Has WWE screwed up Bret's return

[roach21]

I'm kind of disappointed. I understand that they want to give Bret an excuse as to why he may come off limp or limited in a match/ fight against McMahon, but the mysterious car accident is about as played out as Mae Young jokes.

Wouldn't it have been better if Vince came out, showed Goldberg's kick, and then taunt Bret about the stroke etc... Have him do it every week culminating into a comment about Stew. Then have Bret get so pissed and say that he'll kick the hell out of McMahon at Wrestlemania or die trying. I think that's so much better than Bret's third farewell and the kayfabe broken leg/ torn ligament bullshit. I kinda expect Rikishi to be the mystery driver again the way this angle is going

[Jeritron]

You do realize that the modern audience would have no clue what was going on if they did what you suggested right?

Most people don't know about what happened in WCW 2000. They'd probably be like "what the fuck is this?" and even scratch their heads at Goldberg.
The crowd is hardly popping for Bret, let alone worked shoots pertaining to something obscure that happened 10 years ago in a defunct promotion.

[jerichoholicninja]

In my mind I'm hoping that the car accident was a set up by Bret to make everyone think he's hurt. I'm picturing Bret and Vince alone in the ring and Bret's in a wheel chair. Vince has his evil grin on his face because he thinks he's about to put Bret out of his misery for good but Bret stands up with a smirk on his face and proceeds to destroy Vince. Imagine the crowd reaction to that.

[Zeeboe]

You do realize that the modern audience would have no clue what was going on if they did what you suggested right?

Most people don't know about what happened in WCW 2000. They'd probably be like "what the fuck is this?" and even scratch their heads at Goldberg.
The crowd is hardly popping for Bret, let alone worked shoots pertaining to something obscure that happened 10 years ago in a defunct promotion.

Sounds to me like Bret gets a decent pop every week. There's plenty of older WWE fans who have remained loyal through the years. I remember back in 2002 when Hulk Hogan came back, on this very board, guys thought most fans would not know who Hogan was, and would just crash and burn, yet wherever Hogan went, he got huge pops because his old fan base stayed right there, and very clearly remembered him.

Give WWE fans some more credit. :) They're not just mindless newbies. I'd say the majority of them are as knowledgeable about wrestling as any smark. At least as far as former wrestlers and storylines go, and their memories are sharp as ever. And thanks to WWE 24 and YouTube, plenty of kids and teens can get educated on their WWE history if they need to, and they also have the older fans to help them as well.

[Jeritron]

Who the hell would think that fans would not remember who Hogan was in 2002?

Also, I'm not saying fans don't know who Bret is. I'm saying that they are not popping for him the way they used to. It's a new, younger crowd. They've heard about him through DVDs and on-air reference.
Yes, he gets pops but not what you'd think if the arena was full of an attitude era crowd.

[Jeritron]

Curious to see how this current crowd recieves Stone Cold in a few weeks. I bet he gets a bigger reaction than Bret did for his return.


This all isn't to slight Bret. He's one of my favorites. I'm just observing the changes of the time. The current crowd doesn't pop huge for much anyways, past or present. Cena and DX probably get the biggest and most consistent pops, but even those aren't massive.

[The Franchise]

I'm pretty sure Austin will get a big reaction. He's more relevant (has been making a couple appearances a year since he retired, and has been getting huge pops like during his 2007 returns) plus he was a bigger star than Bret anyway

[Jeritron]

Seeing Austin get a bigger reaction than Bret, for a random guest spot less than a year after his last appearance, shits all over the notion of the screwjob being the end-all-be-all of wrestling that smarks perpetuate

[roach21]

You do realize that the modern audience would have no clue what was going on if they did what you suggested right?

Most people don't know about what happened in WCW 2000. They'd probably be like "what the fuck is this?" and even scratch their heads at Goldberg.
The crowd is hardly popping for Bret, let alone worked shoots pertaining to something obscure that happened 10 years ago in a defunct promotion.

Damn near everyone in that arena has some familiarity with Bret and Goldberg. The crowd has changed, but not that much. And by unearthing the story with Vince McMahon narrating and using the footage I'm sure that would breathe some life back into the storyline by enlightening those in the dark and giving them another reason to cheer for Bret.

[Lock Jaw]

Have him do it every week culminating into a comment about Stew.

Vince: Whoa, whoa, whoa. There's still plenty of meat on that bone. Now you take this home, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you've got a stew going.

[The MAC]

i would love to see this car accident as nothing but a swerve from bret to get vince to agree to a mania match but i doubt this is the way it will go.

