All language subtitles for WWE Rivals - Season 1 - EP-01 - Bret Hart VS. Shawn Michaels

- There’s the Hitman.

He’s a great family man.

He’s a great athlete.
No doubt about it.

- There’s only one
Mr. Flamboyant,

Shawn Michaels!

- They were perfect
for each other.

They hate each other,

but they were perfect
for each other.

- When you look at
long-term rivalry,

Shawn Michaels versus Bret Hart
will forever live in infamy.

- Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels
loath one another

whether it be out here
or back there.

- Neither one of those guys
wanted to be number two.

They both wanted
to be number one.

- Bret was more
vulnerable than Shawn.

- Get out.

- And that was sort of

the seeds of things to come.

- You’re nothing
but a degenerate.

- I don’t think there’s ever
been a rivalry

that has been
talked about as much

as this issue between
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

- It made things interesting
to go to work

’cause you never knew.

Like, it was a powder keg.

- [bleep] you.

- You know, we started out

pretending to be real

and then it got real.

- Ring the bell!
Ring the bell!

[bell dinging]

- I was the bad guy.

It wasn’t fun to do.

- I could’ve killed him
with my bare hands.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- This rivalry has just
escalated into a war.

- When two legends collide,

their rivalry stays
pinned in our minds forever.

This is where we break
down the legendary stories

behind the greatest
rivalries of all time.

I’m Freddie Prinze Jr.,

and this is "WWE Rivals."

One of the most heated
and celebrated rivalries

in the history of the business,

Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.

Both of these men
are on a collision course

and we’re at a time
where the larger men of the WWE

are now giving
a little bit of room

for the smaller wrestlers
to get over.

- This is a land
of giants, right?

When I told people
that I wanted to be

a WWE superstar,

I got laughed
at because I wasn’t 6’8",

I wasn’t 300 pounds.

And for me,
it just drew me in more

because it made me feel
like maybe I do have a shot

because these guys aren’t
as big as the other guys,

but I like watching
these matches

more so than the big guys.

- I want you to take
a good look

at the wrestler of the 90s.

- In the early 90s, the shift
was to a more athletic

in ring-based characters

where you were getting guys
that could really go

in the ring and have
great wrestling matches.

- Whoa!
- What a high-risk move.

- It was
the opportunity for us

because a lot of the stalwarts,
I guess,

from the early WWE days
were starting to leave.

- Hulk Hogan is here
in the WCW.

- People can say what they
want about Hogan

and all the talent they had
over in WCW

and what they were doing,

but to be honest, you know,
there’s no comparison

to what Shawn was doing
and what I was doing.

- There are certain ones
that you get in there with

and it’s hard to describe,

but you just recognize
a real comfort level there.

It felt like you could
probably do it

with your eyes closed.

I had that with Bret.

- Looking at Shawn
looking at Bret,

they’re both flag bearers
of the new generation.

- Now, what you’re seeing,

the blast-off
of the next decade

in the World Wrestling
Federation.

- It was vital
for our success

that those guys were
at the top of their game

and, you know--and brought
what they did to the table.

- Whoa, take a look at that.

Yeah, Bret Hart vision.

- I grew up very much
snowballed in

with the Hart family

since I was
a ten-year-old boy.

Growing up in Calgary, like,
he definitely came across

as a Canadian hero.

- He’s the best there is,
the best there was,

the best there ever will be.

He’s my hero and I think he’s
everybody else’s here, too.

- I always had a crush
on Shawn Michaels.

People always laugh
and they’re like,

"You had a crush
on Shawn Michaels?"

He just had that, like,
charisma about him.

You know, he was
the Heartbreak Kid.

- Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

- Bret and Shawn
were like the epitome

of what WWE was trying to be.

- I’m gonna be carrying the
flag for the new generation.

Who was a better wrestler?

I would say Bret, easy.

- The excellence of execution.

The most scientific

World Wrestling
Federation champion

perhaps of all time.

- Bret was just very good
and fluent.

Almost everything had
a purpose and a reason.

- You could give
Bret Hart a pail,

and Bret Hart could
go out and have

an entertaining,
realistic match.

- Just a skilled
technician in the ring.

There are no holes in
his in-ring work at all.

I mean, he had the mat game.

He could brawl.
He could do it all.

He was something special
inside the ropes for sure.

- I think I was
in my prime at that time.

’Cause when I think
of Shawn Michaels,

sometimes he kinda--
he kinda reminds me of me.

Shawn was just
a really talented athlete.

I don’t know of anybody ever
having a bad match with Shawn.

- I was a better performer.

- Michael heads right back in.

That’s the kind of effort--
- Hey!

- Once the term
"sports entertainer" came out,

I felt like I embodied
all of that.

You will not ever see
a man more charismatic,

more flamboyant,
or more talented

than the Heartbreak Kid,
Shawn Michaels.

