The MAJOR problem here would be Hulk "That doesn't work for me, brother" Hogan and his Cliq clotting up the shows in general and the main event in particular. Before Vince Russo there was simply not enough space on top of the mountain next to Hogan's ego
WCW had so much of its budget tied up in assured contracts that they couldn’t give Brett proper matches had they wanted to. Hogan and the rest would have just flexed creative control.
From a red-hot storyline with Steve Austin who was about to be the biggest star ever and the Montreal Screwjob to………being a guest referee in a gimmick match that wasn’t even a main event. Possibly the most WCW thing ever.
i mean you can say that for alot of people in wcw, hogan going to wcw is still the worst thing to ever happen to it, sure it gave some big highs, but it ultimately changed and destroyed it
Bret Hart is guy who has gone through tragedy after tragedy, in both his business and personal life, that he's completely justified in never wanting to be a part of wrestling again.
Bret’s book brought me to tears. His life completely unravels over a short period of time - Owen’s death, the concussion, Davey Boy’a death, the stroke. It’s heartbreaking.
It’s heartbreaking if not Hartbreaking, but in recent years seeing Warrior and Hitman make peace with everybody is a lesson in forgiveness and moving on.
With all of that going on he had a shitty last few years of his career, an early retirement, and im sure seeing how wwf skyrocketed after he left didn’t do his conscience much good either
The poor guy got hit with several devastating blows in quick succession. It's a testament to his character that he managed to recuperate and write a bestselling book, return to WWE and make peace with Vince and HBK, and has since worked on lots of cool projects and continued to make appearances for his fans.
wcw couldn't even boil water correctly in those days. Their level of incompetence was so high that they couldn't book Bret Hart. This would be like being dealt a royal flush and folding.
It was a damn crime. I don't agree with everything Cornette says, especially when it comes to politics, but when it comes to his opinion of Russo, even he is probably going easy on that gigantic douchebag.
Yeah my exact thought and honestly this was the saddest video I've seen here lol. Imagining what he thinks his brother went through and thinking hes next just sad
The thing is you dont really have clarity. My most serious one i remember lying dazed almost asleep but not and apparently the teacher was yelling at me to get to my desk.
@@chrisortiz8072 it’s more of an old school wrestling thing. Bret took wrestling as seriously as a religion. They had the expectation that even if you were injured, so long as you could still work, you had to the job. A notable example was Curt Henning working injured against Bret at SummerSlam.
@@DannyBZ9 that doesn't matter in the overall message of my comment. He got injured during a match walked to the back and was handed pills, because that's all they had. Thats horrible.
Agreed, and especially in the case of a concussion, where the injured party is possibly unable to realize they need help, you gotta have a medic nearby to make those calls on behalf of the victim.
The worst part about my first head injury was that I stayed in the lacrosse game I was playing, unaware I was dazed off pure adrenaline I guess, and got hit again later. Second-impact-syndrome is what I believe it is called. Bret Hart took three hard hits, right? The elbow, the on the outside, and the kick to the head. Possibly even the spear. It's not hard to see why Hart was so out of it after his match.
I've had 3 concussions myself. One of them was very serious. They are no joke, and anyone that has never experienced it, has no idea the pain you suffer, not to mention the regular head aches and pain throughout my later life.
the WWE was moving towards the brash attitude era, like WCW was w/ NWO and Wolfpack.. Brett was no longer going to headline and be WWE champ on the daily.. but he could have great angles w/ the likes of Angle (pun intended) and take breaks, and come back every so often, to fight great angles. He was a giant killer, and anyone that needed to be taken down a notch (belt or not) could have called for Brett to step up, or even b) return as a tag team champion. You're right - he and Angle as technical wrestlers would've been a great tag team setup :D
You know, this kind of thing is why I completely understand why Bret Hart is so bitter. He’s had a lot of success in the wrestling business, but the wrestling business also shat on him too.
