He should have been a focal point to transition the company into a new era, like he was for WWE and the attitude era. The company was down and out and he was one of the key elements of the revival. He could have transitioned WCW away from its’ nWo dependency. In hindsight, Bret should have left WWF and remained a free agent. When he signed with WCW, the company was at its very peak (Starcade Hogan vs Sting) and they didn’t realise how much they needed a Bret Hart down the line.
bret needed his own faction. a hart foundation style thing centered around Dungeon graduates. he could've been a leader of guys like benoit, jericho, Lance storm, jushion thunder liger, bulldog and Jim. something to take on the nwo. they were too big and needed a legit rival
If Eric could have signed, Owen Hart granted a quick release from his contract to jump to WCW. As the Black Hart appeared in the crowd, reunited with Bret, Bulldog, and Neidhart as Foundation. Anticipating angle the NWO VS. Hart Foundation storyline 🔥 🔥
This wouldn't happen because of Hulk but this is the correct answer. Hogan loses to Sting at Starcade as he should have. Over the next month WCW starts winning the war. The NWO starts pointing fingers ar each other leading to a PPV Nash vs. Hogan for the leadership of the NWO. Masked man helps Nash win and Nash introduces the new leader of the NWO, Bret Hart. Hogan sees he's been deceived by the black and white and returns in the Red and Yellow. It's not rocket science.
Came to say that exactly. I’m American and can tell you that. I had legit concerns as a child that WWF was going to start a war between US and Canada. Those crowds were insane.
It's funny cause he mentions (and falls flat in the punchline) that Bret "thought he was a hero in Canada", but when Owen died, AIR CANADA contacts the PILOT to tell them about Owen cause they know Bret is on that flight. So yea, Bret didn't think that he was hero in Canada, he KNEW he was a hero in Canada.
Bret was absolutely a hero in Canada. I don't know why Bischoff even thinks otherwise. The Hart family alone is literal royalty in Canada as it is, but Bret was like a walking talking hero for the country.
I think what Eric is trying to say is Bret thought he was a hero, yes he KNEW he was a hero rather, but main point is not dropping the belt especially in Canada, like a hero should never die in a movie. While I loved Bret for technical skills, I loved his mic skills too, charisma, defending titles every week even against not so prominent opponents, and what he has given to WWE along with 2 other WWE loyals Undertaker & Shawn, best 3 all time for me, Bret had an ego of not dropping the belt to Shawn. Now ! some may argue he did in Survivor Series Iron Man Match, before Montreal Screwjob, but he's been vocal about its unwillingness in many interviews. That's the nerve Eric didn't touch.
He’s a baby. He can’t lose a match in his country? Imagine if everyone acted this way. He was. Tag team guy as his character was ridiculous. Had no charisma. And was a terrible champ that’s why they did this charade which actually gave him a huge boost. Just like Owen nobody gave a shit about him. He died playing that lame ass blue blazer gimmick.
Yikes @PeeBurps-gk7cu tell us what you really think. Bret remains the best there was the best there ever will be. Not sure where that Owen comment came from, but that was brutal.
@@PeeBurps-gk7cuBret lost many matches in Canada and it was never an issue. Hell, he's lost in MONTREAL before as a member of the WWF. Any person with any real brains knows that this has nothing to do with losing in Canada,this has to do with a personal issue with Shawn and Vince, that's it. Bret has admitted he would've lost the title that night to ANYONE else. He's not the first champ who pulled that on their way out, Hogan did it to Bret in 93. The worst part? HBK wasn't their guy either, that was Austin. The fact is, it's bizarre that Vince was SO adamant it had to be Shawn that beat Bret, there was obviously something else going on there.
@@Nothereman9999 You can’t compare hogan to Bret hart. This isn’t an athletic competition. It’s entertainment and you follow the script. And hogan love him or hate him he was and is a massive star. It’s like comparing Robert deneiro to Rick Moranis. Bret got his time. And now he loses in the movie. Then goes onto the next movie. Bret is weird man. He views it like he’s winning the matches as he’s technically better and gutted it out. Bret was a great wrestler. So was dean malenko. But they massively lack in certain areas to carry multiple “ movies. “
Despite his rise and fall in WWF and trials and tribulations of WCW. Bret Hart, without a doubt, is one of the most important, inspiring, and gifted technical wrestlers of all time . Forever in the Best there is, Best there was, Best there ever will be 👏 🙌 🙌
@arrisbaldwin6498 Please there are so many others WAY BETTER!! And they don't whine like him. Way overrated. Dynamite Kid , Chris Benoit , Owen , and even Davey Boy were way better than Brett and no way to argue that. They are all by far better in the ring and better at promos. At least Davey and Dynamite have that English accent that was funny as hell during promos
@@ppiorkowski1502 Davey Boy Smith was better in the ring than Bret? What the hell have you been smoking? 😂 And I say that as a British Bulldog fan. Are you forgetting Summerslam 92 where Bulldog went out to the match high as a kite,and couldn't remember a single spot in the match. Bret carried him through the entire thing. Dynamite Kid was an innovator,but outside the ring was an asshole and a bully,and ended up a bitter old man with health issues that were caused to some extent by his in ring style. Benoit was technically on a par with Bret,but that's irrelevant now because he was a murdering shit bag. Owen was as good in the ring,but probably a better talker.
It had NOTHING to do with Canada. It all came down to what Shawn Michaels said in the locker room: “..I appreciate that Bret, but I’m not willing to do the same for you.” Bret has said that a million times! He made it really clear on their rivalries DVD.
He was 40 years old. That is the kind of argument a high school 16-year-old makes. Not a 40-year-old supposed professional wrestler. Drop the fucking belt on the way out the door. That’s how it’s done. He knew this.
@@dbreiden83080 He wasn't going out the door before dropping the belt. He said he'd drop it to anyone else or he'd do the job for Shawn after Shawn did it for him. Remember Shawn went over at Mania 12, it's not like Bret didn't do it before.
The thing is, you can denigrate Bret's reasons for not wanting drop the belt all you want, but at the end of the day, he had contractual creative control over his character for the last 30 days of his deal.
Are you canadian? Because i know they didn’t show wcw here on tsn until around the time that bret went over. They started showing monday nitro on wednesday night.
Me too. I was a lapsed Crockett fan and the week after Montreal my childhood wrestling buddy calls and tells me what happened and I started watching WCW again, all the way till Bret got injured.
I also wasn't a big WCW fan during that period. Their matches in the upper-card were absolute shit compared to WWF. They had the same story and same outcomes and same moves and same guys every week and it was boring and never evolved. Hart was at least creative and funny on the mic when he was in WCW. Listening to the same promo from Nash and Hogan and Bichoff every week was pointless. And when the Radicals came over and Jericho, WCW was dead
@iconic_dubois wrestling is most definitely like acting are you f*cking kidding me?! Yeah I get that Bret Hart was the hometown hero in Canada. Bret Hart was the hero in Canada. Not "The Hitman" character. All wrestlers say that you have to separate yourself from your persona when you exit the arena. That's just common sense. Bret did not do this. He didn't want to lose to Shawn Michaels in Montreal because he didn't want to do that to the Hitman character. That is f*cking PATHETIC in so many ways. And if you or any other Bret Hart fans disagree then y'all are even more pathetic than Bret. I say this because even Bret realized how pathetic he was being. Because years late, he tried using a different excuse about Montreal. Now he claims he was happy to put Shawn over. He said he was so excited that he went to go talk to Shawn about it but Shawn was bitter , disrespectful , and even threatening. It was all complete pathetic bullshit. And his documentary Wrestling with Shadows easily shows how it's all bullshit.
who cares? the population of canada is not even 40 mil. The population of the US - which is where 99% of weekly TV tapings are - is 330 mil. Just drink your Tim Hortons and enjoy freezing your nuts off
😊@@DavidDemursWhat does that have to do with his point? And almost 40 million people is still amongst the top 40 most populous countries. Obviously when comparing it to the US, it has many areas up north that are uninhabitable.
The only thing wrong with what Eric said was that Brett thought he was a Canadian Hero. The guy was. He was up there with Wayne Gretzky. Also, Brett just didn't want to lose to Michaels specifically. He would have lost it to anyone else but him. They had so much hate and animosity that there was no Changing Bret's mind. He has been very clear on this
You are naming real actual professional athletes compared to a professional wrestler. Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of professional wrestling but obviously it’s sports entertainment. Somebody decided that he was getting that championship belt, and that same somebody has every right to take it away. Bret was being a fucking baby about the whole thing. Your hatred of Michael’s means nothing in regards to dropping a championship belt. Drop the belt.
The problem is, Bret was a grown adult and ultimately an employee of the company that gave him a platform to be famous, so if your boss tells you to basically work with your colleague, you damn well do it. Your own childish animosities are not relevant, especially when you're getting paid a large sum of money. Your job is to do what the business tells you. If Vince told him to wear a dress and bend over to Shawn on live TV, then yeah maaaaaybe he had a legitimate grievance, but simply drop your belt to a colleague? No, he had to suck it up. The main issue from what I saw was that Vince reneged on the contract, not who he was asking Bret to drop the belt to.
@@jason41144 exactly my thought. If Vince thought Bret was such a credible draw/threat, no way would he have freed him up to go to WCW. Bret likely would have stayed even in a somewhat reduced role, so long as Vince honored the original contract.
“I (Vince McMahon) was concerned they (WCW) didn’t know what to do with him (Bret Hart). Fortunately, those concerns were well founded because if I were they, they could’ve built the entire franchise around Bret.” Vince McMahon back in 2006.
