All language subtitles for WWE Rivals - Season 2 - EP-09 - Stone Cold VS. Bret Hart

- I'm like the star quarterback
on the high school team,

and then this new kid comes to
the school,

he's bald--headed,
and he's got an attitude,

and he's a badass.

- I'd like to issue a challenge
against one

Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- What?

- They both had this incredible
energy that they were two

completely different characters.

- If you put the letter S
in front of Hitman,

you've had my exact
opinion of Bret Hart.

- The way this
is being presented,

it would really -- me off.

- He had to rise
to that occasion.

- We'll see who kicks who's ass.

- If you liked
Holyfield and Tyson,

you're going to love this.

- Do I know a whole lot of
wrestling holds?

Hell no, I don't,
but I'll beat the hell out

of you till you do say,
"I quit."

- This is about athleticism,
a hell of a fight.

- We're talking about
two guys that can make really

small things mean an awful lot.

- Austin will not surrender.

- This guy's going
to die on his hope.

he ain't going to give up,
he ain't going to give up.

[crowd cheers]

- That's where you make
Steve Austin.

- Without Bret, I don't think
we got Stone Cold.

[music]

- This rivalry has just
escalated into a war.

[crowd cheers]

- 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.

[music]

Today we're going to discuss
two men at very different points

in their careers and that is
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin

and Bret "Hitman" Hart.

- What an ovation.

Bret "The Hitman" Hart,
he has done it all,

and continues to do it all.

- I feel like Bret Hart
at that time was as

pure good guy as it gets.

- Especially, as a Canadian,
I mean, Bret Hart is like,

"Let's give him
the Walk of Fame.

Let's make this man
our Prime Minister," he is it.

You want to talk about the
most famous man in the world?

I feel like when you look at,
especially, Canadian athletes,

growing up, it was Bret Hart.

- Thank you Bret.

[crowd chanting "We want Bret.

We want Bret."]

- Since he was born,
he's been wrestling.

He knows it all,
he really, really does.

- He never had a bad match.

I used to watch him every night.

We just watched and marvel about
how great a wrestler he was.

- Man, in the mid-'90s,
Bret was huge.

I think people liked him because
he was almost like an everyman,

he wasn't over-the-top gigantic,
but he had

this confident charisma.

He's just a cool guy.

- Unbelievable
technical wrestler,

but also add credibility.

- I earned being an
Intercontinental Champion,

I earned being a
World Wrestling -- Champion.

- Bret Hart was the man.

He was the best guy
in the WWE at the time.

- Bret took an enormous amount
of pride in his performance,

that was who Bret Hart was.

- I'm the best there is,
the best there was,

and the best there ever will be.

- Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

[applause]

- Bret Hart stepped up to be
the perfect face of the company.

- I'm sure a pro wrestler such
as yourself will appreciate all

the closet space, Hitman.

- In a lot of ways,
I was in my prime,

just full of fire,
and just wanted

to really prove
myself everyday.

- I looked up to the guy,
and he was lobbying

for me to come to WWE,
way back in the day.

- "Stunning" Steve Austin,

United States
Heavyweight Champion.

- I remember watching
Steve Austin on TV.

I remember, and he's actually
a really good wrestler.

I would like to wrestle
that guy but, of course,

he was with WCW.

- I was a very big WWE guy
when I was younger,

but I'd watched the old
wrestling,

and then I got to see
Steve in WCW,

what an incredible in-ring
wrestler, he was.

- Picked him up,
what's he going to do?

Whoa.

- I was like,
"Oh, my goodness,

this guy's just not a
good wrestler,

he's a phenomenal wrestler.

I hope he gets more
opportunities to show that."

- I actually mentioned
it to Vince, I said,

"Why don't you try to get
Steve Austin from WCW?"

It was like somebody, maybe
Vince or somebody,

he did the call, or it all might
have been a coincidence,

but they called him
and he showed up.

I remember, he was like,
"He's in the dressing room."

I go, "There you are."

- I'm going to prove how good
"The Ringmaster" is.

Brought in as "The Ringmaster"
they never had any plans

for me to be a star.

This ain't your ring,
this is my ring.

Yes, this is my ring.

- "The Ringmaster" was something
that just didn't fit.

- It was good for someone who
was good, but it wasn't good

for someone who had greatness
written all over him.

- I think he started to realize
that "The Ringmaster"

wasn't the future for him.

- I've been held back for years
and years and years,

and this is a chance
of a lifetime, man.

If you think I'm going
to drop the ball,

you got another thing coming.

- Oh, that's cold.

- No, man, that's Stone Cold.

