Bret Hart Proudly Reflects On Punching Vince McMahon
Bret Hart says Vince McMahon deserved that famous knockout punch.
November 9th, 1997 is one of the most famous nights in wrestling history. In the main event of Survivor Series in front of a packed house at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Canada, Vince McMahon screwed Canada’s favourite wrestling son out of the World Championship.
With Bret Hart locked in a Sharpshooter at the hands of hated rival Shawn Michaels, referee Earl Hebner called for the bell at the behest of McMahon, despite Hart not submitting. With The Hitman heading to WCW, the plan was concocted to make sure he didn’t take the WWF Title with him, this is despite the star repeatedly confirming he’d drop the gold.
In the aftermath, Hart went berserk at ringside spitting on McMahon as the enormity of the situation fully dawned on him. He famously left the ring after writing “WCW” in the air and declaring his love for the fans in attendance.
Backstage in the locker room, the tension remained at an all-time high, and during a confrontation, Hart punched McMahon in the face giving him a black eye.
In the “Mr. McMahon” documentary on Netflix, Hart dismissed the claims from McMahon that he offered him a free punch. The legend said the idea was “bullsh*t,” before describing the punch as the “best thing I ever did.”
“There was no like, ‘Vince is going to give me a shot.’ Like, I don’t where they get that story, because that is such a bunch of bullsh*t. It was Vince and me came at each other, and we actually tied up like a wrestling match.
Everybody’s ready to pounce on me as soon as we grab each other. I remember going, the only way I can get a shot in, one shot, maybe, is an uppercut, and I came right up between Vince’s arms, and it was like, you know when you hit the bell [at carnivals] when the thing goes up.
He was out cold, like a starfish. It was probably the best thing I ever did. He deserved every bit of that.”
Bret Hart Addresses Vince McMahon Allegations
On January 25th a new lawsuit hit the news filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant which accused Vince McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking. WWE and John Laurinaitis were also named in the suit.
More recently, proceedings were paused after it was confirmed a federal investigation was now underway.
Back in February, Bret Hart wasted little time in telling the world what he really thought of Vince McMahon, calling his former boss “creepy.” Hart added that he was embarrassed by his previous friendship with McMahon, and called the allegations “too sick and disgusting to really imagine.”
H/t to Fightful