Dark Side of the Ring 1x2

1. bret was amazing. By any standa,

2. bret may go down as one of the s

3. in the industry.

4. Bret took the business seriousl.

5. I think sometimes to his detrim,

6. he took himself a little too se.

7. Bret believed he was the wwf ch.

8. On November the 9th, 1997,

9. professional wrestler bret hartd

10. clawed his way to the top as wo.

11. But in a matter of seconds, he t

12. those who make you can just as.

13. Here's the problem:

14. Bret didn't want to lose his ch.

15. It's your last night in the com,

16. we need to crown a new champion.

17. You know what; we'll just take.

18. It's like, I remember when I wa,

19. exactly where I was standing why

20. had been assassinated, and I rer

21. just as precisely where I was wt

22. about the montreal screwjob.

23. Screwing a canadian hero, in ca?

24. How much more evil can one get?)

25. and I still feel, to this day,

26. like I have a neon sign on my.

27. "I ed you, bret.

28. Never told you about it, but I "

29. I was so mad, I could just real.

30. The screwjob changed so many th.

31. The innocence of wrestling chan.

32. This was one of the worst thingt

33. happened to me in this business.

34. Say what you want about wrestli.

35. He really screwed that guy.

36. The incident known as the montrb

37. marks a turning point in the hi.

38. Never before had the curtain beo

39. fully reveal the behind-the-sce.

40. A dark plot of betrayal was exp,

41. legacies were redefined, and fad

42. never see wrestling the same ag.

43. you know, it's one thing I alwae

44. screwjob, is that if you go bact

45. all the facts, my story's never.

46. It's always been the same storye

47. 'cause I tell the truth.

48. I'm bret "the hitman" hart, the,

49. the best there was, and the bes.

50. I always say I was a real-worlde

51. I really traveled all around th.

52. This is my history and my life.

53. Despite everything that's happes

54. and all that kind of stuff, for,

55. it's mostly happy memories.

56. My name's jim cornette. For the,

57. I've worked for every major pron

58. in the united states, as a mana,

59. trainer, matchmaker... Pretty m.

60. I was actually there. I actuall.

61. I'm giving you my perspective,

62. it's just because my perspectivs

63. to be entertaining, and some pe.

64. Take exception to that.

65. I was the executive vice presid.

66. I've been a writer, producer, d.

67. Brother love is a alter ego of.

68. You name it; I've worn a lot of.

69. Bret "the hitman" hart!

70. The patriarch of the hart famil,

71. and stu was an aged old veteran.

72. Double tough.

73. The dungeon was the basement in.

74. Well, the dungeon is hard to ex.

75. My dad, 60 or 70-year-old man wd

76. torture a bunch of football pla.

77. I don't feel my arms, sir. (gro)

78. "let me show you a hold here.

79. You just take your arm like thi"

80. you just ease this hand back...

81. Agh!

82. The hart family is one of the ms

83. in the history of our business.,

84. the daughters all married wrest.

85. They had a wrestling bear that.

86. It was like the munster's house.

87. Stu would invite everybody over,

88. and make breakfast. They had a.

89. And he'd take the thing where h,

90. and he'd flip the cat shit over,

91. then go back to flipping the eg.

92. Made him tough, is what it did.

93. And stu began the stampede wres.

94. And, had a very successful comp.

95. Hello, hello, hello, and welcom,

96. another edition of...

97. And bret hart was kind of a pal,

98. maybe 21-year-old kid or whatev,

99. but you could tell he kind of k.

100. And I'm more confident right no,

101. and there's no reason right nowe

102. shouldn't have those belts righ.

103. The harts were very integral tog

104. around the world.

105. In 1984, stu hart is trying to

106. keep his struggling territory a.

107. The rapidly-expanding wwf strike

108. the entire promotion,

109. along with stu's main star, his.

110. When vince bought stu hart's st,

111. he took bret hart and jim niedh,

112. who was his son-in-law, as a te.

113. The hart foundation, they were d

114. by jimmy hart, no relation.

115. They were a tremendous tag team,

116. and bret hart had a perfect foi.

117. When you have two guys like bres

118. that are as talented as they ar,

119. and then sometimes, there's jus,

120. you find a duet between two sine

121. never worked together before, b.

122. Look at this. Whoa! 360 in mid-!

123. Internationally, we're getting t

124. we've got a megastar on our han.

125. He, his work had made him this.

126. That was all they wanted to see;

127. that's all they wanted to talk.

128. At the same time, ric flair wasd

129. ric was having some health issu.

