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WCW screwed Bret by making him a WCW Triple Crown Champion faster than any of the others who still deserve the honor?? (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Booker T, and Scotty Steiner) Okay...
@@namikstudios Tragically enough none of the belts Bret won (asides maybe the US) was that much prestigious when he had them. The big gold belt was in the ways to becoming Russo's joke prop. That's why it's not even close to what Bret is known for as a world champion.
He look like he got kick out of a high school and was sent to a different high school and doesn't wasn't be there but he has no choice he has to be there
Brilliant career? He's one of the worst draws in history. Still holds these distinctions: - Main Eventing the absolute worst drawing WWF PPV of all time (IYH5) - Main Eventing the second lowest drawing Wrestlemania of all time, WM12 (and being front and center on the poster of the worst drawing - WM 13) - The Champion who drew the smallest crowd in the MSG all time (4,300 in 1994) - The Champion who drew the smallest crowd at the Meadowlands ever (4,000 in 1995) - The Champion who drew the smallest crowd in Calgary ever (4,600 in 1994) Yeah, what a "brilliant" career. It's no wonder WCW dropped him immediately, as even his debut after the Survivor Series didn't bring the ratings up and nobody cared about him.
WCW had to fail him since their gameplan didn't work with regards to Bret Hart bringing the WWF championship to WCW (which planned to throw the belt in a trash bin). It's good Vince foresaw that, Bret does not deserve honor, because that was terrible for him to destroy the business that brought him up. @@ShadowAngel1860
Funny you say that because I believe that the powers that be in WcW including Bishcoff sent Goldberg to take Bret out bc they didn't want to pay Brets big contract he signed for..... Even tho Bill was careless, he never hurt any main roster guys bc they were protected.....
Another excellent episode on your channel. Bret Hart should have been a megastar in wcw. They didnt have a clue what to do with him which always baffled me.
You think it wouldn't be too hard to figure out what to do with Bret Hart. EVERYONE in WCW knew who he was, including all the fans. EVERYONE knew what happened in Montreal. EVERYONE knew he was a former world champion. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out a good story for him to make Bret Hart interesting. Instead we get "Special guest referee then throw him in with the nWo." It's like they didn't put forth the effort of even trying to do anything with Bret Hart, because there is so much that could have been done here.
Bret was always my favorite and it really killed me to see what happened to him. I never watched wrestling after he left WWF. I just had no reason to with Nash and Hall gone too.
It obvious loyalty and friendship meant more to Bret than to Vince. He didnt wnna leave wwe and all he did was acepted Vinces offer, just for Vnce to shaft him in the worse way. Bret woldnt even be critical of Vince on wcw, could you imgine any other wrestlers not wanting to stick it to the man? Yet Bret wouldnt. A class act all round.
As time goes on I understand completely why bret hart is bitter in many interviews the guy was one of the greatest gave his all to the business and got betrayed every step of the way
@@jrsmith1998He had planned too. He and Vince made the plan for Bret to win in Montreal then drop the title the next day. Vince change his mind and screwed him over.
@@LeafsFanHereIfThatWasntObvious Wrong!! First off, it was not agreed that Bret would win, it was decided that the match would end in a double DQ after interference from both DX and the Hart Foundation. And Bret didn’t agree to drop the title the next night. He wanted to “held his head high” and hand the title, making him an unbeatable champion. Not a good look for WWF at the time.
@@Musiclover19 That’s right, the title wasn’t supposed to change hands. I take that as a win but your explanation was more correct. And by drop the title I meant hand it back over to wwf.
@@krillin876IDK bret vs stone cold was golden though he started the attitude era...he should of been a super heel starting off with direct conflict with sting
Bret should have been the guy taking the fight straight to Hogan and the NWO. The fact that it took over two years just for him to finally win the WCW World Title, says it all.
Bret became a WCW Triple Crown Champion faster than all the others who still deserve the honor (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Booker T, and Scotty Steiner). The reality is he became world champ very quickly.
i wouldn't say two years. Hart was absent from wcw for most of 99. I don't think it was as bad as much people say. In a little more than a year of active wrestling, hart was a triple crown champion. Unluckily he suffered the concussion in the goldbergs match, and neither he or wcw took care of him. If he rested after that match, instead of fighting a hardcore match against terry funk (and other matches he had after the goldberg one), he may have returned after a few months...
@@leonardoyi3183 yeah that is something that is often overlooked in the context of Bret's WCW run - he took a very long break in the middle of 99 after Owen died, as WCW told him he could take as much time off as he needed. There was even doubt whether he would ever return to wrestling.
The Goldberg angle was before Owen died. A combination of Goldberg taking time off to film a crappy movie and Owen dying killed the angle off which really sucks
Gotta admit, I liked WCW Bret Hart. WWF Bret was 100% Hitman serious mode at all times which isn't bad, but in WCW I thought Bret showed he could be funny, conniving, devious and unpredictable.
Bret hart never had charisma. Charisma doesn't mean showing some personality. It means onscreen magnetic presence. Bret Hart and Shawn Michael were pretty much mid card talent. Among veterans and hardcore fans they may hail them high. But they were low card material. Bret Hart wasn't screwed. He just wasn't the type that main stream fans could connect. He was never going to draw money for WWF, and he never did. He went to WCW and almost did nothing to the ratings and PPV buys. WCW made him the champion and he beat the likes of Sting and Goldberg and still couldn't draw a dime. When Bret Hart was the reason WWF didn't draw money, how can anyone expect him to outdraw Hogan or Goldberg in WCW.
You can tell how much he suffered between ‘98 and 2000. He went from looking fresh, rejuvenated, and overall youthful to stressed and aged. Depression, anxiety, emotional drain, and physical pain all ate away at him. 😢 Symptoms manifested externally.