No it was a big deal cause of the screw job anybody could have lost a belt in there home town and it wouldn’t be talked about it was just the screw job
Because of how big a deal it was. It also spurned on the wwe attitude era a little bit more. The era had already started with dx but when vince switched the title to shawn over bret, it went into overdrive because 2 months later shawn gets hurt by a casket and austin wins the rumble. Wrestlemania that year started the austin era in the wwe
Bret Hart blames everyone. All started when he gave himself a concussion in his match against Goldberg by smashing his head into concrete was groggy after it, but blames Goldberg's kick. Never listen to a word Bret Hart says.
Glad I listened to this video. I was in the audience for the Jay Leno show that Bret was supposed to compete in that day. He was scheduled to wrestle Kevin Nash on that show. I found out that they were not going to be on the show while in line to get into the studio. The show also featured Hugh Grant. Vladi Divac was the replacement for Bret and Nash.
Instead of chilling under palm trees with some ganja, you got to freeze your nuts off in subzero temperatures with some silly Tim Hortons coffee and donuts. Good deal!
The reason why WCW is no longer around is because the heroes, like Bret Hart, didn't win. Then the bad guys who got creative control, thanks to Eric Bischoff, didn't realize they were actors (like Eric Bischoff said himself) and didn't want to lose. Eric is the pot calling the kettle black.
@@Jahn_Pah_Jonz WCW went downhill because there were running out of ideas,imo. If they've used Bret more, or had him battle more bad guys instead of becoming one, then the tides would've turned. But that's a debate for another time, sir. What I meant in my previous statement is that many fans look up to Bret as a hero, kayfaybe or not. He was just a guy that really believed in his work, and had fight still left in him. Eric doesn't know, or probably doesn't care.
I'm canadian and bret is a Canadian hero. wrestling is about more than acting. it's an art form. he's the goat and the innovator of technical chain wrestling that brought the wwe out of the stone age. he's a pioneer. and it wasn't about dropping it in canada or dropping it period. it was about dropping it to shawn after he tried to ruin his marriage with the sunny days comment. he said he wanted to drop it to Austin instead. vince said no but he did have creative control on his way out so he agreed to let bret drop the title instead after a no contest interference ending in Montreal. shawn dropped the wwe title a year prior because he refused to job to bret. Vince allowed it. bret just wanted to do to shawn what he did to him. PERIOD. learn your history eric
Sure. But it’s scripted acting with a storyline. Not an athletic competition to see who is best. For him to not being able to lose in his home country is fucking ridiculous
@@PeeBurps-gk7cu you guys are taking the scripted part and using that as an excuse for everything. What if i told you pro sports was scripted/predeterminded? Do you think pro leagues are leaving there billions up to random basketball games without any say in the outcomes? The outcomes affect the bottom line and you think the owners are going to just sit there and let do whatever it does based on the games outcomes? lol thats laughable if you think business works this way.
Right at the 9:39 to 11:55 mark, listen to what Bischoff says and compare that to what he says here about making Bret an offer in 1996. - th-cam.com/video/nebwEZWZSoc/w-d-xo.html
Eric completely missed the reason why Bret wasn’t going to drop the belt in Canada, it was because he was dropping the belt to Shawn Michaels, his real life rival. Shawn refused to put over Bret, so Bret didn’t want to put him over either. Had nothing to do with thinking he was a Canadian hero. Also, there have been plenty of instances of a film/tv actor refusing to do something in the script. Terrible analogy
Lets be as accurate as possible bret promised to put over shawn, shawn refused to promise the same, so bret broke his own word …. We will never know if Shawn would or would not have put bret over, but we DO KNOW that bret broke his own promise
@@MrSheckstr right. My point is that Eric failed to mention Shawn as a factor at all when Shawn is a key reason why Bret didn’t drop the belt in Canada. If it was anyone else, he would’ve done so.
Bret wasn't a tv actor. He was in the wrestling business. He refused to drop the promoters belt. Nobody in the locker room would ever say that was okay but Bret didn't care. Totally unprofessional.
@@3Overhaus such a silly take & there’s a few on here firstly Shawn lost his smile when meant to the honors with Bret, secondly Bret said he was happy to put him over n Shawn was a complete unprofessional asshole like always at the time & said he’d never do the same. Thirdly Bret had creative control in last sixty days of his contract so gets what he wants, he wanted to drop it to Austin, shamrock, foley all were refused for some reason which is weird cause champ was just a place holder to give it to Austin because he was hot. Last thing is you want to talk unprofessional? All the belts hbk held in the 90’s like 10 times 7 of those times hbk relinquished the belt rather then dropping it. Even with Austin at wm14 he kept threatening not to turn up because he didn’t want to drop it, so. Score you say unprofessional again learn the facts please
@@Tek1951.Bret had "reasonable " creative control. He was told he was being unreasonable by refusing to drop the belt to Shawn. 2. Shawn being unprofessional doesn't change the fact Bret was totally unprofessional. That's just lazy what aboutism. 3. Bret didn't answer to Shawn. He answered to Vince. You're quick to shit on Shawn for not doing what he was told. How was Bret any different?
@@namikstudios Pretty sure Bret coming in as a ref and being part of a botched 3 count is what made his momentum so bad - plus him being part of the nWo, and getting a concussion by Goldberg is what made his run in wcw less than exciting.
They should have at that time made bret the number one guy. Despite what the hulkster thought at that point in time bret was a way bigger star than hulk especially in europe and canada. They totally messed it up simply because of eric and hulkster's egos. That is the facts jack.
Because he is a Canadian hero, was and forever will be a Canadian hero. The reason WCW failed is because too many people had a say, Hulk stalled so many careers and killed WCW. The hero doesn't die in the movies, the hero wins
Everything turned out to be a terrible decision for Brett Hart. For starters, his home was with the WWE, where he was a superstar. He was given the belt several times and had been in the Main Event of the biggest shows a multitude of times. By giving that up, it led to the Montreal screw job. Then, while he was with WCW, he was relegated to going nowhere, and his career was cut short when he received a stiff kick to the face from Goldberg. It’s no wonder he was so bitter for so long. Sometimes we don’t know what we have until it’s gone.
Respect Eric for admitting he was wrong in completely fumbling Bret's WCW stint. But where he is also wrong is Bret's "funk" came after they time and time again fumbled his career there. THAT is was to this day pisses Bret off. He did want to kick Vince's ass and bring his A game to WCW. But they squashed his momentum with NO plan. Eric tries to blame Bret's lack of fire. Go.back and watch his first few weeks/months. He was trying SO hard. They killed his spirit.
This sounds about the most honest take on the transition I've ever heard about Bret going from WWF to WCW and how it went. I love Bret, but this perspective seems legit. And, that said, it really explains Bret's performance in WCW in a way that tracks. Bret, to me, always seemed like his heart just wasn't in it anymore when he was in WCW. He was still Bret, but there was definitely something missing. Hearing there was a lack of a plan due to Bret's timing, Bret still having some emotional stunting from the screw job, Owen dying ... this all just makes sense.
Interestingly both Prichard and Bischoff sat down on one of their respective podcasts and brokedown how the events ultimately unfolded and they came to an interesting conclusion which was Bret didn't want to leave at a certain point. Because Bret's departure more than anything was he wanted to be paid a higher salary then McMahon could ultimately afford and that led to the WCW talks reopening. As rime neared the end Bret realized he's comfortable in WWE and didn't want to leave, but McMahon was already looking to Mania and didn't have plans for Bret anymore. So it wasn't just the losing to Shawn but leaving a place you'd worked for 10 plus years by that point. And after the events unfolded the way they did it's easy to see why Bret was as twisted as he was, even before Owen's passing later on.
The fact that he has to repeat the line twice "Bret thought he was a canadian hero" to get his point across tells even everyone in the audience thinks that Bret is a canadian hero and there is no doubt in their minds.
Bischoff said he brought Bret in to headline Thunder as an “anchor”…..you know how many times Bret was on Thunder? 6 times. Bret spent the majority of time on Nitro. Then Bischoff says Bret didnt want to lose the belt in Canada because he (Bret) thought he was a national hero,. Wrong. Bischoff conveniently leaves out that Bret said to Michaels himself that he had no problems putting him over at SS '97 and it wasnt until Michaels said I just want you to know that I would not be willing to do the same and THAT (along with his creative clause) is why Bret decided he would not put Michaels over; in addition, Bret went to Vince and said he woul put over Austin, Shamrock or Taker instead. Mcmahon obviously did not agree to any of that, so we got the screwjob instead. So this was never about Bret not wanting to lose in Canada.
I also think Bret was one of those guys that had a creative say or had the ability to say no and not get fired over it. But it's rare thst you have individuals that will look at a show ike Thunder and not call it the B show and be cool with sticking on there. Bret on top of everything else he had going on I do think felt that way hence why he didn't show up a lot on Thunder.
I respect Bischoff for being more honest now a days. Cause Bret could have been used much more successfully if they could have been more wise to use him in all ways he had already been with WWE.
He’s such an egomaniac he can’t lose in his own country. Now that’s an adult baby. It’s a scripted storyline. You’re not competing to see who is the greatest. It’s predetermined drama and a script
@@PeeBurps-gk7cu Bret is there greatest. He’s not like Shawn or hogan true whiny babies that never put people over. Or like hhh and Shawn who bullied rookies in the back. Fuck off
That would of been great! Many different story lines could of been devoloped, NWO would have a dance parter so to say to go back an forth with. Keeping them from making the wolf pack story line. Which ruined nwo@@fluworldorder426
I’m 37 yo from Thailand. In the 90’s there were two things I knew about Canada. 1. It’s next to USA 2. Bret Hart And Eric thought he’s not a Canadian Hero?
WCW definitely mishandled Bret's talent. However, Bret is no angel in all of this. He had a giant ego in the 90s. Besides Austin, he wouldn't put anyone over. Had he stayed in the WWF and had Vince honoured his 20-year contract deal, Bret would have clashed with so many guys anyhow. This should be an example for the youth to have your ego in check and not let it ruin you!