- Steve transformed
himself within literally

a couple of months to
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- Black boots, black tightd ,
shaved the head, goatee,

steelyblue eyes and
just talking trash.

I thought, "Damn it, this guy's
pretty freaking cool."

- You're a piece of garbage.

You don't deserve to be in the
same ring with Stone Cold.

- He was the baddest mug around.

He had a certain swagger
about him,

he commanded the presence he
when walked inside a arena.

- You could just tell he had
that magnetism,

and it was a good vibe
you were getting.

He was a guy you can easily
really hate as a bad guy.

There is nothing going
to hold Steve Austin back.

- Steve Austin is on a roll.

Look at the eyes of this guy.

- After I came up with the
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin thing,

things started clicking.

You're looking at the next
King of the Ring, "Stone Cold".

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
was this badass,

walking to the ring.

- Austin is cold, calculating,
and very, very focused.

- King of the Ring at the time
was an annual WWE tradition,

that was a single
elimination tournament.

[bell rings]

[crowd cheers]

It would see one superstar
usually a breakout star

have the honor of wearing
the crown in the WWE.

- One, two, and he's got him.

[bell rings]

- King of the Ring,
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- Talk about your psalms,
talk about John 3:16,

Austin 3:16 says,
"I just whipped your ass."

[crowd cheers]

- The Austin 3:16 promo,
that was the shot in the arm.

- A light-switching moment for
Steve like,

"Boom, this is the character."

- And that's the bottom line
because Stone Cold said so.

- Stone Cold had just won King
of the Ring and had the famous

Austin 3:16 quote.

- The entire business changed
that day in Milwaukee.

When he said that Austin 3:16
line, the next day we come out,

there's Austin 3:16
signs everywhere.

- I mean, the Austin 3:16
shirt was the most popular

shirt in the world.

Overnight, it felt like, as soon
they released that shirt,

that shirt just sold out
like that.

As a kid during that time
period, of course,

you're going to get swept up
in the whole excitement.

- Post King of the Ring,
Austin's on fire-

- Steve, it's safe to say that
Stone Cold is red hot right now.

- -but he's not quite there yet,
he needs to get

to the next level,
and in order to do that,

he has to wrestle someone
who is already at that level.

What does Stone Cold do?

- I'd like to use this chance to
issue and challenge against one,

Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- What?

- He calls out Bret Hart.

- To be man, you got
to beat the man.

Bret Hart was the man.

He felt like he wanted
to test his will.

He's like, "I feel like I'm the
man right now,

and who's been calling
themselves, the man,

that's who I'm going for."

[crowd cheers]

- I'm the best there is,
I'm the best there was,

and I'm the best
there ever will be.

- We're talking about
Bret Hart, The Hitman,

one of the greatest
legends of all time.

- I know exactly
who I'm talking about, son.

[crowd chanting "We want Bret."]

- Yes, we want Bret.

- I took time off after the
Ironman match with Shawn.

- I've never seen two more
determined individuals.

- Just training and preparing
and thinking about whether

or not I want to come back,
and I'm sure I will.

I think that somewhere
down the line.

All that time is when Steve's
transformed from The Ringmaster

and all that to Stone Cold.

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
started calling out Bret Hart

every single chance that he got.

- I spit on the life,
the career,

and the family of
Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- As soon as Steve started
cutting those promos,

our fans started using their
imaginations about just how

good this rivalry could be.

- Let me make myself clear,
if you put the letter S

in front of Hitman, you've had
my exact opinion of Bret Hart.

On the night I cut that promo on
Bret, where I said,

"If you put the letter S in
front of Hitman,

you have my
exact opinion of Bret Hart."

That was something that I
thought of probably

before I went out there.

I didn't buzz it by anybody,
because I knew it wasn't going

to fly if I pitched it to Vince.

That was something
I came up with,

because it sounded cool,
and it worked.

- It resonated because it was so
disrespectful, [chuckles]

Because everybody's doing the
math in their head.

They go,
"You just said a really bad

thing about a really great guy."

- Man, it's pretty cool.

I wish it wasn't
saying about Bret.

- Bret, if you ever do come back
and I hope you do, son,

somebody's going to
get their ass whipped.

You know, Bret, you know
that I'm better than you.

- The fact that he was saying
all these things about me

the way this is being presented,
it would really -- me off.

- Mark my word, if Bret Hart
does come back,

I'll kick the hell out of him.

When I said the things that I
said, it -- the fans off.

That's what made it, and it
became personal.

- No one had gotten that
personal with Bret before.

He had to rise to that occasion.

- Bret's been out
of the game for a while.