WCW blew it with Bret from the beginning because of the nWo, meaning no new arrivals, no matter how good they were, were gonna disrupt the nWo and the main event scene
bret hart was the guy that got me into pro wrestling and is one of my top 5 all-time favorite wrestlers. seeing him in wcw felt off for me. it felt like he didn't belong because no one was on his level. not even hogan in terms of ring work.
*cough* uhh Ric Flair, Dean Malenko, and the disgraced murderer Benoit... all great technical wrestlers in WCW when Bret arrived. Hogan was never a great in-ring technician like them.
During Bret's time in WCW, it was basically a situation of the inmates running the asylum. Bischoff had no spine at all and didn't stand up to Hogan et al when it came to the creative direction of the promotion. I'd highly recommend Bret's excellent autobiography for more information about his time in WCW. It's truly tragic that his career ended in WCW in the way that it did. Bret deserved a lot better.
It is always so depressing to hear about wrestlers that had so much trust in McMahon and loyalty to him. Vince has always been in it for himself. The best example is selling off the WWE rather than passing it onto Stephanie and HHH. He already had more money than he could possibly need for the rest of his life (even it it lasts to 120!) so it was just pure greed causing him to screw over family.
Left out the part that Owen’s blu blazer fatal accident happened during Brett’s time at WCW which distracted his momentum there. Also Hogan overshadowed Brett in WCW as he did in the WWF so Hart was never going to get over
Let’s not forget Brett hart put Steve Austin over and created one of the most amazing runs in wrestling history, yes Steve Austin was made already, but the match with Brett hart launched his career. That match put the entire world on notice
I saw Bret in WCW back in 2000/01 in the UK, he came in really unhappy talking about Owen the overall crowd we’re semi sympathetic, the rest threw bottles…very disappointing to see him treated that way, but he did have that vibe about him. He always deserved more in my opinion.
Hogan and Nash sabotaged WCW and other careers. They had Goldberg, Sting, DDP and Bret for crying out loud! Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero. Smfh
Terry funk is the greatest wrestler in history .. his longevity is unknown the dude was still doing moonsaults in his 60s ... also famous for making extreme wrestling in his late 50s at the time ... Terry funk rip you were the best
bret hart, sting and wcw were all buried in one night by hulk hogan and eric bischoff. them instructing the referee to do a regular/slow count to ruin the most anticipated match in wcw history sent wcw into a downward spiral from then on out. bret should've came into wcw and formed his own faction called the hart dungeon with bulldog, anvil, lance storm and chris benoit. they could've had a funny angle with jericho trying to join but constantly getting rejected. they could've added guys later on like jake roberts, jushion thunder liger, ken shamrock, roddy piper and others. they could've come out to the song "all hell for a basement" in 2001 and become even bigger
Bret Hart should have came to WCW at Starcade 97, Without doing the guest referee crap. He should have came out at the end of Sting Vs Hogan and challenge Sting for the WCW Heavyweight title and make reference to Montreal. Then have Sting vs Hart battle for whos the best while simultaneously fighting the NWO until the NWO split in 98.
I was never a fan of WCW back in the day but looking back on the Network you can see how useless they were. Having Bret complain about a "fast count" when Hogan pinned Sting was one of their many screw ups. They really didn't have a clue in WCW.
I get all teary eyed when I see Bret put his glasses on a kid before getting in the wrestling ring. As a 90s kid, I really wished that was me. Bret was a superhero.
I was WWf guy and when Bret went to wcw i was tuning in to wcw just to see him have classic matchups with all the talent they had in wcw but .... wcw dropped the ball SMH. Geezus. Everyone wouldve bought PPV Hollywood vs Hitman. Everyone wouldve loved hitman vs nwo storyline teaming up with Sting Goldberg DDP The 4Horsemen Booker t etc wouldve been feuds a great ppv for world war. Endless story lines missed bc of egos jealousy toxic management. They didnt want to give Hitman the hype.
I said back then and now that WCW dropped the ball big time on Bret Hart. Here you had one of the biggest wrestlers coming off of the biggest controversy. And the best WCW had for Bret to debut was as a special enforcer for the Sting and Hogan match at Starrcade 97? Bischoff always says Bret was broken after Montreal but the truth is the only reason Bischoff signed Bret was in an attempt to put WWF out of business. It’s sad too because Bret was arguably the biggest star in wrestling when he came into WCW. And was no doubt one of the best technical in ring workers of all time. He deserved much better.
WCW just didn't know how to book him they signed him and once they got him had no idea what to do a bunch of face/heels turns didn't help him much and loads more things.
I am a lifelong WCW fanatic, and I still live, breathe, bleed, and I will die for that company to this day. As a kid, I felt Bret could have been done better in WCW, but as an adult, I feel like his WCW run was actually not that bad. Great mic work, his short run of injurying opponents in late 1998, dnd he gave me dream matches I never thought would happen (Sting, Malenko, Benoit, Booker, DDP). The only issue I have with him in WCW is that he never had a Big Gold Belt shot in 1998. He should have had at least 2, if not 3 chances in that calendar year. What's funny is that when Bret talks about about all the favorite moments of his entire career, WCW seems to top the listls (minus Summerslam 1992 of course. I am talking about Benoit on the Owen show, Goldberg Steel Plate, El Dandy, any time he wrestled Sting, The Big Gold Belt vs Bentoit at Mayhem 1999). WCW For Life.
I wish he came in and started up a new Hart Foundation faction. Could have brought in Benoit and Jericho with Neidhart and Bulldog. The NWO had really started to grow stale by that time.
He was a 2 time world champion. 4 time U.S champion. Tag champion. Had an actully good amount of 4+ star matches. Mostly before his injury in late 98. But still... I didn't see a waste. Just a missed opportunity out the gate to push him in WWF's face.
