If Bret Hart wasn't injured in 1997,.....

[JN News 0]

My question is, say if Bret Hart didn't have or need knee surgery in 1997 that put him out of action for a couple or so months. Say if Bret had that surgery done in 1996 while he was on hiatus, and was completely 100% in 1997, during the whole Hart Foundation angle after reuniting with Owen Hart, British Bulldog, & Jim Neidhart. I think that if Bret was able to be at 100%, and be an active wrestler as the leader of The Hart Foundation, that storyline could've been 10 times better than it was, already.

 

 

I mean, imagine all the kinds of tag team matches that the new Hart Foundation could've put on on RAW is WAR, Shotgun Saturday Night, PPV, etc. I think that after HBK & Austin won the WWF Tag Team Titles from Bulldog & Owen on RAW, I could easily imagine The Hitman & The Anvil reuniting to take the tag belts from The Stone Cold Klique on any given night.

 

 

What do you guys think? If Bret Hart wasn't literally regulated to sitting in a wheelchair every week, and yakking on the mic all segment (no offense, I like Bret, too), wouldn't The 1997 Hart Foundation have been more powerful then it already was on that year? Your thoughts.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Absolutely.

 

You'll recall that most of the spring, the Harts held every belt but the World. There's no reason to think they couldn't have given him the strap earlier than Summerslam. Hell, imagine if he'd won it at WM13 as was originally planned.

 

As great as Bret was on the mic that summer, just imagine the fantasy booking available. Insert Bret Here is a pretty failsafe comment for a booker to make.

[Guest ResidentEvil]

Although I felt sorry for Bret Hart being injured in the wheelchair, I must also say that I loved the image of Bret Hart being the veteran, grizzled, can't get this out my blood type wrestler dictating his younger associates into battle while in that said wheelchair. I thought it fit his charactor at the time very well.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah without Bret in the wheelchair you don't get the crazy angle with Austin destroying Bret's leg to set up that whole bit.

[JN News 0]

Yeah, I know. But, imagine the senario of Bret Hart being at a healthy 100%, and being able to wrestle along with The Hart Foundation, as well as talk on the mic. I think that the 1997 Hart Foundation could've easily become as dominant as The Four Horsemen were in the NWA/WCW. Not to say that they weren't as dominant. I think that any combination of The Hart Foundation could've won the tag team gold on any given night. Any two members of the four or five members could've done it. I remember thinking when Bret was still walking tall, The Harts would become such a dangerous unit, and I also think that if Jim Neidhart had been brought back sooner while Bret was still at 100%, I would've possibly been saying, "Eat your hearts out, 4 Horsemen", because they were the new dominant force in wrestling, at that time.

[Naked Snake 0]

Michaels superkicking Bret (and then Bret selling it like he got shot and falling back into his wheelchair) was one of the best Raw moments in 1997.

[chaosrage 0]

Absolutely.

 

You'll recall that most of the spring, the Harts held every belt but the World. There's no reason to think they couldn't have given him the strap earlier than Summerslam. Hell, imagine if he'd won it at WM13 as was originally planned.

 

That would have been horrible and would have ruined one of the greatest wrestling storylines ever done. The reason he turned heel was because he became a bitter whiner due to getting screwed out of every chance he had to win the title.

 

If he won the title at WM, then there's no great Austin/Bret match, no double turn, no heel Bret, no USA/Canada storyline, no need to reform the Hart Foundation. It would have literally been one of the worst ideas ever.

 

Wasn't Bret only in a wheelchair for two months? I don't think it would have made that much of a difference.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Absolutely.

 

You'll recall that most of the spring, the Harts held every belt but the World. There's no reason to think they couldn't have given him the strap earlier than Summerslam. Hell, imagine if he'd won it at WM13 as was originally planned.

 

That would have been horrible and would have ruined one of the greatest wrestling storylines ever done. The reason he turned heel was because he became a bitter whiner due to getting screwed out of every chance he had to win the title.

 

If he won the title at WM, then there's no great Austin/Bret match, no double turn, no heel Bret, no USA/Canada storyline, no need to reform the Hart Foundation. It would have literally been one of the worst ideas ever.

 

Wasn't Bret only in a wheelchair for two months? I don't think it would have made that much of a difference.

 

 

Yeah, you're right. I will stick by my "Anything you can say 'Let's put Bret in this missing spot, you've got it made' ", however. Although someone made a great point about Bret as a grizzled vet in the wheelchair) there could have been dozens of memorable moments had Bret wrestled.

 

That being said, there were dozens of memorable moments without Bret wrestling, so it's win-win.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Edited: I always thought it was lame for the Hart Foundation to walk into Canadian Stampede match with all the gold except for the WWF Championship. Totally awkward to see Bret beltless.

[Aero 0]

I always thought it was lame for all the members of the Hart Foundation to walk into the Canadian Stampede match with gold exception except Bret with the WWF Championship. Totally awkward.

 

Neither Pillman or Neidhart had gold.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I rephrased it.