Everyone wants to know if Bret's
going to accept this match.

- Please tell us what's
in the future

for Bret "The Hitman" Hart?

By the way, welcome back.

- The one thing that's been
missing in the World Wrestling

-- for about the last
five or six months has been me.

- [laughs]

[crowd cheers]

- No doubt about it.

- Which is why I've decided
to accept the challenge,

and in the Survivor Series, I
I will face

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

[crowd cheers]

- He's like this brash, up and
newcomer, and just like,

"Okay, let me show you who
the man is though."

[laughs]

- We'll see who kicks whose ass
in Madison Square Garden.

[crowd cheers]

- Everybody, are you ready
for the Survivor Series

tonight on pay-per-view?

- My first high profile match
was Survivor Series 1996,

Madison Square Garden
with Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

Everybody talks about the best
there is, the best there was,

all the other crap.

The excellence of execution.

Bret clichés are clichés, and an
ass whipping is an ass whipping,

and that's exactly what you're
going to get tonight

at the hands of
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin,

and that's the bottom line.

I was feeling really good and
really confident,

because I had a lot
of steam on me.

I was getting over as a heel,
and I felt good

about where I was.

- This man, "Stone Cold" Steve
Austin could spoil

the comeback attempt of
Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- I do remember thinking,
"Oh, no, this is a

genuine threat to Bret."

- It's a real funny feeling
comes over you when they

hit that guitar shred,
as his music starts,

it'll send chills down your
spine and give you goosebumps.

[crowd cheers]

[Bret Hart's music plays]

[crowd cheers]

- "The Hitman" Bret Hart
ready to electrify

this capacity crowd.

- I remember sitting in Madison
Square Garden

waiting for that match.

Not only was it Bret Hart's
return to the WWE,

but it was the biggest match
that "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

had ever found himself in.

- Stone Cold has an opportunity
to make himself a real big name.

- I liked Bret growing up.

I'm going to say "liked".

I liked Bret.

I respected Bret's abilities,
but I also respected

Stone Cold's ability.

- I automatically sided with
Austin, because already

I was a huge Steve Austin fan.

I was not a Bret Hart fan.

Believe it or not.

- Steve Austin will say
anything to you.

You can imagine the worst thing
anyone could say to you,

that's probably what Stone Cold
is doing to Bret Hart.

- Both had this
incredible energy

but they were two completely
different characters.

- If you like
Holyfield and Tyson,

you're going to love this.

[music]

- It was just one of those
classic type wrestling matches,

old school style match,
and rip it up.

- Oh-oh, slugfest
here developing.

- It takes off.

Whoa.

- I'd taken six months off.

That was a hard thing
for me to pull off.

- How much ring rust does
Bret Hart possess?

How long will it take for
Bret to get in that groove?

- Oh, no.

- Austin, the poiny of the
elbow driven into

the throat of Bret Hart.

- Bret had been gone so long,
and I was really primed up

because I'd been on the road.

I blew him up in that match, and
always something I was proud of.

- I know he blew me up, because
I very rarely ever blew up.

He came pretty close.

I was getting a little parched
at the end of it,

and that didn't happen very
often.

- I can't believe Bret Hart's
on his feet.

- You just count on your passion
and everything

you've learned to carry
you through.

When all else fails,
just hit the other guy hard.

- -- was on and Bret had
to get on his horse and perform,

and he did, as he always does.

- Look at this, Austin down.

- Both men are fatigued.

Both men are hurt.

This is a war.

- Ends up with me going for my
old finish as The Ringmaster,

the Million Dollar Dream.

- Wait a minute, there's the
Million Dollar Dream.

- He goes to the turnbuckle,
kicks.

Over we go, roll up.

- One, two.

Unbelievable.

- Austin didn't let go of the
Million Dollar Dream

and it cost him the victory.

- The Hitman is back.

- Didn't beat me by physicality,
he beat me by outsmarting me.

- Look at Austin,
he's not taking

his eyes off of Bret Hart.

This rivalry between Bret Hart
and Stone Cold is far,

far from over.

- That particular match really
elevated Stone Cold.

This puts "Stone Cold" Steve
Austin right on the same

level as Bret "The Hitman" Hart.

- That was good for Steve.

I think that gave
him some credibility.

- Guys like Bret, myself,
and you are now considered

a main player in that, and so
it's rewarding in that respect.

- It was a terrific match.

For Steve to get to that next
level, he had to have that right

of passage, and walk
through hell against some

great champion,
and that was Bret Hart.

- I didn't have a foot
in either camp.

I was a Bret guy because
I love Bret's work,

but I also respected "Stone
Cold" Steve Austin.