[Inadequacy]

Lock Jaw, do you like ham?

[NeanderCarl]

The main issue, I think, is that Bret always got himself over inside the ring, and rarely with promos (certainly not as a face).

A crocked Bret showing up in 2010 without the in-ring skills to get him over, relying on his inconsistent mic skills and thus far impassionate delivery, and made to look like a guy who just can't seem to get the job done (revenge on Vince) was never going to maximise the potential of his return.

A long build up to WrestleMania without Bret appearing on camera would have been much better. Around January, after a few weeks of knocking Bret everytime somebody brings him up, and all of a sudden Vince starts getting strange cryptic messages backstage. As the weeks progress, we start to read between the lines and it all becomes clear: a psychotic Bret is coming after Vince with revenge on his mind, after stewing with rage for over a decade.

The announcers start reminding fans of why Bret has a grudge against Vince. We get video packages of Bret's career and the Montreal Screwjob. Vince starts seriously worrying for his own wellbeing, jumpy and short tempered. Week after week we get teases and double switches... everything is building to a crescendo. Then, around about now Vince would be in the ring cutting a promo when the old Bret Hart music and Titantron hits. Out comes DH Smith, then Natalya with Tyson Kidd, then Jim Neidhart, maybe even Jimmy Hart... they've been sent to Raw with a very concise message. Through legal loopholes and contractual smallprint, it turns out that because of the way Vince ended his agreement with Bret in November 1997, Bret has uncovered a legal entitlement for the WWE to honour their agreement with him by booking him in the one remaining match he had guaranteed in his contract. Bret's lawyer has been in covert negotiations with the WWE legal department and the board of directors have unanimously decided in Vince's absence (because Vince would storm out everytime the topic of Hart was broached) that to save a potential million dollar lawsuit, they would grant Bret his wish. He will walk that aisle one more time, that excellence will be executed one last time, Bret will wrestle one more match at WrestleMania against Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Vince sells the announcement with complete shock and fear.

After all the build up and anticipation, weekly videos of Bret looking like a complete superstar and Vince looking like a scumbag, all the jumpy moments when Vince thought his number was up... after all the build up, the crowd pops huge. Bret is coming back at WrestleMania!

Then, at Mania, Bret is destroying Vince in a Streetfight when Vince uses a low tactic (maybe interference, a one off appearance from Shane McMahon) and somehow gains the upper hand. Taunting Bret and going to town on him (as safely as possible with Bret's injury) it seems that the conquering hero won't be conquering anything. Vince is about to add insult to injury by stopping Bret in his tracks, thanks to his unscrupulous manoevering. Vince puts Bret in the sharpshooter and then tells the referee "ring the fucking bell!". The referee signals for the bell. It doesn't go off. He signals again. No bell.

The camera finds the timekeeper and instead of Mark Yeaton sitting there, the man removes his hood and glasses: it's Shawn Michaels, the man who earlier in the night lost his career to the Undertaker. The crowd gasps. Michaels runs into the ring and superkicks McMahon right off Bret. Bret clambers up, savours every last moment, and clamps McMahon in the sickest looking sharpshooter ever seen. Vince screams and taps and writhes like a man in sheer agony. The referee calls for the bell and this time is chimes, and Bret is declared the winner as he refuses to let go of the hold. Several referees try to pull him off but he refuses to budge: this is the moment he has been waiting for for 13 years. Then... his eyes meet those of Shawn Michaels. His face drops and he releases the hold. He stands with Michaels, face to face, for the first time since November 1997. The crowd holds it breath in anticipation of what will happen between these two age old rivals. Without saying a single word, Bret extends his hand. A tearful Shawn shakes it, they hug, and HBK raises Bret's hand high then leaves the ring as Bret enjoys his last hurrah.

This way, Bret would not have been exposed beforehand for his limited verbal skills, his physical limitations, and his advancing age - therefore his drawing power would remain virtually intact based on all the old footage that had been airing for weeks. With such a long build up, the genesis and evolution of the feud would have been more clearly established, sucking in even fans who don't know Bret but fully understand the concept of revenge and have an idea of the weight behind this particular rivalry. More old school fans would have had more time to get wind of the fact that Bret was coming back at WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels would have put an end to possibly his greatest rivalry on the 'last night of his career'.

I'm only sayin'.

[Wishbone]

meh I was never really that exited about Bret's return anyway and the way WWE is now I was truthfully expecting them to screw up alot worse so I've actually been rather surprised that the Bret angle hasn't completely sucked

[Bubba]

The main issue, I think, is that Bret always got himself over inside the ring, and rarely with promos (certainly not as a face).