130. We needed to make a change.

131. So, vince is looking at it and "

132. that's the kind of guy you want.

133. Vince mcmahon's one of the mosts

134. on the planet.

135. If you could cross a genius with

136. p.T. Barnum and donald trump,

137. you would get the love child th.

138. Vince, honestly,

139. is a third-generation wrestling.

140. Vince controls creative;

141. vince controls the talent choic.

142. They run the lunch schedule pas.

143. Over the years, vince had a goo.

144. I don't know; you know, I thinkt

145. became champion in saskatoon th,

146. there was a change that was tak.

147. Bret hart!

148. The criteria for a world champi,

149. there wasn't a set physical lisr

150. whatever that you had perform.

151. It was whoever vince thought co.

152. Vince mcmahon decides who the c.

153. It's not actually won by anybod.

154. So, bret didn't beat ric flair.

155. He won the championship in a so,

156. in a storyline.

157. Bret deserved, you know, to hav.

158. But at the same time, remember e

159. made you champion. You didn't r.

160. I think bret looked at the wwf e

161. guys years ago used to.

162. Maybe it was because of his fat,

163. but when you were chosen to be,

164. it meant that the promoter thoue

165. the best talent, that you were,

166. that you would make him the mos,

167. that you were the guy.

168. While bret's star is rising in,

169. a fledgling promotion suddenly t

170. vince mcmahon in the television.

171. Wcw in the early 90s was a seco.

172. I happen to be eric bischoff.

173. You know, as the executive prod,

174. at least I had a voice within w.

175. Wwf is up here, wcw is way down.

176. There's no way I can be better,

177. but I gotta be different than t.

178. They're tape, I'm live.

179. They target their content towar;

180. I decided I wanted my character.

181. I would use their real names.

182. Wcw came after our talent.

183. The perception was they offered.

184. You know, when hulk hogan left,

185. I think it hurt vince, personal.

186. It stung a little bit, and the,

187. the first big names to go were,

188. in the very beginning. Ted dibi.

189. Roddy piper shortly thereafter.

190. The curtain call, as it came to,

191. happened because nash and hall o

192. wcw for their big contracts.

193. It is my last appearance for th,

194. and it's also kevin nash's last.

195. It was at madison square garden,

196. the most famous arena in the wo.

197. After the last match, hall, and,

198. and michaels, and helmsley - tw,

199. two of 'em bad guys - all went d

200. had a big hug and a big kiss, a,

201. who had no idea what was going.

202. With shawn and those guys, theye

203. in front of the fans in madison.

204. The word "kayfabe" is like a lo.

205. It comes from the days of the c.

206. When you break kayfabe in wrest,

207. you let the fans and the generae

208. inside world and ruin the illus.

209. It wasn't like that.

210. It all just happened organicall.

211. Because the fans were going cra.

212. I mean, it was like a magical m.

213. Here were are, 25 years later,

214. You had been chosen and selecte,

215. and you kept those illusions prf

216. because it was a code. It was a.

217. Now, as competition between

218. the two biggest promotions heat,

219. wrestling's fourth wall starts,

220. exposing its secrets.

221. And while bret enters the bigge,

222. he never could have imagined thp

223. leading to his ultimate destruc.

224. Before their off-screen feud woo

225. one of wrestling's most controv,

226. bret hart and shawn michaels' cs

227. led to some of the greatest mat.

228. As far as wrestling styles betw,

229. bret was more basic, more groun,

230. more hard hitting, more technic.

231. Michaels, from the other side,

232. Michaels, he's an incredible pe,

233. but also a lot of his stuff is d

234. a little bit more gymnastic.

235. Oh, he's caught by bret hart! L!

236. I think shawn michaels is probat

237. performer all around, plus he w.

238. He wasn't a big giant.

239. My contract was gonna expire.

240. Eric bischoff has sent feelers.

241. There were two separate occasioi

242. began to talk to bret about com.

243. And I heard the initial offer wn

244. it was 2-million-something, and.

245. And I'm sure they were rounding,

246. but at that point, what's the d?

247. Vince heard about them giving m,

248. and I remember vince said, he g,

249. "I'll make you an offer," and w.

250. It was 1.5 million for 20 years.

251. Bret favors loyalty over money,

252. and accepts the counter offer f,

253. but then a mutual animosity betn

254. begins to take hold.

255. Shawn was starting to get overw.

256. Doing a chippendale kind of gimt

257. a "heroic" thing to do.

258. Shawn michaels saw an opportunid

259. more of a top guy, and also to.