For some reason,
when that match happened,

I switched and I went
and I was like,

"Mom, do you have a black vest
or a gold chain I could put on?"

Because for some reason,
something about that match made

me go all in on Stone Cold.

I think that was its purpose
in itself was to legitimize

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- Renee, was this moment from
Stone Cold enough to break your

loyalty from the
wonderful Bret Hart,

or are you still Bret Hart
all day long?

- Listen, I'm not going to say
that it broke

my loyalty to Bret Hart.

I love Bret Hart through and
through,

but it did pique this
interest of like, "Okay."

- At Madison Square Garden,
it was the luckiest day

of your life making a comeback.

It was just a fluke that you
happened to beat me, son,

because I was every bit better
than you and you know it.

Things ain't over between
us by a long sight.

- Wait just a minute,
there's Steve Austin.

Oh, Austin.

- It seemed like every time I
turned around,

I was getting jumped by Steve.

[bell rings]

- It happened.
Bret Hart is hurt.

- The tension between Bret and
Austin, it felt realistic.

- Look at that, that's low.

[bell rings]

- Bret Hart just got knocked
out with that steel chair.

- Physicality just got
that much more intense.

- Oh, no, he's got the
sharpshooter over there.

[bell rings]

- It was so real,
you had to believe it.

- This is going to take us
to the Royal Rumble.

- Remember the object, to throw
your opponent over the top rope,

and both feet must
hit the floor.

- Stone Cold is beating up
everybody.

He's clearing the ring.

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
is picking them off.

- He sits on the turnbuckle-

- He's basically awaiting for
the next individual to come out.

- -checks his watch and says,
"Who's next?"

- He wants a place
on the top rope.

Listen to his watch.

- I'm waiting.

I'm letting you know
I'm waiting.

[crowd cheers]

[Bret Hart's music plays]

- Uh Oh.

Yes.

- You have that priceless
facial expression.

- Steve was throwing
everybody out of the Rumble,

and then I came in.

- One of the most priceless
reactions that any wrestler has

ever had in the Royal Rumble.

Others have tried since then.

None have matched this moment.

- Now, it's serious because he's
relatively had an easy time up

until that point, and now when
he hears the music,

he knows he's in trouble.

- Well, this is hell, fire
and brimstone

when these two get together.

- The 1997 Royal Rumble
heating up.

Six competitors in the ring.

- The only way to get eliminated
from a Royal Rumble match

is to get thrown
over the top rope,

and have your feet
touch the floor.

- Austin's been eliminated.

- During the match, Bret Hart
eliminated Steve Austin,

but the referee didn't
see it happen.

- Now, the referee didn't see
it.

- Steve being
the ultimate rule-breaker,

snuck back in the ring.

- Now it's over.

Oh, no.

No.

- While the referee was looking,
he threw Bret Hart

over the top rope.

This was the first instance
of Bret Hart starting

to feel cheated.

- I've been screwed by "Stone
Cold" Steve Austin.

The Rumble really did turn that
up a dial, and really cranked up

the heat between me and Steve.

- Uh-oh.

Bret Hart and Austin
are going to get it on here.

What a brawl.

It's a fistfight in the
aisleway.

You better get some security
from the locker room.

- You want people to believe.

We made people believe.

- Look at Austin and Bret Hart
fighting again.

- Every time you turned around,
Stone Cold was right there

doing something.

- Wait a minute.

Now, Steve Austin.

Steve Austin has absolutely
become obsessed with Bret Hart.

- I wish Bret was the one
attacking Steve, [chuckles]

but it was such an exciting TV.

- The tensions between me and
Steve were built up masterfully.

- They're trying
to separate these guys.

- Bret Hart went
through this period,

where no matter what he did,
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin

was right there on top of
him, antagonizing him,

interfering in his matches.

- Austin's got a chair.

Oh, Austin-- Bret Hart got hit
by a chair.

My God.

- The more it happened,
Bret Hart started vocalizing

the fact that he felt
he was being cheated.

- I'm sorry that I'm crying,
but I think I've about had it

up to here with
the lack of justice.

- The cool thing about this is
I find a lot of people say,

"I was here and it brought
me over to here."

All of a sudden,
Bret Hart isn't saying

the hero character things.

He's starting to say things that
make him sound entitled.

- Frustrated isn't
a -- word for it.

This is --.

- He kind of started --
and moaning

a little bit in his promos.

All you want to do anytime
you go in the ring

is cry like a baby.

- Bret Hart did
uncharacteristically

become a whiner.

As much as we love Bret,
no one loves a whiner.