- High-risk maneuver!

- In my opinion,
Shawn Michaels is

the most talented
in-ring performer of all time,

and he knew it.

Back when I came in,
Shawn Michaels was

a spoiled brat.

It was Shawn’s world

and the rest of us
were just playing in it.

- In the ring,
there’s probably no one

that I’d rather work with
than Shawn.

- Oh!

That’s how good he was.

Personally,
it was a whole another issue.

[dramatic music]

I think initially
there was friction

professionally that way.

- Shawn Michaels,
I think you’re

one of the greatest wrestlers

I’ve ever had the privilege
of watching.

Shawn and me were really good
friends once upon a time.

It’s important to know
is that Shawn was

a really close and dear friend
of mine.

I consider Shawn Michaels
a friend.

Somebody I invited to my home
and had in my house,

and somebody
that played with my kids.

- Quick, quick!

Cover him! Cover him!

- I remember a live event
in Calgary.

Razor, Shawn, Diesel,
they all were at Bret’s house.

They put milk in super soakers
and were, like,

all shooting each other
with milk for, like, hours

and, like, having fun.

You know, they were all
just having a fun day

at Bret’s house
before going down

to the Saddledome
and working.

So I knew they were friends.

- He would talk about Shawn,
and like, you know,

how much he admired him

and how great he was
in the ring,

but, like, he didn’t like
his--some of his ways.

Maybe his attitude sometimes.

- He was unprofessional
a lot of the times.

- Why don’t you say
it to my face, huh?

- The truth hurts.
- Huh?

- He had a attitude to me
and I think more like

it was all about him
and nobody else mattered.

- You can’t have a main event
without me, for God’s sakes.

- There you go.

- Basically, here’s this
punk kid who’s really good,

can back up
everything he says...

- Can you believe
the performance thus far?

- But he doesn’t
have that maturity.

- Even though I was
absolute hell to deal with,

I was just so passionate
about doing this

and was not going to be happy
unless I could

fulfill absolutely everything.

- Shawn Michaels
going to WrestleMania

to face the WWE champion.

- The rafters are rattling

as the WWE champion
makes his way to the ring.

- Bret was the champion
and that was, you know,

one thing that Shawn wanted.

- For Shawn, he was
fixated on the title

at that point in his life.

- Oh--this was it, you know?

You can make it here,
you can make it anywhere.

- The quest
of a 12-year-old-boy

from San Antonio, Texas
officially begins.

- The two greatest athletes
in the history

of the World
Wrestling Federation

going at it at WrestleMania.

- Going into WrestleMania,

they had had rivalries
in the past.

This was different
over the championship.

- Shawn and Bret’s style

complemented each other
perfectly,

so the story was simple.

It was organic.
It was easy to get to.

- We expect to see

the single greatest
athletic event

in World Wrestling Federation
history.

- This match is gonna be
60 minutes long.

- 60-minute Iron Man Match
is one in which

at the end of that,
the one that has got

the most falls
becomes champion.

- You could have offered
an hour match

to anybody
in wrestling back then,

and I don’t think anybody
would have taken you up on it.

Even though you can be on
a pay-per-view,

it was like,
"Uh-uh, I’m not gonna

go out there for an hour."

- It was kinda thrown out to us
like a challenge.

"Can you guys do it?"

- Bret and I being
the main event,

we knew it was a big chance,

but he and I felt confident
we were the guys to do it.

- It’ll be maybe the
greatest match of all time,

and I’ll be proud
to be part of it.

- You know, we were
both just in our peak.

I would say we were both
without a doubt for sure

the two best wrestlers
in the world.

I knew Shawn Michaels
three or four years ago.

I said this is gonna be
the guy

that’s gonna try
to take my spot.

Unfortunately,
I’m not ready to leave yet.

- The vignettes were
awesome ’cause you saw

Shawn doing these, like,
handstand pushups.

I thought that was so cool.

The story’s already being told
of Shawn’s gonna use

his speed and his quickness,

and Bret’s gonna use
his hard-hitting,

submission,
technical style.

The stage was set.

- Who’s better?
Me or Shawn Michaels?

- You.

- It just made it feel
like Rocky and Drago.

You remember the montage
of them both training,

and they have different
training styles.

Drago’s is more modern.

And then--but you got
Rocky over here

running up mountains
and carrying logs.

- Shawn Michaels is very good,

but he is not

and he never ever will be
the best.

- They both thought
they were the best

and were gonna prove it.

Neither one of those guys
wanted to be number two.

They both wanted
to be number one.

- I think tomorrow in
the 60-minute Iron Man Match

that I’ll prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt

that I’m everything
that I say that I am.

I’m the best there is,
the best there was,

and the best there
ever will be.

- This contest is
the special Iron Man Match

for the World Wrestling
Federation Championship.