260. Nobody breaks into this wrestlio

261. work their way to the middle.

262. I mean, if you don't want to be,

263. you're in the wrong business.

264. I don't really care if you want.

265. Do you want to wrestle me?

266. Oh, you do. Okay.

267. I don't think that they were re,

268. which is probably where the rea.

269. First day, when I walked out,

270. and I end up trashing shawn mice

271. interview about his playgirl ma.

272. And before I went out, I said,

273. Is it okay if I bring up that pd

274. take a jab at that and say some"

275. he goes, "no, go ahead. Say wha"

276. world wrestling federation need.

277. They need a role model.

278. They need somebody they can loo,

279. not somebody that poses for gir.

280. And I came back and shawn was j.

281. He almost looked like he was go.

282. Now, now we're doing live tv ane

283. saying things on live tv about.

284. Shawn made reference to sunny d.

285. Sunny is tammy sytch. She was o.

286. She was the first real, you kno,

287. big pinup girl of the wwf, and e

288. inference that bret was having f

289. an affair or some, some...

290. Kind of relationship with sunny.

291. Even though lately you've had s,

292. you still can't get the job don.

293. Oh, boy.

294. Now, from a fan's point of view,

295. it's getting exciting.

296. But if you're the other guy, yoe

297. who's talking about you 'cause d

298. explain that to your wife.

299. You don't mess with a guy's wif,

300. or else you can find yourself l.

301. So, we're in hartford, connectie

302. hartford civic center, and all,

303. the door busts open and in come.

304. And he says, "hey, vince.

305. Shawn and bret have just got in"

306. shawn finally comes into my dre.

307. We haven't talked for about a c.

308. I just remember I was just tryi.

309. I almost like forgot that we ev.

310. I said, "hey, shawn." I was bru.

311. And he goes, "you think I'm gon"

312. and whatever it was, bret just d

313. and took him down right there.

314. So I grabbed him by the hair,

315. swung him around the dressing r.

316. His feet were actually off the.

317. It was like two prostitutes

318. fighting in downtown or somethi.

319. Here comes shawn, and he's hot.

320. And he has got in his hand, a h.

321. It looked like a small possum.

322. And I'll never forget this.

323. He said, "this is an unsafe wor"

324. as far as I know, I think if ans

325. sleeping with sunny it probably.

326. as the backstage friction betwen

327. bret and shawn intensifies,

328. vince begins to lose the tv ratd

329. is forced to cut costs.

330. vince comes back and looks at tt

331. he had made to bret hart, and I.

332. It was a drain on the company fr

333. what we were bringing in at the.

334. Vince told me that, basically,

335. he couldn't afford to pay me th.

336. It kind of broke my heart, like,

337. where it's like, okay, I get it.

338. I remember I got off the phone,

339. and I said, "I guess I'm, I'm dd

340. I hung up with vince and I sign.

341. I can't remember exactly what dd

342. that bret had made the deal and,

343. but vince told us bret was gonnp

344. at survivor series.

345. He'd drop the belt and then he',

346. he'd be free. It didn't turn ou.

347. With bret leaving the company,

348. bret wasn't just leaving the co.

349. He was leaving the company and r

350. that was beating us in the rati.

351. To have our champion leave the.

352. To have them leave the company -

353. with the championship - is a ki.

354. The time honored tradition is,

355. when you're leaving a territory,

356. you lose on the way out.

357. I gotta tell you, in the beginn,

358. there wasn't a whole lot of wore

359. it was bret and we thought that,

360. that there would not be any isse

361. championship to whoever we askeo

362. drop the championship to.

363. When I first heard that I was ws

364. maybe about three or four weeks.

365. Anyway, so vince pulled me in a-

366. he was all excited, he goes,

367. "we're gonna drop the belt to s"

368. so when I saw shawn, I remember,

369. I thought this is your chance to

370. open the door for sort of dialo.

371. So I remember when we shook han,

372. "shawn, I just heard that we're"

373. I said, "I want you to know thas

374. be safe with me in the ring,

375. that I'll always be professiona.

376. I would never do anything to huu

377. or anything like that."

378. and he looked at me and he said,

379. "I appreciate that, but I just t

380. I am not willing to do the samed

381. he turned around and walked outd

382. slammed the door.

383. Vince, even though he knew thatt

384. hated each other, somehow he thh

385. was magically gonna go in the rs

386. gonna work out like he wanted.

387. And, the closer that we got to,

388. the more obvious it was that it.

