NEWS: Eric Bischoff Unloads on 'Professional Whiner' Bret Hart: "You've Worked Yourself!"
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Eric Bischoff took to his new podcast 83 Weeks, where he was joined by co-host Conrad Thompson. The two men talked WWE Hall of Famer Bret "Hitman" Hart. Bischoff pulled no punches and went on an all out verbal assault on The Hitman.
On Bret Hart claiming Bischoff offered him $3 million per
year to join WCW:
"It’s insane….my experience, especially after listening to
other podcasts and doing interviews over the years. I think what happens to
guys is they tell the same story year after year and suddenly start
embellishing stories after time and they get to the point after ten or more
years that they actually believe the story they are now telling. There is such
a small grain of truth to that story. There may have been a, ‘Hey what would it
take for you to come here?’ Off handed kinda almost joking comment, maybe to
feel him out; but, there’s no way he threw out a $3 million figure. Had he, I
would have been happy to pay for his beer and had a good joke and continued
talking; but, I can tell you it absolutely didn’t happen. In his mind it
probably did because he wants to believe that; but, it did not happen."
On the details in Bret Hart’s book regarding the alleged
offer Bischoff made him in 1996:
“Look at what that excerpt did in his book. It made him so
desirable, I offered him more money than I was paying Hogan. That should be a
red flag to anybody with even a modicum of common sense right there. Number two
I didn’t need him in 96. We were rolling in 96. We were rolling in 97. It
wasn’t like we were desperate. There was no reason to offer him the kind of
money he is fabricating in his book that I offered him. Not only has he made
himself Elvis at that point, the highest paid commodity in sports
entertainment/professional wrestling by virtue of his memory of how this thing
went down. He’s also at the same time made himself a huge babyface by talking
about how badly he felt for me. It’s bullshit. It’s just not true.”
On Bret Hart “conning” Vince McMahon:
“Bret Hart rather than admitting that he conned Vince
McMahon and set this whole thing up as a work, he is conflating two separate
meetings because there was only one negotiation and that took place in 97, not
96.”
Bischoff alleges the details Hart has offered in his
book are erroneous:
“He’s either taken too many shots to the head or he had a
ghost writer write that book that didn’t have a clue what he was talking
about.”
On Bret Hart’s claim that Bischoff offered him a deal to
join WCW, while he was still under WWE contract:
“With Hall and Nash that federal trademark issue that was a
serious issue. There was no freaking way I would have had a conversation or
offered money to a guy that was under contract that had not already left the
company [WWE]. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t have been able to and Turner
wouldn’t have authorized me, especially that amount of money. It’s just so
obviously bullshit. It just boggles my mind that this stuff is still out there
and people still talk about it… I was in the middle of a fricking lawsuit. I
had handcuffs on me. If I had a dream on a Monday night at 3 in the morning
that I was going to go approach somebody that was technically under agreement
with WWE, I would have gotten thrown in Turner jail. It just didn’t happen.”
On Bret Hart being a “professional whiner”:
“There’s a lot of people that know what Bret’s all about. I
still respect him; but, he’s a professional whiner and he blames the world for
everything that he can think of.”
On Bret Hark “working himself:”
“What I thought Bret Hart should do honestly – given that he
was of Stu Hart and the Hart Family legacy – what I wanted Bret Hart to do is
just pass the belt on, do the right thing. Shake hands with Vince McMahon,
leave on good terms. The business, the audience would have had more respect for
him than not wanting to lose in Montreal
On Bret Hart’s alleged inability to draw:
“By the way, he wasn’t drawing. There’s a reason Vince let
him go. It wasn’t because he was making Vince McMahon money hand over fist.”
On Why Bret Hart Didn’t ‘Get Over’ in WCW:
“You want to know why Bret Hart couldn’t get over? You know
why Bret Hart didn’t become a star. Read Bret Hart’s book. He threw in the
freaking towel, not words, his….Bret Hart never came up with any ideas, Bret
Hart never objected to anything, Bret Hart never drew a line in the sand and
said, ‘This is what we need to do.’ So all of that experience, all of that
wisdom, all of that magic that made Bret Hart the most powerful character in
the WWE and now WCW had him in the palm of hands and that piece of talent never
had one idea. The great Bret Hart in all of his wisdom came up with absolutely
nada….we didn’t know how to use Bret Hart; but, neither did Bret.”
On Bret Hart’s Critiques Of Ric Flair in his book &
otherwise:
“I think he’s [Bret Hart] an ass. Ric Flair and I have had
issues in the past…but I’ve never met anybody that had anything; but, respect
for Ric inside of the ring. Regardless of how they felt about each other
outside of the ring, Ric Flair was not the guy that was going to try to take
advantage of anybody. For Bret Hart to in his book or otherwise – to suggest
that Ric Flair – and this isn’t me sticking up for Ric, everybody knows our
history – I got in the ring with Ric Flair knowing he hated my guts – there was
never a doubt in my mind that no matter how much Ric Flair disliked me, he was
never going to do anything; but, make me look as good as he could make me look,
given my limited skills and ability. He wasn’t going to take advantage of me.
For Bret Hart to suggest that in his book or anywhere else, I find it offensive
and I think it reflects more badly on Bret Hart than on Ric Flair because
that’s not who Ric Flair has ever been….that pisses me off.”
On Hart’s claim that Bischoff wanted him to cut a promo
against the fans when he was over in WCW:
“That is so false. I am so tired of saying ‘bullshit’ in
relation to Bret Hart, I don’t want to hear myself say it anymore. This is
beyond that. This is so delusional. It’s just fricking delusional, absolutely
delusional. There’s not even a kernel of truth in that. Nuclear bullshit.”
More on the alleged inconsistencies in Hart’s book:
“He’s writing a movie in his own head. In Bret Hart’s mind
he is the hero in his own movie that he is writing, directing, and producing.
The script he is writing has nothing to do with the facts, has nothing to do
with his responsibilities or anybody else. It all has to do with this movie
that he’s constantly writing in his head that is one day going to position Bret
Hart as the Canadian hero he sees himself as everyday when he looks in the
mirror. That’s what this is. It’s delusional. Either Bret is delusional or the
dipshit that wrote this book is; but, somebody needs a dementia check.”
On Bret Hart’s legacy:
“Right now Bret Hart’s legacy is a bitter, broken guy who
wants to blame everybody from Eric Bischoff to Ric Flair to Shawn Michaels to
Dean Malenko for God’s sake for all of the things that went wrong in his
career. Regardless of all the things I’ve done wrong, that’s on Bret.”
On Bret Hart being a Canadian hero:
“Is Justin Bieber? If the threshold of being a Canadian hero
is simply being a celebrity than sure he is, so is Justin Bieber, so is William
Shatner, so is Celine Dion, so is Shania Twain.”
Bischoff also talks about the Nitro match between Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart, WCW booking that led Bret Hart to face the likes of Van Hammer, & his own contribution to the success of former WCW legends. Readers interested in listening to the podcast in its entirety may do so HERE.
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