Brethart.com statement re: Shawn's comments on Raw

[Guest Memphis]

There's only so much a man can take before he begins to become unprofessional, no matter how loyal or good-willed he is at heart.

 

Shawn's actions and allegations towards the Hitman were inexcusable, immature and spiteful. These allegations were blatant harrassment and did not enable Bret to fully enjoy his work within a safe environment, like he had the right to.

 

Fair enough ,Shawn had no option but to screw Bret. However, if he had the choice to NOT do it do you think for a second that HBK would give three fucks? Of course not, because Shawn has always been about himself, not the WWE, WWF, Vince McMahon or anyone else.

 

If the Hitman is at fault here than so is Shawn, if one man can be defined as selfish than so can the other.

 

So to that, I say FUCK YOU SHAWN.

 

M

FUCK SHAWN?

 

FUCK BRET.

 

 

He was the one with the ego.

 

If Bret hart cares so much about fucking tradition...Then why the fuck did he refuse to do the traditional role of his postition to put over the company's guy when he was leaving?

 

Why? Because he brought into his own hype that he was Jesus Christ to Canada and couldn't leave Canada a loser...

 

Bret is just as much an Hypcrite as Shawn is.

The word is 'hypocrite', and I agree.

 

However, to deny HBK's ego is unacceptable. The Hitman DID think he was 'God's' gift to Canadian wrestling fans, and to be honest most Canadians thought much the same way. IMO though, Michaels should be the dictionary definition of the word 'egotistical' - throwing hissy fits like a fucking four year old everytime Vince asked him to make someone look decent (i.e Vader circa '96).

 

Bret didn't refuse to drop the belt either. The Hitman has stated that he would of dropped it, IN CANADA, to The Undertaker, Steve Austin, even the BROOKLYN BRAWLER, but NOT Shawn Michaels because HBK was an immature little fuckwit that had no place in a position of great power in the company.

 

Bret's decision was justified, if anyone knew who the right man to pass the torch onto was, it was Bret.

 

M

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

Choken One, I applaud you. Finally somebody goes against the general consensus that "Bret is God and Shawn is evil".

 

Bret Hart is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. The fact of the matter is that jobbing the title away on your way out is how wrestling goes. His ego and his dislike for HBK got in the way.

 

 

Shawn owns Bret. For whatever reason, the karma that was supposed to 'get' Shawn has gone to Bret, and now HBK happily lives the good life while Bret rots away.

[Guest Dangerous A]

It's funny that Metroman here mentions that Vince won't let go of Montreal and loves to rub it in people's faces, yet if you were to bring up the XFL to him and start hitting him up for answers, he'd throw a bitchy temper tantrum at you.

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

Memphis, you say he would job to anybody except Shawn because Shawn was a little fuck? What the hell does that have to do with anything? The fact was that Shawn was the #1 man in the company, DX was riding a wave of popularity. Undertaker wasn't the top man, Mankind wasn't, and Austin was being groomed for Wrestlemania. Their is NOBODY else he could of jobbed to outside of Shawn and the fact that he didn't makes him as bad as HBK in any sense of the word 'ego'.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

And in the end...

 

Shawn Michaels was able to come back to the sport he loves and get a hero's welcome, while Bret increasingly becomes a wrestling punchline.

 

Let that be a lesson to all of us, like Jay Gatsby learned, you can't live in the past Bret.

[Guest Dangerous A]

But Memphis, part of being a pro is doing things the promoter asks of you, even if the promoter is wrong. Bret didn't want to do that. Plus, it would've looked stupid since they had been building the HBK/Bret title match for a month and a half.

 

I'm not saying HBK was professional. He was not the model citizen. But in this case, Bret wasn't either.

[Guest Memphis]

Ever heard of a transitional champion, Shanghai?

 

Whose to say 'Taker couldn't of taken (no pun intended) the belt off Bret and dropped it to Shawn at the next pay-per view?

 

I'm not denying that HBK was the man that needed to get the belt, however there are more than one way of achieving that outcome that enables Bret to go out in his own way.