- Everybody in that --
dressing room knows

that I'm the best there is,
the best there was,

and the best
there ever will be.

If you don't like it, tough --.

- Steve's a bad guy that's
becoming such a cool badass

bad guy, that people are
actually starting to like him,

and I've become this hero that's
been on the shelf too long.

- Steve Austin goes out there in
a black pair of trunks

and a black pair of boots,
and gets the job done.

- I think the young fans,
especially, got into that

anti-establishment mode,
and there was nobody more

anti-establishment than
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- No one can tell me
that I can't be here.

Here I come full head of steam
talking all that trash,

because I was so entertaining,
people wanted to like me.

- Bret was still very much
playing the hero,

but horrible things he was
saying to the traditional hero

were really starting
to catch on.

- Bret Hart on his best day
can't lace my boots,

and I'm going to prove that
to the world.

- Everybody picked up on it,
and it did made it

that much more interesting.

- Ever since you came back,
you ain't done nothing but cry.

[crowd cheers]

- I had a pretty good long run,
and it's started to show that

they're getting tired of me
being the hero.

You feel like a draft
in the room.

What do you want?

Get the hell out of here.

Get that --
thing out of here.

I said get out of here.

[music]

- At my house in San Antonio
about two weeks

before WrestleMania 13,
I'm watching Raw,

and I know that the main event
is Undertaker versus

Sid Vicious, and then I hear
and in a submission match.

- Bret Hart, who will be in a
submission match,

ladies and gentlemen,
one-on-one with

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin
at WrestleMania.

- I'm like, "That's news to me.

Nobody told me
the submission match."

I'm not a submission wrestler,
so I was hot.

As far as a submission match,
it's a bunch of bull.

- A submission match,
there's no pinfalls.

Like Steve said, he didn't have
any submission holds,

and I had the Sharpshooter,
but that's about it.

- Nobody gets
out of the Sharpshooter.

- I thought is a big obstacle to
having a great match,

not an opportunity to have
a great match.

He won't be able to scream
loud enough the words,

"I give" in a submission match.

Little did I know that
this was going to be

one of the greatest f
matches of all time.

- There ain't nobody in
wrestling who can make me quit,

and that's the bottom line
because Stone Cold said so.

- He's lost it.

Look at him.

- Oh, he just hit
Hall of Famer Pat Paterson.

- In the build-up
to WrestleMania,

we are simultaneously losing
a little bit of our affection

for Bret "The Hitman" Hart-

- Bret Hart is trying to choke
the life out of

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- -while we are gaining
admiration

for what Steve Austin is doing.

- This build starts to get a
little out of control on the way

to WrestleMania,
and just to make sure

that things are going
to be done correctly,

they bring in the
ultimate referee.

- My guest at this time is known
in the Ultimate Fighting world

as the Most Dangerous Man
in the World.

Please welcome to the squared
circle, Ken Shamrock.

[crowd cheers]

- Shamrock is the closest thing
to a pure warrior

that I've ever seen,
the world has ever seen.

- The Submission Match,
you will be the special referee

for that matchup.

- Oh.

- I am going to be
a fair referee.

Whether Bret Hart likes it,
or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin

likes it,
it doesn't really matter.

- Being who he was
and how he refereed,

he was a big part of that match.

He really was.

I just hope that he calls it
down the middle,

and I just hope he gets nice and
close, so he can hear those

magic words, "I quit."

- I was happy to be wrestling
Bret, but I was very surprised

that they named it
a submission match.

I thought we were going
to stink the joint out because

of the type of match it was.

You're almost setting
yourself up for failure.

[music]

- The only question that
remains is will the number 13

be lucky or unlucky for "Stone
Cold" Steve Austin

tonight the submission match.

- You can damn well bet
it's going to be an

unlucky number for Bret Hart.

Let me just say this, a
submission match

is not my kind of match.

Do I know a whole lot of
wrestling holds?

Hell no, I don't, but I'll beat
the hell out of you

till you do say, "I quit."

- to think the key to the Steve
Austin match was,

I had a lot of school fights in
my life,

where I had to fight
somebody after school.

A lot of times, it's just like
pro wrestling.

It gets promoted all day.

- Do not miss out on the
pay-per-view extravaganza

of the year, WrestleMania 13.

- I'm like the star quarterback
on the high school team,

and then this new kid
comes to the school.

He's bald head,
and he's got an attitude.

He's a badass and it's like,
you can just see this,

it's going to happen.

These two guys
are going to crash.

I remember talking to Steve.

I said,
"This is like a school fight."

- Welcome, everyone
to WrestleMania 13.

