How Donald Trump Led To Bret Hart’s Return To WWE
Bret Hart has revealed the pivotal role Donald Trump played in bringing him back to WWE.
Bret Hart famously left WWE under a cloud following the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997. Hart was forced out of the ring in 1999 following an errant kick from Goldberg that led to decades of bad blood between both men and the end of one of the most iconic in-ring careers of all time.
Hart was honoured by a WWE Hall of Fame induction in 2006, and while he attended the Hall of Fame ceremony, he did not make an appearance at WrestleMania 22. However, The Hitman was watching the following year as the Battle of the Billionaires took place with Vince McMahon and Donald Trump backing Umaga and Bobby Lashley, respectively, in a huge match.
And it seems it was Trump’s involvement that got Hart thinking about his own future.
Bret Hart Wanted To Wrestle Donald Trump
Speaking to Inside The Ropes, Bret Hart revealed that after seeing McMahon get physical with Trump, he spoke to WWE about a potential return:
I called Vince [McMahon]. I was living in Hawaii at the time and having a pretty good life down there and having a good life and happy and everything. I didn’t need wrestling or anything, but I called up WWF [WWE] and talked to some guy named Kevin Dunn was his name.
He’s one of Vince’s right-hand guys. I said, ‘yeah, I’d like to talk to Vince about maybe doing a storyline, an angle, and coming back. I just watched him wrestle Donald Trump yesterday. I could wrestle him.’ I can’t because of my concussion injury that I had at the time, which was very real.
It wasn’t until 2010 that Bret Hart returned to WWE, leading to his infamous WrestleMania 26 match with Vince McMahon.