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Is Bret going ever going to make a return to the WWE?
- Thread starter gymrat
- Start date
avenirup
New member
gymrat said:
It all comes down to $$$$. For the right price Bret would show up tomorrow despite his personal feelings towards Vince and some of the people at WWE. He probably would not be of too much use other than a short stint because he can't wrestle because of his injuries. Having said that, 4 years ago many people felt the same way about Shawn Micheals, but he came back and has more ability than 90% of WWE's talent. Since Vince is really the only product out there, he is being very cheap (look at the recent departures due to money, namely Austin and Goldberg), so I doubt he would pay Bret what he wants....but ya never know.
marshallmadman
New member
I read on his website the he had a stroke last year. Am I wrong? I would imagine, if that were the case, a return would be very unlikely.
avenirup
New member
massel said:
From one of my previous posts.
By the Bret Hart fiasco, I suppose you mean the incident that occurred at Survivor Series 1997. Bret Hart was on the second year of a ten year contract worth $20m. Business for WWE (then WWF) was not that great as WCW had already taken over as the top company at least in terms of ratings and PPV buyrates mainly due to the excellent NWO angle. Ratings, even though lower than WCW were still respectable but Vince was upset that Hart (the top man in the company) wasn't drawing what Vince thought he should. Vince knew if he let Bret go, WCW would take him, so Vince basically wanted out of the contract because he felt Bret was making too much money and Vince could save $2m per year to give to other talent or get talent from WCW. To put this into perspective Bret was making more the all of the D-Generation X members combined (Shawn Michaels, HHH, China and Rick Rude). Vince looked at Shawn Michaels (who had already turned down a WCW offer), Stone Cold (who was getting more popular each week) and the Undertaker as the top guys and felt like Bret was also causing many problems. It gets a little more interesting as well. As I mentioned in a previous post, Bret Hart got involved with Sunny (valet at the time-kinda like a Torrie of today--but Torrie is hotter) as did Vince (at different times) and Bret was also involved with Vince's daughter Stephanie and many people say this also had something to do with Vince wanting to cancel his contract. After Vince gave Bret permission to go to WCW (WCW gave Bret a $2.5m per year-3 year deal), Vince asked Bret to drop the title to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series-Bret refused becuase the event was to be held in Monteal (Canada-and Bret did not want to lose in front his canadian fans). Vince at that point was very paranoid because he had been screwed by so many people he thought were friends in the past 2 years. Thinking Bret would jump to WCW with the belt, which would have killed the WWE who were already in a bad way, he created the screw job angle. You have to understand at that time WWE was in a bad financial state and at times were close to shutting down. Vince would do anything he could to prevent this. If Bret walked on WCW TV with the belt, that could have dropped ratings, buyrates and attendence down to the point where WWE could not survive. So Vince talked things over with Shawn Michaels (who denied it up until about 2 years ago) and basically told Shawn to go with what Bret wanted and Vince would ring the bell when Shawn put the sharp shooter (Bret's finishing move) on Bret (to make it even worse) and allow Shawn to win the title without Bret knowing-basically screwing Bret. Vince did this and as soon as it happened, Bret knew and flipped out destroying the announcer table area, spitting on Vince, hand signing WCW on a WWE PPV and eventually punching Vince backstage of the event giving Vince a black eye. Bret originally told Vince that he would just give the title up to Shawn on Raw the next night but Vince didn't believe him. The bottom line in pro wrestling is that no wrestler is bigger than the sport and when a promoter tells you to take a fall, you take the fall, even if you are wrestling in your parents backyard. As Vince put it, it is a time honored tradition and Bret (who had developed an big ego) thought he could tell Vince what to do-Bret should have known better. Why was this event so important to wrestling--Vince came off looking like a major heel, which Vince noticed, took off with it and started the McMahon vs Austin fued which eventually helped WWE beat WCW. Bret went to WCW, won a few belts and suffered a career ending injury at the hand of Goldberg at Starrcade. Goldberg full force kicked Hart in the head (instead selling it like Goldberg should have) by accident and Hart went out.....He stayed out and collected his WCW money until that ran out and then collected off his insurance policy (lords of london) for a few more years (2.5m per year) by just sitting at home. Bret still has issues about how things were handled at Survivor Series and has issues with how things were handled when his brother Owen was killed at a WWE PPV (WWE didn't stop the event). Also I recommend a wrestling tape called: Bret Hart - Wrestling with Shadows. it was an excellent documentary about the year leading up to the Survivor Series. The people who filmed the documentary originally wanted to film it to see what life was like for a pro wrestler--they just happened to be filming at one of the most interesting and important times in wrestling history.
canadianhitman
Well-known member
Wrestling With Shadows is a must-own for any serious wrestling fan.
As for when Bret will show up to do a farewell speech on Raw...I'd be willing it will be right around the release date for the Bret Hart DVD collection that the WWE has in the works. They expect it to sell like gangbusters...even more than the Ric Flair collection did (which made them a pile of money). Vince will be willing to shell out a lot for Bret to make an appearance, since he knows it will help spike interest in the DVD set...and Bret will make money twofold; the appearance fee, plus increased royalty money from the sales of the DVDs.
As for when Bret will show up to do a farewell speech on Raw...I'd be willing it will be right around the release date for the Bret Hart DVD collection that the WWE has in the works. They expect it to sell like gangbusters...even more than the Ric Flair collection did (which made them a pile of money). Vince will be willing to shell out a lot for Bret to make an appearance, since he knows it will help spike interest in the DVD set...and Bret will make money twofold; the appearance fee, plus increased royalty money from the sales of the DVDs.
avenirup
New member
canadianhitman said:
Vince is cheap and Bret is expensive. I still think it will happen eventually. The more the ratings drop, the better the chance of Hart (or Stone Cold, Goldberg, Hogan, Lesner for that matter) returning. Maybe a McMahon vs Hart fued is what they need to help the ratings...
strongsmartsexy
New member
avenirup said:
'cept bring Bret in as a manager. And have him screw job every one of Vince's wrestlers.
THAT would bring in some heat!