[Guest JMA]

If anyone cares. I found a tanscript of TSN's "Off the Record" where Shawn Michaels was the guest.

 

Recap of Shawn Michaels on “Off The Record”

By John C. of The Wrestling Oratory

London, Ontario

 

Shawn Michaels was on Off The Record on TSN earlier tonight. It aired at

8:30pm just before Raw. This interview was taped when WWE was in Toronto

late in February.

 

The host, Michael Landsberg, thanks Shawn for coming. It’s his first time on

the show. He compares Shawn to other OTR legends like Steve Austin, The

Rock, Mick Foley, Bret Hart and more. Shawn is flattered to be put into that

group.

 

Landsberg asks him why he decided to come back to be an active wrestler.

Shawn says he had no intention to wrestle when he first came back. He just

returned to WWE TV to play a role on the television show. His doctors still

tell him to stay out of the ring, but he says he never listened to them a

lot anyway. He had no intention to wrestle, but after Nash got hurt he felt

he received a message from the Lord to return to the ring. His mind started

coming up with wrestling ideas again. They show the spot at Summerslam where

he put HHH through the table after jumping off the top rope. He says the

Lord told him to come back, but that crazy bump was his idea.

 

He’s been a born again Christian since April 2002. He says he’s a lot

different than he was a year ago.

 

Looking back what did he think about HBK before? Immature. He says he was a

pain in the ass, but it was his passion. He couldn’t control it. He was

obsessed with being the best. His life was wrestling 24/7. For whatever

reason he couldn’t find happiness when he was wrestling. Even when he was at

the top he wasn’t really happy with his life until he found God.

 

He “stepped” on people when he was at the top. Landsberg asks for names, but

he refuses to name anybody. HBK says he wasn’t professional, did stupid

things and made bad decisions. He said he acted the same way when he was

lower on the card too.

 

Commercial.

 

When Landsberg asks him if he’s concerned with how people view him Shawn

says that he doesn’t really care. He tries to live his life as best as he

can.

 

Bret Hart time. Landsberg shows a clip of Bret Hart from when he was on OTR

a few months ago. Bret says that Shawn is, “a two faced lying chickenshit.

He doesn’t change his stripes.” He goes on to say that he acts nice to you

in your face, but he’ll stab you in the back when you aren’t around. Shawn

says that’s not a fair comment.

 

Shawn says that the difference between him and Bret is that he has taken

responsibility for his part while Bret has not. He agrees that he was

difficult, but he feels that Bret’s comment were a bit much. He thinks Bret

needs to let it go.

 

About Survivor Series ’97 in Montreal he says he knew everything. He was

told by Vince not to say anything and deny everything. He spoke the truth on

Confidential late last year even though he didn’t get Vince’s permission to

say it. He just told everybody what happened and it would be up to

management to decide if they wanted to show it. As we all know, they showed

it. He also points out that every interview he conducts seems to ask him

about that event.

 

When Landsberg asks him if he would do it again today Shawn says, “I don’t

know.” He says he probably would because he listens to his boss. He compared

it to the mafia and how The Don gives the order while somebody else does the

hit. He says Bret didn’t listen to Vince and that’s why he got screwed.

 

He claims that he argued with Vince a lot. He didn’t get his way all the

time the way most people think. Says that Vince asked him to work with him,

but he refused because he felt that Bret wasn’t supportive of him. I’m

guessing this was around the time of WrestleMania 13.

 

He says that he rumors of him not wanting to job to people are false. He did

what Vince asked him to do. He suggests that you ask Vince about. He tells

Michael to ask Vince specifically, “Did Shawn refuse to job?” and see what

Vince says. According to Shawn, everybody thinks they know, but you have to

ask Vince.

 

Commercial.

 

Next topic was The Clique, specifically Triple H, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall.

He says he sees Triple H every Monday, talks to Kevin once in a while and

hasn’t talked to Scott lately. When Landsberg asks if it’s hard to have good

friends in a cutthroat business like wrestling Shawn says that for him it

wasn’t. He thinks the “power of the Clique” was overblown. He claims that

the four of them lived for wrestling and that’s all they talked about on the

road together.