- If you look at
the Iron Man Match,

no match has ever
been more calling

for that type of matchup

than those two--
an Iron Man Match.

- Get ready, ladies
and gentlemen

for a long, solid hour

of non-stop World Wrestling
Federation action

between, perhaps,
the two greatest athletes

who have ever donned
the tights.

- You’re not undecided
coming into that match.

You’re either a Bret Hart fan

or you’re
a Shawn Michaels fan,

but you are aware
and respect the other.

- You talk about,
like, Bret and Shawn

and you have to appreciate
the fact

that these guys really
genuinely want to be the best.

The best or nothing else.

- We were kind of
sitting near the top

and I just remember being
like,

"I wonder if this match is
gonna be boring,"

because earlier in the day,
we were eating

this WrestleMania breakfast
in the hotel,

and I remember
we see Shawn eating

and he said,
"I’m really nervous."

I just remember
being so blown away

that here’s Shawn Michaels
about to be

in the main event
of WrestleMania

and he’s saying he’s nervous.

- We were excited about it,

and always a little bit of that
excitement is nerves,

you know, and anxiety.

But that’s what makes
somebody competitive.

That’s what you live for
is overcoming

and achieving
in the face

of some of that stress
and that anxiety.

- The man who wins
the most decisions

will be declared the winner

and the World Wrestling
Federation champion.

- Here we go.
60 minutes long.

- You know,
as the match goes

it’s really important
to make sure

we didn’t lose the audience.

- How in the hell
is anybody gonna

keep their attention span
for 60 minutes

on a wrestling match?

- Look out!
- It’s that boot!

Did you see what he did?

- It’s what made
the match so special

is that there was a certain
pacing to that match.

You didn’t know
who was gonna win.

It was so back and forth
and real.

- 20 minutes
into this matchup,

ladies and gentlemen,
and surprisingly,

there has not been a decision.

- Both these guys are pitching
a shutout, McMahon.

- Those guys were
able to tell a story

over the course of 60 minutes.

If anything, they didn’t
slow down, they sped up.

- Oh, my goodness.

The intensity beginning
to build here.

- Trying to outshine each other
for 60 minutes.

- Wait a minute,
Michael is going upstairs!

- Look out!
- Look at that!

- I’ve called
a lot of matches.

There are very few
that really stand out.

I’ve never seen two more
determined individuals.

- Both individuals
not wanting to be

the one who makes the mistake.

- When Shawn came
off the top rope

in the last minute
of the match,

that blew everybody away.

- He caught him! Sharpshooter!
Sharpshooter in--

He got him! He got him!
- Unbelievable!

He got him, McMahon!

- I just thought it was
so neat to be in this hole

of "Oh, I’m about to give up."

- Michaels, trying to hang on!

all: Three, two, one!

[bell dings]

- We ended it at 60 minutes.

No one had defeated anyone.

It was a draw.
It was unprecedented.

It was like,
"Okay, now what do you do?"

- Ladies and gentlemen,
your attention, please.

This match has been
ordered to continue

under sudden death rules.

- We’re in overtime, McMahon!

- In a lot of ways
I could argue, like,

I got through the 60-minute
Iron Man Match

and there should never
have been an overtime.

It was a great little swerve
in the storyline.

- I can tell you right now,
Bret Hart does not like

this decision, and he’s gonna
take it out on Shawn Michaels.

- It’s a match that’s so vivid

it’s just left
etched in your mind.

- Michaels has got it!
Shawn Michaels got it!

- So many people have said,

"That is the match that
made me wanna be a wrestler."

- Michaels superkick!

He got all of it.

Michaels got all of it!
Michaels with a cover!

One, two, yeah!
- No!

[bell dings]

[sentimental music]

♪ ♪

- I look back on it

as a match
that I’m proud of.

I thought it was monumental.

- I could never have done
that match with anybody

but Shawn Michaels.

- Honestly, I don’t know

that I could have done it
with anybody else.

So for all the differences
he and I had after that,

not another dude I would
rather be out there with,

and certainly
not at that time in my life.

- I remember seeing
Shawn Michaels repel

from the ceiling that night,

and seeing
that incredible Iron Man Match

and thinking afterwards,

"You know what?
I don’t think I belong here."

It was that good.
A masterpiece.

One of the greatest matches
of all time.

Those guys performed

in the ring together
masterfully,

even though they disliked
each other very much.

They were very professional,
you know?

But it tells you how great
they both were.

They put magic together.

- The boyhood dream has
come true for Shawn Michaels.

- My immaturity
and my hot-headedness

took over at that point.

- And Shawn Michaels
being awarded

the WWE title right in front
of Bret The Hitman Hart.

- Shawn, you can see him
right on camera

telling me to get
the F out of the ring.

