Bret Hart has explained how Donald Trump’s involvement at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 became the turning point that convinced him to return to WWE, ending years of bitterness, anger, and psychological turmoil that followed the Montreal Screwjob in 1997.
During an interview with Inside The Ropes, Hart admitted that the anger he carried for years after Montreal was overwhelming and ultimately damaging to his health. “I remember being so angry for such a long time that to the point that I think I had a lot to do with my stroke that I had in 2002. I think I got so tense and so caught up with all that, including Owen (Hart), what happened with Owen, it was just a really heavy time for me.”
He explained that the years following the Screwjob were filled with frustration as Vince McMahon attempted to control the narrative. “All the years after the screwjob happened, all the lies and Vince trying to spin it that I was the problem and they were so innocent, and Vince was just a guy running a million-dollar company that had to do what he had to do, which is such horsesh*t. The fact is that Vince was crooked as they come and had totally no respect for his wrestlers, any of them.”
Hart described feeling discarded after once being a top star in the company. “What happened to me in Montreal was just a case of I think somebody being in love and wanting to…I was his old toy. When they made me champion, I was Vince’s favorite action figure, I think. I was his star guy for a couple minutes and then all of a sudden it’s like he wanted Shawn (Michaels) to be the new toy.”
That resentment followed Hart into WCW and beyond. He recalled a moment during the Monday Night Wars when both companies stayed at the same hotel. “I carried around such anger and such hard feelings. I remember I stayed in my room all night because I didn’t want to find Shawn Michaels. I didn’t want to walk through the lobby and see him because if I saw Shawn Michaels, it scares me to think what might have happened.” Hart did not downplay how dangerous his emotional state had become. “I think I was that angry that I could have killed him with my bare hands if the opportunity presented itself,” he admitted.
Hart said the rage extended beyond Michaels. “I carried around a lot of anger and hostility towards WWF, Vince, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, like just intense where it’s like I just hope I don’t ever see any of them ever again,” he said, adding that the death of his brother Owen and his own stroke only deepened that bitterness. “When I had my stroke, I just got more bitter and more bitter as time went.”
Even years later, the Montreal Screwjob continued to haunt him. “All I ever got asked for 8 years was whether the screwjob was real, whether any of it was real, and whether I really knocked Vince out, whether it was just a storyline. Every time I talked about the screwjob and what happened, even right now, it would get me so worked up and I’d get so angry again.” He explained that the constant reliving of it pushed him toward a frightening mental edge. “It’s like something that’s eating away and it’s starting to ruin you. It’s starting to really mess up your mind and your feelings, and you’re all of a sudden in this situation where you’re going to do stupid things.”
Eventually, Hart realized something had to change. “I realized that the only way to solve my problem for myself is to call them and go back. If I can. So I called WWF.”
That realization crystallized during an unexpected moment while watching WrestleMania 23. Hart explained that seeing Vince McMahon fight Donald Trump sparked the idea that returning could finally bring closure. “I remember watching WrestleMania. I don’t know what year it was, but it was WrestleMania and it was Vince wrestling good old Donald Trump. And I remember watching it and going, ‘I can do that.’” What followed was a sudden shift in his thinking. “Next thing I know, my wheels started turning. It’s like, why don’t you think about maybe throwing that card out? Like, I’ll come back and I’ll work with you guys and I’ll put all this behind me and make a distinct point where it’s like everything changes, where I don’t have to deal with the screwjob issue anymore. Like, it’s gone.”
Hart stressed that his decision was not driven by money or a need to wrestle again. At the time, he said his life was already stable. “I was having a pretty good life and happy and everything. I didn’t need wrestling or anything.”
When he reached out to WWE, Hart made his physical limitations clear from the start. “I have a real serious concussion. I can’t even shake my head vigorously. It’s a serious problem.” He told Vince McMahon that a traditional match was impossible. “I can’t take any bumps. But Donald Trump never took any, not one. I can fall on my knees. I can fall on my stomach. But I can’t fall backwards. I can’t take any blows to the head. But I could do something. I can beat the crap out of you for sure.” Hart also explained that his insurance settlement further restricted him. “My agreement with Lloyd’s of London said I could no longer do wrestling, pro wrestling, but I could do wrestling skits, wrestling sketches, and no full-contact wrestling. So I’m like, what does that mean? You know, to me it means I can go back and wrestle as long as I don’t whack my head.”
Despite laying everything out clearly, Hart said WWE went silent for months before suddenly approving the idea. When the call finally came, it forced him to confront the past head-on.
“They didn’t call me for 5 months. And they called me about middle of December and said, ‘Uh, it’s a go and we got to do it like in next Monday on RAW, otherwise we can’t do it.’ And so I had no preparation and had no idea that it was ever going to happen.
And so I went out and did that whole thing with Shawn which I was kind of happy to do. I actually wanted to bury the hatchet with Shawn so I would know that I would never have to kill him actually with my bare hands. I knew that it would be better for me to make peace with this whole thing. That’s my whole point, I guess.”
Looking back, Hart believes that the WrestleMania moment involving Donald Trump was the unlikely catalyst that allowed him to finally move forward.
“When you have something that weighs heavy on you a lot. I think it serves you well to find a way to make peace with it and move on, because life is too short to carry around bad will and bad feelings and anger and hostility and hate.
When I look back on that whole angle where I fought Vince McMahon at WrestleMania, it was the best thing I could have ever done. It wasn’t the ending that I would like to have ended my career on, but it was a hell of a lot better ending than the one that Goldberg gave me.”
Also Read: Former WWE Champion Bonded With Bret Hart After Smoking Weed Together