 

Landsberg asks if he gives HHH any advice. Shawn says it’s tough for him

because he thinks HHH knows what he’s doing. He said that he’d tell HHH when

he gets married that he needs to focus on that. No mention of Stephanie,

though.

 

What are the most days that he’s worked in one year? 289. He never said the

year.

 

When asked if he’d make it to the top if he had found God back then. He says

he doesn’t know. It’s tough to say. Thinks that he was very selfish 15 years

ago, but the Lord, his wife and his son have changed priorities for him.

 

As they go to the last commercial, Landsberg comments on how surprised he is

to hear Shawn be so candid.

 

Back from the break, Landsberg asks about WrestleMania. He asks Shawn when

his first Mania was. He says 4 or 5. It was actually 5 when The Rockers lost

to the Twin Towers. He says WrestleMania 12 is his highlight.

 

Landsberg thinks him and Bret missed out on something special because of

their rocky relationship. Shawn says that despite their differences he loved

to wrestle Bret. Says they always liked working together. They shared a

mutual admiration for their work in the ring.

 

Landsberg asks him if he’d be willing to talk to Bret. Shawn says sure. He’d

love to do it on his show. Landsberg jokes that they may need helmets for

that. Shawn says that he would ask Bret to forgive him if they met up face

to face. He says he wants to bury the hatchet and move on. Says Bret looks

unhealthy because he has all this pent up frustration inside of him.

 

Name association time.

 

Ric Flair – The Greatest. He’s his biggest fan. They only wrestled once for

five minutes when he was still young. Wishes they could have wrestled in

their prime, or close to it.

Marty Jannetty – Misses him. He’s called him lately.

Vader – “Like a cuddly bear. Pretty nifty guy.”

Sid – Always worked well with him. Heard others complain about him, but he

enjoyed their matches.

Curt Hennig – Gifted guy. It’s a tragedy that he’s gone.

[LooseCannon25 0]

Shawn's career may have not lasted much longers than Bret's, but thats not what I said. I said it was much more Successful. D-X was THE thing in WWE at the time and he started it. He was involved in the hottest angle at WMXIV and was involved with TYson. He's also working again now.

 

Shawn did waht his boss told him to do. You can't fault him for that. Any of you would have done the same shit. He wasn't about to lose his job by saying no....for what huh? For a guy that hated him and he hated as well. Please. Vince did the right thing also cause who's to say that Bret wouldn't have pulled an Alundra Blaze and throw the title in the trash on Nitro. If something like that would have happened it could have pretty much destroyed the WWF and its credibility.

 

Hey Bret......If your son gets in the wrestling biz in the future just tell him what a loser you turned out to be, and to make sure if anything like that apporached him that he better be a PROFESSIONAL and do the right thing instead of being a bitch, which would lead him to becoming a bitter, lonely, deteriorating, selfish, self pitying guy who has nothing in life anymore.

[Guest Memphis]

But Memphis, part of being a pro is doing things the promoter asks of you, even if the promoter is wrong. Bret didn't want to do that. Plus, it would've looked stupid since they had been building the HBK/Bret title match for a month and a half.

 

I'm not saying HBK was professional. He was not the model citizen. But in this case, Bret wasn't either.

I completely agree with you. However, Bret had a creative control clause and it was legal for him to decline some suggestions being made by McMahon.

 

The contract stated that it had to be within 'reason' - Bret saw the decision as reasonable whereas Vince didn't.

 

The outcome is obvious.

[Guest Dangerous A]

The only argument Bret has is that he had creative control contractually over how he left. He should've known that doesn't happen when dealing with McMahon. Vince never lives up to his end of the bargain.

 

If he did, we'd still be calling this WWF instead of WWE.

[Guest bob_barron]

Bret Hart was on his way out and should've done the job to Shawn Michaels. Why do another title change because Bret is a bitch?

 

They were building to Shawn v. Bret and that's what the fans wanted to say- anything else would've been bad for business.

 

 

Wrestling is fake Bret- losing to Shawn doesn't really make him better then you.