Welcome to a jam-packed sold-out
Rosemont Horizon in Chicago.

- Very fortunate to be working
in my favorite building and the

work of all time,
Rosemount Horizon.

The reason I say that with all
due respect to

Madison Square Garden,
is because of the wood ceiling.

In Rosemount,
the acoustics are so good.

When you do something,
you elicit a response,

and the way that acoustically
shoots that response

down to you, you hear it.

You step on the gas,
you're making decisions

based on that crowd.

- You talk about in-your-face,
that is who

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is,
and getting quite a positive

response from this
capacity crowd.

A mixed reaction to a man who
unquestionably has a legacy

here in the World Wrestling --.

As of late, that legacy
has somewhat taken a turn.

- Bret Hart and "Stone Cold"
Steve Austin spent months

building this story that
culminated in a submission match

at WrestleMania
with Ken Shamrock

making his first major WWE
appearance as the referee.

- Steve Austin, is 6'2", 252,
said,

"There's not a human being
walking the face of the earth

that can make him say,
'I quit'."

I think I believe it.

- Look out.
Here we go.

- Here we go.

[bell rings]

- As soon as Bret and I started
going, I'm tuned into the crowd,

and so we've got them hooked
right from the get-go.

- You can't be counted out.

You cannot be disqualified.

You've got to quit
to end the match.

- We took them on a ride.

We brawled up.

- Oh, they're up in the stands
with some 18,197 fans watching.

- Oh, my God.

- Oh my goodness.

They don't care
where they take this thing.

- You're talking about two guys
that could make really small

things mean an awful lot.

- These two men
are battering each other.

[crowd cheers]

- If you're ever studying to be
a wrestler, this is a match

you should check out,
it is like a perfect match.

- Bret Hart is spinning months
and months of frustration

on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- We've all seen
thousands of matches.

You only remember things
that are really bad,

and the things that are really
something special.

- Oh, there you go.

The "Stone Cold" stunner.

- Remember,
pinfalls don't count.

- You can sense that something
extraordinary is taking place.

- Whoa.

- Listen to this capacity crowd.

Austin won't give up.

- WrestleMania 13, it was like
the fans started to change.

All of a sudden something Bret
Hart would do, he'd get booed.

- Bret Hart now ripping that
hamstring.

- And Stone Cold,
he's getting cheered.

- Oh.

Austin said he was going to
beat the hell out of Bret Hart,

and that's what he's doing right
now with the help of some steel.

- I remember the monitors
backstage being packed.

You were drawn to it like
a moth to a flame.

- This is about athleticism
a hell of a fight

between two great athletes.

- We're all just looking around,
wondering amongst each other,

"How in the world is this thing
going to end?"

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin
coming outside

now with Bret Hart, here we go.

- The reason this match
resonated the way it did was,

because I was damn good
at what I was doing.

Bret was excellent
at what he was doing,

and the chemistry just worked.

When we got there,
we just have a conversation.

- This is about eleven o'clock
in the morning on the day of,

wandered out to the ring and
it's like, I remember sitting

on the apron of the ring going,
"What are we doing?"

- Bret says to me,
"You need to be bleeding."

I said, "You think?"

He goes, "Yes, you do."

- Austin's has been busted open.

Well, he is bleeding profusely.

- In '97, WWE was attempting to
go no blood.

- I come up, the crowd sees
how bad I'm bleeding,

and they just "Ooh",
they lean in, right?

- Oh, he's busted bad.

- It just jumped off the screen
because you were not seeing

it week-to-week on TV at all.

- Right on the injured knee,
Bret Hart now is like l

an animal out of control.

- Steve absorbed an incredible
amount of punishment,

but that was part of the
Stone Cold character

take a licking, keep on ticking.

- Steve Austin is one tough SOB.

- There's a certain magic
that comes out from two guys

that are just professionals.

I was trying so hard for
Steve and myself

to do something incredible.

[crowd cheers]

- Bret Hart just
rang of this bell.

- Bret finally gets me
in his submission hold,

the Sharpshooter.

- He's almost got him.

- Sharpshooter.

He's got it on.

- When I put it on
Steve and cranked it in,

it's like everyone knows
that's the end.

Nobody ever gets out.

- This is Bret Hart's move.

- Who would blame
Stone Cold if he gave up here?

- "Stone cold" Steve Austin,
the blood pouring down his face.

He's screaming in pain.

[crowd cheers]

- The blood pours from that
forehead of Stone Cold.

- Ken Shamrock asking him, s
doe he give up?

- Steve, do you give up?

- No.

- Continues to resist the pain.