Alot of the problem I'm having with Bret Hart story that he wrote in his book is, he didn't bother to tell the head office specialty Vince Russo, that he might have a serious injury. Vince and a lot of the guys probably thought that he was just working with a couple of minor injuries. Why would they think this because Bret Hart himself didn't tell them how serious it was. I get it being angry but you also have to take your own very responsibility on giving information to others about your Medical Health
@@WillsonT011 Hart didn't go to Russo because he wasn't sure if he had a serious concussion or not. Hart just knew he was in a lot of pain and thought that the pain would eventually go away by taking Advil. Also, Hart was suffering from short term memory lost and he didn't want to be complainer since the top bosses needed him badly to sit in for Kevin Nash
Finished reading Bret's autobiography last week and it's an incredible book, absolutely must-read and highly recommended for any wrestling fan. The last third of the book especially is really sad and difficult to get through at points, but he writes about such tough subjects (Montreal, Owen, the collapse of the Hart family, his concussion, Stu's death, his stroke) with real heart and you really have to feel sympy for him.
My interpretation was very different than yours. I do feel sympathy for Owen and the fallout. But the wrestling side, the autobiography seemed like a love letter to himself. I also had difficulty stomaching how he constantly pointed out flaws/drug use/divorces, etc., that other wrestlers were going through, but he always had a way of justifying his own faults, especially his infidelity.
@@StuUngar there is some truth in that comment. I am a Bret fan but I do think he laid it on a bit thick at times in terms of praising himself. That being said still found it a good read and say what you want about but he is a good storyteller.
I'm about to order it, thanks for the recommendation but i see 2 different books, one that says international best seller and another that says "with Perry Lefko" which should I get? i bought both, it was only £10 for the pair
The Hitman was the coolest and most talented wrestler in the business, they should have made him the guy who defeated Goldberg, he would have been the best guy to do it.
I always felt DDP should of best Goldberg at Halloween Havok when he countered the jackhammer into the diamond cutter BUT! Goldberg sucks in the ring and I would of much rather seen Bret and DDP feud over the belt. Brawler style DDP and Bret could of had matches similar to how he worked with Stone Cold in the WWF
That's a great point! With Bischoff as Hogan's lackey, Hall and Nash stirring things up, Steiner cutting shoot promos and others going wild, WCW was a toxic work environment with no clear leader or direction in '98 and '99.
@@uberneanderthal here's my question... if that kick to the head ended his career due to concussion, but Bret never went to the doctor until months later and plenty of abuse post Goldberg, how can you be certain it was Goldberg that ended his career? Bret should have seen a doctor immediately after the match. Instead he continued getting busted up and knocked in the head until January 10th 2000. Had Bret seen the doctor after the Goldberg match, who's to say he doesn't make a full recovery after some time off?
@@RobGamesOn No one took concussions seriously back in the 90s. It was actually cases like Bret Hart's that made people more aware of their severity and the need for proper recovery.
If you played pee wee football in the 90s for a couple years you would have 5 concussions. I think it’s funny hart pretends a concussion. From a kick to the forehead ended his career. When it’s his divorce brothers death that were bothering I mean the guy drones on and on about things that happened 30 years ago. I can’t imagine he’s in a good spot when he’s going through it.
@Samuel Wells Unfortunately, this is not possible, especially after suffering multiple ones in a short span. Had Bret realized he had these, likely would had went to a doctor sooner. He thought that it was his neck, pinched nerves maybe. The way Bret described driving back to the hotel, was unreal & should had told him something was badly wrong. Yet he thought he could go on, unlike many, manned up rather than puss out. Best of luck to a true all time Great of Wrestling!💖
@@oldironsides4107 he openly talks that most of his wrestling memories are good ones and he has very few regrets. People call him bitter, but I don’t see it that way…he’s just honest about his feelings and those feelings can go both ways. He likes Goldberg the man, but not the wrestler. On top of all of the personal things going on, WCW is ruining the business that he (and his whole family) spent his entire life trying to build.
Pretty much everything about Bret's WCW run sucked, but the one positive was that when Russo came on board, Bret finally got the push he should've had a long time before. And then he got kicked in the head by someone who didn't really know what he was doing.
