Bret Hart has never been one to hide what he thinks and that has only been amplified in retirement.
Since hanging up his boots, The Hitman has regularly taken shots at Goldberg while earlier in 2023 he claimed he was “embarrassed” to be sat ringside at WWE Clash At The Castle.
Back in 2016 Hart also had some harsh words for WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins. The WWE Hall of Famer claimed that Rollins was unprofessional and dangerous in the ring.
During an interview with Alex McCarthy for the Daily Mail, Rollins was asked about Hart and about the seemingly harsh critique of his work. Rollins said that while he loves the legend, he knows he’ll never hold back when giving an opinion, even if he personally feels that criticism isn’t warranted.
“I love Bret Hart, I’ll preface this. Bret didn’t really critique me, he called me ‘unsafe’. Bret’s going to spit the truth, he’ll tell you from what he saw he thought I was an unsafe worker, and I would say anybody I’ve ever been in the ring with would tell you the exact opposite, including the guys who have got injured during matches with me – that’s a fact I think.”
Rollins added that he later asked Hart about his comments and attempted to clear the air, describing the criticism that came his way as “painful.”
To finish it up nicely, I did approach Bret at a Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Bret was backstage and we ended up in the catering line together and I said ‘Hey man’ and he said ‘Hey’ and I just said ‘I wanted to tell you as somebody who looked up to you lot and still does – it really kind of hurt my feelings.’
I felt bad and I don’t say that often. Bret was a hero of mine when I was growing up and so to have someone like that criticise you and your work and your work ethic and your empathy towards other people, that really is painful.
So, I expressed that to him and I don’t think he knew that I had that feeling towards him, I don’t think he knew I cared about him that way and it hit him in a spot and he apologised and we have been friends since then and we’ve had good conversations. I’m happy we did do that as Bret is still someone I look up to to this day.”
Roman Reigns Claims Bret Hart Made Him Want To Become A Wrestler
Bret Hart’s influence over the wrestling industry spreads far and wide, and the star has been an inspiration to a whole host of WWE Superstars in the decades since he starred for the company. During a recent interview, Natalya revealed that Roman Reigns also credits Hart with making him want to get involved in wrestling and become the star he is today.