[Guest Memphis]

True DA, but if I had a legally binding contract that enabled me to do so then I would be very confident that I was going to get what I wanted and exactly how I wanted it.

 

I'm unsure how much money Bret attained from Vince because of what happend, but I do know he took appropriate legal action for what happend.

 

M

[Guest bob_barron]

But Memphis, part of being a pro is doing things the promoter asks of you, even if the promoter is wrong. Bret didn't want to do that. Plus, it would've looked stupid since they had been building the HBK/Bret title match for a month and a half.

 

I'm not saying HBK was professional. He was not the model citizen. But in this case, Bret wasn't either.

I completely agree with you. However, Bret had a creative control clause and it was legal for him to decline some suggestions being made by McMahon.

 

The contract stated that it had to be within 'reason' - Bret saw the decision as reasonable whereas Vince didn't.

 

The outcome is obvious.

I don't see how refusing to do the job while your on the way out is "reasonable".

 

Montreal isn't even Bret's hometown.

[Guest bob_barron]

JMA, your quick to pass judgement.  How in the holy hell is anything obvious?  You haven't seen any change?  Well whoopityfuckingdoo.  If you knew Shawn personally i'd understand, but what, you haven't seen any changes in the character he plays on TV??  As Vince would say, "Who the hell do you think you are".  And than you say I don't see Bret's whining,  what has he beend doing for the last 6 years?

Yeah, I am quick to pass judgement. I was always a big Shawn fan because of his wrestling ability and pesona. But the things he did and said can't just be forgiven. Not by me, at least.

You still haven't shown us to why you think Shawn's born again Christian thing is a sham. You need to learn to seperate real life from WWE.

[Guest JMA]

Bret Hart was on his way out and should've done the job to Shawn Michaels. Why do another title change because Bret is a bitch?

 

They were building to Shawn v. Bret and that's what the fans wanted to say- anything else would've been bad for business.

 

 

Wrestling is fake Bret- losing to Shawn doesn't really make him better then you.

Bret wasn't the only one who tried to get out of jobbing. Remember Shawn "losing his smile" to get out of the WrestleMania rematch?

[Guest Memphis]

Bret Hart was on his way out and should've done the job to Shawn Michaels. Why do another title change because Bret is a bitch?

 

They were building to Shawn v. Bret and that's what the fans wanted to say- anything else would've been bad for business.

 

 

Wrestling is fake Bret- losing to Shawn doesn't really make him better then you.

That's not the point.

 

Bret took great pride, like any real professional wrestler does, in his occupation. After all he had given to the WWF, he wanted one thing in return - to be able to drop the world title to ANYONE but Shawn Michaels.

 

True, he let his personal feelings of Shawn interfere, but to dismiss HBK's childish and spiteful actions towards Bret is wrong, considering how serious and hurtful they were.

 

M

[Guest bob_barron]

Bret Hart was on his way out and should've done the job to Shawn Michaels. Why do another title change because Bret is a bitch?

 

They were building to Shawn v. Bret and that's what the fans wanted to say- anything else would've been bad for business.

 

 

Wrestling is fake Bret- losing to Shawn doesn't really make him better then you.

Bret wasn't the only one who tried to get out of jobbing. Remember Shawn "losing his smile" to get out of the WrestleMania rematch?

What's your point?

 

It's been well established that Shawn Michaels is a complete fuckhole of the first order.

 

Just because HBK refused to do the job- it doesn't make Bret look any better when he does the same thing

[Guest bob_barron]

Bret Hart was on his way out and should've done the job to Shawn Michaels. Why do another title change because Bret is a bitch?

 

They were building to Shawn v. Bret and that's what the fans wanted to say- anything else would've been bad for business.

 

 

Wrestling is fake Bret- losing to Shawn doesn't really make him better then you.

That's not the point.

 

Bret took great pride, like any real professional wrestler does, in his occupation. After all he had given to the WWF, he wanted one thing in return - to be able to drop the world title to ANYONE but Shawn Michaels.

