the physical belt was irrelevant. People wonder why his run in WCW was so badly managed and ignore the fact that they didn't know how to book the lineal WWF champion so to speak without breaching contract breaking kayfabe and messing with property names rights disputes. Bret should've agreed to lose the title cleanly, and thought long term. Knowing as much as I know about the whole thing from a personal aspect to what was going on in the WWF I believe Bret should've swallowed his pride
@@kranix9166 Yes Bret said 'I don't want to talk money just make a commitment to me.' Whilst completely ignoring the deal agreed wasn't affordable for Vince anymore and so they WERE talking money. Vince could not afford Bret's longterm contract anymore so the reason he agreed for him to go was to escape that financial commitment. Bret wasn't going to accept a massively reduced deal financially. Vince's idea so to speak was for Bret to lose the title go to Turner and then come back three years later rich and a free agent. It came down to Bret refusing to lose the world title to whom the promoter wanted and that's just a 'no no' in professional wrestling whatever beefs exist in the lockerroom.
Bret said himself that Big Van Vader told him before the match that he (Bret) was going to get screwed. Bret said, "I know. I'm just going to try to stop it." So there it is folks. Bret knew, but he couldn't stop it.
He doesn’t say that in his book. He says Vader said “vince has screwed ppl before be careful” and that was it
Bret Hart is a victim. He’s a victim of having morals in a corporate world with none. He’s a victim of the emphasis of marketability over content. He’s a victim a backstage politics and oneupmanship. He’s a victim of circumstances and timing. He’s a victim of dishonesty and betrayal by Vince and sadly he’s a victim of grief.
What Bret said about the direction the business was going in the attitude era has ultimately come to pass. The business reached short term highs but at what cost? Bret knew in the long run the abandoning of the fundamental attractions of wrestling would harm the industry but nobody listened and nobody cared.
He was right. Bret Hart is a victim but what should be remembered here is he was a bloody well talented one who deserves the upmost respect.
Bret is 10000% right. Shame on Vince, Shawn, DX, and everyone involved. This will never be erased from WWE’s wrongdoings
Lol Bret's ego is out of control... He is so bitter and it's really sad when I look back. Bret was a cry baby and there is not much more to it than that.
@@ryantozzi1785 maybe he was a crybaby to an extent, but The Kliq, DX and mainly HHH tried to and successfully buried a lot of wrestlers.
@@extremelucky1 how do you know? You saw it personally?
Bret is dead wrong. You really think if someone tried to not lose the title when his dad wanted them to that Bret would side with the wrestler? Spare us
Lol Shawn and DX had nothing to do with this. Both Bret & Shawn are my favorite wrestlers but Bret was about to leave with the company’s prized possession, who knows what he would’ve done to the belt at WCW. We’ve seen belts get thrown in the garbage on live television. Vince couldn’t let that happen
The Best
The Zapruder film is higher quality than the clip they'd showed of the screw job. It was 1997 furcrisakes.
I think it’s edited by the uploader like that to avoid copyright issues.
I was always a loyal Bret Hart fan
The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. Bret "Hitman" Hart.
Thanks for watching. I have a bunch of other Bret videos and interviews as well.
@@CurtisAndersonCJA Aww nice one buddy 😀 Thanks a lot for the great content. I really appreciate it. Bret is my hero.
I imagine what happens if the screw job didn't happen. Bret will relinquish the title on Raw the night after and was interrupted by Michaels ending with a "forceful" handshake to bret and all wrestlers would come down to the ring giving a proper send off to Bret
@Fugp Basis wrong February 1997 Bret loses belt to SID
@@melvynsngltn27 Butt Hurt refused to lose matches, he thinks it's real or something.
@@RG-lr4pk bruh bret loss to sid twice with a title on the line plus he loss to shawn at wm12 during a time when he shouldn't have loss wym?
@@RG-lr4pk mf he lost to a host of ppl wtf are u talking about?
That sounds like boring horrible television
Bret had no problem with dropping the belt to shawn, he offered to put shawn over and showed respect, shawn replied I appreciate that but I'm not willing to do the same for you.
Bret's surprised at how he was treated, when eleven years earlier, they pulled the same stunt on Wendi Richter when Richter faced a competitor called "The Spider Lady" and got screwed out of her Ladies Championship and out of the entire WWF? Oh sure, you can make all kinds of excuses...Vince didn't want/couldn't afford to have Bret walk out on WCW television with the WWF Championship in hand and toss it in a trash can like Medusa did, but come on. Bret's as honest as the day is long, and he's got more integrity than that. I don't understand why they didn't have Bret win in Montreal and have him relinquish the belt in the ring that same night after the match, say goodbye to the fans and go proudly into that good night.
