Bret Hart has spent years taking pride in being one of the safest wrestlers to ever step inside the ring, but there’s apparently one former WWE enhancement talent who remembers things very differently. The Hitman has now responded to that accusation — and he doesn’t believe it changes his record.
Speaking on the Johnny I Pro Show, Hart was asked about the greatest accomplishment of his wrestling career. Instead of pointing to championships or famous matches, Hart said his biggest source of pride was knowing opponents trusted him with their bodies every night and that he never abused that responsibility.
“My biggest, highest sort of note that I can make about my career isn’t the wins and the title shots and the great moments and the glory. It’s the fact that every night that I stepped in the ring, somebody had to put his life in my hands, in a very serious way, and I never, ever abused that privilege.”
Hart admitted he worked a physical style and could even be “borderline stiff,” but said being snug helped make wrestling look legitimate. He then brought up a video he recently discovered in which a former enhancement talent claimed Hart broke his neck with a piledriver during a match in New Jersey.
“I never injured one guy in my whole career. I know there’s some video out there somewhere of some guy saying that I broke his neck in New Jersey. I gave him a piledriver or something. That might have happened. I don’t remember it at all, which tells me that if he got hurt, he went home, and I never saw him again.”
Hart didn’t completely deny that the wrestler may have been injured. Instead, he questioned whether he should be held responsible, arguing that anyone working as an enhancement talent on WWF television needed to know how to safely perform and take wrestling moves.
“But it was a TV job guy, and I gave him a piledriver. You’ve got to know, when you write your name down saying you’re a pro, you sign up for something different. When you sign up to be a job guy on WWF TV, you need to know how to wrestle a little bit. If I throw you into the ropes and you fall through the ropes and break your neck, is that my fault?”
The Hitman then addressed the piledriver itself and suggested the wrestler failed to properly protect himself while taking the move.
“I gave this guy a piledriver. He never protected himself at all. He didn’t know what he was doing. And yeah, I guess he got hurt.”
Hart said he only became aware of the accusation roughly six months ago, when he came across the wrestler disputing his longstanding claim that he never injured anyone during his career. Even after hearing the allegation, Hart said he doesn’t count the incident against his safety record.
“I only just saw this about six months ago, where this guy says I broke his neck, and ‘Bret Hart says he never hurt anyone. ‘Well, you hurt me,’ or something. But I don’t even put that on my list. You’ve got to know what you’re doing when you go out there a little bit.”
So Hart isn’t necessarily saying the injury never happened — he simply doesn’t remember the match and disputes that the alleged injury should be blamed on him. For someone who considers protecting his opponents the greatest accomplishment of his career, that’s one accusation The Hitman clearly isn’t willing to accept.
Do you agree with Bret Hart’s argument, or does the person delivering the move still carry responsibility when something goes wrong? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