389. One of the things he had given t

390. with all the bells and whistlese

391. creative control of his charactd

392. the way he was presented.

393. I'm the boss of my last 60 days.

394. Why would I lose to shawn? He's.

395. I'm not wrestling shawn, or I dg

396. shawn over under any circumstanl

397. he proves to me that he's got ee

398. to put me over first.

399. And I was on bret's side 'cause,

400. not bret. But we had to get the.

401. The news of vince's current chah

402. his main competitor would spell.

403. With his back to the wall,

404. vince must get his belt off bre,

405. and what he's about to do will d

406. the wrestling world.

407. With his last match in the wwf,

408. bret hart is refusing any scenam

409. losing the belt to his real lif,

410. shawn michaels.

411. Bret is growing suspicious of w,

412. vince mcmahon, might do.

413. Showed up that day and I was re,

414. but I did have suspicions about.

415. I remember thinking the only wa,

416. shawn will never pin me or tap,

417. make me tap out, so I wasn't wo.

418. I said, but the way it will wor.

419. Hello, I'm earl hebner. I'm the.

420. My relationship with bret was g.

421. Most of the time, he always wan.

422. People think, oh, I count to th.

423. It's— that's not the ball game.

424. We were sort of a coach.

425. You're thinking for three peopl.

426. It's very, very hard.

427. Do we have to? (laughs)

428. just kidding. (laughs)

429. the day before that show,

430. I got on a plane, got in my sea.

431. The stewardess came back and sa"

432. I said, "yes, ma'am?"

433. she said, "you have a first cla"

434. I said, "my ticket don't say 'f"

435. she said, "mr. Hart bought you "

436. so I went up and sat beside bre,

437. and we talked, and bret said,

438. "will you promise me one thing?"

439. I said, "what's that?"

440. he said, "you won't count me ou"

441. I said, "nope, I will not count"

442. I said, "you know they're gonna"

443. but he got the tears in his eye,

444. his lip quivered and he was lik,

445. "the hell with that. I swear."

446. he said, "I swear to god on my "

447. you know, and we was so adamant.

448. And I remember, I shook his han,

449. "just tell me if something like"

450. complicating matters, a film crg

451. a documentary called wrestling s

452. is following bret to capture hi.

453. From the second I land, I've goe

454. high road production film crew,

455. And they got the boom mics and,

456. and they follow me wherever I w.

457. It was like a lot of people tha,

458. all around the building.

459. The idea was that vince would g.

460. I think that vince felt that on,

461. face to face, that they would w.

462. But I remember the whole camera.

463. They wanted to mic me up and I,

464. "no, I kind of don't— it's not"

465. and he goes, "just in case."

466. my name is harry zafrany.

467. I was the sound recordist on wr.

468. The director told us, "look.

469. We gotta be very low profile ab,

470. "nobody should know that bret h"

471. it was a private meeting and br,

472. didn't let vince know that he w.

473. I never ever want to leave here,

474. but this week has been a bad we.

475. I feel kind of betrayed a littl,

476. the way this whole thing has be.

477. It's really hard for me as a he.

478. I was determined to, to stick t,

479. and I was not backing down.

480. And right away vince goes,

481. "well, what are we gonna do?"

482. I think what I'd like to do is.

483. I think tomorrow I should just h

484. and forfeit the title.

485. I think it allows me a chance th

486. my head up and leave in a nice.

487. I would think it'd be a run-in.

488. But I'm open to anything. I'm o.

489. I knew that there was a point ih

490. where bulldog and owen would ru,

491. referee would lose control of t,

492. ring the bell.

493. There would be no winner, and wh

494. a lot of chaos going on in the.

495. Yeah, like a... Basically a no.

496. Like, I remember walking out to,

497. and I knew, like, okay, be leers

498. in a match like this, but I alr,

499. and I thought about it and it's,

500. I said, okay, I trusted earl.

501. And so, I put my guard down; th.

502. Fatal mistake.

503. I'm walking down to go to the r,

504. and I'm getting pulled aside.

505. And gerry brisco says, "vince mo

506. ring the bell when he puts bret"

507. I said, "what?"

508. he said, "well, are you gonna d"

509. I said, "I don't know."

510. gerry brisco is a producer and,

511. and one of the toughest son-of-s

512. on the face of the earth.

513. He grabs me by the arm and says,

514. "is bret hart gonna pay you? Th.

515. Do you want a job or not?"

516. I said, "I don't have an idea w.

517. Y'all messed my mind up." and t.

518. I'm thinking, he had an opportu.

519. I know this is not right, but I.

520. I told my brother to put all my.

521. This ain't gonna look good. Gete

522. dressing room and put it in the.

