The WWF icon had his legacy buried for years until he decided to play Vince McMahons game.
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McMahon worked Bret hard in the WWF, dangling opportunities and then snatching them away with a cackle.
Bret left for Ted Turners World Championship Wrestling (WCW) immediately afterward.
Owen hit the ring in front of thousands and died soon afterward.
McMahon decided to keep the show going, and it ran to its completion.
Bret wasnt sure he wanted to talk to Vince.
I didnt know if it was about revenge about what happened with me and Vince.
So Bret ignored Vinces calls for days.
It was an unseasonably cold, overcast day.
Vince wore a long heavy coat, Bret wrote when he told the story in his memoir.
He slapped me hard on the shoulders, hugged me, and told me how sorry he was.
Bret told Vince that he hadnt liked Vinces decision to go on with the show after Owen died.
Vince claimed that he and everyone else had been in shock, and hadnt known what else to do.
Besides, the fans might have rioted if hed shut the show down.
Bret wasnt buying it.
It never would have happened if hed been there, he told Vince.
He would have protected his brother.
Then, they had to talk about the reason Bret hadnt been there.
you better come back and finish your career with me.
I could put the belt back on you.
Vince paused, awaiting a response.
I could have a story line for you by tomorrow morning, Vince offered.
Bret said he couldnt imagine doing that.
Vince asked if there was anything he could do for Bret.
I didnt have much of a history if Vince locked up everything I did in a warehouse somewhere.
I dont want to lose my legacy, Bret told his old boss.
I dont want to be forgotten.
You dont even need to ask, Vince said.
If the police cleared Vince, then maybe I could forgive him.
They ended up spending two hours on the park bench together.
They exchanged stories about Owen and even managed to laugh a little.
They shook hands and headed back to their cars.
He painted Bret as ghoulishly self-centered and intent only on rehashing their old grievances.
It was like looking into the eyes of a skeleton, Vince said of Bret.
It seemed like he wasnt human.
Thats pretty cold-blooded, Bret remembers thinking.
Talking about me looking like a skeleton three days, five days after my brother died.
By that time, members of the Hart family had filed a lawsuit against the WWF.
It settled for $18 million in 2000; the WWF admitted to no wrongdoing.
Bret and Vince didnt speak again for years.
Much of the footage of Brets awe-inspiring work at the WWF would remain locked in the company vault.
Bret had sustained a massive in-ring injury in 2000 that had effectively ended his career.
Now, unable to wrestle, it was the story that mattered most to Bret: his story.
And Vince had a monopoly on that story.
I didnt do all that work and have all those matches to just be forgotten, he tells me.
It was so important to me to not be erased.
To Bret, it was as if Vince was holding his past hostage.
Every time, Bret turned them down.
At one point, a spokesperson told him Vince had no memory of the conversation.
Meanwhile, all anyone seemed to remember about Bret was the way his WWF career ended.
Everywhere I went, it was always about the Screwjob.
Every question, everything I did, he tells me.
So what about Vince McMahon?
What about the Screwjob?
Did it really happen?
Did you punch Vince McMahon?
… Was it a work?
Was it all pretend or was it a story line?
Hed always answer as honestly as he could, feeling himself tense up.
The worst part of it was that he had to admit Vince had played everything brilliantly.
You couldnt have written it better.
Like, you couldnt have given them a better concept or idea.
It was fresh, and it was masterfully done.
So there Vince was, still riding high on the gimmick the Screwjob had launched.
And here was Bret, his career over, his legacy obscured.
It was hard to swallow.
But it was also hard to keep hating Vince.
I could have been his right-hand man, he says.
He repeats it several times.
In 2002, Bret had a serious stroke that paralyzed half of his body.
And its Vince, he says, calling me, out of the blue.
The call caught him off guard.
It was shocking to hear that voice, after three years.
Youre going to beat this thing, Vince told Bret on the phone.
Youre one of the toughest, strongest guys I ever knew.
You got the mind frame and youre going to get through this.
The pep talk meant a tremendous amount to the wrestler.
I kind of forgave a lot.
I just felt a bit of a thread of what we had before the Screwjob happened.
Slowly, Bret recovered from his stroke.
He still felt he should never appear in one of Vinces shows ever again.
However, in 2007, there came a night when Bret was all alone in his house in Hawaii.
He decided to give it a watch.
Hell, Bret thought.
I could do that.
Dunn, astonished, passed the word along.
Vince was overjoyed and welcomed Bret back to the fold.
I was like, Youre still so bitter and angry, Bret recalls.
I just dont think Martha understands how my family was wrestling, he continues.
Everyone was so involved with wrestling.
You couldnt just cut it out of your life.
My brother Owen died, so Ive got to forget every single thing I ever did in wrestling?
I didnt want that.
It was also about getting back into the story.
That was the biggest reason that I went back, he tells me.
I wanted to rewrite my ending.
I dont get asked a lot of questions about the Screwjob anymore, Bret says.
My career hasnt been based solely on that moment.
And Im maybe the most popular today that Ive ever been in my career.
I could be still sitting in my house being miserable.
A few years later, Bret was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
On January 31, 2016, he was preparing to publicly announce his diagnosis.
I had it written.
And then, he says, I just called Vince up.
He continues: I remember thinking about it: Why am I calling Vince McMahon, of all people?
But it was … it was just …
The tired grappler trails off.
He thinks for a second.
I knew that Vince … that he should know, he says.
All surgery carries fatal risk.
He dialed the bosss number.
It went to voice mail.
And I was obviously kinda scared, and worried about what was gonna happen.
He even did a post on the WWE internet or whatever next day, Bret says.
So I was glad I did it.
That, maybe, hed appreciate me letting him know what Im dealing with.
Weve been talking about Vince McMahon for many hours.
He only has one thing left to say about the man.
I dont know how to explain my relationship with Vince, Bret says.