People are standing.

Can you imagine the pain that's
rushing through Austin's body?

- I grounded my hands into the
mat, and as I pushed up

and was straining, blood just
started flowing out of my head,

and it ran down my cheek
bin etween my teeth.

- Austin, trying to get one
more rush of adrenaline.

- It's not a pretty sight.

- I'm thinking to myself,
"God dang, this feels good."

- Come on, Austin, come on,
come on, come on, and he was

just like, "Aah", he's just like
blood crimson mess.

It's-- Oh, man.

- He's doing the impossible.

- Nobody has ever done this.

Nobody's ever broken
the Sharpshooter.

- He did it.

He did it.

He just did it.

- Austin broke the Sharpshooter.

- Tipped me over,
and I remember I tipped over

and I could feel
the crowd just pop.

Like they just like, that's what
they wanted.

They wanted him to win,
and I could feel it.

I remember I'd push
myself back up,

and I'd break their hearts
when I put him back in the hold.

- Austin will not surrender.

He will not submit.

- That's where you
make Steve Austin.

[crowd cheers]

- How in the hell,
Austin is not giving up,

I can't understand.

- Do you give up?

- This guy's going to die
in this hold,

but he ain't going to give up.

He ain't going to give up.

- Ken Shamrock stopping it.

Stopping it right now,
that's it.

[bell rings]

- They rang the bell.

He passed out.

The guy never said, "I quit."

- Austin never gave up,
but he passed out with the pain.

- He didn't quit,
he didn't submit.

That gets you respect.

- Passing out from a submission
hold, covered in blood.

- That moment and that finish
is one of the most iconic images

maybe in wrestling.

- Oh, yes.

To be in that Sharpshooter,
the blood pouring down his face.

That was just such
an iconic moment.

- Austin arcing up,
and the blood is on his tooth.

- The blood goes on his teeth.

- That's the moment where you
can tell right there--

- The blood drop ,
on the teeth yes.

- We're yelling,
the blood's on the teeth.

He's got his blue eyes.

It's just--
It's a perfect moment.

- It's a beautiful struggle of a
guy fighting with all he's got.

- One of the most iconic
pictures in the history

of professional wrestling.

- There is just
something about that image

that has stood the test of time.

It symbolizes
everything Steve was about.

You can beat him,
but you can't stop him.

- What that did for me,
the fact that, hey, man,

Stone Cold's this bad --,
but he won't give up.

He might be a piece of --
and I don't like him,

but he won't give up.

They knew that I would go
through thick and thin

through anything,
and never ever give up,

and that's what the blood said
at the end of that match.

- I have never seen a display of
intestinal fortitude like we saw

with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

- That's what
touches your heart.

When you see someone fight
that hard and give

so much of himself.

Steve would've been a big star
irregardless of that match,

but at the same time,
that match was just so iconic

right from the moment
it happened.

Such a beautiful, violent story,

and I think it was for sure
the best match of my career.

- Wait a minute,
what's Bret doing?

Come on, Bret, enough is enough.

[bell rings]

- Bret Hart then
tries to go after Austin again.

- Ken Shamrock
just took down The Hitman.

- I remember thinking to myself,
"Oh, this is interesting.

Let's see where this might go."

- Ken Shamrock, stopping it,
stopping it right now,

that's it.

[bell rings]

- This finish shows how tough
and amazing Stone Cold is,

so Bret goes crazy and starts
beating up the man who passed

out from the Sharpshooter,
to the point where

Ken Shamrock has to break it up.

- Whoa, Ken Shamrock
just took down The Hitman.

- You have this crazy face-off
with Ken Shamrock from the UFC,

and are they going fight?

- Yes, come on, Hitman,
let's see how tough you're now.

That moment was a turning point,
a major turning point

in Bret Hart's career.

- Listen to this chorus of boos
directed at Bret Hart.

- He just turned and walked away
like a coward.

Oh, my goodness.

- Amazing storytelling to think
of how when I walked out

to the ring, and I'm the hero,
then I beat the crap

out of this guy, and leave him
a bloody mess in the ring.

- These fans are livid
at the absence of Bret Hart.

- I'm walking back to the dress
room and you can see everyone

is giving me the finger.

It's like everybody
was turning on me.

All I did was give this guy
what he had coming.

It's kind of like,
if people feel sorry

for the shark in Jaws.

- That point, Bret was just seen
like such a bastard.

Like just, he kicks the guy
while he's down.

- He's going to walk out of here
on his own.

Man's man, I'll tell you that,
whether you like him or not.

- Austin as the hero was well
still getting up and walking

out of the ring.