Bret Hart was a great athlete and a wrestling legend without a doubt. Bischoff certainly didn't use him as he should have, but throwing shit at Eric like Bret does just doesn't sit well with me. Bret came to WCW unwillingly and it showed on the show, he never tried to help improve the quality of the product and after so many years he still complains about Goldberg's kick when he was already at a dead end in his career. Ah, not to mention the fact that his brother Owen had purposely compromised Stone Cold's career and Austin, unlike him, never complained! for goodness sake in Canada he may have been a hero but at that time in Italy we were already crazy about Goldberg, Sting, Steve Austin, undertaker etc. and for us someone who showed up in a pink and black costume in the late 90s in the ring was already outdated! Bret never accepted that and we know that.
Bret got a horrible storyline in WCW that not even his best performance could compensate. And how exactly was his responsibility to improve the quality when he wasn’t a booker? The only legitimate argument that Eric makes is of Bret’s mental health, his pride and feeling of worth on the floor due to the screwjob and the death of his brother, but with a properly well written story, he would have flourished regardless. And Bret has absolutely all the bragging rights on talking about Golberg, the guy was stiff from begging to end and was infamous for hurting his fellow workers, plus he was boring to watch. Bret was still relevant and we all know that. He was used poorly and got permanently injured.
Bischoff gets a lot of 💩 and don’t get me wrong I’m sure there’s a bit of revisionism in there, but he is very good at getting his point across as he says he saw things.
Also same reason wcw wasted alot of great talents. The likes of jericho, benoit, eddie guerrero, paul wight, etcetera all got wasted and wasn't really going anywhere in wcw. These stars found new and better life in wwe and actually made it big time while in wwe... Wcw had the crappiest big popular guy, hulk hogan who constantly putting down young talents and using his backstage politics to destroy anyone that doesn't want to be his dog or follower. Hogan and his dogs was the biggest reason wcw "almost" put wwe out of business, but when the tenacity of wwe proved to be better and was able to push and create better new talents, Hogan's and his dog's ego brought wcw down and without any real young talent to match the young talents that wwe had, wcw went out of business...
Hearing Bret Hart signed for WCW before I saw the Wrestling With Shadows documentary was crazy. I couldn’t see how he would fit in, and at the time he was not as big as Hogan, Savage or Sting at that point. I’m not talking about the man and performer. To be honest I wanted to see Sting vs Hitman. Hogan didn’t figure. For me it made sense making Bret Hart a heel.
Eric Bischoff is only telling half the truth because Bret tells it differently and I believe Bret Hart In my opinion WCW never had a plan for Bret Hart, Eric had a blank Ted Turner cheque book and signed Bret because it would hurt the WWE and it was a big deal. Eric Bischoff was beating the WWE so bad in the ratings didn’t need new ideas because the nWo storyline was the main draw. Bret Hart wanted to work with Hulk Hogan but Hulk considered Bret a mid card talent and didn’t want to wrestle him or do a storyline, theirs no money to be made wrestling Bret Hart. So instead of using Bret correctly he was used sporadically as a referee, new member of the nWo, wrestling Ric Flair and then Goldberg. Bret was paid millions to stay at home but he did get big pushes but they usually ended quickly without any pay off. Ric Flair angle went no where, wrestling Booker T, Chris Benoit, Goldberg, and even his nWo stuff sucked. If Eric Bischoff was smart he should’ve used Bret correctly to build new storylines to get wrestlers over or to see a great match like a submission match vs Sting who had the better sharpshooter. Eric had no creativity in the wrestling business except copy ideas from other companies. He could never be called a genius like Vince McMahon because if Eric Bischoff had the same roster Vince had in 95-96 Eric would’ve bankrupted WWE. He couldn’t create new stars or develop talent like Vince could. Eric just got lucky because Ted Turner gave him total control. In Canada Bret Hart is considered a sports hero and one of the greatest Canadians. I don’t think Eric Bischoff knows how big Bret Hart is in Canada almost every Canadian wrestler brings up Bret as a reason they wanted to become a pro wrestler.
That's like saying Hogan can't lose to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania because he's an 'American hero'....even Hogan, who was notoriously political, was willing to drop the belt when asked. Bret sounds like his ego was inflated.
Mocks Bret for calling himself a Canadian hero... Then says how the pilots on a Canadian flight got a personal call to tell them Brets brother had died and someone needs to let him know asap...sounds like hero treatment to me 😂
As a Canadian, he was a Canadian hero. Although this might have been true, the primary reason he didnt want to drop the belt was because of what Shawn had said. How can you expect someone who has worked for 15 years for a company, busted their ass, and then get screwed like that, not to be emotionally scarred?
Bret just didn’t want to drop the belt to Shawn because he felt disrespected by Shawn!! It became personal between the two he would have dropped the belt to anyone else but Shawn even in Canada!
Eric was being honest in this interview. Everything he said matched up especially when he talks about meeting Bret at the air port aftet the accident with Owen and Bret and Eric have both told that same story throughout all tyese years not ever changing it.
The problem with Brett's ❤ situation is that since Vince was the 1 that wanted to break the contract 📝 he had Creative Control for the last month he worked in WWE. So he didn't want to drop the belt because it was in his Legal right 👮. Eric its the same deal 🤝 you did with Hulk 😎. Hulk didn't want to drop the belt exercising his creative control or turned heel 👠 in YOUR... Movie 🎥 when you pitched him the idea as his Boss...😎??? But when Brett does it...😒???
The fact that Air Canada crew told him that Owen died, it means he was a Canadian Hero. He meant something to us. The Montréal screwjob hurt us all because he was our hero as a Canadian. Dropping the belt to an American on Canadian was disrespectful. Look at the match in the Uk with British Bulldog and Bret Hart. Bret Hart lost the Intercontinental belt to British Bulldog because that was his home soil. Bret is always be the best there was, the best there is and the best that will ever be. He carried WWF when Hogan left.
Glad i stumbled on this. This gives me a little more respect for Eric. He owned his responsibility in the Hart mess, but everything he said alot Hart made sense also.
We all knew what the score was. He wanted to stay with WWF because WCW was on the slide and couldn't develop stories/talent and that ticked Bichoff off. Initial intentions might have been good but Hogan was the creative. And it was never going to happen for WCW and that's what killed it. He even admits that he had no focus or scope on the screwjob or Bret's momentum. That's the problem. They destroyed his momentum the moment Hart got to WCW. Their creative dropped the ball for legacy characters which was status quo for WCW
I've always thought that once Owen died, Bret's passion for the business was almost completely sucked out of him and the bad booking he was experiencing in WCW piled onto that, so I think even if the Goldberg match hadn't happened, he probably would've only wrestled for maybe another year or two before retiring on his own accord because I don't think the drive was there anymore after he lost his brother so suddenly.
I believe movie stars these days do have some say over how tough they are portrayed on screen because it affects the sort of roles they are offered. Also, in 1997 (as bizarre as it sounds now) wins and losses in wrestling did matter. Belts meant something. Davey Boy Smith was never the same after the One Night Only ppv and Bret was absolutely right to stand up for himself with Vince, especially as he had reasonable creative control.
6:25 The whole idea about wrestling is that many (especially younger) people and do NOT know "it's a movie", it's supposed to be as real as possible - especially back in that time. So yes, Bret WAS/is a Canadian hero and Bishop is talking out of his butt here.
Why they didn't hold Bret's debut off until Starrcade, I'll never know. Hype it as him deciding whether he'll sign with WCW or nWo, have him walk off in frustration as Bischoff and Dillon argue eith each other, then confirm his allegiance in the main event by fighting off Hogan's underlings to help Sting win the title. Makes total sense, Bret is a traditionalist plus he has problems with Hogan and HBK's Kliq chums.
That's not why Bret refused to lose at Survivor Series. It was because of the beef he had with Shawn and his attitude, which he viewed as an affront to the wrestling business and everything he thought it stood for. Unless you're viewing it from a puritan lens you won't understand. Whether he was right or should have swallowed his pride, that's up for debate but it wasn't because he viewed himself as a "Canadian hero". He was willing to drop the belt to anyone else in Montreal except Shawn. Ultimately the tragedy here is that we missed out on some amazing wrestling matches; Hart vs. Guerrero, Angle, Lesnar, the list goes on. In an alternate universe Vince finds a way to keep Bret, Owen doesn't die and we're treated to some absolutely legendary feuds from 2000-2005.
Yeah, I’m a retired professional Motocross/Supercross racer & Europe is a very different animal from North America…you can take a train all over Europe…and go between countries like nothing _(or, you could before 9/11 anyways)_ and they have the 5-day Glastonbury festival which gets crowds bigger than 1969 or 1994 Woodstock, Live events in Europe attract *A LOT* of people
The fact the WWE went on with the show when Owen died is what hurt Brett. When Owens funeral was coming Vince was so afraid because he knew he was wrong sent Hogan to see how angry Brett was
Bret didnt fit in with the attitude era, he didnt wanna act outside the ring and wasnt very good on the mic and those things were becoming more and more important. All Bret wanted to do was be the champ and do 20 minute matches with 15 different arm bars and the fans just didnt want that. His only gimmick was being Canadian and liking Canada and saying Canada is better than the USA and hes from Canada and he never became the star he thinks he should be.
He also wanted to be the hero for kids to look up to. And with how Austin got over after their submission match at Mania 13, it was clear he wasn’t gonna fit the mold going into 98.
Bret has stated a number of times: It wasn’t about dropping the belt before leaving or in Canada, it was about Shawn Michaels perceived lack of respect towards him and his WWF accomplishments. He thought Vince should show him enough consideration to not force him to do that. He would have dropped it to Undertaker in a second.
