How Bret Hart Was Betrayed In WWE By Vince McMahon And Hulk Hogan
Bret Hart is a WWE Hall of Famer with a contentious relationship with Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan that goes back over three decades.
The first Immortal Moment that will be honored in the WWE Hall of Fame is the classic Submission Match that saw Bret Hart beat a bloody “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 in one of the greatest pro wrestling matches of all time.
While that match at WrestleMania 13 will forever be iconic, Bret Hart’s match at WrestleMania 9 will forever be tainted.
At WrestleMania 9 in Las Vegas in 1993, Bret Hart lost the WWE Title to Yokozuna because Yokozuna’s manager Mr. Fuji threw the dreaded Fuji Dust in Bret’s eyes and Yokozuna covered for the win.
After the match, Hulk Hogan ran to the ring to tell the referee that Yokozuna cheated. Mr. Fuji said Yokozuna was issuing a challenge to Hulk. The crowd was yelling for Hulk to accept the challenge, so Bret told Hulk to go for it. Hogan slid into the ring for the match and beat Yokozuna in under 30 seconds with a leg drop to win the WWE Title.
During an interview on The Ringer Wrestling Show, Bret Hart spoke about how Vince told Bret he would have a long title reign, but that didn’t end up happening.
“My memory of it is that things were like an elevator falling. Business was plummeting every week, down, down. Vince was being investigated. A lot of dark, gloomy things…it was almost like, ‘Who can we put the belt on that’s not going to screw everything up’, and it’s like, ‘Oh, let’s put it on Bret Hart.’”
I remember when I won the title. Vince told me that I would be champion for, they were looking long term, kind of like Bruno [Sammartino]. He brought up Bruno and [Bob] Backlund, and he said, ‘You’re going to be champion for six years. You’re going to be champion for a long time, so don’t worry about your position.'”
Bret also recalled what McMahon told him about Hogan returning to WWE for WrestleMania 9 after leaving the company a year earlier.
“When Hogan came in, he goes, ‘Don’t worry about Hogan. He’s got nothing to do with you. He’s here to promote a movie. He’s short term.’”
Since it was the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon assuring him, Bret believed what his boss was saying.
“It was always Vince telling me these things, so I was very confident. The reason I became the champion that I did was because I believed that I was going to be champion for a long time, and I’m going to be like Bruno… I think I’m the best guy to carry it going forward.”
Bret Hart Says There Was Friction With Hulk Hogan
In past interviews and his book, Bret Hart has said that he thought Hogan would drop the WWE Title to him at King of the Ring 1993. Instead, Hogan lost the WWE Title back to Yokozuna in a controversial match that isn’t celebrated for being a wrestling classic.
Bret Hart opened up about his issues with Hulk Hogan when he came back in 1993.
“I could tell when Hogan came back, he wouldn’t even shake my hand in the dressing room. I always thought, if Hulk Hogan saw me, he would come up and shake my hand and be like, really proud of me… I always thought he would be an advocate for me.”
When he came back, I saw right away that I had what he wanted. He had no respect for me. He couldn’t believe that I was the champion. I remember going in my heart, ‘He doesn’t matter because Vince already told me I’m not gonna even worry about him.’”
On the subject of WrestleMania 9, Hart recalled what he was told and what he thought would happen.
“When that night happened, I didn’t find out until the night before I lost the belt. I couldn’t believe it. I was stunned. He goes, ‘Well, that’s not what we’re doing.’ He was almost shocked that I thought I was going to beat Yoko. I’m like, ‘Well, you’re the one that told me I’d be champion for six years, so I just assumed.’”
“He laid out that whole thing with Hogan, and I felt so betrayed. I think that’s when I went, this guy’s a total liar. Vince is a liar. Hogan’s a liar. I was really mad.”
The Hitman would go on to speak about what it meant to be a professional.
“I made a promise to myself that whatever happened… when the day came and they walked in and said, ‘Hey, you’re dropping the belt to so and so’, that I would do whatever was asked of me. I was more honored by the fact that they made me champion in the first place. I kind of bit my tongue, and it’s like, all right, whatever you want.”
Hulk Hogan apparently told Bret that he would lose the title back to Bret, but it was a lie.
“‘Happy to return the favor.’ I remember I looked at him and said, ‘I’m going to remember that’, and he wouldn’t return to favor. I remember going, this guy’s was not the good guy that I always thought he was. I started to see through him.”
As he continued talking about the WrestleMania 9 WWE Title situation, Bret Hart said that his toxic relationship with Vince McMahon was never the same again.
“I’ll be honest. My whole relationship with Vince was never the same. I could never really take him at his word anymore. As far as integrity and honesty, I never felt that Vince was honest with me after that. It’s all about trust and respect, and Vince broke that trust.
Hogan never had any respect for me. I think words speak for themselves. They’re not talking about Hulk Hogan today.”
Bret Hart did end up working with Hulk Hogan in WCW, but it wasn’t a rivalry that produced memorable moments or matches.