To think of all of the most legendary wrestlers last matches in history... Bret's last match had to be one of the worst. I always imagined Bret's last match being an absolute clinic... but I guess not.
@@arthurmorgan7086 triggered? for replying? Not really, I just so happened to reply to as many comments I see in my notifications. I type my comment & move on with my day lol.
Name one wrestler that had an overwhelming end to their career....without being an ass I’m serious. Name one. Flair? Hogan? Andre? Taker? Austin? Rock? Race? Funk? Michaels? I completely understand Bret but if you think about it he had a biggest “outride” of any wrestler ever. Brets retirement has lasted Like 20 years. Did anyone else have that? And Bret made money every single day and Bret makes money to this day 2022. Give me a break.
Taking a bump with the figure 4 leg lock on the post did a lot more damage than the kick, if you watch it you can see. Didn't Bret also wrestle after that goldberg match including taking a chair shot? Goldberg ended Brets career is an interesting narrative albeit completely false
Imagine the matches we would of gotten from Bret and Lance Storm who was just around the corner at this point. Had WCW of let Bret legitimize the world title scene it could of been a breath of fresh air for the company
You can be both a good-hearted nice guy who isn't safe to work with in the ring. Goldberg has always struck me as a stand-up type who wouldn't intentionally injure someone he was working with, but that doesn't mean you have the skills, ability, or judgement to do some of the things these men and women do in the ring. Sometimes, you have all those things, and something still goes wrong. Brett can feel all those things towards Goldberg at the same time, and they are all equally true.
I'm going to tell you this right now, if Bret Hart had a problem with the stiffness of Goldberg then he would have never have survived any type of match with Brock Lesnar. Now that's a guy that works you stiff
I don't buy Goldberg being too stiff. Vader is by consensus much more stiff and Bret worked with him fine. When reading Bret's book tbh, he only has himself to blame. He didn't protect himself properly when taking some bumps/Goldberg could have done better to cushion some BUT by the time it gets to the infamous kick, Goldberg calls it. Hart should have slowed himself down and just backed off but he was the type of guy who was hell bent on making it look "real". His fault as much as Goldies tbh.
Too many other grasping chiefs and their clout with WCW didn't help the situation either, like Goldlberg, Hogan, Flair and Sting. All of them have expectations to be near to the title in that time period. Of course, the company screwed this up way worse with stupid untimely gimmicks and stuff as well as Russo's input
I know that it's been said, but Wrestling Bios' remixes are really just incredible. Every single episode, you get treated to something that would be a normal content creator's entire channel. That's why I joined the Patreon and why YOU SHOULD TOO!
Honestly, Bret should have just left WCW and gone home to recover from the concussion. I understand being a professional, but his health was more important than taking part in stupid angles and hardcore matches
@@filmbuff2777 Goldberg gave him at least two concussions back to back. I honestly think that what really got Bret wasn't the kick, but the figure four spot. He banged his head on the floor after Goldberg let go of him during the spot, and he was too dazed to react to the kick in time.
Geez...that's really hard to hear that he was going through all that pain. It's actually eye opening to hear all the preparation he went through for his matches. With all the tape and pads, icy hot, etc...here I never thought he was ever affected by anything other than that kick. Like he was a freaking superhero.
I don’t think Bret contradicted himself about Goldberg at all. Goldberg was a good guy who certainly didn’t mean to end Bret’s career. He just happened to be a shitty wrestler.
Bret Hart has never been inconsistent about Bill Goldberg. He thinks he is a good guy but terrible wrestler and dangerous worker in the ring. They aren't mutually exclusive.
That may be true, but what's also true is that as Bret aged, he emphasized Goldberg being a good guy less and less, and being dangerous a lot more. I won't say A&E Bios are perfect, but if there was anything in that most recent one about Goldberg being a good guy, I didn't hear it. And rather than blaming the people who did or didn't train the man, more recently he blames the man. I tend to think that it's either due to Bret having suffered more lingering negative effects from the injury as time went on, or, and how ironic would this be, the part of his head that Goldberg kicked was the area dealing with sympathy and forgiveness, which made it much more difficult to remember that he once felt sorry for the guy.