@awickware1 watch Wrestling with Shadows. In the beginning it shows Brett right after finding out about dropping the belt to Shawn. It was all about the Hitman character. The dude seemed like he was going to cry about it. The video also shows the weeks leading up to Montreal and Brett had plenty of interactions with Shawn and there was no bad blood at all between the two at that time. Shawn was even playing with Brett's son chasing him all around and wrestling with him. The whole story about Shawn disrespecting Brett is straight BULLSHIT!! When the smoke cleared and time went by Brett knew he was wrong so rather than doing the right thing and apologizing he made up a bullshit story to make himself look justified. He's pathetic.
1:10 Eric has went back n forth so many times. Saying he never made him an offer prior to late ‘97(Montreal). Now he’s saying he did but on his pod he emphatically said he did not.
If you know who Brett had worked with guys like Pat Patterson and Brisco and family members who remained in the WWF. He was an outsider in WCW. He also had to realize he was going to work opposite guys who were still friends with Shaun Michaels. He was alone going into WCW with serious baggage. I can believe Eric's side of the story almost as I believe Brett's version.
Bret took himself way too seriously. Bottom line, you leave a company, you put the new number 1 guy over or whatever the hell management wants you to do
Yep. Cornette put it best. "'OH no. Bret Hart got screwed out of his fake championship belt and left on bad terms from his job where he made 1.5 million a year so he could go to thr competition and make 2.5 million dollars a year. My asshole is just bleeding for you"
"we had plans for Bret Hart in WCW" "what were the plans?" "put him in nWo" They've talked about replacing WCW with nWo a good deal in the past but I never understood how that would work.
I get that Americans didn’t understand that Bret was a Canadian Hero at the time but he damn sure was! If Eric didn’t think he was well….Air Canada within hours reached out to a Pilot in the air to let them know to tell Bret his brother had passed in the ring during a Pay per view. This was a time before the internet, most people did not have cell phones let alone pagers. On top of that pay per views at the time we’re not watched heavily as they cost a lot of money. The fact that Air Canada tracked Bret down to tell him about his brothers death lets you know just a little bit of how much Bret means to Canadians❤
Owen passed away in 1999. I'm not sure what part of the world you lived in at the time, but a lot of people I knew had both cellphones & internet access.
Best thing that ever happened to WCW.? Hulk Hogan. Worst thing that ever happened to WCW? Also, Hulk Hogan. The very FIRST thing EB did with Brett was make him a REFEREE. EB is full of crap. He was shelved the first day he showed up. Has Hogan's prints all over it.
Now your really telling some B.S.! He was top five at that time most famous. If you did what the people wanted.-- STING, BRETT, and PIPER he would have killed in the ratings. But you did what we all saw.
The fact that Eric doesnt see how Bret Hart was a hero even after telling the story about the pilot and Owens death shows exactly how he could fumble Bret so bad. He just didnt see what everyone else did.
How did Bischoff blow that one? I mean he brings Brett in and has him go into the nWo right away. That was stupid! Brett should have been with Sting fighting back against the invasion. Brett was brought in to help clean house, sort of angle. He hated Hogan. It should have been so simple.
Bret had a great run in WCW. He's one of only eight WCW Triple Crown Champions and did it faster than the other seven (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Scotty Steiner, and Booker T).
I may be in the minority here, but I wholeheartedly agree with what Eric says here in this interview. He makes a lot of sense. I especially enjoyed his soliloquy about Bret thinking he was a Canadian hero. That made, and continues to make, Bret look like a complete tool to this day. He thought he could do whatever he wanted just because he was Bret Hart. Yes, he was a great wrestler, but let's face it, he wasn't megastar, someone who you'd drop anything you're doing to go watch him.
JFC this has been covered a million times. Bret didn’t mind dropping the belt in Canada, he didn’t want to drop it to Shawn, who he felt had no respect for the business. He repeatedly said he would have happily dropped it to Austin or Undertaker.
It's right there in Bret's 1997 documentary, Bret clearly says fine he would drop the belt .... just NOT IN CANADA. I also found Bret Hart interviews on youtube that he did way back in 1997 and AGAIN he states that his 1 request to Vince was to not lose the championship IN CANADA.
How do you say you didn't need Bret Hart? He was the WWF champion at the time and when he came over, was fresh off the hottest storyline in the Attitude Era. Not to mention he's one of the best in ring wrestlers of all time. Which is something WCW main events were missing in '97/98 when he came to WCW. If WCW had used him as the biggest babyface he would have been the perfect opponent for Hogan and would have been for the first time matchup. Sadly WCW had zero plans for Bret and didn't see him as a star.
I think Eric candidly and fully covered the entire reasons of what went wrong with Bret. It is too bad what happened but it's a combination of circumstances.
Owen Hart would have been; neWo. Its controversy when Owen beats Hogan for World Heavyweight Championship eventually facing Bret (whom is United States champion) Hogan purposely lost to neWo just to smite Bret. The BETTER There Is The BETTER There Was The BETTER There Ever Will Be neWo
There’s valid criticisms of Bret, and I say that as a Bret fan (e.g. I think he’s too petty about blaming Goldberg when he should blame WCW management for allowing him to keep wrestling multiple matches after that including a hardcore match with Funk), but in this case Eric’s framing here is so bad like usual. First of all, Owen died about 1 1/2 years after Bret debuted for WCW, so Eric’s timeline is just wrong when he said Bret coming into WCW was “shortly after Owen died," and him to then imply that's why Bret "wasn't engaged" is just a false/ridiculous claim. Also, the problem wasn’t dropping the belt. Bret offered to drop it to Austin, Shamrock, or Taker. He even said he would drop it to Shawn if Shawn would do the honors first, because it all came to down the locker room comment where Bret said something along the lines he was happy do the honors only for Shawn to literally say to his face in return he wouldn’t return the favor for him in front of others like the Bulldog. So, while Montreal has been discussed to death like JFK, at the same time, that's also a key part of the story that is sometimes left out by some to this day including by Eric here.
According to brets video , bret wouldn't mind dropping the belt, and spoke toshawn about, but michaels was a prick about it. Which made bret not want to lose it to shawn.
How should Bret have been used in WCW? Let us know in the comments below!
He should have been a focal point to transition the company into a new era, like he was for WWE and the attitude era. The company was down and out and he was one of the key elements of the revival. He could have transitioned WCW away from its’ nWo dependency. In hindsight, Bret should have left WWF and remained a free agent. When he signed with WCW, the company was at its very peak (Starcade Hogan vs Sting) and they didn’t realise how much they needed a Bret Hart down the line.
bret needed his own faction. a hart foundation style thing centered around Dungeon graduates. he could've been a leader of guys like benoit, jericho, Lance storm, jushion thunder liger, bulldog and Jim. something to take on the nwo. they were too big and needed a legit rival
If Eric could have signed, Owen Hart granted a quick release from his contract to jump to WCW. As the Black Hart appeared in the crowd, reunited with Bret, Bulldog, and Neidhart as Foundation. Anticipating angle the NWO VS. Hart Foundation storyline 🔥 🔥
Bret losing in Canada is like ending Underaker’s streak, will never be beneficial in the long run.
This wouldn't happen because of Hulk but this is the correct answer. Hogan loses to Sting at Starcade as he should have. Over the next month WCW starts winning the war. The NWO starts pointing fingers ar each other leading to a PPV Nash vs. Hogan for the leadership of the NWO. Masked man helps Nash win and Nash introduces the new leader of the NWO, Bret Hart. Hogan sees he's been deceived by the black and white and returns in the Red and Yellow. It's not rocket science.
The fact that they called a pilot of air Canada to let Bret know his brother passed lets you know that he in fact was a Canadian hero 😆 😊
Exactly!
💯 🇨🇦 🍁
Came to say that exactly. I’m American and can tell you that. I had legit concerns as a child that WWF was going to start a war between US and Canada. Those crowds were insane.
Nah,its cuz they had money..
Americans don't know what it's like to be Canuck
i don't ever hear bischoff mock hulk hogan for thinking he was a hero and not wanting to lose
He would if Hogan said he wouldn't do jobs in the US
@@JoshLavian no he wouldn’t
@@JoshLavian Hogan didn’t do jobs in the US from ‘85-‘98 so about a decade and a half wtf are you talking about.
Hulk hogan was a much bigger draw regardless of how you feel
@@jinglebells223exactly!!! Brett even at his height didn’t bank as much as Hogan did
It's funny cause he mentions (and falls flat in the punchline) that Bret "thought he was a hero in Canada", but when Owen died, AIR CANADA contacts the PILOT to tell them about Owen cause they know Bret is on that flight. So yea, Bret didn't think that he was hero in Canada, he KNEW he was a hero in Canada.
@chuckaveli87 get the fuck outta here dude!! Bret is a fucking narcissist. To believe he was really his character is FUCKING PATHETIC!!!
Never thought of it that way but damn you’re right
Bret was absolutely a hero in Canada. I don't know why Bischoff even thinks otherwise. The Hart family alone is literal royalty in Canada as it is, but Bret was like a walking talking hero for the country.
I thought the same thing.
I think what Eric is trying to say is Bret thought he was a hero, yes he KNEW he was a hero rather, but main point is not dropping the belt especially in Canada, like a hero should never die in a movie. While I loved Bret for technical skills, I loved his mic skills too, charisma, defending titles every week even against not so prominent opponents, and what he has given to WWE along with 2 other WWE loyals Undertaker & Shawn, best 3 all time for me, Bret had an ego of not dropping the belt to Shawn. Now ! some may argue he did in Survivor Series Iron Man Match, before Montreal Screwjob, but he's been vocal about its unwillingness in many interviews. That's the nerve Eric didn't touch.
Hi, a Canadian here. Bret is very much a Canadian hero.
He’s a baby. He can’t lose a match in his country? Imagine if everyone acted this way.
He was. Tag team guy as his character was ridiculous. Had no charisma. And was a terrible champ that’s why they did this charade which actually gave him a huge boost.