But I guess when you're a compulsive liar and a control freak who absolutely has to have it your way all the time come hell or high water...and you OWN the company...I suppose Vince McMahon feels perfectly justified in perpetrating that other time-honored tradition: de-value and screw over the talent on their way out.
I don't know if you missed the part of contract where he had a clause of where he had his own self creative control for the last 30 days.
@@TrollinThru Yeah, and I've got some swampland in Florida to sell you if you think that honoring contracts means anything when it comes to getting what Vince McMahon wants. Come on now.
Bret was right and if Vince had taken his suggestion concerning releases, the Owen might still be alive.
Off The Record was the original "shoot interview".
I don’t believe it, someone was able to find this!!!!
I have a bunch more Off the Records- just gotta get them up. Thanks for watching
"I said. What is he gonna do. Call the newspapers ? That's what he did. I coudnt believe Bret" - Jim Cornette
Yea like Jim Cornette's opinion means anything he's a nobody
@@a.j.hellraiser8993 L comment
@@luisyamamoto1884 Cornette is a nobody
@@a.j.hellraiser8993 L
@@coltonhorstman7637 what does L stand for?
Reminds me of CM Punk…Vince since those days just never knew what it took to make a superstar.
4:47 Bret said with his mouth and I quote "THIS WAS CAREFULLY PLOTTED OUT" so I KNOW not believe that the Montreal Screwjob was SET UP BY THE MASTERS OF WRESTLING!!
Canada shut down to watch this interview. It was like Roosevelt speaking after Pearl Harbor.
I can’t tell if you’re mocking us or not lol but yeah… pretty much.
Shawn Michaels was the accomplice. It was Triple H's idea to "Do Business For Him".
Have you been able to see the Dark Side of the Ring episode on the Screaming?
It was ALOT of people's "idea". According to Cornette it was his idea, according to Russo it was his idea, according to HHH it was his idea, and according to Prichard he jokingly threw it in the air as well.
Typical smark always blaming triple h
@@kamfisher1714 😄 Well, Triple H DID have a hand in that.
@@MrAce-lm8es He didn’t, he said what was on everyone’s mind.
The craziest thing about this, is that as hurtful as this was to Bret Hart, they still took better care of him than Goldberg ever did.
Bret said that Goldberg made Vader look like Shawn Michaels. And Shawn would only injure his pride.
Having your ex top guy being able to say he never got beat for the competition’s main title is not reasonable. At all.
Vijay Kanuga that's the whole point. As a younger man I thought Bret was badly treated, but looking back he forced their hand. You cannot refuse to drop a world title, or choose to whom you drop it you when how why etc? 3 million a year on 125 days in front of you and you can't agree to lose to Michaels???
Disagree totally. They ruined Brets character on purpose. Shawn Michaels refused to lose to Bret prior so Bret refused aswel. Bret was totally correct and had the contract
@@chrismale9976 Bret was one of, if not the most, fortunate, pro wrestler on the world when he left WWF. He is for me the greatest wrestler of all time, BUT he simply took wrestling too seriously. Every wrestler on the planet who is amateur looking to turn pro, or just professional, would literally contemplate pushing their own mother down the stairs to be where Bret was in 1997. Just lose a damn match go make your multi millions, and always have the door open to return to the WWF. Given the type of ridiculous humiliation nearly every wrestler has to go through in their career, it really was NOT a big deal agreeing to lose to Shawn Michaels in Canada.
@@patriceaqa288 it’s not all about money for bret .. shawn was a fool
So is forcing your champion out of the company while he has the belt. Making up falsehoods that are still perpetuated such as Bret was gonna show up the next night on Nitro. Well, why didnt he?? He was still under contract to the WWF until December. Bret didnt have to let Vince out of a legally binding 20 year CONTRACT!!! In response to that, Vince said he could leave any way that he wanted. Its OK for Shawn Michaels to go around bragging about not doing any jobs in the territory. Such hypocrisy.
I could make a case for both sides, Hart's side and McMahon's, however I think Hart here has the stronger case, he was "screwed" and it wasn't right or fair since he was super loyal (reminds me of myself) to the company for 14 years, having only missed 2 shows in those 14 years which is pretty amazing. I think Hart's demands were reasonable, and McMahon didn't take into account that Michaels told Hart that he'd never put him over, part of the reason why Hart didn't want to lose to Shawn.