@@samoanjoseph1457 I do think the negative effects being the stroke later on and all also doesn’t help the possibly at one point Bret/Goldberg friendship.
You hear so many people talking about how unprofessional Goldberg was, but this really puts it on display moreso than anything else. WCW was also at fault for pushing such a dangerous wrestler to the moon. It’s no wonder Time Warner decided to shut it down. They must have been thinking this wrestling business is nothing but a giant lawsuit waiting to happen.
@Energetic Coach I agree. They took him out of the Power Plant before the end of his training. Didn't have any time to properly learn the art of pro wrestling.
@@AlexYBITW That dumbass Sarge being a trainer at the Power Plant won't have helped. According to Batista in his 2007 book Batista Unleashed he went to train there with his friend Lance but Sarge kept putting them down because he had a Napoleon complex and hated them for being bigger than him.
I've met Bret personally many times between 1994-2020. I still remember when my friend and I met him shortly after he came to WCW--though it was obvious that he was upset about what happened with the then-WWF, Bret made it clear that he was happy to see us and gave us big hugs. Back then, I think Bret tried to be hopeful about his future with WCW but that was impossible--WCW had no clue what they were doing, period. To this day, I say that Bret's name in syonymous with the word legend.
But in all fairness he was at the end of his career.... I think wcw sped up his retirement process. And by reading Brett's book I don't think even Bret knew that he was towards the end of his career. But he was hurting. And working injured most of the time. Also WCW was making him do some silly stuff. A sad way to go out. As an old saying goes.... A singer or and actor can have one last great performance. But then athlete doesn't have that opportunity.
Bret’s opinion on Goldberg changes for two primary reasons. 1. He was gaslit by interviewers into believing that Goldberg didn’t take the injury seriously, which prompted anger and one that he stuck by because the man knows how to hold certain convictions, and conversely, certain grudges. This was largely down to people overplaying some statement by Goldberg and provoking Bret into stating certain hard truths that he then had to stick by. 2. Speaking of hard truths. His views on the business also evolved over the years. He came to realise that injuries, especially head injustices, are no joke and that they carry seriously consequences. Wrestlers end up with long term health problems and substance addictions as a result. As such, he was right about Goldberg not being safe and making it a task to call out wrestlers when safety isn’t considered. However, the level to which he turned that criticism into a grudge goes back to the first reason. His book is fine. Morons don’t like it because they simply see wrestling as a self-indulgent soap/circus act and cannot comprehend why someone would have pride in their work and what they lost in the process of giving to the business.
@jpssteveshanahan9572 Yeah, among other things like stroking his mark ego, and letting him slide on a lack of mic skills. They should have taken Scott’s advice and ended the streak earlier
Bret deserved better. He was screwed over by the WWF and WCW. Here's a guy who had the ability to put people over by having them lose to him. That's rare. If it wasn't for Bret Hart we don't get a Stone Cold. The quotes about Goldberg don't necessarily contradict each other you can be good hearted but dangerous at the same time and Goldberg was probably a 0 in terms of skill because most of his matches were short due to his lack of experience.
I always thought that WWF had good intentions for Bret, since they made him WWF champion in his last months with the company. Bret was the one negotiating with WCW the year before, and WWF didn't want to get in the way of him having the opportunity to work there for a few years and make a lot of money, then eventually come back to WWF as a top wrestler again. I wish he was still in WCW and in good health when WWF bought WCW in early 2001. I feel like we came so close to that happening.
@@davidnec571 Nope they didn't. Bret didn't even want to go to WCW but Vince said he couldn't pay him the money he signed the contract for. Hart had no choice but to go to WCW because of that even though the contract he signed for WWF was for less money and more job security. He wanted to stay in WWF out of loyalty but they didn't want to give him his money. WCW paid him but they didn't use him right and then they fired him when he got hurt which should've been illegal.
God I hate Goldberg so much. He's done so much irreparable damage to the wrestling industry. WCW had a ton of big men who could have been better in his spot. Wrath. Norton. Morrus. Saturn. All deserved it better and would have done better.
