Bret “The Hitman” Hart Speaks Candidly in Exclusive Interview - Part II: Owen, McMahon, Montreal

I asked Bret when and where he learned of his brother Owen’s death. Bret relieved that he was on a plane headed to Los Angeles. He was scheduled to make an appearance on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Bret recalled that he had what could be described as a premonition. He felt something was wrong, but he could not reach his parents, as the line was busy. Hart remembers a friend first informing him that Owen had died at a pay-per-view in Edmonton, and that Owen’s wife Martha and their two children were in attendance.

SG: You had a meeting with Vince McMahon in Calgary shortly after Owen’s Death.
BH: Yeah, he begged me to meet him. I met him at this park bench that I had sat at for two years thinking about why he screwed me. I had talked to Martha’s lawyers, and was told, whatever I do, don’t talk about the incident. I just asked him if he knew anything more than what the papers were reporting, and he said no. I asked him why the show continued and was told there would have been a riot if the show had stopped. I asked him why he screwed me, and he said it was the biggest mistake he ever made and that he regretted it everyday, and wanted me to end my career in the WWF.

SG: A few months after Owen’s death, you gave a speech on Nitro about your future being uncertain. What ultimately brought you back to the ring?
BH: Well, I guess what I was hoping for, and I don’t know if I got it or not, I wanted to come back and maybe somehow change wrestling. I thought I could make a difference in ideology. Maybe return it to the old kind of wrestling, more traditional. I talked to Eric Bischoff, and I didn’t want to wrestle in a good guy versus bad guy situation at all … at least not for the first three or four months. I didn’t want to end my career on a tragedy. I think people will respect and probably forever be grateful for that whole match with Beniot in Kansas City. It was very emotional.

SG: The night before the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal, you worked a house show in Detroit. With Vince desperate to get the title off you, could a comprise have been that you would drop the title on that show?
BH: No, for two reasons. One, I wanted to leave Canada with my head up, and secondly I was told, and just had this confirmed that Vince McMahon, had Shawn Michaels tell him that he never ever would let me beat him in a match. I had told Shawn about a month before I left the company, when I was still the champion, that I had no problem putting you [him] over. I was really taken back by his response which was, I really appreciate that, but I want you to know that I won’t do the same for you. Vince said that I have this idea for you to drop the title in Montreal, and then you win it back at the next pay-per-view in the States, and I was like, why would I do that?

SG: When you returned backstage at the Molson Centre in Montreal, McMahon had locked himself in his office. Did you think you would have an encounter with McMahon later that night?
BH: No. The Undertaker, as I remember it, went down and actually got Vince out of his office and ordered him to get his ass in the dressing room. I was in the shower when Rick Rude told me that Vince was standing in the dressing room. I told him (Rude) to just tell McMahon to go. I told Vince that if he didn’t leave by the time I was finished dressing, that I would knock him out.

SG: Do you know for sure if Shawn Michaels was in on the double cross?
BH: Yeah, I know for sure.

SG: Lance Storm is one wrestler (among others) that came out and stated that he believes the Montreal episode was a total work. How do you respond to that?
BH: The sad thing about it is that it should have been (a work).

[End of Part 2: Next week the conclusion of my interview with “The Hitman.” Hart talks about Hulk Hogan, Vince Russo, his future, and more]

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