And he’s yelling at
the referee

who comes over and tells me

to get out of the ring.

And I’m like,

"I just gave you an hour match

"of everything
I could give you,

"passed the torch to you,

and you disrespect
me like that on my way out."

- I definitely noticed
some animosity.

and then at the end
of that match

it almost boiled
completely over.

- It’s almost
a blur now, honestly.

What I remember is Earl trying
to put the belt on me.

He snapped it in,

and fumbling around
and fumbling around,

and that’s one of those
moments where you go, like,

"This is not turning out
like I thought it would."

We call it a cluster [bleep].

- Bret’s walk back
to the locker room

where he’s, like,
visibly pissed off.

But, like, that’s iconic,
you know?

Like, I have the visual
in my head so clearly.

- Good business, good business.
[applause]

- Great match, brother.

- I just thought it was
part of the show.

I didn’t think
it’s any kind of

actual personal thing
going on.

I’ve later found out
that it was.

Bret didn’t go to
the WrestleMania after-party.

At the talent one,
he wasn’t there.

Shawn was.

- Get out! Get out.

Get out!

- It just all added to
the real tensions

between us as professionals.

- And Shawn Michaels
is being awarded

the WWE title right in front
of Bret The Hitman Hart.

- At WrestleMania 12,
the babyface is telling

the other guy
to get the F out of the ring.

The whole story is filled

with the backstage
coming alive.

- Get out!

- Shawn and me buried
the hatchet two or three times

when we had started
to get too--too tense.

And I don’t want anybody else.
I want you at 100%.

- Bret and I always tried
to catch ourselves.

We knew that it was getting
out of control.

It’s steamrolling, and we would
try to pull ourselves back.

And every time we would do
that,

something would happen.

[explosions booming]

[tense music]

- The World Wrestling
Federation needs a hero.

They need a role model.

They need somebody
they can look up to.

Not somebody that poses
for girly magazines.

- In my mind,
you have two choices.

I can either crawl
inside myself and fold,

or I’d come back guns
a-blazing.

By the way, how’d you know
I was in that girly magazine?

You couldn’t help yourself,
could ya?

You had to flip through
the pages just a little bit.

- There’s a lot of times
when you have personal tension

that it translates well
on television.

- Look out! Wait, wait,
Shawn Michaels, no!

- I think the whole thing
added to the mystique

and to the rivalry itself.

- Hitman,
when I get a hold of you,

I am gonna tear you to pieces.

I guarantee it.

- It was really
great television.

And they were the best.

- Shawn Michaels,
I will kick your ass.

- Shawn Michaels--
they were pushing the envelope,

and Bret wasn’t about that.

He wasn’t about
pointing at your crotch

or pulling your pants down.

- You’re a disgrace
to wrestling.

You’re nothing
but a degenerate.

- It took on
a life of its own.

It was very, very personal.

- What?

I love Canada.

- You were seeing real-life
drama play out on television.

- I can’t stand you,
and you make me sick.

- That was different than

the rest of the things
happening on the show.

[cheering]

- To me, coming from
down in Tennessee,

we used to have a sign
on the wall in our office

that said
"Personal issues draw money."

- You’re nothing but a punk.

- I think it was
the first time

that we were trying
to view the product

as a little
more reality-based.

That there are human beings
behind the characters

and that the human
beings have feelings.

Sometimes those
feelings get hurt.

- I’m not gonna lie to you.

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels
loath one another

whether it be out here
or back there.

- Bret was way more vulnerable
than Shawn,

and Shawn had the gift of gab,

which bothered Bret,

and I think that was sort of
the seeds of things to come.

- You know, we started
out pretending to be real,

and then it got real.

- Hitman, I’ve seen
you on the road,

and bro,
you ain’t no role model.

- I’ll say anything
on television.

I have no shame.

- The real turning point
was the promo

that Shawn cut on "Raw"
about Bret having Sunny days.

- Even though lately you’ve
had some Sunny days, my friend,

you still can’t
get the job done.

- That was implying
that there was

something going on
between Bret and Sunny,

who was a valet.

- Look at Sunny.
She looks great, doesn’t she?

- Basically said
Bret slept with Sunny.

- The Sunny days that are
supposed to have happened,

they’ve never happened.

He crossed the line
that nobody should ever cross.

You know, those are
the kinda of things

that could topple my marriage.

When I came home the next day,

my son Dallas
had been at school.

First thing he asked me,
he goes,

"So what’s going on
with you and Sunny?"

I got really mad then.

- Breaking the fourth wall,
peeling the curtain back,

it’s everything.

It’s breaking every rule.

- At that time in my life,

single, successful,

not a care in the world.

I used to tell
everybody all the time,

"Dude, you are bringing
a frickin’ spoon

to a guy
with a frickin’ shotgun."

I got nothing to lose.