WCW never knew how to use Bret properly, he went from the hottest star to a chump literally overnight thanks to the shitty Booking he received in almost his entire WCW run.
This is very sad. I have read the book, I have met and spoken with Bret Hart and have a lot of respect for him and his work. The bitterness he seems to hold onto is definitely put into perspective when you know these facts.
Ugh. Bret's career ended in the worst way... From a stiff kick by the unsafe JOBBER Bill Goldberg, a guy who had no business throwing around kicks AT ALL, with his extremely limited (and severely LACKING) in ring capabilities. Bret may have forgiven him (has he?)... But I never will. Up yours, Goldberg WAY up yours.
@@lt.danicecream Put him in a more high profile feud to kick off his run for a start. Booking him as a referee for Bischoff is not the way you kick off Bret's wcw run
Yep He was the exact opposite of a Mr. Perfect or Jake the Snake, two men who were known to take extra care not to hurt other wrestlers, and true professionals. Just one of the myriad of poor decisions from WCW.
Undertaker doesn’t belong in the same category. They were both old. Plus, Undertaker screwed up too when he dropped Goldberg on his head. Against Bret, that was just carelessness.
@ItsStillRealToMe DamnIt You need to remember he was working concussed. He was having constant headaches, memory loss, blurred vision, etc (as mentioned in the video), which are normal affects of a traumatic brain injury. With that in mind, it's needless to say that it doesn't take a highlight reel worthy bump or shot for it to ring his bell.
You probably couldn't, mostly because Bret was an awesome seller and a physical wrestler, so even those hard irish whips into the buckle that would shake the whole ring (and my friend he TOOK those ones) would seem "usual" in a Bret Hart match. His style was very physical and very intense throughout a 20+ year career, so it's more a combination of everything than one particular spot, if I make myself clear.
Maybe Russo messed up a bit, sure. But the pure hatred Bret has for him when it was all Russo who put him in the main event and made him champion is a bit unsavoury. Also the way he seems to blame Russo for Owen's death which is just bs. He has a lot to be pissed off about but the hatred thrown at Russo is undeserved.
He would never have been given anything. Technical wrestling fans idolize Bret Hart and misremember his importance & popularity. Bret Hart never had the star power to make demands like Hogan did.
@@christopherroberts7306 Except in 1997 right after Survivor Series. He was without question the hottest name in wrestling besides Sting and Hogan at that time. Also, his importance can't be understated. You can argue Austin's rise was coming no matter what, but those Survivor Series 96 and WM 13 matches made him one of the top players. Before that, he was a mid-card guy. And Bret singled him out as a guy he wanted to wrestle. Without Hart, who was going to make Austin look like a credible threat in the title picture? Maybe Undertaker. Certainly not Shawn Michaels. Probably not Sid, either. He's also at least partially responsible for the Mr. McMahon character, albeit inadvertently.
So after all this he receives a termination letter because of his incapacity… 🙈 Only good thing is that he got out of it alive and is still with us today.
He had a few more years in him to wrestle back then. But today he is lucky to avoid an ending with a big brain damage like Chris Benoit or Andrew Test Martin.
@@MRKYTH his mileage was already high in the 2000s and WCW Wrestling was very dangerous. Thats why remainig superstars are parttimers over their 40s. To much have died.
Man, just you narrating the book and showing what goes through the match between Bill and Bret, you can just wince at the car wreck that is about to happen. It is sad how his career ended on a way no one saw.
During this time my Grampa died and they'd repeat Nitro like at midnight. I'd try watching it but it was so boring and non sensisical I couldn't pay too much attention. My whole family would be awake at night.
I feel like this video is going to make me furious with WCW again, even More so with Vince for cancelling the contract that woulda kept Brett in WWF. The Hitman deserved so much more than what he got. He will Always be fighting with Steve Austin for the #1 spot in my mind. 👍
In hindsight i was ready to be mad at the wrong Vince. Russo is trash. To this day that asshole Still says he hates Wrestling and never liked it despite having been "in control" of the 2 biggest Wrestling companies EVER. Never knew He scripted the Owen stuff, i Know he wasn't supposed to fall, but Owen never shoulda been put up there in the first place. I swear it seems like Russo destroyed Everything he touched.