Just like Owen nobody gave a shit about him. He died playing that lame ass blue blazer gimmick.
Yikes @PeeBurps-gk7cu tell us what you really think. Bret remains the best there was the best there ever will be. Not sure where that Owen comment came from, but that was brutal.
@@PeeBurps-gk7cuBret lost many matches in Canada and it was never an issue. Hell, he's lost in MONTREAL before as a member of the WWF.
Any person with any real brains knows that this has nothing to do with losing in Canada,this has to do with a personal issue with Shawn and Vince, that's it. Bret has admitted he would've lost the title that night to ANYONE else. He's not the first champ who pulled that on their way out, Hogan did it to Bret in 93. The worst part? HBK wasn't their guy either, that was Austin. The fact is, it's bizarre that Vince was SO adamant it had to be Shawn that beat Bret, there was obviously something else going on there.
@@Nothereman9999
You can’t compare hogan to Bret hart. This isn’t an athletic competition. It’s entertainment and you follow the script.
And hogan love him or hate him he was and is a massive star.
It’s like comparing Robert deneiro to Rick Moranis.
Bret got his time. And now he loses in the movie. Then goes onto the next movie.
Bret is weird man. He views it like he’s winning the matches as he’s technically better and gutted it out.
Bret was a great wrestler. So was dean malenko. But they massively lack in certain areas to carry multiple “ movies. “
@@PeeBurps-gk7cuthe whole not wanting to lose in Canada only came about after Shawn acted the knob to him. So he acted like one right back. Cope.
Despite his rise and fall in WWF and trials and tribulations of WCW. Bret Hart, without a doubt, is one of the most important, inspiring, and gifted technical wrestlers of all time . Forever in the Best there is, Best there was, Best there ever will be 👏 🙌 🙌
@arrisbaldwin6498 Please there are so many others WAY BETTER!! And they don't whine like him. Way overrated. Dynamite Kid , Chris Benoit , Owen , and even Davey Boy were way better than Brett and no way to argue that. They are all by far better in the ring and better at promos. At least Davey and Dynamite have that English accent that was funny as hell during promos
If you don't like it, then tough $hit
_Bret Hart [1997]
@@ppiorkowski1502 Davey Boy Smith was better in the ring than Bret? What the hell have you been smoking? 😂 And I say that as a British Bulldog fan. Are you forgetting Summerslam 92 where Bulldog went out to the match high as a kite,and couldn't remember a single spot in the match. Bret carried him through the entire thing. Dynamite Kid was an innovator,but outside the ring was an asshole and a bully,and ended up a bitter old man with health issues that were caused to some extent by his in ring style. Benoit was technically on a par with Bret,but that's irrelevant now because he was a murdering shit bag. Owen was as good in the ring,but probably a better talker.
@manumental86 who's whining now Bret is a Hall of Famer and still acknowledged by wrestling colleagues .
@@ppiorkowski1502 Benoit could not cut a promo, at all.
It had NOTHING to do with Canada. It all came down to what Shawn Michaels said in the locker room: “..I appreciate that Bret, but I’m not willing to do the same for you.”
Bret has said that a million times! He made it really clear on their rivalries DVD.
He was 40 years old. That is the kind of argument a high school 16-year-old makes. Not a 40-year-old supposed professional wrestler. Drop the fucking belt on the way out the door. That’s how it’s done. He knew this.
I gave you both a thumbs up because you're both correct.
Yeah but the screwjob was an absolute masterpiece work.
@@dbreiden83080I agree. And they’re both employees, they should do what they’re told.
@@dbreiden83080 He wasn't going out the door before dropping the belt. He said he'd drop it to anyone else or he'd do the job for Shawn after Shawn did it for him. Remember Shawn went over at Mania 12, it's not like Bret didn't do it before.
The thing is, you can denigrate Bret's reasons for not wanting drop the belt all you want, but at the end of the day, he had contractual creative control over his character for the last 30 days of his deal.
I will say the only reason I ever started to watch WCW was because of Bret Hart. If he would have never went I would have never watched.
By the numbers They weren't missing your viewership before bret came.
By the numbers they were sure missing him after he was gone @@lexluger2jonnyblaze
Are you canadian? Because i know they didn’t show wcw here on tsn until around the time that bret went over. They started showing monday nitro on wednesday night.
Me too. I was a lapsed Crockett fan and the week after Montreal my childhood wrestling buddy calls and tells me what happened and I started watching WCW again, all the way till Bret got injured.
I also wasn't a big WCW fan during that period. Their matches in the upper-card were absolute shit compared to WWF. They had the same story and same outcomes and same moves and same guys every week and it was boring and never evolved. Hart was at least creative and funny on the mic when he was in WCW. Listening to the same promo from Nash and Hogan and Bichoff every week was pointless. And when the Radicals came over and Jericho, WCW was dead
he is a Canadian hero, Eric... wrestling isn't like acting, you are that character all the time to fans.
@iconic_dubois wrestling is most definitely like acting are you f*cking kidding me?! Yeah I get that Bret Hart was the hometown hero in Canada. Bret Hart was the hero in Canada. Not "The Hitman" character. All wrestlers say that you have to separate yourself from your persona when you exit the arena. That's just common sense. Bret did not do this. He didn't want to lose to Shawn Michaels in Montreal because he didn't want to do that to the Hitman character. That is f*cking PATHETIC in so many ways. And if you or any other Bret Hart fans disagree then y'all are even more pathetic than Bret. I say this because even Bret realized how pathetic he was being. Because years late, he tried using a different excuse about Montreal. Now he claims he was happy to put Shawn over. He said he was so excited that he went to go talk to Shawn about it but Shawn was bitter , disrespectful , and even threatening. It was all complete pathetic bullshit. And his documentary Wrestling with Shadows easily shows how it's all bullshit.
Bret wasn't a hero in Canada? My friends and I literally only watched WCW after Bret signed.
who cares? the population of canada is not even 40 mil. The population of the US - which is where 99% of weekly TV tapings are - is 330 mil. Just drink your Tim Hortons and enjoy freezing your nuts off
😊@@DavidDemursWhat does that have to do with his point? And almost 40 million people is still amongst the top 40 most populous countries. Obviously when comparing it to the US, it has many areas up north that are uninhabitable.
The only thing wrong with what Eric said was that Brett thought he was a Canadian Hero. The guy was. He was up there with Wayne Gretzky. Also, Brett just didn't want to lose to Michaels specifically. He would have lost it to anyone else but him. They had so much hate and animosity that there was no Changing Bret's mind. He has been very clear on this
You are naming real actual professional athletes compared to a professional wrestler. Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge fan of professional wrestling but obviously it’s sports entertainment. Somebody decided that he was getting that championship belt, and that same somebody has every right to take it away. Bret was being a fucking baby about the whole thing. Your hatred of Michael’s means nothing in regards to dropping a championship belt. Drop the belt.
The problem is, Bret was a grown adult and ultimately an employee of the company that gave him a platform to be famous, so if your boss tells you to basically work with your colleague, you damn well do it.
Your own childish animosities are not relevant, especially when you're getting paid a large sum of money.
Your job is to do what the business tells you.
If Vince told him to wear a dress and bend over to Shawn on live TV, then yeah maaaaaybe he had a legitimate grievance, but simply drop your belt to a colleague? No, he had to suck it up.
The main issue from what I saw was that Vince reneged on the contract, not who he was asking Bret to drop the belt to.
Canadian heroes draw though. Bret didn't
@@Jcrash71he did in canada ffs
@@MrDeceptacon88 no he didn't
5:28 bret was and is a canadian hero especially during that time and no wonder why wcw is out of business
😂 he’s a wrestler that was paid HANDSOMELY
should have shut his mouth and done his job.
Bret screwed Bret.
‘If WCW knew how you use Bret Hart properly we would of been in big trouble’
-Vince McMahon
He probably said would have.
Almost
OK? Too bad Vince didn't know how to use Bret either. Vince was obsessed with Shawn Michaels.
@@jason41144 exactly my thought. If Vince thought Bret was such a credible draw/threat, no way would he have freed him up to go to WCW. Bret likely would have stayed even in a somewhat reduced role, so long as Vince honored the original contract.
@@robertkelly8559😂 Thanks for the laugh.
“I (Vince McMahon) was concerned they (WCW) didn’t know what to do with him (Bret Hart).
Fortunately, those concerns were well founded because if I were they, they could’ve built the entire franchise around Bret.”
Vince McMahon back in 2006.
Shart was a draw in Canada. Nowhere else in the world and was a tag team guy with no personality.
@@PeeBurps-gk7cuYou’re a clod. He was major over everywhere in the world. I’m not even Canadian and I recognized how massive he was.
The fact that Brett dropping the Belt in Montreal is still talked about till this day proves that it was a indeed big deal.
His name is spelled "Brettt"
No it was a big deal cause of the screw job anybody could have lost a belt in there home town and it wouldn’t be talked about it was just the screw job
Because of how big a deal it was. It also spurned on the wwe attitude era a little bit more. The era had already started with dx but when vince switched the title to shawn over bret, it went into overdrive because 2 months later shawn gets hurt by a casket and austin wins the rumble. Wrestlemania that year started the austin era in the wwe
It was a big deal for Brett but to everyone else they don’t gaf lol move on
The guys acting like it’s real. He can’t lose in his home country. That’s fucking ridiculous. Imagine if everyone else thought like Shitman Shart.
"Eric Bischoff was Iike the guy in the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain doing all the noise, but didn't know anything" - Bret Hart
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!!"
Completely correct
Bret Hart blamed everyone but himself, his opinion isn't really that important
Bret Hart blames everyone. All started when he gave himself a concussion in his match against Goldberg by smashing his head into concrete was groggy after it, but blames Goldberg's kick. Never listen to a word Bret Hart says.