As I said, I could make a case for both sides, but I'd definitely favor Bret's side as he has the stronger case, he WAS in fact a Canadian Hero and he didn't want to tarnish that, so he didn't want to lose to HBK, they should have had it end in a DQ or something with DX and the Harts coming down in a big brawl, to conclude the match in a DQ. Bret clearly stated that he'd relinquish the belt and give his farewell speech the next night on Raw and then he and the WWE would have parted ways amicably. I'm sorry but IMHO that's what Vince, should have done, despite Hart not wanting to honor the "time honored tradition". I think an exception could have been made for a man who carried the company on his back in 1994 and a good part of 1995 as well but how quickly Vince forgets about that. I'm glad they ultimately got everything settled in the mid 2000s, an argument can be made for both sides being wrong, but Vince was definitely more wrong then Bret, Bret wasn't wrong, so much as he was a tad bit selfish, caring only for the dignity of his character and his Canadian pride and all of that but ultimately Bret is right here, Bret didn't screw Bret, that's a blatant lie out of Vince's mouth, Vince screwed Bret and that's the end of it.
its very simple, he had 30 day creative control, they should have picked someone besides Shawn.
Why should he just get to give up the belt, go to the competition to make almost double the money he was getting in WWF. There was no need for a substitute cause all of their booking was positioned for Shawn to be the top guy and pass the torch to Austin the next year. That was the plan. Why should they just give in to Bret when he wasnt even in the main events as champion? Taker and Shawn were drawing the houses and ratings, along with Austin while he was recovering from the Summerslam match.
@@ronmichaels9206 The simple answer is because he's Bret Hart that's why. I think you should do your homework on the subject matter. First of all Bret was a main eventer and he carried the company on his shoulders between the years of 1992 and 1995. Yes, I get it, in 1996, the company was going in the direction of Shawn, and Taker was always being pushed along the way but the belt was being held by Bret and Shawn during that time. Bret was in the company for 14 years and only missed 2 days (1 of which I recall was because he got sick) out of 14 years of loyal service to Vince, who by the way, (again do your homework) is the one that pulled out of the 20 year contract that he himself drew up, which is precisely why Bret opted to go to WCW instead.
You say why? because it's Bret that's why, what's the big deal of having Bret go over Shawn and having Bret go out with his head held high (again 14 years of faithful service to Vince and the WWF), Shawn was a prick during those days any way, both his character and in real life so you know. I mean his character deserved to lose that match if you ask me but that's just me speaking in terms of kayfabe. Shawn said he'd never put Bret over and was generally unprofessional but he (Shawn) was Vince's chosen guy at the time, so that's why things went the way they went. I mean it is what it is but I just think some of us should do our research on the matter before we speak on it, that's just my thoughts. I loved HBK too but on November 9th 1997 the wrong man walked out Champion that night. It's a shame that the only thing that Survivor Series 1997 is known for is that match and the "Montreal Screw job", nobody really remembers anything else about that card.
People miss the fact that Bret had in his contract creative control. I’d to to ask Bret in more detailed what that meant.
@@linvol20 right, and Vince didn't even care to honor that, so technically (as per Bret's "Creative Control" contract) Bret could have left any way he wanted, but meh it is what it is, I guess Vince didn't care to honor that, despite the fact that it was his contract.
Undertaker said he was willing to be involved as a transfer champion between them. Bret said he was willing to relinquish the title on RAW BUT I thought of a better idea that would have been similar in controversy as that night was. As heated in real life as Bret and Shawn were. They eventually sell a seemingly shoot fight, both shoving or throwing referee out of the ring. Vince McMahon enters to get between them and Bret throws him out of the ring and sells a serious fall outside, PPV goes black. No winner apparently. Next night on Raw Vince announces he has stripped Bret of the title for his un-sportsman like conduct on him the referee, shawn, etc. Adding I own this company dammit, breaking that kayfabe officially.
That's pretty damn good! Kudos.
That would've been great but that still would've been like giving in to Bret. Bret was supposed to lose to Shawn and that's what Vince wanted. His company, his rules.
Bret would never have gone for that. Knowing him, he would have taken it as a “loss in Canada” and put all the leverage on Vince and the WWF at the time.
Cool idea! Problem is Hart wanted a win and nothing else against HBK. Both men had a relationship break down beyond repair at that stage. The best would have been an interim champion like Taker.