 

True, he let his personal feelings of Shawn interfere, but to dismiss HBK's childish and spiteful actions towards Bret is wrong, considering how serious and hurtful they were.

 

M

Bret should've done the right thing and put Shawn over- regardless of his personal feelings towards him. He was on the way out and he should've done time honoured tradition.

[Guest JMA]

You still haven't shown us to why you think Shawn's born again Christian thing is a sham. You need to learn to seperate real life from WWE.

I have no problem telling real life from WWE. Just so you know. Why do I think the born again thing is a sham? I just don't believe someone could change that much in a year. I've also learned not to trust what Shawn says. That's all I have to say about that.

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

The problem is, Bret cares about his wrestling character more than he should. "That would be the Hitman blowing his brains out". He's really pressed on his own legacy.

 

BTW, transistional champ? That's what Shawn was. They wanted to build him up as the 'heel champ' before Wrestlemania. Also, the Title didn't change hands as much back than because it still had credibility.

 

hey JMA, doesn't Shawn on OTR sound like he's changed? He wants to sit down and talk things out with Bret, he's acting like a man while Bret's still acting like a childish baby.

[Guest bob_barron]

Shawn had pretty much been away from wrestling since 1998 (aside from the occasional commish appearance) That's a pretty long time to change and be able to turn your life around and to find God

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

The point is, we all know that Shawn was an asshole for most of his career, but theirs no reason to call the guy an 'asshole' at the present time. Their's no reason to deny that he's religious becuase of the 'Smark perception of HBK'. He's had plenty of time to change. Having a family can have that affect on you.

 

Bret's bitter. I would truly like to see him, Shawn, and Vince sit down and work things out. Arguably the two best workers of the 90's hate each other, and one lets the hate get the best of him.

[Guest Memphis]

I just have the feeling that if roles were reversed, then Shawn would be JUST as bitter as the Hitman is.

 

However that is not the case and it is not right to make such an asumption.

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

Personally, I think Shawn would of let it go. He would still have his family, his religion, and he himself said 'stop living in 1997'.

[Guest JMA]

hey JMA, doesn't Shawn on OTR sound like he's changed? He wants to sit down and talk things out with Bret, he's acting like a man while Bret's still acting like a childish baby.

I admit he does sound like he's changed. I just don't know that I can trust him. I did find his comments last night to be kind of prickish, though.

[Guest Memphis]

hey JMA,  doesn't Shawn on OTR sound like he's changed?  He wants to sit down and talk things out with Bret, he's acting like a man while Bret's still acting like a childish baby.

I admit he does sound like he's changed. I just don't know that I can trust him. I did find his comments last night to be kind of prickish, though.

May I ask why the fuck it matters if you 'trust him' or not?

 

Do you know Shawn Michaels?

 

...Then why should it matter? My argument was based on factual information derived from his 'bitch' era back in the day, I don't deny he's changed or found purpose in his life.

 

You make it sound as though you've just had a fight with your best friend and weighing up whether or not he should be forgiven.

[Guest JMA]

Personally, I think Shawn would of let it go. He would still have his family, his religion, and he himself said 'stop living in 1997'.

He hasn't been a Christian for that long. I think if the situation was reversed it would have affected Shawn more. He would have become even more of an asshole because of it and would never have found comfort in religion.

[Guest Memphis]

Personally, I think Shawn would of let it go.  He would still have his family, his religion, and he himself said 'stop living in 1997'.

He hasn't been a Christian for that long. I think if the situation was reversed it would have affected Shawn more. He would have become even more of an asshole because of it and would never have found comfort in religion.

Shang made a very good point that having a family changes a man considerably.

 

This still would of taken place and HBK may very well of remained bitter at heart but been able to move on with his life.

 

M

[Guest Shanghai Kid]

The fact that Shawn says 'We liked wrestling together and have a mutual respect for each others ring work' is exactly what I like to hear. If your a fan of both wrestlers, than that puts a smile on your face. Now if Bret puts the grudge away, he can come back and give his speech without having to get into some kind of backstage scuffle with Shawn or take a shot at him in his speech.