A 1997 Bret Hart who is one of the biggest stars of the industry, the WWF Champion who has been screwed out of the title, should not be a US Champion or a Tag Team champion. He should be World Champion only. These are midcard belts, they are supposed to be for midcarders or to build future World Champions. This is the reason why Hogan was never an IC champion or a US champion.
@@oceandeep318 do you realize that the person with the most US Title reigns in history is none other than the greatest wrestler of all time, Ric Flair? All the WCW Triple Crown Champions had runs with it: Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Hart, Booker T, Benoit, and Scotty Steiner. Furthermore, Hart is one of only four men to have a double triple crown, meaning both WCW and WWE triple crowns, which he and the others wouldn't have had they not held the US, IC, and Tag titles. Then there are legends like Roddy Piper and Scott Hall who never held world titles but were US Champs.
@@namikstudios all when they were midcarders. Flair won it in the 70s and 80s. Sting won it when Hogan, Randy and Flair were in WCW and Sting was demoted to midcard. The rest were midcarders at the time when they won the US title to work their way up. I stand by my statement. With Bret, it was a huge mishandling. How many US reigns did Hogan or Nash have for example? Bret came in as the biggest main eventer. He should be a main eventer instantly. He was in his prime.
@@oceandeep318 Flair won the US Title in 1996, by which time he was already a legend. Scott Hall, Roddy Piper, and Goldberg won it in 99. WCW handled Bret very well. Putting the US title on anyone is a huge honor. Besides which, WWE gave a retired Bret his last reign as US Champ in 2010... so if you are going to complain about any reign it should be that one. Back in WCW the US title was in the secondary main-event spot, where as these days it has been devalued in WWE due to there being two world titles and the IC title. Both the US and IC used to be far more prestigious than they are today.
I always try to point out that when Bret wrote WCW in the air, he wrote the Cs backwards, and someone always says that he wrote it right for our perspective. So yeah, but he wrote it backwards compared to the way he wrote the Ws. You write a W from left to right. From our perspective he wrote the Ws right to left, which he did from his own perspective. You write a C from top-right to top-left to bottom-left to bottom-right, which he did from our perpsective. So he wrote the C backwards from the way he wrote the W. Not that it matters: Ws are horizontally symmetric. It's just an observation.
as much as I love Bret, I think when he jumped to WCW, it was like a karma to him. I stopped watching him when he left WWF. If he didn't go to WCW, he would still have a career until now whether in-ring or as a manager. Btw, he also had a bad WCW entrance theme too.
Half the problem was that up here in Canada we never got to see WCW for a long time cause we couldn’t get American stations without an illegal satellite dish that was pricey so we never got to see all the WCW stuff
I agree bret harts career was wasted but I think it was him that wasted it. People have been hit a lot harder then Goldberg kicked him. I believe he was messed up but I also think he hid behind that injury. Bret always gave the vibe that he had to be number 1. I think he felt a lot of pressure and was afraid he couldn't compete with the newer character and the newer style of wrestling that was taking over and he was scared he would drop down the card and with his brother dying and bulldog the fact that his brother died in a wwf ring he didn't want to face that and all that stress mixed with being in shock from crashing his motorcycle caused his stroke which gave jim a bigger wall to hide behind ..I always chose hbk over bret because hbk didn't care what people thought and it made him more popular. Bret just gave that I have to be the best or not at all vibe
I was a diehard fan of both companies at the time. Bret debuting as a ref was the lamest thing ever. The following storyline teasing whether or not he was joining the NWO was terrible and went on forever.
He couldn't debut as a wrestler because he was still bound to a no-compete clause after leaving WWF that legally prevented him from wrestling at Starrcade.
Amazing how WCW took the greatest screwjob in wrestling History and ruined the guy on their end and the then WWF made it into a billion dollar company turning Vince McMahon into an evil super villain. The funny thing is Vince did not even want to go that route until it was obvious the fans hated him post Montreal. Then Austin lucked into a right place right gimmick right time situation and made himself one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. Austin would have never reached the level of superstardom without evil Mr Mcmahon. Then WCW gets Bret Hart and his first ppv match was vs ric flair? Over what exactly? Then a match with Curt Henning in march of 1998? Nothing against flair or henning but I always thought Bret should have been put right into a better spot. I always thought they should have gone right into a Sting vs Bret Hart feud face vs face. I totally forgot about Bret being a part of team hollywood lmao.
Never like Hitman, face or heel he was always smug. Boring on top of everything. But as an adult going back to watch old wrestlers I can truly appreciate his actual wrestling skill.
WCW's creative and Bischoff never seemed to know how to make stars and only seemed to stumble on big pushed accidentally. They also dropped the ball on Jericho, Mysterio, etc. They just kept pushing the NWO and Hogan and his cronies because they were friends with Bischoff.
He was the biggest draw for the international market. WWF should have done everything to keep him. And WCW should have immediately pushed him to the top. But Hogan had a tendency to (along with the old klique members), keep talent down. The realism for his in-ring style, is something really lacking currently. They (whichever company), should hire him to teach the new talent this. And yes, Flair (and Hogan), tend to do the same routine. Very predictable.
Hes had horrible storylines but he had good matches still. But the matches aren't really highlighted because of his bad storylines. He had his fued with ddp, sting, macho man, and a mini fued with booker t. While being an associate ONLY of black and white. Then the silver and black which looked as if it could have been something if no one was injured.
Ya know, Hart could have investigated all those stories he was hearing about haw bad things were in WCW. But he apparently didn’t because K can’t believe he would have left WWE had he known how badly Bischoff was running WCW.