- Two words which every fan
remembers--Sunny days.

- Shawn had nothing to lose.
- Yeah.

[laughter]

- Shawn’s single.
- Right.

- You know when two guys are
on a collision course for--

for a fight at some point.

We knew it probably
wouldn’t happen in the ring

’cause they were both
very professional.

We knew it’d probably
happen backstage.

We were just hoping
we’d all get to see it.

[fireworks exploding]

- Yes, indeed!

They are ready
for action tonight on "Raw".

- I flew in for
the TVs for Hartford.

I made up my mind
that I was gonna snatch Shawn.

I was really ready
to kill him when I saw him.

Walked right up to him,
pushed him with my hands

against the wall.

- All of a sudden,
these two guys

burst through the wall.

- Some other people
came and pulled us apart,

and--[imitates ripping]
as he did that,

he ripped out
a huge clump of hair.

- It was one of
the wildest scenes

that I’ve ever witnessed
in all the years

I’ve been in the business.

- These two men were
done being professional.

They had an actual fight that
broke down in the locker room.

- They just didn’t--genuinely
didn’t like each other at all.

It’s much tougher
to work with somebody

that you don’t like
because you don’t trust ’em.

- It must’ve been miserable
for everybody

to go through, too,
in the locker room

and the drama and your
two main guys constantly at it.

- [bleep] you.

- It made things
interesting to go to work.

’Cause you never knew.
Like, it was a powder keg.

[cheering]
[bell dings]

- And Bret Hart is once again
WWE champion.

- Bret was still
kind of unhappy.

And this was also
during a time

that Bret’s contract
was coming to an end.

WCW, our competitors, were
offering guaranteed contracts.

- They made their offer to me,

and I finally got it
in my fax machine.

And it was right there,

and it’s, like,
all I have to do is sign it,

and then I call Vince.

- The story
of Bret leaving WWE

is actually pretty complicated

because there’d been a bidding
war between WCW and WWE.

- Bret was negotiating
on the other side,

seeing if the grass was
greener down south at WCW.

- This was right at the height
of the Monday Night Wars.

People had jumped ship,

but nobody of the stature
of Bret The Hitman Hart,

because he was the champion.

- It was very hard
for me to picture

the WWE without Bret in it.

I just figured
it would get worked out.

- Bret was being offered the
highest contract of all time.

- Yeah, I think I got offered
about 2.6 million a year,

and I remember Vince
pretty much said,

"You better take
the WCW contract."

- Is he going WCW?

- Well, I’ll tell you
exactly what--

what situation
I’m in right now.

I’ve given my 30-day notice.

It is common knowledge
at this point

that Bret is going.

- But at the same time,
he’s WWE champion.

So you have to figure out

okay, how do you maneuver
through that?

- I’ve got you
in the Survivor Series,

and when that day comes,

I’m gonna kick
your little scrawny ass.

[cheering]

I found out I was
wrestling Shawn.

It was me and Shawn at
Survivor Series in Montreal.

I remember I said,
"Hey, Shawn,

"I know we’re wrestling
at Survivor Series,

"and I just want you to know,

"I don’t have any problem
whatever the finish is.

Like, if they want you to win.
I’m okay with that."

I’ve always been a company guy,
and I’m professional.

And I remember Shawn looked
at me and said--

he goes, "I appreciate that,
but I just want you to know

that I would never
do the same thing for you."

- It’s a dicey thing,

but I don’t have
any recollection of it.

At the very least, I’ve never
tried to run away

from my very blatant
unprofessionalism back then.

- When I told Vince I said,
"I can’t drop the belt

"to a guy that would
be that unprofessional

and tell me that he would never
do the same thing for me."

- Doesn’t matter whether
it’s Shawn or anybody else.

This is what
you do for the company

that you helped build.

- Everybody was talking
in the locker rooms.

"Can you imagine if Bret
jumped ship,

shows up at WCW,
and he’s still our champion?"

- Bret couldn’t be allowed

to go to WCW
with the championship.

He had to drop that title

to somebody in WWE.

There was no way

we could allow Bret
to go to WCW

with that championship.

♪ ♪

- You gotta understand,
Bret Hart said

he was not gonna leave
with the title.

That he would not
use it at WCW.

Bret Hart’s
a man of integrity.

I believe Brett.

Problem is,
Bischoff had already done it.

- And that’s what
it’s all about.

The current title holder.

- Madusa goes down there
and throws

the women’s championship
in the trash.

- And that’s what I think

of the WWE
women’s championship belt.

- We’re losing one
of our great champions.

We can’t lose
the championship with it.

- Welcome, everyone, to the
11th annual Survivor Series.

[cheers and applause]

- There were rumblings as far
as how are we gonna do this

from Bret
for the entire week.

There was a documentary
that was there,

and they secretly recorded
the conversation.

