Source: PWInsider.com
Bret Hart’s appearance on Sirius’ “Derek & Romaine” show for 12/1
Bret appeared via phone on Sirius’ Out Q gay & lesbian channel 106: www.sirius.com/outq at about 7:27PM, after Derek plugged Bret’s appearance as “The Genie” in “Aladdin” that’s touring in Calgary, Toronto and Ottawa thru 12/31 and to get tickets at www.rosspetty.com and also plugged Bret’s site www.brethart.com . Romaine told Bret that she’s a fan of his for many years and Bret says he appreciates that. Romaine also mentions some people named Dingle & Dan that are wrestling fans that collect wrestling figures and stuff are excited that Bret’s on, Bret admits to having stacks of figures also.
Derek asked Bret if he likes collecting his own action figures, Bret says out of all the things that he’s done and people would talk about [his voice appearance] on “The Simpsons” and says the coolest thing he’s ever done, was to get his 1st own action figure. He says as a kid it would’ve been something that he would’ve been impressed with and says if someone would’ve told him the future and read that to him, he would’ve been blown away by that. Romaine asked him if he thought the action figure looked like him, Bret said the original one didn’t and Romaine said they’ve gotten better.
Bret said the one thing he’ll say about them [the action figure companies] is that they gave him more muscles than he deserved. Derek says it’s easy to make a 6 pack in multiplastic then in an actual physical body and Bret agrees. Romaine says Bret’s been famous for many years and has remembered watching him when she was young when he had the old Bret “Hit Man” Hart sunglasses. She tells Bret that he’s always been great with fans but then his career soon had some rough spots and asked him if one of those was the one with his brother [Owen] and told Bret that he came from a wrestling family.
Bret said his whole life his family was involved in wrestling, Romaine says we know that Owen was killed in an accident in the ring and asked him as to how it affected him as a wrestler. Bret said it put a negative ending on everything for him as well as ruined everything for the family. Romaine says he still continued wrestling for a while and had a falling out with Vince McMahon, then returned to accept the WWE Hall Of Fame and asked him as to what was is like to return after a falling out with Vince and to accept that honor. Bret said “a bit of a falling out” is an understatement and Romaine says she was trying to be nice about it.
Bret says the truth is that Vince has got a great imagination with great ideas and is a wrestling genius, however he [Vince] isn’t someone that you’d want to respect for his integrity too much. Romaine says she and Derek have talked to many wrestlers that have said the same thing, Bret says that’s the way it is because Vince is a very cut throat, ruthless business man that pretends on TV that it’s all a role or character. He says Vince is a very ruthless, competitive business man that’ll do everything he can to ruin you if possible, says that’s Vince’s nature, that’s the way he is and says he doesn’t miss that part of him anymore.
Derek again plugs Bret’s “Aladdin” tour and again plugs Bret’s site, then starts taking listeners calls and starts with Scott from Illinois. Scott asks Bret that after Owen’s death if he thought that the business got any better or safer since then and what are his thoughts on it. Bret says he doesn’t know the answer to that, doesn’t think things have gotten better and doesn’t think there are any changes. He don’t feel they [WWE] will be dropping anyone from the ceiling anytime soon, says the WWE wrestling promoters of today are like circus animals also. Scott says that Sting used to do that [drop from the ceiling] all the time and you’d think that it would’ve been something safe and asked Bret as to what are his thoughts on that.
Bret says he’s gotten no good answer as to what happened and says he felt that Owen let himself get talked into doing that whole thing. He says you’d always assume when people would talk you into that kind of stunt that the people that are talking you into it know what they’re doing and with Owen, the people that were doing it didn’t know what they were doing. Scott says it’s a pleasure talking to him and wished him luck on his future. Derek takes a call from Kevin in New Jersey, Kevin tells Bret that he enjoyed his Hall Of Fame speech, got the DVD of it but hoped to have saw more of it on TV. He told Bret that at Wrestlemania they made a big deal that he was there and had a little doubt that he was uncomfortable [being at the Hall Of Fame].
Bret says he was committed in doing the Hall Of Fame but not committed in doing a Wrestlemania PPV, says that’s two different things and says with HBK & Vince wrestling at the main event spoofing as to what they did to him years ago, he says he felt that it wasn’t right for him. Kevin says after Bret made nice with WWE with the [Bret Hart] DVD and says they still kind of do that stuff and asked him if it was really hard to get over it considering that it still happens. Bret says whatever happened with him and Vince at Survivor Series [’97] was never part of any kind of storyline or a cash cow that they’d cash in later on and make money from and he’d pretend that he was mad [at Vince].
Bret says in wrestling you’d never know what’s real and what’s not, says he’d never want anyone to misunderstand that part of it and says to him the whole thing was real and as real as it could get in wrestling. He says they [WWF] were really insensitive to him, his family, his feelings, his history and everything that he’s given to them and says he doesn’t ever let them forget that. Kevin asked him as to how hard they pushed to get him as part of a match or gimmick at Wrestlemania this year. Bret says Vince ordered him the next day when he was driving to the airport in a taxi and says he ordered him to be at Wrestlemania.
Kevin asked him if that’s the plan and Bret says he don’t work for Vince anymore, works for himself and no one orders him to do anything anymore. Romaine says she doesn’t blame that kind of attitude and Derek takes David from Georgia’s call, however they lost the call and again plugs Bret’s “Aladdin” tour and his site. Derek says Bret’s done other appearances as an actor and now tours in the “Aladdin” musical and asks as to how it is different touring in a musical then being a WWE wrestler. Bret says it captures lots of great wrestling qualities and never thought of himself as a big star of the show.