A crocked Bret showing up in 2010 without the in-ring skills to get him over, relying on his inconsistent mic skills and thus far impassionate delivery, and made to look like a guy who just can't seem to get the job done (revenge on Vince) was never going to maximise the potential of his return.

A long build up to WrestleMania without Bret appearing on camera would have been much better. Around January, after a few weeks of knocking Bret everytime somebody brings him up, and all of a sudden Vince starts getting strange cryptic messages backstage. As the weeks progress, we start to read between the lines and it all becomes clear: a psychotic Bret is coming after Vince with revenge on his mind, after stewing with rage for over a decade.

The announcers start reminding fans of why Bret has a grudge against Vince. We get video packages of Bret's career and the Montreal Screwjob. Vince starts seriously worrying for his own wellbeing, jumpy and short tempered. Week after week we get teases and double switches... everything is building to a crescendo. Then, around about now Vince would be in the ring cutting a promo when the old Bret Hart music and Titantron hits. Out comes DH Smith, then Natalya with Tyson Kidd, then Jim Neidhart, maybe even Jimmy Hart... they've been sent to Raw with a very concise message. Through legal loopholes and contractual smallprint, it turns out that because of the way Vince ended his agreement with Bret in November 1997, Bret has uncovered a legal entitlement for the WWE to honour their agreement with him by booking him in the one remaining match he had guaranteed in his contract. Bret's lawyer has been in covert negotiations with the WWE legal department and the board of directors have unanimously decided in Vince's absence (because Vince would storm out everytime the topic of Hart was broached) that to save a potential million dollar lawsuit, they would grant Bret his wish. He will walk that aisle one more time, that excellence will be executed one last time, Bret will wrestle one more match at WrestleMania against Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Vince sells the announcement with complete shock and fear.

After all the build up and anticipation, weekly videos of Bret looking like a complete superstar and Vince looking like a scumbag, all the jumpy moments when Vince thought his number was up... after all the build up, the crowd pops huge. Bret is coming back at WrestleMania!

Then, at Mania, Bret is destroying Vince in a Streetfight when Vince uses a low tactic (maybe interference, a one off appearance from Shane McMahon) and somehow gains the upper hand. Taunting Bret and going to town on him (as safely as possible with Bret's injury) it seems that the conquering hero won't be conquering anything. Vince is about to add insult to injury by stopping Bret in his tracks, thanks to his unscrupulous manoevering. Vince puts Bret in the sharpshooter and then tells the referee "ring the fucking bell!". The referee signals for the bell. It doesn't go off. He signals again. No bell.

The camera finds the timekeeper and instead of Mark Yeaton sitting there, the man removes his hood and glasses: it's Shawn Michaels, the man who earlier in the night lost his career to the Undertaker. The crowd gasps. Michaels runs into the ring and superkicks McMahon right off Bret. Bret clambers up, savours every last moment, and clamps McMahon in the sickest looking sharpshooter ever seen. Vince screams and taps and writhes like a man in sheer agony. The referee calls for the bell and this time is chimes, and Bret is declared the winner as he refuses to let go of the hold. Several referees try to pull him off but he refuses to budge: this is the moment he has been waiting for for 13 years. Then... his eyes meet those of Shawn Michaels. His face drops and he releases the hold. He stands with Michaels, face to face, for the first time since November 1997. The crowd holds it breath in anticipation of what will happen between these two age old rivals. Without saying a single word, Bret extends his hand. A tearful Shawn shakes it, they hug, and HBK raises Bret's hand high then leaves the ring as Bret enjoys his last hurrah.

This way, Bret would not have been exposed beforehand for his limited verbal skills, his physical limitations, and his advancing age - therefore his drawing power would remain virtually intact based on all the old footage that had been airing for weeks. With such a long build up, the genesis and evolution of the feud would have been more clearly established, sucking in even fans who don't know Bret but fully understand the concept of revenge and have an idea of the weight behind this particular rivalry. More old school fans would have had more time to get wind of the fact that Bret was coming back at WrestleMania. Shawn Michaels would have put an end to possibly his greatest rivalry on the 'last night of his career'.

I'm only sayin'.


Yeah, i'm sold!!!

[Droford]

I thought the Hart Dynasty would get more airtime and be involved in it somehow.

[Rammsteinmad]

I haven't been watching Raw, so I can't say if they've screwed it up or not, but I feel that after 13 years of waiting, most peoples expectations would be so high that nothing will please them regardless.