@@ronmichaels9206 and shawn should have lost to bret at wm13 but instead lost his smile and forfeit the title
Dec 97 is when wrestling exploded, there were documentaries on tlc, a&e on pro wrestling and the screwjob , first time i saw wrestling on front page news, it all happened because of the bret hart controversy, the most exciting year to be a wrestling fan
That time honoured tradition it such BS, how many times did SHawn drop his belts to avoid doing the job??
As Bret pointed out, it was 3 if I'm not mistaken... N I'm an HBK Guy..
Hbk forfeited a bunch of belts from wwf title, European, ic title, tag title. Someone made a video about the number of times he vacated the belts
What's tragic is that without Bret getting screwed the WWE doesn't take off like it did. He singlehandedly saved wrestling and how matches were done.
When this story is told it's often said "It was shitty to do it in Canada". But according to Jim Cornette, they gave Brett suggestions on where he could lose and he just refused all of them.
1. "How bout losing on this night?" - No, that's PPV.
2. "How bout losing on Saturday in Detroit?" - No, cause the next fight is in Canada and I can't go into a fight in Canada not being the champ
3. "How bout losing the event after that" No, that's in Canada.
Not saying they were right to screw him, if his contract said he had creative control.
Just that the "it was in Canada" factor probably wasn't all that important.
In all honesty he didn’t go out on his back he went out on his stomach
well at least we know he didn't get beat clean
Little did Brett Hart know WCW would do literally nothing with him and his career was officially over. No one saw that coming at that point in time.
As far as the suggested scenario of Bret beating Shawn then come LIVE on Raw the next day and stepping down as WWE champion and skip off to WCW??? Dont make me laugh! Absolutely not!! No promoter will allow that
Bret could even give the belt or quit it . Vince will allways be called chicken for what he did. U work for so many years u be loyal and then your boss does this shit .. bret should have taken the belt .. I wish bret made some backup plan the. If some shit happens owen or bulldog would take the belt and run to Canada lols . And then vince would pay millions to return the belt back hahah
Ra M , what is wrong with a wrestler who is champion winning his match then next day on Raw steping down as champion giving the belt up before moving on to another company.....he is not going to another company with the Belt he gave it up......... I mean when a wrestler is Injuryed they give up the belt and vaccated it ... thy don't wrestle and lose the belt that way.........and no one fusses about it....... Batista was injuryed and did that and so did other wrestlers over the years. Yet Bret wants to win the match and then give up the belt and Vince has issues with it..... sounds kind of petty to me.
Watched this live after school
Legend
Love these 90s wrestling vids.
More coming. Keep checking back and thanks for watching
Owen should have the opportunity to be released
@Lyles music not funny
@@melvynsngltn27Christ
"Who hasn't called you?"
"Shawn Michaels and Hunter"
Damn... the 2 who were in on it. Hunter was the final one to convince Vince to do it and swore by them he'd never implicate them
Excellence of Execution.....👌👌👌
Class act
He didnt want to lose on his way out the door. Thats the bottom line. If he loved the business as much as he says, he would have done the right thing. He screwed himself because he didnt want to drop the belt
Back in the day i didn't understand what Bret was complaining about saying he was screwed unless you were a smart fan and understood the business backstage as a kid in the 90s the business was very protected .the inner works of the business wasn't exposed like today . Fans in 1997 didn't know Vince was the boss of wwf he was presented as a commentator and he never wanted fans to know he was the boss until WCW took over as the number one wrestling company
Was Landsberg actually siding with Vince on this? Bret didn't even need to show up as he already fulfilled his yearly dates and could have just sent the belt to Vince and left to WCW
Yeah man it’s landsberg style anyway he tend to always provoque his guests
Landsberg tried to ask tough questions to everyone. He didn't go easy on Vince McMahon or Eric Bischoff, either.
I miss show hosts like this guy, well spoken, clearly does homework & gives chance for the guest to speak his mind .
Bret "The Reasonable Creative Control Man" Hart
"I'll never be back" Bret appears on Raw in 2010 to bury the hatchet with Michaels
Yeah, in what was one of the most unconvincing "reconciliations" ever. 😆 Brett looked like he still wanted to bury the hatchet into Shawn's spine, and it came across like two kids who despise each other, being forced to apologise to each other by their parents or teachers.