- The championship
does not change hands

on a disqualification.

In order for a championship
to change hands,

you have to win by
a pinfall or a submission.

- There was lots of
things we could have done

that would have been okay.

- That’s not Bret’s choice.

And it’s not
what we wanted--

from a creative point of view,
what we wanted to.

Bret was unwilling
to do what he needed to do

which was make sure

that Shawn left that night
as the champion.

- I want to say the Wednesday
before that pay-per-view,

I was in Texas,

on the telephone
with Vince McMahon,

discussing about
the belt not leaving the WWE.

And of course sort of talking
around the whole,

like, "Do we wanna, you know,

we wanna frickin’
get that thing

by hook or by crook.

And Vince was like,
"What are we talking about?

And you know,
"Look, I’ll do whatever

it is you want me to do."

- Shawn seemed like he didn’t
want any problems with me.

We had a big talk
in the dressing room

for maybe at least an hour

about how he was sorry
that things got

the way they did
and sorry that I was leaving.

- You know,
how did we get here?

I guess at one time
X amount of years ago,

you know, we’re pretty
decent friends, you know?

And we really liked each other
and it--and it really did it.

I mean, it--it did suck.

- This is what it’s all about.

How many times have we heard
Shawn Michael say

"I don’t lay down for anybody?"

- Well, folks, this is
very, very personal.

This match is gonna be stiff.

- The Survivor Series
is a masterpiece of a match.

- Oh, my God!
What a suplex!

- Poured my heart out
in that match,

and Shawn’s
working his heart out.

- It’s just a down and dirty
fight between two guys

that hate each other’s guts.

- We’re ten minutes
into the actual match.

The match was gonna
go 40 minutes.

- It’s in Montreal,
so I’m there in person.

I didn’t know Vince
was the owner.

I didn’t know this.

I just thought Vince
was a commentator.

So then at one point
during the match,

he comes out in this suit,
and I’m like,

"What is going on?"
And I was so confused.

Like, "Why is Vince McMahon
there?"

- I see Vince McMahon there.
- Get him to the ring.

- Trying to convince these guys
to get in the ring.

- He wanted Bret
to see him there.

He wanted Bret to know

that whatever went down

was his decision
to have it happen.

- Oh, you’re kidding me.

- Michaels--
- Are you kidding me?

- Is he gonna try and beat
Bret Hart with a Sharpshooter?

Yes, he is!

- Shawn puts him
in the Sharpshooter.

Bret’s in it,
and he never tapped.

And all of a sudden,
the bell rings.

- Ring the bell!
Ring the bell!

[bell dings]

[Shawn Michaels’
theme playing]

- Well, you talk
about controversy.

- And that’s when I knew
they screwed me.

- Look at this.
- Oh, you’re kidding me.

- Michaels--
- Are you kidding me?

- Is he gonna try and beat
Bret Hart with a Sharpshooter?

Yes, he is!

- Shawn put Bret
in the Sharpshooter,

and Earl Hebner rang the bell.

- Ring the bell!

Ring the bell!
[bell dings]

- Shawn wins, and they just
act like Bret tapped out.

- Bret Hart gave up
on the Sharpshooter.

- Vince was doing
what was best for business.

- All of a sudden,
Bret just

looked him right in the eye
and went...

[snorting]

I said, "Did he just spit
in Vince McMahon’s eye?"

That’s the moment, for me,

that I knew everything
had gone off the rails.

- Bret just disrespecting
Vince.

He didn’t really care.
You know, it washes off.

- What he did to me
was a huge betrayal to me.

- It’s all a blur to me.

And--
[imitates rocket]

I was out
of there like a scalded dog.

- I was at
the gorilla position,

which is the last bastion

before you walk out
to the curtain.

And at that point...

- I was by myself
in Vince’s office,

watching it on the monitor.

It goes down,
and I’m just like,

"Holy crap.
This is about to blow up."

- We were just as stunned
as everyone else.

We had no idea
what had just happened.

- The entire arena could tell
that Bret was screwed.

So that’s where it was called
the Montreal Screw Job.

- This was the moment
that changed wrestling

for an entire generation
and forever more.

- It was almost, like,
kind of anticlimactic.

- It was such confusion!
- The match was going great,

and there was
so much confusion.

Like, wait, what happened?
Did he tap?

Why is the bell ringing?

Why are they--
you know, what’s--

just chaos in the ring,
and then Bret being pissed.

- The reaction that Bret had.

Like, his emotions
and just everything.

and him walking around
he’s just, like, so furious.

- After he spits and
does everything else,

he goes W-C-W on that screen.

- For all of our animosity,

for all of the rivalry
that he and I had,

I was the bad guy.

And then on that night,

I was gonna frickin’ make it
even worse,

and never be able to--
never be able to turn

that back again ever.