523. So I'm walking to the ring, "go,

524. I promised bret I wouldn't coun"

525. that was the longest walk of my.

526. We had a great match planned ou.

527. We're gonna start fighting befo.

528. I don't think this match has of.

529. Finally, after about 10 minutesd

530. fighting out in the crowd and s,

531. I eventually fight shawn back t,

532. throw him in the ring, and now.

533. They get in the ring.

534. I ring the bell to start, and I,

535. god, don't put the sharpshooter.

536. The match lasted 10, 15 minutes.

537. Look at this!

538. Oh! Putting bret into th.

539. Oh my gosh, how humiliating.

540. He's gonna beat him with his ow.

541. Shawn actually didn't know how.

542. He steps through the wrong way,

543. folds my legs the wrong way.

544. And I moved my legs and switche.

545. I remember when he put it on an,

546. I could see vince mcmahon, and.

547. He's got this cold look on his,

548. "ring the ing bell."

549. "ring the bell," and he kept sa,

550. "ring the bell!"

551. as the match was going on, I'm,

552. "I don't know what I'm gonna do"

553. I hated it.

554. And I remember in that moment oe

555. time keeper, and vince snaps at,

556. "ring the ing bell!"

557. well, they're screwing me right.

558. And I remember reaching back ant

559. submitting and I grabbed shawn'.

560. But you could hear the bell, "d"

561. if I hadn't 'a rung the bell,

562. vince mcmahon was gonna ring th.

563. And at first I was like, I want.

564. I wanted to just jump through td

565. just punch him out.

566. I couldn't believe he did it tos

567. that I gave him, and all the ma,

568. and all the hard work, and he d.

569. You son of a bitch.

570. I jump out of the ring, ran acr,

571. jumped the hockey fence and coul

572. hear the bell ringing.

573. Jumped in the car and we drove.

574. I had enough sense to paint wcwt

575. you can read it on tv.

576. Bret did the "w-c-w" for the fa.

577. But it was, you know, it was wh.

578. I remember I had a nice good gor

579. I just leaned over the top...

580. hollywood couldn't 'a created sg

581. better than that.

582. I wrecked a bunch of monitors ad

583. threw $100,000 headphones out I.

584. Because of a couple of guys tha,

585. they hit on the most talked abog

586. in the history of professional g

587. since the dawn of time.

588. Widely viewed by fans as

589. wrestling's most treacherous ac,

590. the montreal screwjob would teaf

591. of wrestling's sacred brotherho,

592. but it's true architect has yet.

593. This is where I've told a coupl.

594. I've never gone this far, but I,

595. like I said, I'm not gonna talkv

596. any time in the rest of my lifet

597. I don't care who gets mad at me.

598. So, it was me and vince russo a.

599. My name is vince russo. I was tt

600. the wwe during the infamous mon.

601. And quite honestly, I wasn't evn

602. originally slated for this docu.

603. And then, I wanted to be a part.

604. Like, I knew what would happen.

605. So, I'm sitting there that day.

606. First, vince gets up and he tak.

607. What I could tell you about tha,

608. you know, vince pitched many dir

609. shawn michaels to take the belt.

610. And bret soured on every single.

611. Vince told bret we'd go back to,

612. and that's exactly what we did.

613. "well, this finish won't work a,

614. and bret just wants to come outr

615. on tv the following night witho"

616. I'm sure he does!

617. So, then he goes and he calls s.

618. Every time vince goes in there,

619. then I have to sit in a room twe

620. ing guy that I hate worse t,

621. vince russo.

622. We'd get in these creative meets

623. would argue, and it wasn't the,

624. it was jim and me.

625. We could not be farther apart,

626. physically, philosophically, me.

627. If one of us was an african amed

628. the other was a nazi skinhead m,

629. we could not be more different.

630. The problem is, he's still livi.

631. I'll never forget he made the c,

632. "oh, when a guy comes out of a,

633. he's instantly over."

634. like, bro, this is like 1996.

635. Like, who's coming out of boxes?

636. Vince russo's never had any rest

637. for professional wrestling. He m

638. to pattern after jerry springer.

639. Our styles completely crash.

640. Finally, vince comes out, and it

641. my religion with the whole creay

642. 'cause it's not my style of wre.

643. I'm living in connecticut. I'm.

644. I weight 280 pounds 'cause I'm.

645. I'm just, I'm not in my element.

646. I said, "vince," I said,

647. "there's got to be something we"

648. I said, "it's your company and "

649. so then, vince looks at me and,

650. "well, then, how would you do I"

651. well, now it's a ing challe.

