Bret Hart pulled off one of the most dangerous tricks of his career at WrestleMania 13, and Steve Austin had no clue there was no turning back until it was already too late.
While speaking with Inside The Ropes, Hart broke down exactly how he hid a razor blade in his mouth for the entire match before using it to cut Austin open during their legendary submission match. The blood pouring down Austin’s face while he was trapped in the Sharpshooter became one of the most iconic visuals in WWE history. Hart said blood was banned at the time, but he believed the match needed it to make Austin look tougher in defeat and complete the famous double turn.
Austin had never used a razor blade before, so Hart offered to do the job himself. Hart explained that wrestlers would cut a double-edged razor into smaller pieces, tape most of it and leave only a small point exposed.
“When you make a razor blade for a wrestling match, you cut it into four pieces. It’s one of those double-edged blades. You cut it into four pieces, take one quarter of it and tape it up. Then you cut it with scissors so that it has a point. It’s almost like an X-Acto blade.”
Hart said wrestlers commonly hid blades underneath their wrist tape, but an older wrestler taught him a method that was faster and much harder for cameras to catch. Instead of wearing the blade on his wrist, Hart tucked it between his upper lip and gum.
“A lot of people would tape a razor blade to their wrist, which seemed like the logical thing to do. I did that for many years until an old wrestler told me, ‘Don’t tape it on your wrist. Carry it in your mouth.’”
Hart admitted the idea sounded insane at first. Once he tried it, however, he realized the blade would stay hidden against his gum and could be removed without struggling with wrist tape.
“I said, ‘Carry it in my mouth? Where?’ He said, ‘Stick it right up here in your gum. It’ll sit there, and you won’t even notice it.’ I tried it one time, and it was perfect. It was way easier than trying to get it off your wrist.”
That meant Hart wrestled the entire match with a sharp piece of metal sitting inside his mouth. Every clothesline, slam and fall came with the risk of swallowing the blade or cutting himself.
“With Steve, I carried it in my mouth the whole match. It’s a razor blade in your mouth. It’s not easy. You’re taking clotheslines, falls and bumps, and the last thing you want to do is swallow a razor blade.”
Hart gave Austin one final warning before the match. Austin could cancel the blood spot at any point while the blade was still hidden. Once Hart spit it into his hand, the decision was final.
“I told Steve, ‘If you want to abort and cancel the whole thing, tell me and we’ll cancel it. But once I spit it out and have it in my hand, I don’t care what you say. You’re going to be bleeding whether you like it or not.’”
The moment came after Austin threw Hart out of the ring. While Hart was lying on the floor, he secretly removed the blade from his mouth and held it between his fingers.
“If you watch the match, he throws me out of the ring. I’m lying on the floor, and you can kind of tell that I spit out the razor blade and have it in my hand. It’s a delicate job, let me put it that way.”
Austin then jumped to the floor and prepared for the planned barricade reversal. That was when he suddenly tried to pull the plug. Hart had already removed the blade.
“Steve Austin jumps out on the floor, and that’s when he goes to throw me into the railing and I reverse it. As he’s throwing me, Steve goes, ‘Maybe we better not.’ As we reverse, I yell in his ear, ‘It’s too late.’”
After Austin crashed into the barricade, Hart grabbed him from behind and locked his head in place so he could not move. Vince McMahon, the commentary team and thousands of fans were only feet away. Hart then cut Austin’s forehead without anyone catching him in the act.
“I grabbed Steve by the head, put him in a rear chinlock and squeezed him really tight so he couldn’t move his head. Right in front of 20,000 people, with everyone watching me, I stuck him in the head with a razor blade.”
Hart said the cut itself was tiny, but it produced enough blood to transform the entire match.
“I cut his head about the size of your thumbnail. It was just a tiny nick. I did it in front of Vince and everybody, and it changed the whole match.”
Hart remains convinced that the blood is the reason the match is still talked about decades later. Austin losing consciousness instead of submitting made him look fearless, while Hart’s continued attack pushed him into the villain role.
“When I look at it today, I don’t even know if we’d be talking about that match if there wasn’t blood in it. I know I was right.”
WrestleMania 13 turned Steve Austin into a bigger star without giving him the victory, and Hart’s razor-blade gamble created the image that sold the entire story. It was dangerous, unauthorized and almost impossible to pull off, but Hart knew exactly what the match needed.
Do you think Bret Hart was right to ignore the rules and blade Steve Austin, or was the risk too high even for WrestleMania? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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