I think that was like a really
pivotal moment.

- Yes, that's true.

- He wasn't going
to let anyone help him.

- No one could help him.

- The fans are focused
on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

I'm getting the tingles
in the scalp,

which tells me it was
effective 25 years later.

It still makes my head tingle,

because you got to appreciate
this guy, he's a warrior.

He is one of the best
to ever do it.

[crowd chanting "Austin"]

- Because of the way the
psychology of the match flowed,

I went in as the bad guy.

He went in as a good guy,
by the time it was over,

he came out the bad guy.

I came out
somewhat the good guy.

That is a double turn.

That is one of the hardest
things to ever do

in the business
of sports entertainment.

That night it was pulled off at
perfection at WrestleMania 13.

- To take one guy,
who's this Canadian hero,

and this total anti-hero
and switch them,

make one a babyface
and make one a heel.

It shows you how good these two
guys were, and we were sitting

in the back watching
this thing going,

"Man, this is Shakespeare
at its finest."

- It was a piece of art.

If you talk about great
WrestleMania matches

through the years, to me,
I feel like Hogan and Andre,

Shawn and Taker,
and then I think there's

Bret and Steve
at WrestleMania 13.

- It goes back to what I keep
saying is that,

it was like a school fight.

I remember at a particular
school fight,

where there was one kid that was
like a babyface and another kid

that was like a heel.

I remember the guy
that was the babyface

end up winning the fight.

I remember in that fight
going to school the next day

and talking to friends
and stuff.

Everybody was
on the bad guy's side.

Everybody liked the bad guy for
losing and the good guy, the guy

that won, everybody stayed
away from him,

and shunned him a little bit.

When I actually take
that lousy stinking hyena,

"Stone Cold" Steven Austin
beat him to a bloody pulp,

you somehow find it in your
hearts to abandon me

and cheer for him.

I remember just thinking like,
"Wow, it's so much similar the

psychology of it, was just
amazing to see it play out."

All you American wrestling fans
coast-to-coast,

you don't respect me.

Well, the fact is,
I don't respect you.

- For Bret, it allowed him go
into some territory

he hadn't been in, in a while.

Allowed him to be a bad guy.

- One of these days, I'm going
to look down at your grave,

and it's going to say, "Here
lies Bret "The Hitman" Hart,

that biggest piece of crap that

ever walked the
face of the earth."

- For Steve Austin, it's like,

"All right, the sky is the
limit."

- The Austin Era has begun.

Stone Cold's eight-year
journey has been culminated

with WWE gold.

- Bret, as his foe really served
as the person who allowed fans

to take Steve Austin to be just
as good as he was.

- I thought it was
sexy the other way.

[laughs]

- It's always nice
to hear that.

We're actually pretty good
friends, and we've always

been good friends.

- He's a good guy.

Hands down, I love him.

- I've had Steve text me and go,

"I'm watching our match
WrestleMania 13 right now."

- Neither individual,
I don't believe will ever

be the same after this match.

- I don't know how many times
I've dug out that tape and

that match, and put it on,
and I always walked out

of the room like I was
the king of the world.

- Bret's one of the best I've
ever worked with,

and the biggest thing
with Bret and I,

is we always
trusted each other.

It was a bond and a brotherhood.

From the bottom of the heart,
I want to thank you

for everything that you've done
for me and my career,

and I've always looked up to
you, admired your work,

and it was always a pleasure
to be in the ring with you.

- If you like
Holyfield and Tyson,

you're going to love this.

- It was two of the greatest
stars of their era at their very

best, bringing out the best
in each other.

- This is a war.

- We were very compatible,
went together like two plugs.

It was perfect.

- We brought out the best
in each other

and it was reality based.

If you put the letter S
in front of Hitman,

you've had my exact
opinion of Bret Hart.

- Man, the fans were
so into this rivalry.

They loved Bret Hart
at the time.

They hated Stone Cold
at the time,

and it lasted so long that it
even switched over

[chuckles] at the end.

- I don't think anyone else
around that time period

could have made
Steve the way Bret did.

- Renee, did Steve
pull you over to the dark side

when this story was over?

- Hell, yes, he did.

[laughter]

- Steve would've always been a
a big star here

regardless of
what happened with me.

But I'd like to think
that I held the--

Opened the door for him.

- He was of paramount
importance to my career.

Without Bret, I don't think
you got Stone Cold.

Propose a toast to
the best there is,

the best there was,
and the best there ever will be.

Thank you for coming down
to The Broken Skull Sessions,

and that's the bottom line,
because Stone Cold said so.

Cheers.

- Cheers.