Bret says he saw it as a team effort and maybe he was like a quarterback, says again he saw it as a team effort and it took a whole roster of really good wrestlers to sell the whole show. He says everyone worked very hard for the “end means” kind of thing in wrestling, says that’s how he always remembered wrestling and how he still remembers it as a team of wrestlers working together. He then says there’s guys like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair & HBK that only think of themselves and aren’t team players. He says as he relates to “Aladdin”, it’s everyone working together and everyone’s skilled in different things.
Bret says the girls & guys are great dancers, there’s musicians involved, says it’s a whole team that puts the show together and thinks that’s what makes it so great. He says there’s no ego personalities of anyone thinking that they’re more important than anyone else. He says it’s everyone working together, says that’s what he loved about wrestling and says that’s what he gets from this show. Derek takes a call from John from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and John asks him as to how did he feel wrestling Owen. Bret says he was a little reluctant when he 1st started it but understood that it was good for Owen and the family to finally get involved in a storyline.
Bret felt that Owen was talented like anyone else and deserved the break and says for the fact that Owen was his brother made it more acceptable for him. He says after the storyline it kind of caught fire a bit and saw that there’s people that have siblings they have conflicts with and says there were lots of problems. He says lots of people identified with that storyline, says lots of people came up to him and told him that they’ve got a brother that they haven’t talked to in 20 years or so and understood as to what Bret was going through. He says even though his was a storyline, he understood that people identified with it and it was a good thing to touch with those emotions and make it as a storyline because it was real, even though he and Owen were always very close.
John asked him if Vince put him up to it, Bret says yes and it was suggested to him at the time when he was trying to go to bat for Owen and get him some exposure. He says they [WWF] came to him with the idea to do this with his other brothers, Bret says no and wanted to do this only with Owen and says he picked Owen because he needed and deserved it. Derek then takes a call from David in Houston, Texas, David says it’s an honor to talk to Bret and can’t believe he’s talking to him. He says he’s been a fan since he was 5, says he’s 44 now and says besides being the best wrestler he’s ever seen, he says Bret’s ring work is a work of art.
David says Bret’s a model of integrity in a way that he’s handled everything that’s happened to him. He says he’s followed Bret and his career for many years, says he wanted to tell him that with everything that’s happened in and out of wrestling that Bret’s been a model of how he’s lived his life with honor and integrity. He says he gives Bret kudos for it and says he’s happy that Bret’s recovered from his stroke and is now doing “Aladdin”. He says Bret’s now thriving in his life and says he’s happy for him, Bret says he appreciates all that and says if he can be any kind of inspiration to anyone, then it’s a privilege to be in his shoes in that way.
Bret says he’s never took anything for granted especially after his stroke and says he’s learned that you don’t know what’s waiting around the corner for you. He says he’s put faith in lots of people, says lots of people come up to him over the years and tell him that they’ve prayed for him and other stuff. He says he’s believed that whatever his fans and other people out there that loved him and have done for him, he’s had an amazing recovery and says you never doubt the power of prayer. David wishes Bret continued success, says thanks for all the years of entertainment and wishes him luck on everything that he does.
Derek then takes a call from Mike in Middletown, New York, Mike asked him if he’s still close with Owen’s family after he died. Bret says they’re now in the UK and don’t see too much of them, says he’s invited Owen’s kids to come see him at his play and thinks they too are in the UK and it’s not something that can be done now. Mike says he’s sorry for what happened [with Owen’s death], says both were great wrestlers and thanked them for the entertainment. Romaine told Bret that they recently had Kurt Angle on their show and he’s considered to be one of the big wrestlers today. She says he left WWE with the same issues he had with Vince and says he was tired of Vince’s bulls***.
Romaine says Angle went to TNA, says, in looking at today’s wrestlers in both WWE & TNA if there’s a wrestler now that he’d really thought it’d be lots of fun to get in the ring with. Bret says he thinks Angle’s the only one that he really wished he’d worked with, says he loves Rey Mysterio and would’ve loved working with him for his own peace of mind kind of thing. He says he knows that both he and Rey would’ve had some fun out there, again says Kurt’s the one that if he could only have one match and if he can put on the boots one time. He says he woke up one night years ago and in a dream he had Angle in a headlock, says it felt so real and was a nice feeling knowing that he worked with Angle and in the dream he had him in a headlock.
Bret again says it was a nice feeling and in some ways he feels that he did wrestle him, Romaine says having met Angle in the studio and was a delightful guy. She says Angle’s one of the best that’s been on the show, says she has enjoyed Angle on the show and now understands how wrestling him would be a cool experience. Bret says Angle’s one of the best and Romaine says if he gave Angle that opportunity he’d wrestle him. Bret says he knows that Angle’s always wanted to wrestle him and says the big question is whether Angle would let him put the sharpshooter on him.
Romaine says their producer “Dangle & Dan” has a question to ask Bret, “Dangle & Dan” says that now Bret’s accepted the WWE Hall Of Fame will he ever doing any other wrestling related stuff or is he finished. Bret says never say never but for now he don’t see anything for him in wrestling now. Bret says he’s proud of what he’s done in wrestling as a wrestler but doesn’t want to be remembered as an “old wrestler” or a commissioner, an announcer, a guest referee any other possible role that they can create and invent.
Bret says he don’t rule anything out because he sees that he’s still got lots of friends that are still in the business, says he doesn’t see himself ever returning to WWE on any basis that he’d have to rely on them for anything. He says it’s hard to have an agreement with them that you can count on, says he’s had an agreement that he thought he can count on but turns out that he can’t count on it. He says it’s hard to do business with people that screw you, Derek says he and Romaine are glad that he came on the show and wishes him a great time on the “Aladdin” tour. Bret says thanks and again Derek plugs the “Aladdin” tour and Bret’s site and the segment ended at 7:46PM.