@@VitZ9 It's an awkward situation the last time Bret saw HBK, he was hated. I'm sure they reconciled back stage as Bret said he's good friends with Shawn
I think that they were all in it and it was a work
Bret's story changes through the years. In his 2005 DVD he says "Montreal wasn't about Bret Hart losing in Canada, yet 03:09 he basically says I refuse to lose in Canada. Its convenient to use Shawn as an excuse, but I don't think Bret had interest in droping the belt to anyone that night.
Thanks for watching. I have more old clips coming
It’s been so long .. stop looking for inconsistencies..
He had 3 more weeks to get rid of the belt. They wanted to bury and humiliate him in his own country for some type of sick, sadistic satisfaction.
you some kind of hotshot ny lawyer or something? Because my momma burned herself getting some clam chowder down in the bayou. Could you look over everyone's statements and find the inconsistencies.
Exactly.
Did I hear Roger Clemens?
Around 17:10, Bret says “I never did see the thing with the [little person].” Did they not show that very thing in the Wrestling with Shadows documentary…him watching that segment from home with his wife Julie?
When they okay the clip for Bret during OTR and Bret sees it “for the first time,” Bret talks about the clip the entire time it’s playing like he had already seen it. If it was new to him, he probably would have watch the entire clip before commenting on it. IDK
The part where he and Julie are watching it in TV happened after this interview.
Bret didn't want to admit he watched it, lol.
14:30 Bret Hart Saying for Vince to release Owen well they released him alright...... From the harness
Why is the footage of the match such poor quality? And zoomed in?
Copyright obviously
15:13 wow! Owen was wanting out of his contract?? Just imagine.... If he'd have gone over to WCW with his brother....
Yeah. Both Bret and Martha mention it, that Owen wanted to leave but Vince and the WWF wouldn't allow it.
Loved Bret and his career. But he needed to drop that belt to Shawn. He grew up in the business, this was his life, he knows full well the right thing to do was drop that belt to Shawn.. He forced Vince's hand.. To this day he is too stubborn to admit that he was wrong.
Not that way....
Butt Hurt didn't have a lick of business sense. The fact that WCW gave him that contract saved his life, but being the infant minded shell he is THAT company is what he cries about the most. 😂 Of course, he ran back to his pimp Vince as any prostitute would. Useless without their pimp. The guy who harmed Bret the most is the guy he loves the most.
@@RG-lr4pk
He actually did NOT collect on most of the WCW money because Goldberg ended his career with that kick to the head.. You can find Bret ranting about that all over youtube..
Man , if vince released owen he'd still be alive and probably would have had a great career in WCW. Rest in peace owen
"I'd love to see [Vince] give my brother a release" - Oh, Vince sure released him alright.
What a brilliant work.
This Canada gimmick took over him to the point in which he didn't want to lose in Canada vs HBK. HBK didn't help things either with his attitude. Bottom line is Bret should have stayed with the wwe. WcW with Hogan and hall and Nash calling shots alone should have educated Bret. Fans forget the foundation was starting to get cheers towards the end in America . Bret eventually could have turned face again and enjoyed the attitude era making a ton of money. The 2 men who loved him in real life. The rock and Austin. Those 2 would have had his back vs the haters.
100%
And maybe in the result of that Owen Hart would still be alive because he would not have to be the blue blazer character... He would be just Owen Hart...
austin and the rock definitely would have had bret back
He talks as if it were real. "I never lost that title." LOL
The punch to Vince's face was real and that's all that matters.
Bret said here, just a month after the screw job, that he just wanted to step down the next night after SS-97
I think the thing people don’t talk about enough, it’s not simply Bret being the reigning champion and showing up with WCW with the “belt”
But rather WCW being able to say, WWFs champion who never lost the belt but instead decided to forfeit WWFs championship to come and compete here at WCW. The perception of that would be horrible for WWF
It understandable that WWF couldn’t have allowed it.
Could another solution have been gathered? Sure! But one thing they couldn’t do was let Bret leave as champion NOR could they just have Bret “forfeit” their championship to go to their competition.
My fave moment 15:50
There are still idiots to this day that will say "But Bret was gonna leave for WCW?!" Yes he was, but not until the day after the December WWF PPV. WWF could've built up a huge match for December and embarrassed Bret there, instead they did it in Canada. It's something a criminal gang would do to another gang to show strength. And after all we learned about Vince in real life it all makes sense.
I still think the Montreal Screwjob was all just a work. It makes much more sense that Vince WOULD plan this out ahead of time *with* Bret.