Perfect description.
Glad I listened to this video. I was in the audience for the Jay Leno show that Bret was supposed to compete in that day. He was scheduled to wrestle Kevin Nash on that show. I found out that they were not going to be on the show while in line to get into the studio. The show also featured Hugh Grant. Vladi Divac was the replacement for Bret and Nash.
Lol he would never talk about hogan like that
Facts, brother
That’s not gonna work for me brother
Cause Hogan would actually work on his creative unlike Bret Hart who expected everyone to do all that for him.
@@Zebowillisjr right he would work on his no sells
Eric was Hogans butt plug
I moved from Jamaica to Toronto in 1993. I was 5. Brett Hart became my hero almost immediately.
Instead of chilling under palm trees with some ganja, you got to freeze your nuts off in subzero temperatures with some silly Tim Hortons coffee and donuts. Good deal!
I love Bret! I think he's an amazing performer. Not all heroes wear capes. Remember that, Eric!
The reason why WCW is no longer around is because the heroes, like Bret Hart, didn't win. Then the bad guys who got creative control, thanks to Eric Bischoff, didn't realize they were actors (like Eric Bischoff said himself) and didn't want to lose. Eric is the pot calling the kettle black.
@@Jahn_Pah_Jonz WCW went downhill because there were running out of ideas,imo. If they've used Bret more, or had him battle more bad guys instead of becoming one, then the tides would've turned. But that's a debate for another time, sir. What I meant in my previous statement is that many fans look up to Bret as a hero, kayfaybe or not. He was just a guy that really believed in his work, and had fight still left in him. Eric doesn't know, or probably doesn't care.
True. Some heroes whine for 30 years and cheat on their wives with ring rats constantly
As a Canadian kid, Bret was my Hero at that time.
I am not even a Canadian, and Bret Hart was always my hero💥
I'm canadian and bret is a Canadian hero. wrestling is about more than acting. it's an art form. he's the goat and the innovator of technical chain wrestling that brought the wwe out of the stone age. he's a pioneer. and it wasn't about dropping it in canada or dropping it period. it was about dropping it to shawn after he tried to ruin his marriage with the sunny days comment. he said he wanted to drop it to Austin instead. vince said no but he did have creative control on his way out so he agreed to let bret drop the title instead after a no contest interference ending in Montreal. shawn dropped the wwe title a year prior because he refused to job to bret. Vince allowed it. bret just wanted to do to shawn what he did to him. PERIOD. learn your history eric
Damn right
Sure. But it’s scripted acting with a storyline.
Not an athletic competition to see who is best.
For him to not being able to lose in his home country is fucking ridiculous
Bret didn't do shit, the man didn't draw and is one of the worst drawing champs ever... Get over it 😊
@@PeeBurps-gk7cu you guys are taking the scripted part and using that as an excuse for everything. What if i told you pro sports was scripted/predeterminded? Do you think pro leagues are leaving there billions up to random basketball games without any say in the outcomes? The outcomes affect the bottom line and you think the owners are going to just sit there and let do whatever it does based on the games outcomes? lol thats laughable if you think business works this way.
At 1:10, Bischoff is contradicting something he was adamant about in his 83 weeks podcast, when he said he never made an offer to Bret in 1996.
Right at the 9:39 to 11:55 mark, listen to what Bischoff says and compare that to what he says here about making Bret an offer in 1996. - th-cam.com/video/nebwEZWZSoc/w-d-xo.html
Eric completely missed the reason why Bret wasn’t going to drop the belt in Canada, it was because he was dropping the belt to Shawn Michaels, his real life rival. Shawn refused to put over Bret, so Bret didn’t want to put him over either. Had nothing to do with thinking he was a Canadian hero.
Also, there have been plenty of instances of a film/tv actor refusing to do something in the script. Terrible analogy
Lets be as accurate as possible bret promised to put over shawn, shawn refused to promise the same, so bret broke his own word ….
We will never know if Shawn would or would not have put bret over, but we DO KNOW that bret broke his own promise
@@MrSheckstr right. My point is that Eric failed to mention Shawn as a factor at all when Shawn is a key reason why Bret didn’t drop the belt in Canada. If it was anyone else, he would’ve done so.
Bret wasn't a tv actor. He was in the wrestling business. He refused to drop the promoters belt. Nobody in the locker room would ever say that was okay but Bret didn't care. Totally unprofessional.
@@3Overhaus such a silly take & there’s a few on here firstly Shawn lost his smile when meant to the honors with Bret, secondly Bret said he was happy to put him over n Shawn was a complete unprofessional asshole like always at the time & said he’d never do the same. Thirdly Bret had creative control in last sixty days of his contract so gets what he wants, he wanted to drop it to Austin, shamrock, foley all were refused for some reason which is weird cause champ was just a place holder to give it to Austin because he was hot. Last thing is you want to talk unprofessional? All the belts hbk held in the 90’s like 10 times 7 of those times hbk relinquished the belt rather then dropping it. Even with Austin at wm14 he kept threatening not to turn up because he didn’t want to drop it, so. Score you say unprofessional again learn the facts please
@@Tek1951.Bret had "reasonable " creative control. He was told he was being unreasonable by refusing to drop the belt to Shawn. 2. Shawn being unprofessional doesn't change the fact Bret was totally unprofessional. That's just lazy what aboutism. 3. Bret didn't answer to Shawn. He answered to Vince. You're quick to shit on Shawn for not doing what he was told. How was Bret any different?
Finally Eric admits he fumbled.
He’s admitted it many times
He shouldn't because he didn't. Bret had a great run in WCW, it's only the WWE narrative that says he didn't in an attempt to downplay Montreal.
@@namikstudios😂😂😂
Then he proceeded to lie again
@@namikstudios Pretty sure Bret coming in as a ref and being part of a botched 3 count is what made his momentum so bad - plus him being part of the nWo, and getting a concussion by Goldberg is what made his run in wcw less than exciting.
They should have at that time made bret the number one guy. Despite what the hulkster thought at that point in time bret was a way bigger star than hulk especially in europe and canada. They totally messed it up simply because of eric and hulkster's egos. That is the facts jack.
Bret was huge in Asia too.
Bret was definitely not a bigger than Hogan stop lying mark
Because he is a Canadian hero, was and forever will be a Canadian hero. The reason WCW failed is because too many people had a say, Hulk stalled so many careers and killed WCW. The hero doesn't die in the movies, the hero wins
Everything turned out to be a terrible decision for Brett Hart. For starters, his home was with the WWE, where he was a superstar. He was given the belt several times and had been in the Main Event of the biggest shows a multitude of times. By giving that up, it led to the Montreal screw job. Then, while he was with WCW, he was relegated to going nowhere, and his career was cut short when he received a stiff kick to the face from Goldberg. It’s no wonder he was so bitter for so long. Sometimes we don’t know what we have until it’s gone.
Well...I guess Bret was right when he said that Bischoff has no clue of wrestling...
Respect Eric for admitting he was wrong in completely fumbling Bret's WCW stint. But where he is also wrong is Bret's "funk" came after they time and time again fumbled his career there. THAT is was to this day pisses Bret off. He did want to kick Vince's ass and bring his A game to WCW. But they squashed his momentum with NO plan. Eric tries to blame Bret's lack of fire. Go.back and watch his first few weeks/months. He was trying SO hard. They killed his spirit.
This sounds about the most honest take on the transition I've ever heard about Bret going from WWF to WCW and how it went. I love Bret, but this perspective seems legit. And, that said, it really explains Bret's performance in WCW in a way that tracks. Bret, to me, always seemed like his heart just wasn't in it anymore when he was in WCW. He was still Bret, but there was definitely something missing.
Hearing there was a lack of a plan due to Bret's timing, Bret still having some emotional stunting from the screw job, Owen dying ... this all just makes sense.
Interestingly both Prichard and Bischoff sat down on one of their respective podcasts and brokedown how the events ultimately unfolded and they came to an interesting conclusion which was Bret didn't want to leave at a certain point. Because Bret's departure more than anything was he wanted to be paid a higher salary then McMahon could ultimately afford and that led to the WCW talks reopening. As rime neared the end Bret realized he's comfortable in WWE and didn't want to leave, but McMahon was already looking to Mania and didn't have plans for Bret anymore. So it wasn't just the losing to Shawn but leaving a place you'd worked for 10 plus years by that point. And after the events unfolded the way they did it's easy to see why Bret was as twisted as he was, even before Owen's passing later on.
The fact that he has to repeat the line twice "Bret thought he was a canadian hero" to get his point across tells even everyone in the audience thinks that Bret is a canadian hero and there is no doubt in their minds.
Bringing the entire Hart Foundation group in to battle the nWo would have been awesome, for me.
Essentially he was a Canadian hero.
Hacksaw Jim Duggan the Canadian Hero in 2000 lmao.
This is the most clear and concise answer Eric has given on this.
He was on the Simpsons. He was pretty much that country’s hulk hogan. He was pretty much a Canadian hero 💁🏻♂️
Bischoff said he brought Bret in to headline Thunder as an “anchor”…..you know how many times Bret was on Thunder? 6 times. Bret spent the majority of time on Nitro. Then Bischoff says Bret didnt want to lose the belt in Canada because he (Bret) thought he was a national hero,. Wrong. Bischoff conveniently leaves out that Bret said to Michaels himself that he had no problems putting him over at SS '97 and it wasnt until Michaels said I just want you to know that I would not be willing to do the same and THAT (along with his creative clause) is why Bret decided he would not put Michaels over; in addition, Bret went to Vince and said he woul put over Austin, Shamrock or Taker instead. Mcmahon obviously did not agree to any of that, so we got the screwjob instead. So this was never about Bret not wanting to lose in Canada.
