Without Hart’s knowledge, McMahon had referee Earl Hebner call for the bell when Michaels had Hart locked in the Hitman’s own Sharpshooter hold, though Hart was not actually submitting.
In A&E Network’s new two-hour “Biography: Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart” airing June 6 at 8 p.m., Hart talks about how the events of that day, and the aftermath, left him feeling as if he were emotionally carrying around a “big bag of rocks.” Continually having to answer questions about Montreal and people’s assumptions that it was all just a wrestling angle only added to it.
“I got so stressed out that I thought I would see Shawn and that I would have to kill him, I’d have to go crazy,” the now 63-year-old Hart said.
The film provides a peek into him growing up as one of 12 kids in the Hart family and what his life looks like today.
He made rough 8-millimeter films with friends, which the documentary shows, before enrolling in and eventually dropping out of film school.
“What it really did for me was I didn’t get to be the guy who got to make movies with a movie crew and actors and things like that.
Hart wound up crafting some of the most memorable feuds and matches in the WWF/WWE throughout his career.
“When I first went to WWF they didn’t play up the fact that The Hart Foundation versus The British Bulldogs … were all brothers-in-law,” Hart said.
WWF raised the curtain even more during his Intercontinental championship feud in 1992 with his brother-in-law, “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, which culminated with a SummerSlam match at Wembley Stadium in London.
Hart prided himself on being a wrestler “who could tell a different story and to do something that was not expected.” Hart credited his time around Stampede Wrestling and being such a fan of the business with allowing him to see the formulaic matches and finishes he felt were being relied upon too much.
“Just when you think they’re gonna turn left, I’d crack it to the right and go a completely different direction,” he said.
Hart said the move British Bulldog used to beat him at SummerSlam — a sunset flip attempt in which Bulldog countered by hooking his legs for the pin — was something he kept in his pocket for 15 years, waiting for “the rainy day” to use.
I see a lot of wrestlers have genius moves, fantastic stuff that they’re gonna do but you don’t have to use it all in one match.
By 1997, Hart was in his “absolute prime,” a multi-time world champion and “hitting home runs” every time he went to the ring.
When it was finished, the bag of rocks was no longer weighing him down: “It was over.” He believes Michaels felt the same way.
“If you can find a way to make peace with it, that is the way to go,” Hart said.