8:47 lol like Vince would swear on that
He wanted to go out in a classy way by relinquishing the belt and going to the major competitor. C'MON BRET!?!?!?!?! I love you but THIS IS FUCKING WRESTLING.
Vince, Shawn, Hunter and Hebner are all slimy little weasels and you know it. Bret got shafted. Just admit it.
@Gidget Trevathon it wasn’t staged smh if it was I doubt they wouldn’t have talked for twenty years
@Gidget Trevathon you mean the guy that had zero involvement in any creative meetings. Boy he knows so much
@Gidget Trevathon again so? He wasn’t in the meetings or on the phone calls. I don’t think Vince or Bret would have waited twenty years to talk if it was a work
lol rick flair got to have ten retirement speeches .. hbk got a second chance after stone cold and mike embarrassed him
Holy crap, at 7:00 Lansing literally took his life in his own hands spewing all that right in front of a smoking powderkeg that is Brett Hart.
I still think Brett, Shawn and Vince were all in on this. Brett is also a screen writer and does acting. I'm not surprised this could have been put together to look legitimate.
Razor Ramon/Scott Hall definitely thinks that was the case. He's spoken on it. I don't think it was planned on Brett's end
@@Ellypoem I think he's right.
@@VF1Skullangel I hear what you're saying but the fact Brett's story has stayed exactly the same all these 30 years while everyone else flip flops more than pancake batter leads me to believe he's pretty solid
@@Ellypoem Bret is also a very loyal person. Who's to say he's staying Loyal to Vince and Shawn? I believe he's kept his side of the story the same knowing this ordeal was plotted to take down WCW. Scott hall is on to something but knowing Brett he wouldnt change his story because it would automatically make him look bad and instantly throw shawn and vince under the bus.
@@Ellypoem pancake batter; nice
19:56 I’m surprised Bret Hart didn’t punch Michael Landsberg like he did Vince McMahon after that comment
he did see the thing with the midget though. it was on 'wrestling with shadows'. work?
If Vince would have released Owen things would have been very different
They did release him...... From the harness
I love Bret and initially I was on his side when he got screwed over, but now when I think of it..the situation was unfortunate but there’s no way you can walk out via forfeiting to a company that is basically your rival and is winning the Monday night war (during that period). Vince had to save his company from this humiliation..
Yea, its a weird situation. I would blame bret but control was in his contract. I cant blame him. Bret brought up a great point about shawn forfeiting 3 titles and not doing "honors". Cool find
contractually he had that right. I felt something like that myself until I found that out. And he offered to lose the title later, even the following raw. not only that, he was willing to finish out the days on his contract as well. all within his realm or rights contractually.
I agree but at that point, Vince could've made it a different match or something, why'd it have to be Shawn vs Bret?
@@emmanuelmoses7249 because Shawn was always Vince's favorite
@@riseill Fair enough contractually. But at the same you have look at the situation and the circumstances. If your employer tell you drop the title you drop the title.
14:32
Wow....
Thanks for watching. Sorting through more old wrestling clips as I type. Keep checking back :)
Thank goodness for the wrestling with shadows documentary. If not for that doc we would have never known Vince screwed Bret that night.
100%. Thanks for watching
What lol we knew it the night it happened. It was all over the internet back then.
@@TheFlamingPike not everyone knew. I definitely had no idea that was real until I saw the documentary a year later. You have it remember not everyone had access to the internet in 97. I didn’t. I’m just glad this documentary was able to show Bret’s side of this situation.
All they had to do was let Undertaker beat him... Why did HBK "have to" win? They didn't trust eachother....
Or Ken Shamrock or Stone Cold..
Not HBK or Not Triple H.. Got it..
The thing that I liked most about Bret was his integrity. I never thought that he was the best there was, Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, and Sting were better. They could wrestle any style and had more moves and unpredictability. He was very good. I never cared for Shawn. The Midnight Rockers were a variant of the RnR Express who also inspired other undersized teams back in the day. He was obnoxious and selfish. Vader should've been a dominating World Champion there and there's no way Shawn could've beat him in reality. I saw the backstage video and Bret was honest about how the post-match activities, especially about Shawn cowering away from Bret and his wife.
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WCW should’ve had Brett join nWo and nobody else. Scott, Kevin, Hulk, X-PAC and Brett. All wrestlers who left the WWF to take it out on WCW. I think that would’ve worked for Brett, especially if he kept bringing up being mistreated like Hulk did with the fans turning on him.