652. Once again, I'm going through eh

653. I can think of or every situatif

654. where nobody wanted to do a job.

655. I said, "goddamn double cross h"

656. you can learn more about moderne

657. classic books and classic magazn

658. by talking to people today

659. because history always repeats.

660. In 1931, there was another doub,

661. the battle of the bite.

662. Strangler lewis controlled the d

663. nobody could get it away from he

664. it was worth so much money.

665. Lewis has a title match in montt

666. (french accent) henri deglane,

667. (american accent) "henry de-gla"

668. they lock up and immediately,

669. deglane grabs lewis' own hold o,

670. the head lock, and takes him do,

671. and they go down on the mat bece

672. lewis is working with him and t-

673. and probably they're gonna do s.

674. Deglane starts screaming bloodyr

675. at the top of his lungs.

676. The referee checks deglane,

677. huge bite mark on the guy's che.

678. Apparently, when deglane got th,

679. lewis had bitten him.

680. Here's the thing: It was actual,

681. deglane's corner man had bitten,

682. and then did this. And then, wh,

683. headlock, nobody could see what.

684. Referee disqualifies strangler d

685. awards the title to henri degla.

686. That's a double cross,

687. and it's as old as the hills in.

688. So, when vince says, "well, how"

689. "bret's hold is the sharpshoote"

690. but, let shawn...

691. Get bret's hold on him.

692. If the referee just calls for t.

693. Nobody can tell anything was wrt

694. it's supposed to look like anyw.

695. And to tell anybody anything wa,

696. I said, "bret hart, of all peop,

697. would have to expose the busine"

698. I said, "what's he gonna do? Ca"

699. but then vince, "nah!"

700. and he gave the "hmph" like he,

701. whenever you would be discussind

702. he would say, "alright, let's g"

703. and we went on.

704. Unless I was in the bathroom du,

705. that scenario did not take place

706. when I was sitting at the table.

707. I'm not gonna call jim cornette.

708. When I was sitting at the table-

709. and cornette was sitting at the-

710. I pitched that exact scenario t.

711. So, basically, out of pure frus,

712. I said, "vince, I said, "screw "

713. have shawn put the sharpshooter,

714. and have the referee call for t"

715. vince russo didn't know what a.

716. He was sitting there with his e.

717. People tell me all the time, "o,

718. you take credit for the montrea"

719. I wish I didn't pitch the idea.

720. That was a miserable night.

721. It was one of the worst experiee

722. in the wrestling business.

723. I swear on my mother's grave, m,

724. my wife's life, and my dog's li,

725. the story I just told you is tr.

726. Vince russo is the biggest liarg

727. and imagine the territory that.

728. when I was sitting there at the,

729. I saw him go into the spot; tha.

730. Holy, he's actually gonna.

731. And look, to this— look, right.

732. Close up on the goosebumps.

733. now I'm thinking...

734. I don't know who else knows abo.

735. I just know that there is a higt

736. somebody in this building is goo

737. beat the shit out of me in the d

738. I'm gonna get out of here.

739. When I'm starting my car up and,

740. I heard a car rev the motor ands

741. pop up behind me; that had to b.

742. (laughs) I beat him out of the.

743. just as bret hart was double crn

744. by his boss, vince mcmahon,

745. wwf executive bruce prichard, if

746. by the sudden change in plans.

747. so, it's chaos.

748. I'm not even realizing what's h.

749. Oh, god, I was pissed off that o

750. what they were doing, and I wase

751. I was left in the back alone, in

752. where everyone thought they kne,

753. and I wasn't.

754. I felt very alone. I felt betra.

755. That piece of shit's locked him.

756. the cameras are off. Show's ove.

757. I got screwed. And I was so mad.

758. And there's shawn, suddenly in,

759. and he's swearing to god that h.

760. Shawn, you weren't in on that?

761. My hands are clean on this one,

762. He was a bad actor.

763. The one of the two was in on it.

764. Shawn had to be in on it.

765. You know, at that time, I had n.

766. Well, now we know shawn was jus.

767. there was like this hush in thed

768. everyone's kind of stunned.

769. I remember undertaker got so mar

770. one of those big steel barrels.

771. He just slammed the door and sa,

772. he was going down to vince's oft

773. a straight answer on why they d.

774. You know, "vince...

775. You gotta go over and talk to h,

776. explain why you did what you di.

