Former WWE writer Court Bauer recently discussed plans for Bret Hart’s comeback in WWE following the Montreal Screwjob.
Bret Hart battled Shawn Michaels at WWE Survivor Series 1997 with the title on the line. During the match, the Heartbreak Kid got Hart in the Sharpshooter and the bell rang even though the Hitman didn’t tap out. The incident will forever be remembered in wrestling history, as Bret spit in Vince’s face and flipped out after the match.
Speaking on The Insiders podcast, Bauer said the original idea for Bret’s comeback was for a big tag team match between the Hart Foundation and the McMahons, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and his students. at WrestleMania 22.
“Well, the original version was supposed to kind of, sort of, got off the ground in WWE in 2006, or seven. Bret was back in the orbit of WWE after coming to terms with Vince and doing the DVD and at one point was going to be Bret versus Vince at WrestleMania 22 in Chicago, and then Bret was a little uneasy about doing that. They eventually did it much differently a few years later.
The original idea was gonna be the Harts and the Hart Foundation versus the WWE, Vince, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Shane, Shawn’s students at the time. The idea would be you know, you have Paul London.
You had Brian Kendrick, and then they were gonna sign Bryan Danielson. So you had like all these interesting ways against the Hart Foundation, which would have been Bret, Neidhart, and a new generation, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Nattie, Teddy and so on.
So we started the process and I got Harry Smith, Davey Boy Smith Jr. signed, Nattie and TJ, Tyson Kid and Teddy. I remember Vince looking at me saying. ‘You know, self-masturbatory gimmick.’ It was like a warning, like this is on you when this goes south. I’m like okay. Now truth be told Teddy outlasted me in WWE.
I left the summer of 2007 and he stayed around for a little bit more. So I don’t know how that ended up going, but clearly he didn’t end up on air and the other guys did. Nattie is still there doing great things, Tyson is contributing behind the scenes, and Harry’s had his tours of duty there since, so it was interesting what could have been with that. I think Jericho at some point was figured into the Hart story too, I think. I don’t remember the details off the top of my head.”
H/T: Wrestling News
WWE legend and current AEW commentator Jim Ross recently revealed on his podcast that he didn’t speak with Bret Hart for years following the Montreal Screwjob despite having nothing to do with it. You can check that out in the link below.