Sounds like Hogan and the other big names who'd been there for years weren't interested in giving Bret any sort of push that would distract from themselves so they kept him confined to mid-card feuds and matches against middling talents and a few rehashed feuds from the WWF days. Hall and Nash, being Shawn Michaels' buds, also might have taken a hand in making sure Hart didn't go anywhere. As Michaels told him, Hart could go 'down south with the rest of the dinosaurs, and the ones who aren't dinosaurs are MY friends.'
He was kind of lost as the late 90's were approaching. Great technical wrestler in the ring but he wouldn't have been able to cut promos in the attitude era. The attitude era was more about mic skills, trash talk, and skits, with SOME wrestling. The skits like Austin giving the "Beer Bath" are FAR more remembered than specific matches. So he had no place in the WWF/WWE, and Hall, Nash, and Hogan would never let him rise in WCW. Complete limbo.
I can't put all the blame on management for why Bret didn't do great in WCW. Most of his matches during this time were pretty lackluster. His only real good matches during this time were with DDP, Booker T, and Chris Benoit.
![SWS vs WWF WrestleFest Watchalong [March 30, 1991] - OSW Review 98](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0czuiBcykC0/mqdefault.jpg)
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Hi guys, if you enjoyed this video then give it a thumbs up 👍it's much appreciated! Here's a 90's wrestling playlist, if that's your kind of thing: th-cam.com/play/PLxkglzU4z_xMWQfsUfEgih-nVMkWYtOTc.html&si=I1efpuY63NFeAJup
WWF screwed Bret on one night, WCW screwed Bret on his entire run in the company.
Well, Bret once said that he regretted going to WCW.
WCW screwed Bret by making him a WCW Triple Crown Champion faster than any of the others who still deserve the honor?? (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Booker T, and Scotty Steiner) Okay...
@@namikstudios Tragically enough none of the belts Bret won (asides maybe the US) was that much prestigious when he had them. The big gold belt was in the ways to becoming Russo's joke prop. That's why it's not even close to what Bret is known for as a world champion.
@@moisesfreire6408 no the WCW WHC Big Gold was and is the most prestigious of any of the world titles.
@@namikstudiosnot at that point in time it's wasn't
The man who single handedly made my 8 year old self a permanent wrestling fan. #RespectTheHitman
"There's one thing WCW never had that the WWF did, and that was Vince McMahon" - Bret Hart
Pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be taken as praise. Vince McMahon unfiltered creates incomprehensible messes that the writers have to unfuck.
I think bret meant that even though Vince had many flaws there was a method to his madness when it came to the sport and the entertainment aspect
If you'd ever like to see a picture of the phrase "I have made a horrible mistake", look at any photo of Bret Hart in WCW.
Hart looked really uncomfortable in WCW like starting high school.
lol
He look like he got kick out of a high school and was sent to a different high school and doesn't wasn't be there but he has no choice he has to be there
Yeah he wasn’t top dog anymore. The NWO thing was just getting stupid by then but it controlled everything.
Bret truly is "The best there is, the best there was & the best there ever will be!" A very sad end to a brilliant career!
Brilliant career? He's one of the worst draws in history. Still holds these distinctions:
- Main Eventing the absolute worst drawing WWF PPV of all time (IYH5)
- Main Eventing the second lowest drawing Wrestlemania of all time, WM12 (and being front and center on the poster of the worst drawing - WM 13)
- The Champion who drew the smallest crowd in the MSG all time (4,300 in 1994)
- The Champion who drew the smallest crowd at the Meadowlands ever (4,000 in 1995)
- The Champion who drew the smallest crowd in Calgary ever (4,600 in 1994)
Yeah, what a "brilliant" career. It's no wonder WCW dropped him immediately, as even his debut after the Survivor Series didn't bring the ratings up and nobody cared about him.
The best at sucking himself off, maybe. That’s all he does, any time he opens his mouth.
WCW had to fail him since their gameplan didn't work with regards to Bret Hart bringing the WWF championship to WCW (which planned to throw the belt in a trash bin). It's good Vince foresaw that, Bret does not deserve honor, because that was terrible for him to destroy the business that brought him up. @@ShadowAngel1860
@@ShadowAngel1860well damn lol
@@ShadowAngel1860facts
Bret Hart should have hit Eric Bischoff with the Uppercut like he did Vince McMahon
Funny you say that because I believe that the powers that be in WcW including Bishcoff sent Goldberg to take Bret out bc they didn't want to pay Brets big contract he signed for..... Even tho Bill was careless, he never hurt any main roster guys bc they were protected.....
Another excellent episode on your channel. Bret Hart should have been a megastar in wcw. They didnt have a clue what to do with him which always baffled me.
Stone cold told bret that they won't know what to do with a bret hart he was right
You think it wouldn't be too hard to figure out what to do with Bret Hart. EVERYONE in WCW knew who he was, including all the fans. EVERYONE knew what happened in Montreal. EVERYONE knew he was a former world champion. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out a good story for him to make Bret Hart interesting. Instead we get "Special guest referee then throw him in with the nWo." It's like they didn't put forth the effort of even trying to do anything with Bret Hart, because there is so much that could have been done here.
NWO on the brain. Once he refused to be part if that they were lost. I think Ted Turner was the head writer. Lol.
Bret was always my favorite and it really killed me to see what happened to him. I never watched wrestling after he left WWF. I just had no reason to with Nash and Hall gone too.
Brett Hart in WCW is like Eddie Van Halen playing bass in Nickelback
ouch. that hurts and that is actually dead on.
Nickelback sucks bro
*rimshot*
didn't know eddie van halen played bass for nickelback...in what years did he played bass with nickelback?