777. You gotta give him one.

778. And by giving him one, if he's,

779. he's gonna hit you, you gotta t"

780. bret came out of the shower andf

781. his ing dressing room, and,

782. he goes, "if you're still here,

783. I'm gonna get dressed and I'm g"

784. bret finished his shower.

785. I mean, he went back in, took hd

786. finished his shower.

787. And vince stood right in the mim

788. waiting for him to finish.

789. so I finish the shower and I co.

790. And, it's funny 'cause I walk or

791. sopping wet, naked.

792. Vince said something to me alon,

793. "this is the first time I ever "

794. which is such a lie.

795. I remember tying my shoes,

796. and I remember when I got tying,

797. I started to tie it like, this,

798. I'm gonna punch out vince mcmah.

799. I can't believe I'm doing this.

800. And, we walked towards each oth,

801. end up tying up, just like a pr,

802. and I remember just sinking dowt

803. turning my whole body and think,

804. and coming up right between our,

805. and I hit vince mcmahon with thl

806. mike tyson upper cut. I popped,

807. off the, right off the ground.

808. He went straight down, out cold.

809. Everybody was stunned. No one c.

810. It was dead silent for a while,

811. and then, bret said,

812. "get the out of my dressin"

813. so, I mean, I have to say that,

814. he was bawling his eyes out lik.

815. And I remember thinking, I know.

816. And he knew it, he was like waio

817. make my way over to him and fin.

818. But, I just tapped him on the s,

819. "shawn, thanks for the match."

820. he couldn't believe that I than,

821. and then he looked up at me and,

822. like, really blubbering.

823. I had never, to that point,

824. heard of that much drama and ba.

825. Sometimes I lost sleep over

826. what I should have done that da.

827. Bret, you're not gonna understa,

828. but vince was trying to protect.

829. It was never about not trusting.

830. He didn't trust eric.

831. I went into vince's office and,

832. "I need to talk to you." he sai"

833. I said, "I'm ed."

834. he said, "I got a meeting with.

835. We'll take care of it."

836. sat everybody down and said,

837. "what I did last night was my c.

838. It's not earl's fault, and anybt

839. can come to my office and I'll "

840. screwjob was already in the mak.

841. They had to find somebody that.

842. The conversation I had with vin,

843. where we really had the big heat

844. was the following Wednesday in.

845. And, I told him what I thought.

846. Vince's reaction was, "if you h,

847. then you would have known.

848. You would never be able to say.

849. Shawn michaels risked everythind

850. for this company, so before you,

851. understand what he did for you "

852. there were a lot of "what if" sd

853. the night before, and I think td

854. that at the end of the day, vino

855. convince bret to drop the champ.

856. That didn't happen, so vince aso

857. let shawn know there's a spot I,

858. shawn, when you get him in the,

859. in the sharpshooter, we'll ring.

860. Of all people, bret hart, who we

861. wrestling business, whose fathe,

862. who went through the code,

863. he's the one that exposed the b!

864. So, we're talking with bret har?

865. It was very important to me, afy

866. the most dedicated, loyal, hardt

867. you could ever get out of a pro-

868. I'd given this man everything yd

869. I made it very, very clear thatn

870. any way shape or form gonna be.

871. Bret was telling any and everyb,

872. he didn't lose. He was screwed.

873. And, it was something that vinct

874. to address on Monday night raw.

875. Did you or did you not screw br?

876. There's a time-honored traditios

877. that when someone is leaving thw

878. the right amount of respect.

879. And the people are like, "no, we

880. the rich billionaire boss.

881. We liked bret hart. He was our "

882. bret hart didn't want to honor.

883. Vince was really giving bret hat

884. for not honoring the time-honorf

885. doing the right thing on the wa.

886. On tv, this didn't happen ever.

887. Vince, in this interview, just y

888. cold, calculated, and very, ver.

889. I truly believe that bret hart,

890. and he can look in the mirror a.

891. Rather than sweep this incident,

892. vince capitalizes on it by trane

893. incident into a story line wherf

894. as an evil, conniving mastermin.

895. When I debuted, the fans didn'tt

896. vince was the owner.

897. He was an announcer.

898. And then, once the word got outy

899. owns the company and he's the p,

900. this and that, vince ran with I.

901. Mr. Mcmahon is one of the greats

902. of all time, yes.

903. I mean, you've heard arenas ful,

904. "asshole, asshole!"

905. Asshole! Asshole!

906. If they had done it right, ever.

907. Shawn michaels became the wwf c.

908. Vince mcmahon became the catalye

909. of mr. Mcmahon, and they handedr

910. in the world - bret hart - to,

911. and they drop that ball.

