Bret Hart recently said that Vince McMahon had already promised him a SummerSlam main event against Hulk Hogan, complete with the finish, before Hogan personally killed the match.
According to ‘The Hitman’, the plan was for him to win, lock Hogan in the Sharpshooter, and make him tap out in the middle of the ring.
Speaking with Inside The Ropes, Hart revealed that McMahon called him before King of the Ring and laid out the entire scenario in detail. It was not a loose idea, Hart said, but a concrete commitment.
Vince tells me within about 2 minutes that he’s going to have me wrestle Hogan at SummerSlam and I’m going to put him in the Sharpshooter and he’s going to tap out right in the middle of the ring,” Hart said. “I remember looking at my wife and going this is like a big call.
Hart said McMahon told him not to say anything yet because he still needed to speak with Hogan. That is where the plan collapsed. McMahon called back the next day, and Hart said the message was blunt.
Vince calls me the next day and says you’re never going to believe what Hogan said,” Hart recalled.
He claims Hogan refused to work with him, refused to drop the title, and dismissed him outright.
Hogan said word for word is that I was never in his league and that he wouldn’t drop the belt to me under any circumstances and that he wouldn’t even work with me period and refused to work with me,” Hart said.
The Payday Hart Says He Lost
For Hart, the sting went beyond a missed match. He said the world champion was the highest-paid performer in the company, and the spot represented the money he had chased his entire career.
The world champion at that time was the highest paid guy in the company. He got the biggest check every week, whoever the champion was,” Hart said. He added that Hogan “refused to work with me, refused to put me over, refused to do anything with me and basically changed my destiny.
The grievance traces back to the finish of WrestleMania 9, where Hart lost the WWF Championship to Yokozuna before Hogan came out and walked away with the title moments later. Hart said Hogan approached him backstage afterward and offered to “return the favor,” a promise Hart never believed.
The first thing Hogan said to me in the dressing room was uh just want you to know I’m happy to return the favor,” Hart said. “I looked at him and said I’m going to remember that Terry. I’m going to remember that.
Hart has been vocal about this chapter before, at one point blasting Hogan over the WrestleMania IX fallout. Rather than the dream match, Hogan dropped the title back to Yokozuna, and Hart had to wait to climb back to the top of the company.