@@leonardoyi3183
2007. Then Jimi Hendrix took over as cello for Nickelback.
It obvious loyalty and friendship meant more to Bret than to Vince. He didnt wnna leave wwe and all he did was acepted Vinces offer, just for Vnce to shaft him in the worse way. Bret woldnt even be critical of Vince on wcw, could you imgine any other wrestlers not wanting to stick it to the man? Yet Bret wouldnt. A class act all round.
As time goes on I understand completely why bret hart is bitter in many interviews the guy was one of the greatest gave his all to the business and got betrayed every step of the way
No. Bret should have simply dropped the title. End of story.
@@jrsmith1998He had planned too. He and Vince made the plan for Bret to win in Montreal then drop the title the next day. Vince change his mind and screwed him over.
@@jrsmith1998
Did Bret ‘lose his smile’…?
@@LeafsFanHereIfThatWasntObvious
Wrong!! First off, it was not agreed that Bret would win, it was decided that the match would end in a double DQ after interference from both DX and the Hart Foundation. And Bret didn’t agree to drop the title the next night. He wanted to “held his head high” and hand the title, making him an unbeatable champion. Not a good look for WWF at the time.
@@Musiclover19 That’s right, the title wasn’t supposed to change hands. I take that as a win but your explanation was more correct. And by drop the title I meant hand it back over to wwf.
Bret Hart looked so out of place in WCW and you could just see it on his face.
Because he wasn't ever that good, especially for that era.
How to tell people you know sod all about wrestling in one sentence.
He was not as big as people think.
@@krillin876IDK bret vs stone cold was golden though he started the attitude era...he should of been a super heel starting off with direct conflict with sting
@@skipthomas4524 he ? Who is he?
He was an absolute hero in the UK in the early 90s. Absolute sin how things went for him.
Yep total icon in the 90s here
Its sad how Bret never got to be in the main event scene until 1999. Like a full 2 years into his run with the company.
Bret should have been the guy taking the fight straight to Hogan and the NWO.
The fact that it took over two years just for him to finally win the WCW World Title, says it all.
Bret became a WCW Triple Crown Champion faster than all the others who still deserve the honor (Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Booker T, and Scotty Steiner). The reality is he became world champ very quickly.
i wouldn't say two years. Hart was absent from wcw for most of 99. I don't think it was as bad as much people say. In a little more than a year of active wrestling, hart was a triple crown champion. Unluckily he suffered the concussion in the goldbergs match, and neither he or wcw took care of him. If he rested after that match, instead of fighting a hardcore match against terry funk (and other matches he had after the goldberg one), he may have returned after a few months...
@@leonardoyi3183 yeah that is something that is often overlooked in the context of Bret's WCW run - he took a very long break in the middle of 99 after Owen died, as WCW told him he could take as much time off as he needed. There was even doubt whether he would ever return to wrestling.
@@namikstudios bret took the break even before owens death, when goldberg speared him and he had the metal plate and he quit on wcw nitro.
@@leonardoyi3183most of Bret Hart WCW run he was hogan lackey
The Goldberg angle was before Owen died. A combination of Goldberg taking time off to film a crappy movie and Owen dying killed the angle off which really sucks
The best there is.the best there was, the best there ever will be
Gotta admit, I liked WCW Bret Hart. WWF Bret was 100% Hitman serious mode at all times which isn't bad, but in WCW I thought Bret showed he could be funny, conniving, devious and unpredictable.
Bret hart never had charisma. Charisma doesn't mean showing some personality. It means onscreen magnetic presence.
Bret Hart and Shawn Michael were pretty much mid card talent. Among veterans and hardcore fans they may hail them high. But they were low card material.
Bret Hart wasn't screwed. He just wasn't the type that main stream fans could connect. He was never going to draw money for WWF, and he never did.
He went to WCW and almost did nothing to the ratings and PPV buys. WCW made him the champion and he beat the likes of Sting and Goldberg and still couldn't draw a dime.
When Bret Hart was the reason WWF didn't draw money, how can anyone expect him to outdraw Hogan or Goldberg in WCW.
“I just want to shout out to my one little fan out there. Hello Smokey, my cat”
🤣
it's ok, child, you tried, it's ok@@afdcg
The greatest (and coolest) wrestler of all time. Great video
Bret fit much more in WCW than in attitude era WWF. For some reason WCW chose not to capitalize on Bret.
You can tell how much he suffered between ‘98 and 2000. He went from looking fresh, rejuvenated, and overall youthful to stressed and aged. Depression, anxiety, emotional drain, and physical pain all ate away at him. 😢 Symptoms manifested externally.
WCW blew it with Bret from the beginning because of the nWo, meaning no new arrivals, no matter how good they were, were gonna disrupt the nWo and the main event scene
Yet somehow Bret managed to become a WCW Triple Crown Champion faster than anyone who still deserves the honor! Something doesn't add up there...
@@namikstudios On paper it sounds good but in reality, it wasn't that pleasing
Love your content bro, Great channel
Didnt know you here 5 days ago
Brilliant as always
If possible in future can you do a video on Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle
bret hart was the guy that got me into pro wrestling and is one of my top 5 all-time favorite wrestlers. seeing him in wcw felt off for me. it felt like he didn't belong because no one was on his level. not even hogan in terms of ring work.
*cough* uhh Ric Flair, Dean Malenko, and the disgraced murderer Benoit... all great technical wrestlers in WCW when Bret arrived. Hogan was never a great in-ring technician like them.
@@namikstudioslol, Rick Flair was neverbat Bret's level, what are you talking about?
@@javigar133 no, you're right, Ric wasn't at Bret's level - Flair was way above Hart, and everyone else for that matter.
During Bret's time in WCW, it was basically a situation of the inmates running the asylum. Bischoff had no spine at all and didn't stand up to Hogan et al when it came to the creative direction of the promotion.