912. In the aftermath of the montrea,

913. wrestling changed forever.

914. The fourth wall had fallen.

915. Vince mcmahon's villainous charl

916. his company into the stratosphe,

917. while bret hart would make his.

918. You know, if you look at how brw

919. and how I, how they launched me.

920. Why don't we bring the man out a

921. referee this match.

922. God, I remember like, referee?

923. That's so lame, like, such a la.

924. Is that what you want, referee?

925. Eric bischoff was an imbecile t.

926. He didn't have any idea about h.

927. I have to take some responsibilt

928. there may have been better ways.

929. I would be honored to be the re.

930. But at the same time, we'll neve

931. the plans that we did have for o

932. piss poorly because of his just.

933. He didn't get over in wcw. Zero.

934. Hey, bischoff!

935. And the wcw...

936. - I quit! - (cheering)

937. I think the legacy of the montrt

938. nobody knows if it was really a.

939. I happen to believe it was the.

940. To me, I feel the same way now k

941. as I did the first time I saw I.

942. It's a total work.

943. Everybody was in on it and they.

944. Now, look at bret's face.

945. He doesn't look too shocked to.

946. You're gonna spit on vince and s

947. gonna go, "go tight on vince, g.

948. Get vince wiping the loogy out "

949. vince has been in the tv busine.

950. Nothing's gonna happen without.

951. Everybody knows you're leaving.

952. You're gonna stand in what's nog

953. on a global broadcast, and you'a

954. motion the call signs of your c?

955. If that's not okay by a big bos,

956. they're gonna cut away from tha.

957. I mean, I've never discussed it.

958. You know, I wasn't there,

959. and I didn't ask guys who were.

960. Watching it as an educated fan,

961. I would say it was a complete on

962. by all parties, and that's all.

963. People do say it was a work and.

964. No, man.

965. This is the way this piece of h.

966. Conspiracy theorists will alway.

967. But unfortunately, sometimes,

968. when people want more of a stort

969. just isn't there, they try to c.

970. He's not one of 'em too, is he?

971. I'm sorry. Just, it's just, it'l

972. would say that he didn't talk t.

973. I know they all talked to each,

974. but especially about this. Why?

975. I will tell anybody to their fat

976. this was a work, you're a dumb.

977. These are death threats. I've g.

978. But, these were some of the mosd

979. some of the most picturesque so.

980. "get by the ring one more time,

981. you make a target under those l.

982. You won't know where it comes f"

983. they pulled it all off because.

984. Poor earl, and he's just a litt.

985. I feel so bad for him.

986. To put that on him was such a r.

987. For the last 15 years, it's bee.

988. That's always a chant in any ar,

989. "you screwed bret."

990. we never talked for a long, lon.

991. Many years. It's...

992. Even though bret and I are frie,

993. this is still upsetting.

994. I guess you can tell I'm kind o,

995. but it's something that will be.

996. A lot of people will say, "hey,

997. all the way from vince russo,

998. to jim cornette, to triple h,

999. to shawn, to me," you know, we.

1000. The montreal screwjob is remembf

1001. different ways by all kinds of.

1002. For the fans, it was like one og

1003. behind the scenes things that e,

1004. and they heard about, and they e

1005. intrigue in the locker room andm

1006. than there sometimes was in the.

1007. You know, as soon you start doi,

1008. as soon as you don't believe it,

1009. it's not really worth watching.

1010. That's the way the people feel h

1011. in their hero; that's when you,

1012. because they believed in the pe,

1013. even if they didn't always beli,

1014. they believed in the people.

1015. I take a lot of pride, almost rn

1016. being the wrestler that I was.

1017. I believe that I was the guy the

1018. wrestling aspect of the wrestli,

1019. and that's what I like to be re.

1020. The reality of the situation is,

1021. is that if two guys just could',

1022. you know, could've got over the.

1023. Well, we wouldn't be sitting he.

1024. I've ignored him for years, and.

1025. It's my, my personal enjoyment,

1026. to remind everybody at every opy

1027. that he's a liar.

1028. It's freaking wrestling. It mea.

1029. I will live to piss on his grav.

1030. Even if I'm in a walker,

1031. my wife already has instruction.

1032. She's out of the will if she do,

1033. if I'm not ambulatory.

1034. I'll find vince russo's grave a,

1035. and there will be a picture of l

1036. when I pass away.

1037. And hate is a hell of a motivat.