As a kid Bret Hart was larger than life. And even as the WWF transitioned into the attitude era and Bret turned heel I still enjoyed everything he was involved with. Knowing that his last days in wrestling were filled with trauma and pain just breaks my heart. Bret deserved better.
Angle wanted the match. He even said that he’d take all of the bumps. Bret decline and said he didn’t want to give a half ass performance since it would be disrespectful to the fans.
Bret Hart was absolutely wasted in WCW and a legend of his stature should have been used properly, he deserved so much better and it's such a shame that his epic career ended so prematurely
His heel turn in April 98 was when I knew they were wasting him. For weeks he talks about putting an end to Hollywood Hogan, only to join him out of nowhere. There was no reason to turn him heel.
@@derekazyan9942 plus, even if he didn’t get injured by Goldberg, after Owen, no one was in the mood to boo Bret. WCW just never let him be himself. To this day I still think 1997 was his greatest year creatively, and it sucks that McMahon was not financially able to keep him under contract, because Austin vs Bret at WM 14 would have been a classic. Or even Austin vs Bret vs Shawn
The fact that this was such an easy setup and yet, WCW still screwed it up, makes them going out of business, well deserved. Hart should have been used right away to feud with Hogan and the NWO while Sting had a title run. Easy storyline transition from Sting-Hogan title match. Such a shame
That was a hard watch. So sad that a career as truly exceptional as Brets, came to an end in such a horrible fashion. The man will always be regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. His dedication and passion for the business was unparalleled in my opinion.
I agree with you about how Bret was used in wcw, and at starrcade 97' However according to Eric bischoff....he said that there were 2 reasons Bret was not used right away. 1) I guess Bret broke or injured his hand from punching Vince McMahon? So Eric said that he was not able to wrestle. 2) Eric said that because they were so far in storylines that they weren't going to change everything around that they've been working for during the year just because Bret showed up. I never thought that wrestling was so committed to their storylines, that they couldn't even figure out a way to include Bret in? Interesting. Bret doesn't even count his wcw championship as a world title win. They only introduced him as a 5 time world champion. But wouldn't he be a 6 time world champion? As far as Goldberg. I think Bret's opinion has just changed over the years. 🤔 Maybe before Bret had good things to say about Goldberg. But Bret has had 22 years to think about his injury. So I think his opinions and perception of Goldberg have changed. Very good narrating the footage with Bret's book. 👍🏻 I really enjoyed it alot.😁
I hate the fact that Goldberg ended Brets career, he had so much to give. I give Bret a lot heart to continue the best he could, but I am happy he stopped when he did. He could have died.
I agree but I also would’ve like to see him not leave during the attitude era and HBK’s back not to get hurt would’ve loved to see how they did with guys like HHH Kurt angle stone cold the rock and undertaker in 1998 1999 &2000
@@kevinpayton2664 I think about it all the time like how would bret and a healthy hbk be during that era I mean hbk came back in 99 to be the commissioner but I would’ve loved to see him wrestle …like I wanted to see if bret would change his ring attire because the black and pink didn’t fit the attitude era man a lot of what if’s I think about with that
Fair play to anyone who got into the ring with Goldberg. Stepping in the ring with that man was like getting on a train to botch city. The dude was impressive when you were like 10 because he seemed cool, but his in-ring ability was so severely lacking. Surprised more people didn't get hurt.
Russo was unequivocally the worst. Say what you will about Jim Herd and Eric Bischoff, but the former had *class* and the latter had *at least one good idea* .
@@maxgriffin3950 If Russo decided to take Bret off TV after those concussions (yes, he got more than one in that match), then maybe Bret's career could have continued. Maybe his future health problems wouldn't have happened, and maybe he could have had a good retirement match after recovering. Instead, he constantly wrote him to be in dangerous situation after dangerous situation, and several of the matches and segments he put him in probably gave him even more brain damage on top of what happened at Starrcade.