I'd highly recommend Bret's excellent autobiography for more information about his time in WCW. It's truly tragic that his career ended in WCW in the way that it did. Bret deserved a lot better.
He couldn’t stand up to hogan because they gave hogan creative control in his contract which was retarded
Never heard that take before, did you come up with it yourself?
It is always so depressing to hear about wrestlers that had so much trust in McMahon and loyalty to him. Vince has always been in it for himself. The best example is selling off the WWE rather than passing it onto Stephanie and HHH. He already had more money than he could possibly need for the rest of his life (even it it lasts to 120!) so it was just pure greed causing him to screw over family.
Well, now Vince's kids - and by extension, Trips - will get the money from the sale.
Vince is like Big Ben in "Problem's Child", if you have the reference...
A real man passes it down to his son not his son in law.
Shane earned it, Stephanie laid on her back.
like it or not WWE is in better hands than stef and HHH.
@@Black-Circleis it?
I think Hart has plenty of charisma
agreed. his promo work in '97 was the best work he did. he was relishing being booed in the u.s. and being beloved all over the world.
He had some in 97….
Bwahahahahahaha good joke
Why do you think he never drew? His lack of charisma was one of the biggest reasons.
Nah dude was a good wrestler but a dead fish everywhere else. Hes like a much better Steve Blackman
go back to bed, child@@ShadowAngel1860
Left out the part that Owen’s blu blazer fatal accident happened during Brett’s time at WCW which distracted his momentum there. Also Hogan overshadowed Brett in WCW as he did in the WWF so Hart was never going to get over
Vince said he couldn’t afford the contract then paid Mike Tyson a million for one evening months later…?
Calling bullshit.
I think that was a gamble. A good one at that.
Love your content mate, keep it up! Haven't watched wrestling since 1999 but love going back to the old stuff
Joke Hogan said he wanted to piledrive Hart on the concrete floor for his debut in WCW but Bischoff told him it was too soon to bury him.....
Let’s not forget Brett hart put Steve Austin over and created one of the most amazing runs in wrestling history, yes Steve Austin was made already, but the match with Brett hart launched his career. That match put the entire world on notice
I saw Bret in WCW back in 2000/01 in the UK, he came in really unhappy talking about Owen the overall crowd we’re semi sympathetic, the rest threw bottles…very disappointing to see him treated that way, but he did have that vibe about him.
He always deserved more in my opinion.
He was released in 2000
no one will ever be like the hit man
Hogan and Nash sabotaged WCW and other careers. They had Goldberg, Sting, DDP and Bret for crying out loud! Jericho, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero. Smfh
Vince told Brett "Wcw wouldn't know what to do with a Bret Hart" and he was right.
He was absolutely right on that one.
They should have had Hart feud with Hogan straight away
Bret is still the Best for me.
Terry funk is the greatest wrestler in history .. his longevity is unknown the dude was still doing moonsaults in his 60s ... also famous for making extreme wrestling in his late 50s at the time ... Terry funk rip you were the best
Brilliant. He had such a terrible run in WCW.
Brett had already been a victim of Hogan's stroke in the WWF what made him think it would be any different in WCW.
bret hart, sting and wcw were all buried in one night by hulk hogan and eric bischoff. them instructing the referee to do a regular/slow count to ruin the most anticipated match in wcw history sent wcw into a downward spiral from then on out. bret should've came into wcw and formed his own faction called the hart dungeon with bulldog, anvil, lance storm and chris benoit. they could've had a funny angle with jericho trying to join but constantly getting rejected. they could've added guys later on like jake roberts, jushion thunder liger, ken shamrock, roddy piper and others. they could've come out to the song "all hell for a basement" in 2001 and become even bigger
Bret Hart should have came to WCW at Starcade 97, Without doing the guest referee crap. He should have came out at the end of Sting Vs Hogan and challenge Sting for the WCW Heavyweight title and make reference to Montreal. Then have Sting vs Hart battle for whos the best while simultaneously fighting the NWO until the NWO split in 98.
It's funny that ur off the cuff comment would have been better booking than was ever actually done by ANYONE at wcw!😂😂😂 well done!
@@DeeHach-lt5nc WCW Booking fell apart in 1998.
I was never a fan of WCW back in the day but looking back on the Network you can see how useless they were. Having Bret complain about a "fast count" when Hogan pinned Sting was one of their many screw ups. They really didn't have a clue in WCW.
WCW from 96-99 was the peak of the entire wrestling industry.
Man the Hart Foundation vs NWO ....Then side angle Brett Hart vs Hogan and Davie Boy vs Goldberg would have locked it up
I get all teary eyed when I see Bret put his glasses on a kid before getting in the wrestling ring. As a 90s kid, I really wished that was me. Bret was a superhero.
Tony Khan seems to do the same exact thing with all of his free agents
A dean malenko vs bret hart feud would have been a money drawer for sure both were technically gifted wrestler's.
Dean malenko was a vanilla midget that never drew a dime, it 2023 and we going to stop with this dean malenko shit
Yeah right, two vanilla midgets who never drew a single dime 🤣
I was WWf guy and when Bret went to wcw i was tuning in to wcw just to see him have classic matchups with all the talent they had in wcw but .... wcw dropped the ball SMH. Geezus. Everyone wouldve bought PPV Hollywood vs Hitman. Everyone wouldve loved hitman vs nwo storyline teaming up with Sting Goldberg DDP The 4Horsemen Booker t etc wouldve been feuds a great ppv for world war. Endless story lines missed bc of egos jealousy toxic management. They didnt want to give Hitman the hype.