I also think Bret was one of those guys that had a creative say or had the ability to say no and not get fired over it. But it's rare thst you have individuals that will look at a show ike Thunder and not call it the B show and be cool with sticking on there. Bret on top of everything else he had going on I do think felt that way hence why he didn't show up a lot on Thunder.
Bret collected on that big Loyds of London Insurance Policy after making a lot in WCW than went back to make a fortune in WWE
I respect Bischoff for being more honest now a days. Cause Bret could have been used much more successfully if they could have been more wise to use him in all ways he had already been with WWE.
They give Bret shit for not wanting to drop the belt but respect Austin for walking out, cmon now pick a side 😒
He’s such an egomaniac he can’t lose in his own country.
Now that’s an adult baby. It’s a scripted storyline. You’re not competing to see who is the greatest.
It’s predetermined drama and a script
Austin was fired
Austin lost to rock at wrestlemainia before he retired in his home country
@@PeeBurps-gk7cu Bret is there greatest. He’s not like Shawn or hogan true whiny babies that never put people over. Or like hhh and Shawn who bullied rookies in the back. Fuck off
Should of brought back heart foundation to combat nwo, could of added new members aswell.
Benoit jericho bbd and anvil
that would have been cool... Bulldog, anvil, brett and maybe Benoit or Jericho
That would of been great! Many different story lines could of been devoloped, NWO would have a dance parter so to say to go back an forth with. Keeping them from making the wolf pack story line. Which ruined nwo@@fluworldorder426
Bret would of been redeemed, heck maybe even Owen would be still alive. He might of left wwf/wwe sooner.
WCW blew it big time! They made Bulldog and Anvil jobbers. They had a Canadian Stable with Hacksaw Jim Duggan in 2000 that failed miserably as well.
I’m 37 yo from Thailand. In the 90’s there were two things I knew about Canada. 1. It’s next to USA
2. Bret Hart
And Eric thought he’s not a Canadian Hero?
It doesn’t matter. He’s such a baby he can’t lose a scripted storyline match in his home country.
So?
All that goes to show you is that Canada has so little to show for itself
I’m a Bret hart fan.. and right now I’m an Eric bishoff fan as well. Much respect for saying that real shit
WCW definitely mishandled Bret's talent. However, Bret is no angel in all of this. He had a giant ego in the 90s. Besides Austin, he wouldn't put anyone over. Had he stayed in the WWF and had Vince honoured his 20-year contract deal, Bret would have clashed with so many guys anyhow. This should be an example for the youth to have your ego in check and not let it ruin you!
It wasn’t about losing in Canada it was about respect and losing to a guy that didn’t have any for him
Bret Hart was a great athlete and a wrestling legend without a doubt. Bischoff certainly didn't use him as he should have, but throwing shit at Eric like Bret does just doesn't sit well with me. Bret came to WCW unwillingly and it showed on the show, he never tried to help improve the quality of the product and after so many years he still complains about Goldberg's kick when he was already at a dead end in his career. Ah, not to mention the fact that his brother Owen had purposely compromised Stone Cold's career and Austin, unlike him, never complained! for goodness sake in Canada he may have been a hero but at that time in Italy we were already crazy about Goldberg, Sting, Steve Austin, undertaker etc. and for us someone who showed up in a pink and black costume in the late 90s in the ring was already outdated! Bret never accepted that and we know that.
Bret got a horrible storyline in WCW that not even his best performance could compensate. And how exactly was his responsibility to improve the quality when he wasn’t a booker? The only legitimate argument that Eric makes is of Bret’s mental health, his pride and feeling of worth on the floor due to the screwjob and the death of his brother, but with a properly well written story, he would have flourished regardless. And Bret has absolutely all the bragging rights on talking about Golberg, the guy was stiff from begging to end and was infamous for hurting his fellow workers, plus he was boring to watch. Bret was still relevant and we all know that. He was used poorly and got permanently injured.
Bischoff gets a lot of 💩 and don’t get me wrong I’m sure there’s a bit of revisionism in there, but he is very good at getting his point across as he says he saw things.
Where can I find the whole interview in one video?
You won't. They split em all for extra views
Bret was never a good fit in WCW, Vince knew he wouldn't be used right there
Also same reason wcw wasted alot of great talents. The likes of jericho, benoit, eddie guerrero, paul wight, etcetera all got wasted and wasn't really going anywhere in wcw. These stars found new and better life in wwe and actually made it big time while in wwe...
Wcw had the crappiest big popular guy, hulk hogan who constantly putting down young talents and using his backstage politics to destroy anyone that doesn't want to be his dog or follower. Hogan and his dogs was the biggest reason wcw "almost" put wwe out of business, but when the tenacity of wwe proved to be better and was able to push and create better new talents, Hogan's and his dog's ego brought wcw down and without any real young talent to match the young talents that wwe had, wcw went out of business...
Hearing Bret Hart signed for WCW before I saw the Wrestling With Shadows documentary was crazy. I couldn’t see how he would fit in, and at the time he was not as big as Hogan, Savage or Sting at that point. I’m not talking about the man and performer. To be honest I wanted to see Sting vs Hitman. Hogan didn’t figure. For me it made sense making Bret Hart a heel.
Eric Bischoff is only telling half the truth because Bret tells it differently and I believe Bret Hart
In my opinion WCW never had a plan for Bret Hart, Eric had a blank Ted Turner cheque book and signed Bret because it would hurt the WWE and it was a big deal. Eric Bischoff was beating the WWE so bad in the ratings didn’t need new ideas because the nWo storyline was the main draw. Bret Hart wanted to work with Hulk Hogan but Hulk considered Bret a mid card talent and didn’t want to wrestle him or do a storyline, theirs no money to be made wrestling Bret Hart. So instead of using Bret correctly he was used sporadically as a referee, new member of the nWo, wrestling Ric Flair and then Goldberg. Bret was paid millions to stay at home but he did get big pushes but they usually ended quickly without any pay off. Ric Flair angle went no where, wrestling Booker T, Chris Benoit, Goldberg, and even his nWo stuff sucked. If Eric Bischoff was smart he should’ve used Bret correctly to build new storylines to get wrestlers over or to see a great match like a submission match vs Sting who had the better sharpshooter. Eric had no creativity in the wrestling business except copy ideas from other companies. He could never be called a genius like Vince McMahon because if Eric Bischoff had the same roster Vince had in 95-96 Eric would’ve bankrupted WWE. He couldn’t create new stars or develop talent like Vince could. Eric just got lucky because Ted Turner gave him total control.
In Canada Bret Hart is considered a sports hero and one of the greatest Canadians. I don’t think Eric Bischoff knows how big Bret Hart is in Canada almost every Canadian wrestler brings up Bret as a reason they wanted to become a pro wrestler.
Man I miss those WCW days. WCW was the best. Tons better than WWE.
That's like saying Hogan can't lose to Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania because he's an 'American hero'....even Hogan, who was notoriously political, was willing to drop the belt when asked. Bret sounds like his ego was inflated.
Well this is the guy who fired stone cold and said he will never amount to anything. Genius
Mocks Bret for calling himself a Canadian hero...
Then says how the pilots on a Canadian flight got a personal call to tell them Brets brother had died and someone needs to let him know asap...sounds like hero treatment to me 😂
As a Canadian, he was a Canadian hero. Although this might have been true, the primary reason he didnt want to drop the belt was because of what Shawn had said.
How can you expect someone who has worked for 15 years for a company, busted their ass, and then get screwed like that, not to be emotionally scarred?
Bret just didn’t want to drop the belt to Shawn because he felt disrespected by Shawn!! It became personal between the two he would have dropped the belt to anyone else but Shawn even in Canada!
Eric was being honest in this interview. Everything he said matched up especially when he talks about meeting Bret at the air port aftet the accident with Owen and Bret and Eric have both told that same story throughout all tyese years not ever changing it.
The problem with Brett's ❤ situation is that since Vince was the 1 that wanted to break the contract 📝 he had Creative Control for the last month he worked in WWE. So he didn't want to drop the belt because it was in his Legal right 👮. Eric its the same deal 🤝 you did with Hulk 😎. Hulk didn't want to drop the belt exercising his creative control or turned heel 👠 in YOUR... Movie 🎥 when you pitched him the idea as his Boss...😎??? But when Brett does it...😒???
The fact that Air Canada crew told him that Owen died, it means he was a Canadian Hero. He meant something to us. The Montréal screwjob hurt us all because he was our hero as a Canadian. Dropping the belt to an American on Canadian was disrespectful. Look at the match in the Uk with British Bulldog and Bret Hart. Bret Hart lost the Intercontinental belt to British Bulldog because that was his home soil. Bret is always be the best there was, the best there is and the best that will ever be. He carried WWF when Hogan left.
The Americans don't get it.
Glad i stumbled on this. This gives me a little more respect for Eric. He owned his responsibility in the Hart mess, but everything he said alot Hart made sense also.
Eric Bishoff was brilliant how he helped WCW blow up. If only he wouldn’t have put all his attention to Hulk Hogan
We all knew what the score was. He wanted to stay with WWF because WCW was on the slide and couldn't develop stories/talent and that ticked Bichoff off. Initial intentions might have been good but Hogan was the creative. And it was never going to happen for WCW and that's what killed it. He even admits that he had no focus or scope on the screwjob or Bret's momentum. That's the problem. They destroyed his momentum the moment Hart got to WCW. Their creative dropped the ball for legacy characters which was status quo for WCW
I've always thought that once Owen died, Bret's passion for the business was almost completely sucked out of him and the bad booking he was experiencing in WCW piled onto that, so I think even if the Goldberg match hadn't happened, he probably would've only wrestled for maybe another year or two before retiring on his own accord because I don't think the drive was there anymore after he lost his brother so suddenly.
