Quote:
Originally Posted by hb2k
Bret proposed losing to anybody, including Shawn, once that two day period in Canada was over with. Bret handing the belt over was a suggestion that Vince agreed to, not an order, Vince had the same right to veto that Bret did, they could have worked out a better plan if he wanted to. Bret suggested it because his leaving got out in newspapers, hotlines and the internet anyway, and Vince agreed that since people knew anyway, it didn't matter if Bischoff announced it. I don't see how any of this is Vince backed into a corner.
This is an absolutely absurd comparison. It's not even remotely the same thing. Bret signed a huge deal because his value to his new employer was largely based on his strength in the Canadian market, which WCW had historically never done well in. Nash's value at Mania 12 is a wrestler on a wrestling show. Bret's value in Canada was his entire selling point from a negotiating perspective, and since he added reasonable creative control to specifically avoid being devalued on the way out, Bret saw dropping the belt in Canada to the guy who picked his nose with and fucked the Canadian flag as potentially damaging to his value. Anybody that argues against it using the "well what if I don't job in America" is either a complete idiot, or so badly want to be anti-Bret that they are flagrantly ignoring the obvious. Bret put that creative control clause in so he couldn't be downgraded. They put him in a position to be potentially downgraded. He suggested losing elsewhere where it wouldn't be so damaging.
And of all the fucking people to make a comparison to, Nash, a guy who refused to job tons of times for no rhyme or reason other than he didn't want to.
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To me, this isnt a debate about what was legally acceptable. Essentially they both entered into a stupid agreement in which the most likely outcome would be a stalemate. The issue to me is whether Vince felt like he had to do what he did. To me, listening to the position of both parties, I feel like Vince's position was far more logical. The story of Bret leaving was already out. Fans at the house shows prior to Survivor Series knew he was leaving. Eric already had a track record, and its hard to imagine he would not have went on TV the Monday following Survivor Series and said "I just signed their champion". He didnt need Bret to be there. He didnt need Bret to dump the title in the trash. The damage would have been done with one promo - WCW is where the elite talent are, as evidence by their champion coming over here. So Bret's amazing suggestions, were worthless. The title had to be moved to Shawn at Survivor Series.
The idea that Bret was signed by WCW only because he was Canadian is absurd. The idea that Bret losing one match in Canada would result in him being any less of a draw in Canada is absurb. The idea that WCW had some grand scheme to open up Canada is absurd. How many events did WCW end up running in Canada? Bret was a MUCH bigger star thanks to what Vince did at Survivor Series, you would think WCW would have used Bret to sell out every city in Canada. They didnt, because WWE was always #1 in Canada. Bret leaving wasn't going to change that.
From what I've read over the years, Bret was one of the biggest headaches to deal with because he was such a master of the political game. But he never gets accused of it like guys like Hogan and Nash do. Bret is an egomaniac who thought the country would shut down if he lost a fucking worked fight in his home country. He's delusional.
As I said before, Nash did the right thing on his way out and Bret didnt. Nash was asked to put over two top guys multiple times on his way out. He did it, and did it with a smile on his face. Bret was asked to lose ONE match, and refused because he didnt like the guy across the ring from him. What a baby!