I said back then and now that WCW dropped the ball big time on Bret Hart. Here you had one of the biggest wrestlers coming off of the biggest controversy. And the best WCW had for Bret to debut was as a special enforcer for the Sting and Hogan match at Starrcade 97? Bischoff always says Bret was broken after Montreal but the truth is the only reason Bischoff signed Bret was in an attempt to put WWF out of business. It’s sad too because Bret was arguably the biggest star in wrestling when he came into WCW. And was no doubt one of the best technical in ring workers of all time. He deserved much better.
To be fair, the "dozens of painkillers" you dramatize in this video were, in fact, Advil.
WCW just didn't know how to book him they signed him and once they got him had no idea what to do a bunch of face/heels turns didn't help him much and loads more things.
Couple of bits were mixed up, but overall a good video.
You can thank 1. Hogan 2. Nash 3. Bischoff super stressed over managing rating millionaires to the mess that was his career in WCW
I am a lifelong WCW fanatic, and I still live, breathe, bleed, and I will die for that company to this day.
As a kid, I felt Bret could have been done better in WCW, but as an adult, I feel like his WCW run was actually not that bad.
Great mic work, his short run of injurying opponents in late 1998, dnd he gave me dream matches I never thought would happen (Sting, Malenko, Benoit, Booker, DDP).
The only issue I have with him in WCW is that he never had a Big Gold Belt shot in 1998. He should have had at least 2, if not 3 chances in that calendar year.
What's funny is that when Bret talks about about all the favorite moments of his entire career, WCW seems to top the listls (minus Summerslam 1992 of course. I am talking about Benoit on the Owen show, Goldberg Steel Plate, El Dandy, any time he wrestled Sting, The Big Gold Belt vs Bentoit at Mayhem 1999).
WCW For Life.
Whether he was a good guy or bad guy, I've always loved Brett, I laughed when he spit in McMahon's face.
I wish he came in and started up a new Hart Foundation faction. Could have brought in Benoit and Jericho with Neidhart and Bulldog. The NWO had really started to grow stale by that time.
that would've been awesome.
All I know is that when Hogan turned heel . The WCW became the most entertaining wrestling promotion in the world. The early NWO angle was amazing .
Bret Hart's wcw run was weak but he had a few decent matches with DDP, Sting, Lex Luger,Booker T and Chris Benoit
His career is not wasted - just the end of it. Still, he accomplished great things!
Excellent writing and delivery. I enjoyed this video a great deal. Cheers from 🇨🇦
He was a 2 time world champion. 4 time U.S champion. Tag champion. Had an actully good amount of 4+ star matches. Mostly before his injury in late 98. But still... I didn't see a waste. Just a missed opportunity out the gate to push him in WWF's face.
Yep. He also took a long break in the middle of 99 after Owen died.
A 1997 Bret Hart who is one of the biggest stars of the industry, the WWF Champion who has been screwed out of the title, should not be a US Champion or a Tag Team champion. He should be World Champion only. These are midcard belts, they are supposed to be for midcarders or to build future World Champions. This is the reason why Hogan was never an IC champion or a US champion.
@@oceandeep318 do you realize that the person with the most US Title reigns in history is none other than the greatest wrestler of all time, Ric Flair? All the WCW Triple Crown Champions had runs with it: Flair, Sting, Luger, DDP, Goldberg, Hart, Booker T, Benoit, and Scotty Steiner. Furthermore, Hart is one of only four men to have a double triple crown, meaning both WCW and WWE triple crowns, which he and the others wouldn't have had they not held the US, IC, and Tag titles. Then there are legends like Roddy Piper and Scott Hall who never held world titles but were US Champs.
@@namikstudios all when they were midcarders. Flair won it in the 70s and 80s. Sting won it when Hogan, Randy and Flair were in WCW and Sting was demoted to midcard. The rest were midcarders at the time when they won the US title to work their way up.
I stand by my statement. With Bret, it was a huge mishandling. How many US reigns did Hogan or Nash have for example?
Bret came in as the biggest main eventer. He should be a main eventer instantly. He was in his prime.
@@oceandeep318 Flair won the US Title in 1996, by which time he was already a legend. Scott Hall, Roddy Piper, and Goldberg won it in 99. WCW handled Bret very well. Putting the US title on anyone is a huge honor. Besides which, WWE gave a retired Bret his last reign as US Champ in 2010... so if you are going to complain about any reign it should be that one. Back in WCW the US title was in the secondary main-event spot, where as these days it has been devalued in WWE due to there being two world titles and the IC title. Both the US and IC used to be far more prestigious than they are today.
I always try to point out that when Bret wrote WCW in the air, he wrote the Cs backwards, and someone always says that he wrote it right for our perspective.
So yeah, but he wrote it backwards compared to the way he wrote the Ws.
You write a W from left to right. From our perspective he wrote the Ws right to left, which he did from his own perspective.
You write a C from top-right to top-left to bottom-left to bottom-right, which he did from our perpsective.
So he wrote the C backwards from the way he wrote the W.
Not that it matters: Ws are horizontally symmetric. It's just an observation.
as much as I love Bret, I think when he jumped to WCW, it was like a karma to him. I stopped watching him when he left WWF. If he didn't go to WCW, he would still have a career until now whether in-ring or as a manager. Btw, he also had a bad WCW entrance theme too.
Half the problem was that up here in Canada we never got to see WCW for a long time cause we couldn’t get American stations without an illegal satellite dish that was pricey so we never got to see all the WCW stuff
*BRET 'THE HITMAN' HART IS THE GREATEST WRESTLER* 💥💥💥
Wasted career? What... dude was a draw, a champion, and a badass in the ring.
Read the title again
Totally agree. The WCW fumbled a great opportunity with Brett Hart
Vince always told bret that wcw wouldn't know what to do with him. He was right.
Bret managed to make it on a couple of WCW games as well.