I believe movie stars these days do have some say over how tough they are portrayed on screen because it affects the sort of roles they are offered. Also, in 1997 (as bizarre as it sounds now) wins and losses in wrestling did matter. Belts meant something. Davey Boy Smith was never the same after the One Night Only ppv and Bret was absolutely right to stand up for himself with Vince, especially as he had reasonable creative control.
He absolutely is a Canadian Hero, damn Bishoff..
6:25 The whole idea about wrestling is that many (especially younger) people and do NOT know "it's a movie", it's supposed to be as real as possible - especially back in that time. So yes, Bret WAS/is a Canadian hero and Bishop is talking out of his butt here.
Why they didn't hold Bret's debut off until Starrcade, I'll never know. Hype it as him deciding whether he'll sign with WCW or nWo, have him walk off in frustration as Bischoff and Dillon argue eith each other, then confirm his allegiance in the main event by fighting off Hogan's underlings to help Sting win the title. Makes total sense, Bret is a traditionalist plus he has problems with Hogan and HBK's Kliq chums.
That's not why Bret refused to lose at Survivor Series. It was because of the beef he had with Shawn and his attitude, which he viewed as an affront to the wrestling business and everything he thought it stood for. Unless you're viewing it from a puritan lens you won't understand. Whether he was right or should have swallowed his pride, that's up for debate but it wasn't because he viewed himself as a "Canadian hero". He was willing to drop the belt to anyone else in Montreal except Shawn.
Ultimately the tragedy here is that we missed out on some amazing wrestling matches; Hart vs. Guerrero, Angle, Lesnar, the list goes on. In an alternate universe Vince finds a way to keep Bret, Owen doesn't die and we're treated to some absolutely legendary feuds from 2000-2005.
I'm so glad he finally talked about this topic….
Yeah, I’m a retired professional Motocross/Supercross racer & Europe is a very different animal from North America…you can take a train all over Europe…and go between countries like nothing _(or, you could before 9/11 anyways)_ and they have the 5-day Glastonbury festival which gets crowds bigger than 1969 or 1994 Woodstock, Live events in Europe attract *A LOT* of people
The fact the WWE went on with the show when Owen died is what hurt Brett. When Owens funeral was coming Vince was so afraid because he knew he was wrong sent Hogan to see how angry Brett was
Bret didnt fit in with the attitude era, he didnt wanna act outside the ring and wasnt very good on the mic and those things were becoming more and more important. All Bret wanted to do was be the champ and do 20 minute matches with 15 different arm bars and the fans just didnt want that. His only gimmick was being Canadian and liking Canada and saying Canada is better than the USA and hes from Canada and he never became the star he thinks he should be.
He also wanted to be the hero for kids to look up to. And with how Austin got over after their submission match at Mania 13, it was clear he wasn’t gonna fit the mold going into 98.
Moral of the story BRET SCREWED BRET
Bret has stated a number of times: It wasn’t about dropping the belt before leaving or in Canada, it was about Shawn Michaels perceived lack of respect towards him and his WWF accomplishments. He thought Vince should show him enough consideration to not force him to do that. He would have dropped it to Undertaker in a second.
@awickware1 watch Wrestling with Shadows. In the beginning it shows Brett right after finding out about dropping the belt to Shawn. It was all about the Hitman character. The dude seemed like he was going to cry about it. The video also shows the weeks leading up to Montreal and Brett had plenty of interactions with Shawn and there was no bad blood at all between the two at that time. Shawn was even playing with Brett's son chasing him all around and wrestling with him. The whole story about Shawn disrespecting Brett is straight BULLSHIT!! When the smoke cleared and time went by Brett knew he was wrong so rather than doing the right thing and apologizing he made up a bullshit story to make himself look justified. He's pathetic.
1:10 Eric has went back n forth so many times. Saying he never made him an offer prior to late ‘97(Montreal). Now he’s saying he did but on his pod he emphatically said he did not.
He can't keep track of all his lies.
Yeah I was confused by this too.
I don't think Bischoff was saying that Bret wasn't a canadian hero, moreso that losing wasn't a big deal because the fans knew that it wasn't real
If you know who Brett had worked with guys like Pat Patterson and Brisco and family members who remained in the WWF. He was an outsider in WCW. He also had to realize he was going to work opposite guys who were still friends with Shaun Michaels. He was alone going into WCW with serious baggage. I can believe Eric's side of the story almost as I believe Brett's version.
Bret took himself way too seriously. Bottom line, you leave a company, you put the new number 1 guy over or whatever the hell management wants you to do
Yep. Cornette put it best. "'OH no. Bret Hart got screwed out of his fake championship belt and left on bad terms from his job where he made 1.5 million a year so he could go to thr competition and make 2.5 million dollars a year. My asshole is just bleeding for you"
A dream match between bret Hart vs dean malenko 2 of the most gifted technical wrestler of all time would have been a great rivalry ever.
"we had plans for Bret Hart in WCW"
"what were the plans?"
"put him in nWo"
They've talked about replacing WCW with nWo a good deal in the past but I never understood how that would work.
I get that Americans didn’t understand that Bret was a Canadian Hero at the time but he damn sure was! If Eric didn’t think he was well….Air Canada within hours reached out to a Pilot in the air to let them know to tell Bret his brother had passed in the ring during a Pay per view.
This was a time before the internet, most people did not have cell phones let alone pagers. On top of that pay per views at the time we’re not watched heavily as they cost a lot of money. The fact that Air Canada tracked Bret down to tell him about his brothers death lets you know just a little bit of how much Bret means to Canadians❤
Owen passed away in 1999. I'm not sure what part of the world you lived in at the time, but a lot of people I knew had both cellphones & internet access.
It's not that we don't understand, it's that we don't care😂
He was a hero in Canada. I was a teenager at the time. He was a hero.
Best thing that ever happened to WCW.? Hulk Hogan. Worst thing that ever happened to WCW? Also, Hulk Hogan.
The very FIRST thing EB did with Brett was make him a REFEREE. EB is full of crap. He was shelved the first day he showed up. Has Hogan's prints all over it.
Now your really telling some B.S.!
He was top five at that time most famous.
If you did what the people wanted.--
STING, BRETT, and PIPER he would have killed in the ratings. But you did what we all saw.
Agreed
He is a Canadian hero 🤷♂️
The fact that Eric doesnt see how Bret Hart was a hero even after telling the story about the pilot and Owens death shows exactly how he could fumble Bret so bad. He just didnt see what everyone else did.
Honest and appreciated
Eric is mart and well-spoken, he even admitted he didn't know what to do with Bret.
I don't agree with a lot of what Bischoff says, but prop and respect him admitting his fault. Total Respect...
How did Bischoff blow that one? I mean he brings Brett in and has him go into the nWo right away. That was stupid! Brett should have been with Sting fighting back against the invasion. Brett was brought in to help clean house, sort of angle. He hated Hogan. It should have been so simple.
Bret had a great run in WCW. He's one of only eight WCW Triple Crown Champions and did it faster than the other seven (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Scotty Steiner, and Booker T).
I may be in the minority here, but I wholeheartedly agree with what Eric says here in this interview. He makes a lot of sense. I especially enjoyed his soliloquy about Bret thinking he was a Canadian hero. That made, and continues to make, Bret look like a complete tool to this day. He thought he could do whatever he wanted just because he was Bret Hart. Yes, he was a great wrestler, but let's face it, he wasn't megastar, someone who you'd drop anything you're doing to go watch him.
JFC this has been covered a million times. Bret didn’t mind dropping the belt in Canada, he didn’t want to drop it to Shawn, who he felt had no respect for the business. He repeatedly said he would have happily dropped it to Austin or Undertaker.
It's right there in Bret's 1997 documentary, Bret clearly says fine he would drop the belt .... just NOT IN CANADA. I also found Bret Hart interviews on youtube that he did way back in 1997 and AGAIN he states that his 1 request to Vince was to not lose the championship IN CANADA.
How do you say you didn't need Bret Hart? He was the WWF champion at the time and when he came over, was fresh off the hottest storyline in the Attitude Era. Not to mention he's one of the best in ring wrestlers of all time. Which is something WCW main events were missing in '97/98 when he came to WCW. If WCW had used him as the biggest babyface he would have been the perfect opponent for Hogan and would have been for the first time matchup. Sadly WCW had zero plans for Bret and didn't see him as a star.
I think Eric candidly and fully covered the entire reasons of what went wrong with Bret. It is too bad what happened but it's a combination of circumstances.
Owen Hart would have been; neWo.
Its controversy when Owen beats Hogan for World Heavyweight Championship eventually facing Bret (whom is United States champion)
Hogan purposely lost to neWo just to smite Bret.
The BETTER There Is
The BETTER There Was
The BETTER There Ever Will Be
neWo
There’s valid criticisms of Bret, and I say that as a Bret fan (e.g. I think he’s too petty about blaming Goldberg when he should blame WCW management for allowing him to keep wrestling multiple matches after that including a hardcore match with Funk), but in this case Eric’s framing here is so bad like usual.
First of all, Owen died about 1 1/2 years after Bret debuted for WCW, so Eric’s timeline is just wrong when he said Bret coming into WCW was “shortly after Owen died," and him to then imply that's why Bret "wasn't engaged" is just a false/ridiculous claim.
Also, the problem wasn’t dropping the belt. Bret offered to drop it to Austin, Shamrock, or Taker. He even said he would drop it to Shawn if Shawn would do the honors first, because it all came to down the locker room comment where Bret said something along the lines he was happy do the honors only for Shawn to literally say to his face in return he wouldn’t return the favor for him in front of others like the Bulldog. So, while Montreal has been discussed to death like JFK, at the same time, that's also a key part of the story that is sometimes left out by some to this day including by Eric here.
According to brets video , bret wouldn't mind dropping the belt, and spoke toshawn about, but michaels was a prick about it. Which made bret not want to lose it to shawn.