Notes from the Nosebleeds #33
September 26, 2009
By: Matt O’Brien of WrestleView.com
It was reported this week that WWE is in talks to bring back Bret Hart. Let’s type that again. It was reported this week that WWE is in talks bring back Bret Hart. There are many words in the English language to describe the thoughts going through the minds of wrestling fans: Shock, astonishment, awe, skepticism, disbelief, anger. It doesn?t matter what words you use, they can?t do justice the emotions running through us triggered by the possibility that Bret Hart of all people just may be returning to WWE. There’s the old saying ?when Hell freezes over,? and that is precisely the point of time anyone would have expected Bret Hart to return to WWE.
Looking back twelve years ago when the whole Montreal Screw Job went down, the wrestling world was up in arms. Viewers tuned into Monday Nitro the night after it happened to hear Eric Bischoff announce Bret’s impending arrival to WCW. I was in junior high at the time so the only wrestling I saw were the Monday night shows. When I heard Bischoff announce that Bret Hart was leaving WWF, I was floored. What the heck could have happened the night before that triggered this? When it came time for Raw we heard Jim Ross confirm that Bret Hart had left the World Wrestling Federation. Over the next few weeks we all learned the story behind what had confused so many watching on pay per view that night. What came to light transcended storyline fans had been fed over the course of wrestling history. Wrestling became very real to fans during those weeks.
Bret Hart would work with Bischoff and try pulling his brother Owen from the WWF and sign him with WCW, but Vince McMahon’s threat of a lawsuit stopped that. A year and a half later wrestling became all too real again with the death of Owen when he fell from the rafters at Kemper Arena. After Owen’s death Bret and Vince met face to face in Canada where Vince told Bret he wanted the Hitman to finish his career in the World Wrestling Federation. Bret turned down the offer as he doubted at that time he would ever wrestle again after what happened to Owen.
By the end of the year Bret would suffer his career-ending injury in the ring with Goldberg. While Bret Hart would never wrestle again, there was always rumors and hope that he would return to the company where he had become a star. Finally in 2005 headway was made when Bret participated in a box-set done on the career of the Hitman. The following year he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. After nearly a decade of broken and hard feelings, tensions began to ease.
This week’s report that Bret Hart is in talks to return to WWE sparks a lot of interest for those of us who were fans of Bret during his in-ring career as well as those who know only of his legend. While we shouldn?t get a head of ourselves, how can you not? The chance to speculate over what Bret could do if he returned to WWE is too juicy to pass up. If only he could still wrestle. Nevertheless, he would work great as Smackdown’s GM participating on a show where the top heel, CM Punk, would be the perfect feud for Hart. He could get involved with the Hart Dynasty, Chris Jericho, and even his old friend/rival Undertaker. I don?t need to explain how significant it would be if Bret were to get involved somehow with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, or Vince again.
All these possibilities are so exciting yet I find myself stepping back and asking if it really is a good idea for Bret Hart to return to WWE after everything that has happened. This is the company that had such a great working relationship with Bret Hart and then went sour when Bret was at one of his hottest points in his career. He was mocked on television as Shawn Michaels beat up a midget dressed as Hart. His little brother died while participating in one of this company’s shows. It may make Hart a hypocrite to come back now. After all that has happened, is it really a good idea for Bret to just turn his back on those who have stuck by him all these years and just go back to the company that humiliated him?
The answer is yes. It is a great idea for Bret to go back to WWE. Bret Hart viewed himself as someone whom others could look up to. Well what better person to look up to then a man that can take everything that has happened in the past and try to let it go? It has been twelve years since the Montreal incident. It’s time for all of us to move on. At this point in his life, Bret should do what he wants. He has a legacy that he can decide what to do with. His fans will stick by him whether or not he does indeed return to WWE.
I find myself thinking that this may all just be some huge rumor blown out of proportion, that someone somewhere is making all of this up. It is one of the greatest stories that can ever be told-the man who was screwed over and lost his brother makes amends and returns the the company of his heyday. Now that I think of it, could it be that the last twelve years were a complete work on the part of Vince, Shawn and Bret? Just kidding, but if it had been a work it would be the best there is, the best there, was and the best there ever will be in all of professional wrestling.
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