I agree bret harts career was wasted but I think it was him that wasted it. People have been hit a lot harder then Goldberg kicked him. I believe he was messed up but I also think he hid behind that injury. Bret always gave the vibe that he had to be number 1. I think he felt a lot of pressure and was afraid he couldn't compete with the newer character and the newer style of wrestling that was taking over and he was scared he would drop down the card and with his brother dying and bulldog the fact that his brother died in a wwf ring he didn't want to face that and all that stress mixed with being in shock from crashing his motorcycle caused his stroke which gave jim a bigger wall to hide behind ..I always chose hbk over bret because hbk didn't care what people thought and it made him more popular. Bret just gave that I have to be the best or not at all vibe
Say what you want, vince screwed brett, not bill and the whole hart vs goldberg saga was half his own doing so 😮
Bret screwed bret😈
These videos reveal that half of my wwf childhood heros were horrible people
I was a diehard fan of both companies at the time. Bret debuting as a ref was the lamest thing ever. The following storyline teasing whether or not he was joining the NWO was terrible and went on forever.
He couldn't debut as a wrestler because he was still bound to a no-compete clause after leaving WWF that legally prevented him from wrestling at Starrcade.
Imagine being so good at your job, that your enemies PAY you millions of dollars to stay home. Crazy.
Amazing how WCW took the greatest screwjob in wrestling History and ruined the guy on their end and the then WWF made it into a billion dollar company turning Vince McMahon into an evil super villain. The funny thing is Vince did not even want to go that route until it was obvious the fans hated him post Montreal. Then Austin lucked into a right place right gimmick right time situation and made himself one of the biggest stars in wrestling history. Austin would have never reached the level of superstardom without evil Mr Mcmahon. Then WCW gets Bret Hart and his first ppv match was vs ric flair? Over what exactly? Then a match with Curt Henning in march of 1998? Nothing against flair or henning but I always thought Bret should have been put right into a better spot. I always thought they should have gone right into a Sting vs Bret Hart feud face vs face. I totally forgot about Bret being a part of team hollywood lmao.
Never like Hitman, face or heel he was always smug. Boring on top of everything. But as an adult going back to watch old wrestlers I can truly appreciate his actual wrestling skill.
When he said bret was another cog in the machine in wcw i felt that.. because people like to say that about wwe like wcw wasent a machine too
Loved himself more than the fans did, he was a flash in the pan for a few years
The screw job looks like it’s staged. Why would wwf choose the camera angle of him writing WCW in air ?
The WCW missed the chance of having
Warrior Vs. Bret in 98
yeah but it would've sucked because warrior sucked ass.
No they didn't.... th-cam.com/video/zVVUqBIHRU4/w-d-xo.html
Who wanted to see that?
WCW's creative and Bischoff never seemed to know how to make stars and only seemed to stumble on big pushed accidentally. They also dropped the ball on Jericho, Mysterio, etc. They just kept pushing the NWO and Hogan and his cronies because they were friends with Bischoff.
I wish the Hart Foundation vs. DX feud lasted longer.
He was the biggest draw for the international market. WWF should have done everything to keep him. And WCW should have immediately pushed him to the top.
But Hogan had a tendency to (along with the old klique members), keep talent down.
The realism for his in-ring style, is something really lacking currently. They (whichever company), should hire him to teach the new talent this.
And yes, Flair (and Hogan), tend to do the same routine. Very predictable.
come on, nobody remembers his line about El Dandy? Bret had fun at times.
Hes had horrible storylines but he had good matches still. But the matches aren't really highlighted because of his bad storylines. He had his fued with ddp, sting, macho man, and a mini fued with booker t. While being an associate ONLY of black and white. Then the silver and black which looked as if it could have been something if no one was injured.
I wonder if Bret would have been in the world title picture sooner if it had not been for Goldberg’s sudden rise.
Bret was a Big WWF Superstar, got screwed by WCW
Sting was a Big WCW Superstar, got screwed by WWE
Bret and his family should not have left WWE. We might have had Owen Hart STill
How so?
Ya know, Hart could have investigated all those stories he was hearing about haw bad things were in WCW. But he apparently didn’t because K can’t believe he would have left WWE had he known how badly Bischoff was running WCW.
Sounds like Hogan and the other big names who'd been there for years weren't interested in giving Bret any sort of push that would distract from themselves so they kept him confined to mid-card feuds and matches against middling talents and a few rehashed feuds from the WWF days. Hall and Nash, being Shawn Michaels' buds, also might have taken a hand in making sure Hart didn't go anywhere. As Michaels told him, Hart could go 'down south with the rest of the dinosaurs, and the ones who aren't dinosaurs are MY friends.'
It was the career of his life and deception reared its ugly head. Bret was living in wrestling hell in WCW
"appear on Nitro with the championship". I am just wondering if they used to sell championship replica belts in 1997.
Bret was the hottest thing going after survivor series 1997 Eric biscoff didn't believe in him he was brainwashed by hulk hogan 😂
Bischoff just seems like a pathetic yes man for Hogan.
Bret "The Hitman" Hart will always be, The BEST there is, The BEST there was & The BEST that ever will be.
He was kind of lost as the late 90's were approaching. Great technical wrestler in the ring but he wouldn't have been able to cut promos in the attitude era. The attitude era was more about mic skills, trash talk, and skits, with SOME wrestling. The skits like Austin giving the "Beer Bath" are FAR more remembered than specific matches. So he had no place in the WWF/WWE, and Hall, Nash, and Hogan would never let him rise in WCW. Complete limbo.
You weren't watching WWF in '97 then.
I can't put all the blame on management for why Bret didn't do great in WCW. Most of his matches during this time were pretty lackluster. His only real good matches during this time were with DDP, Booker T, and Chris Benoit.
Bret Harr should have called an audible and said “Hell no. I’m not debuting like this. This is lame. We need to figure out something else.”