- I walk in, and I said to
Shawn I just go,

"Well, were you in on that?"

"Shawn, you weren’t
in on that?"

- My hands are clean
of this one, I swear to God.

Vince told me,
"You deny it no matter what."

So I told him no.

It wasn’t fun to do.

- So Bret’s on one side
of the room,

Vince is on the other side
of the room.

And so Shawn was there.

I was sitting next to Shawn.

Vince is over here.
Bret’s down here.

And it’s going
back and forth,

and I do remember Shawn

trying to chime in
at one point.

I remember grabbing his leg
and saying, "No,

this isn’t the time.
Shut up."

Vince is explaining
his position.

- Vince told Bret,
"What’d you expect me to do?

"I did it for the company.

"I did it for everybody
in this locker room.

And I’d do it again."

- Vince and me walked
towards each other

just like two wrestlers.

I walked towards him.
He came right towards me.

So it wasn’t just me going
and attacking a man.

Like, he came.
It was a accepted fight.

I hit Vince
with a right-hand punch.

It was--like, it was
a knockout punch.

- Looking back on it,

it produced
very real feelings.

- Bret, The Hitman Hart,
he got cheated.

- That’s disgusting.

- It’s an injustice.
It’s not fair.

- Also wrapped Shawn Michaels
in a perception

that to this day
he can never shake.

Shawn Michaels is
a wonderful human being,

but if you’re somebody
who liked Bret,

he’s a piece of [bleep].

- This was not something
that was going away.

It really bothered me.

I was obsessed with it.

I mean, even when I was in WCW.

Nobody knows
better than I do

what it’s like to get
screwed over by a referee.

I remember actually
being in a WCW show.

We were both in the same town.

I went to my room
and stayed my room

so I wouldn’t bump into him.

Like, I feared, like,
if I bumped into Shawn,

and he walked in the
same elevator with me--

I’m not exaggerating
when I tell you

I think there’s
a possibility

that I could have killed him
with my bare hands.

♪ ♪

- Both guys kind of went in
a gloom and doom direction

in their personal lives
and in their careers.

For Shawn,
an unfortunate accident

in a Royal Rumble Match--

He literally broke his back

and he had to step away
from the business for a while.

Bret, same thing.

Bret had a career-ending
injury in the ring.

- Standing side kick.

- Shawn Michaels
and Bret Hart were

the pinnacle of the industry.

Both were gone
a few years after Montreal.

- I was at
such a crappy place then.

Finding something
more important than this stuff

was obviously huge.

Come here, girl.
[kisses]

- Yeah!

- After he got married and
had a family and matured,

he quit being Shawn Michaels
outside of the ring.

- And he took the
steps to turn his life around

which is a long, long way
from the way it was in the 90s.

- Shawn was able to come back.

Shawn was able to become

a completely new human being
behind the scenes.

- I could tell that Shawn had
a sort of a skip in his walk.

I think anybody that remembers
and knows me from those days

would say, "Yeah you were
pretty mad for a long time."

I’ve always expected a proper
and more fitting--

I don’t know if apology is
the right word, but just to--

someone to own up
for what happened

and accept responsibility

for the actions
that were taken.

I made the comparison
a lot of times

it was like carrying
a big bag of rocks around.

- Since
the Montreal Screw Job,

I never ran into Bret.

We never spoke
for easily more than a decade.

I know that there are times
that I mentioned

that I would love to be able
to put that behind us.

Things that led to it were TJ.

- TJ told Shawn, "Yeah
well, I’m, like, you know,

close to the Hart family."

And TJ said to--
to Shawn he’s, like,

"Yeah, I think
Bret would be, like,

really open
to talking to you."

- Shawn started to get
a little bit emotional

and he said some days
he just would like to fly up

to Calgary and
knock on Bret’s door,

and if Bret punches him out,

that’s okay as long as
they can talk after.

- And TJ told me that,
and that meant a lot to me.

I was like, "Okay, you know,
at least he feels bad."

- The bombshell
that Bret hit me with

at the very end
of our conversation was,

"Give Shawn my number

"and I’ll see if he calls me.

And then
I’ll see how sincere he is."

I remember thinking, "Wow."

- Every couple of weeks,
like, Bret would be like,

"He hasn’t called."

There was a very
big part of me that knew

with all the history
these two had,

they have to see each other
face-to-face.

They can’t--a phone call
is not gonna do

a damn thing with these two.

- I remember Shawn said he
was too scared to call me

and so he never called me
and it never got resolved.

I remember saying "I just
wanna see him in person

and we’ll bury the hatchet."

It all comes back.

- Since the Montreal
Screw Job,

I don’t recall Bret Hart
and myself

ever seeing
or talking to each other

again until I think that night.

- When I saw Shawn, he was
in the catering I believe.

