Bret Hart has broken down how Shawn Michaels ended up stealing one of his ideas to create an iconic WrestleMania moment.
The main event of SummerSlam 1992 entered into wrestling folklore as soon as the final bell rang. In front of a packed house at Wembley Stadium, the British Bulldog pinned Bret Hart to win the Intercontinental Championship.
The match is remembered as one of Hart’s most impressive performances as he guided Bulldog to the greatest bout of his career.
However, not only that match, but the entire event was almost very different.
After Hart won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania against Roddy Piper, the original plan was for him to eventually lose the title to Shawn Michaels, with a prospective bout taking place at SummerSlam. Although at this point it hadn’t been confirmed where the event was going to be held, it was between Washington DC and Wembley Stadium.
Seeing a big money match on the horizon, Hart suggested that if the event was held in London a match with Bulldog would be the way forward, and then the Brit would lose the title at a later date to Michaels. However, if the show was in Washington, Hart wanted to meet Michaels in a Ladder Match.
With Vince McMahon unsure of what a Ladder Match was, he asked The Hitman to show him with an opponent of his choice. The end result was a Ladder Match in July at Wrestling Challenge taping. Although after the match, it was decided that SummerSlam would be heading to Wembley Stadium so the Ladder Match was off.
A Ladder Match wouldn’t be seen again until Michaels and Scott Hall went to war at WrestleMania X in 1994.
Speaking to Inside The Ropes’ very own Kenny McIntosh at Starrcast V looking back at SummerSlam 1992, Hart explained that he’s still “p*ssed off” that Michaels stole his match. The Hitman added that he was supposed to have a Ladder Match with his brother Owen at SummerSlam in 1994.
“The mistake I made, I had the Ladder Match with Shawn at a TV taping and Shawn [Michaels] stole the idea. Just stole it from me, and used it a year later, two years later or whatever. Today they always attribute the Ladder Match to Razor and Shawn and that’s always a bit of a soft spot for me, I get a little bit p*ssed off when I think of how they stole that idea from me.
It should have been me and Owen in a Ladder Match instead of that Cage Match.”
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