WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had one of his most tumultuous relationships in wrestling with Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, however, McMahon has praised Hart as “a real champion” in the business.
Hart and McMahon’s history goes back to the 1980s when McMahon bought the Stampede Wrestling territory from Hart’s father, Stu. As part of the deal, Hart, and his three brothers-in-law, Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and The Dynamite Kid all made their way to the World Wrestling Federation.
Entering what was a land of the giants at the time Hart teamed with Neidhart and manager Jimmy Hart to form The Hart Foundation. Success and tag titles soon followed and before long Bret Hart was soon the standout of the team, and started towards a singles run in the company.
Propelled by winning the Intercontinental Championship from Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991 and by defeating ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8, Hart’s climb to the top of the WWF was becoming inevitable. He soon reached the apex of professional wrestling in October 1992 by defeating Ric Flair for the WWF Championship.
Hart led what was known as The New Generation in the company, headlining WrestleManias and helping make stars out of Diesel, Shawn Michaels, and latterly Stone Cold Steve Austin. Ultimately Hart’s WWF career ended in scandalous circumstances when McMahon sent him to WCW and ended Hart’s WWF career with the scandalous Montreal Screwjob.
Time is a great healer and after thirteen years away – and after some traumatic events in Hart’s life – Bret Hart returned to the WWE proper in 2010. An ill-fated match with Vince McMahon took place at WrestleMania 26 where the legacy of what happened on that night in Montreal could finally be laid to rest for good.
The WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was a contributor on the A&E Biography documentary studying the life and career of Bret Hart. After the fallout and hurt followed by reconciliation, McMahon shared some words about Hart’s skills in the ring, and what made The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be exactly that.
McMahon stated:
“Although he is very technical, very sound, very believable, Bret was not as big as some of our other performers. But, Bret stayed in there and hung in there, and eventually, everyone recognized his skill and the rest is history.”
“Bret is an unusual cat. Man, that was a real champion. The credibility factor with Bret, I think, will be the highest of anyone we ever had as champion.”
Vince McMahon also talked about his point of view as regards to Montreal, saying that he had to do what he had to do.