- I could tell it was real,

is just started to pour out
of us straightaway,

like, you know,
I’ve been wanting

to talk to you for so long.

And I remember I just said,
"Just stop.

Let’s do it in the ring."

♪ ♪

- It’s been 12 long years
since anyone’s seen Bret Hart.

- I got 12 years of things
that I’ve wanted

to get off my chest,

and the very first thing
I wanna do

is I wanna call back there and
ask Shawn Michaels

to come out here.
[cheers and applause]

- Whoa. Well, Hitman
not wasting any time.

- There’s something
I’ve been waiting

12 years to say to you.

In the last 12 years,
a lot of things

in my life have changed.

You’re not the only one
that’s been

carrying this around
for 12 years.

You’re not the only one that
wants to bury the hatchet.

- I was happy to see Shawn
and Bret come back together

and just share a ring again.

- So I offer my hand
to you in friendship.

If you wanna bury the hatchet,

let’s bury it right now.

[audience shouting]

[cheers and applause]

- That was so surreal.

I really couldn’t believe
what I was watching.

That’s, like, the one thing
you didn’t think could happen

[cheers and applause]

- When Shawn hugged me,
he told me--

he goes, "I’m so sorry,

so sorry for everything
that happened."

- What we carried, you know,
as a result of everything,

to have that lifted off
was honestly the best thing.

- It just shows the growth of
both of ’em as men

and human beings.

To be able to witness that,
that was really cool.

- When two egos hit
and they don’t mix well,

a lot of crazy
stuff can happen.

- Bret Hart is going at it
with Shawn Michaels!

- You know,
you don’t have to be

best friends to put
on these matches,

to make big money,
to put butts in seats.

- It drew me in so much,
you know?

And all the while, like,
I really didn’t have an idea

like, the gravity
of this situation

and even, like, how it built.

When those heads butt it sucks
for the people involved,

but for everybody watching,
like, we get the best

possible product
’cause everyone is bringing

their best to the table.

- Both are incredible.

Two of the greatest
performers of all time.

This was absolutely magic
when these guys got together.

[sentimental music]

- [laughs]
Hello, there.

- No, I knew you’d come around
there looking to tie up the--

- [laughs] No, heavens, no.
How are you doing?

- Good. How are you?
- Oh, my goodness

I’m doing pretty good.
- Good to see you.

- Busy.
- Busy?

- The rivalry stood
the test of time

because it was real.

It was real, and it was
with two guys

that were so different
in a lot of ways

but so alike competitor-wise.

I don’t have anything to say.

I didn’t have the--
again, the ability

or the maturity to see that
and understand that.

- I think that when you
look at long-term rivalry,

Shawn Michaels
versus Bret Hart

will forever live in infamy.

- These two men truly
believe in their hearts

that they are the better man.

- That’s the greatest thing
that you can get

from a rivalry,
is that people remember it

ten, 20, 30 years
down the road.

- I think about, you know,
the WrestleMania match.

To me, it is, you know,
what a huge risk that was

to, you know, have the balls
to try to do an hour.

- Oh, yeah.
You know, one fall.

- Yeah, you know what I mean?
And I’m more proud of that

than anything else.
- Really a masterpiece.

- Yeah.
- One of my favorite.

One of my best memories.

- The chemistry between Bret
and Shawn

was undeniable,
and it created

an unbelievably great rivalry.

[cheering]
- And here we go!

He got--
[audience cheering]

- It’s a shame that things
got off track with Shawn

and we never got to really
finish telling the stories

that we could have told.

Me and Shawn could have
wrestled one time every year

for the next ten years,

and it’s been the biggest
matches in history.

It’s a shame that
that opportunity

was squandered and lost
probably by both of us.

♪ ♪

- Absolutely, of course.

I would love to go back

and not make any of
the mistakes that I made.

But then I have
to see where I’m at now

and I’m overjoyed with having
come out on the other side.

- And it’s good to
be in a place today

where you can talk
about your kids

and, you know, pretty
soon it’ll be grandkids, and--

- We’re not best friends,
really, but you know,

he’s always nice to--about
reaching out on a birthday

or a wedding anniversary.

- The stuff that you worried
about 20 years ago is--

sort of pales--
- Looks small now.

[laughs] Yeah, exactly, yeah.

- You know--
- Especially when you say

something like grandkids.

It’ like,
"Oh, my goodness."

[laughs]
- Yeah, well it’s coming.

Brace yourself.
- Yeah. [laughs]

- I know, I know, I know.

- We just had a great
conversation about being dads

and he was really
a joy to be around.

- Well, it was wonderful
to see you, man.

- Good seeing you.
- Thank you so much.

I appreciate you.
- Take care of yourself

and stay in touch.
- I will.

- I wish sometimes that
we could just go back

and redo all that
’cause it was--

it was nothing but magic
left to do.

♪ ♪