[Mr. C]

After 13 years of waiting, anything showing Bret Hart has pleased me.

I love the idea of the accident being a setup by Hart to make everyone think he's hurt. Hart and Vince are alone in the ring at WrestleMania. Vince thinks he's about to beat Hart, but as soon as the bell rings, Hart proceeds to destroy Vince until Shane interferes. Vince puts Hart in the Sharpshooter, but Shawn Michaels runs into the ring and kicks Vince right off Hart, and the rest of the match goes down like Carl said.

[McLegend]

WWE can't taunt people who had strokes. That's just cruel.

[Steveviscious89]

You do realize that the modern audience would have no clue what was going on if they did what you suggested right?

Most people don't know about what happened in WCW 2000. They'd probably be like "what the fuck is this?" and even scratch their heads at Goldberg.
The crowd is hardly popping for Bret, let alone worked shoots pertaining to something obscure that happened 10 years ago in a defunct promotion.

Hey man, that was Starrcade '99. Not quite 2000, but close. Haha...details details....

[Volare]

I thought the Hart Dynasty would get more airtime and be involved in it somehow.

[roach21]

WWE can't taunt people who had strokes. That's just cruel.

This is the same company that had Xpac in blackface walking like a gorilla right? Or have they changed ever since they jobbed to the World Wildlife Federation? LOL. Once Linda loses the Senate I think we'll see some changes for the better. Especially if TNA can apply some pressure.

[Emperor Smeat]

I thought the Hart Dynasty would get more airtime and be involved in it somehow.

It seemed like they were initially with how they faced DX a couple of times in tag matches but that got dropped in favor of Punk's team representing Smackdown.

Defiantly would have solved some issues about Bret wrestling and taking bumps leading to Wrestlemania since they could have just used the Hart Dynasty to take all the hits.

[theexample]

I would have the Hart Dynasty behind the car accident and siding with Vince. They could say that Bret was still trying to steal their thunder and shadow over them even after retiring. Instant heat.

[McLegend]

This is the same company that had Xpac in blackface walking like a gorilla right? Or have they changed ever since they jobbed to the World Wildlife Federation? LOL. Once Linda loses the Senate I think we'll see some changes for the better. Especially if TNA can apply some pressure.

You think WWE is going to make fun of a guy who had a stroke, because of wrestling related injuries especially when he worked in that company for a long period of time?

They'll do questionable things all the time, but they aren't doing that.

[TheAdamEvansFan]

Linda McMahon isn't going to lose the Senate race. But I would expect more of a change in the future when she gets elected and when TNA steps up to higher ratings. But that is why competition is great. Competition brought us the attitude era FROM WWF and the NWO, Wolf Pac, and so many more great factions from WCW.

[Sixx]

I'm kind of disappointed. I understand that they want to give Bret an excuse as to why he may come off limp or limited in a match/ fight against McMahon, but the mysterious car accident is about as played out as Mae Young jokes.

Wouldn't it have been better if Vince came out, showed Goldberg's kick, and then taunt Bret about the stroke etc... Have him do it every week culminating into a comment about Stew. Then have Bret get so pissed and say that he'll kick the hell out of McMahon at Wrestlemania or die trying. I think that's so much better than Bret's third farewell and the kayfabe broken leg/ torn ligament bullshit. I kinda expect Rikishi to be the mystery driver again the way this angle is going

What, like give us his favourite recipe?

[The MAC]

i think the reason behind the leg car accident thing is to give vince a reason to only attack brets legs and not his head during the match.

I wonder if bret hart would wear his old ring gear though?

[Sixx]

i think the reason behind the leg car accident thing is to give vince a reason to only attack brets legs and not his head during the match.

I wonder if bret hart would wear his old ring gear though?

He would probably freak out upon seeing himself in spandex these days and refuse to work, much like Scott Hall did recently.

[Kane Knight]

Bret screwed up Bret's return.

[roach21]

You think WWE is going to make fun of a guy who had a stroke, because of wrestling related injuries especially when he worked in that company for a long period of time?

They'll do questionable things all the time, but they aren't doing that.

Bret was down for letting Stu and Helen get berated in order to further the angle with Shawn in the mid- 90's. I doubt Bret would be overly sensitive over a worked shoot if he agreed to it and was being paid for it. By the way, didn't Batista cut a promo bragging about hurting Cena at Summerslam? So much for making fun of someone for a wrestling related injury for the sake of a storyline.