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[1993-04-19-WWF-Raw] Interview: Bret Hart


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Believe it or not I think this is Bret's first appearance on Raw. Footage from the WrestleMania brunch of Lex Luger knocking Bret out. Then he calls out Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan--yeah, between that, the "people's champion" talk, and the talk of Bret going after the title again, I think that's all fairly solid evidence that a Hogan/Bret match was in the cards. Bret drops his trademark catchphrase, which may well be another first--I don't recall that popping up regularly for another year or more.

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It seems like the original plan may have been Bret-Luger and Hogan-Yoko at King of the Ring, with Bret and Hogan going over, then a Bret-Hogan showdown at SummerSlam, with Hogan positioned as the heel. No one, but no one was ever called "the people's champion" when Hogan was in his prime, even when guys like Piper (just to name one) were demonstrably more popular than he was at a given time.

 

After watching this, it seems like the only reason Vince brought Hogan back and put the belt on him was so he could drop it to Bret cleanly at SummerSlam and then either retire or leave the company. All the talk of Hogan being an Andre-like special attraction really sounds hollow now; how can a man pop a house like Andre used to if the champion can beat him, and possibly make him submit to the Sharpshooter to boot? No wonder Hogan referred to the WWF belt as a toy when he toured Japan. I'm not suggesting that this was the right thing to do, but if I'd been where Hogan was I might have simply taken the belt home and put it on my mantelpiece the way Lawler did to Verne. Vince could have crowned as many new champions as wanted, but they would have all been second-rate because they never had the guts to step in the ring with Hogan, let alone beat him.

 

At any rate, this wasn't one of Bret's better promos, but it was nice to hear "the best there is/was/ever will be" for one of the first times. Just like the phrase "excellence of execution" Bret or whoever suggested that he use that phrase in almost every promo beat a good thing into the ground.

 

Sounds like Bartlett's gone already. Is twenty-three years too long a time to wait to pop a champagne cork in celebration? :D

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The whole logic of this Hogan run does make a bit of sense if Bret going over Hogan was the plan but nobody but Bret seems to believe that was ever in the works.

They take the belt off Bret at WM because of slipping house show attendance. Fair enough. They put it back on proven draw Hulk Hogan. Fair enough. Who then proceeds to work only two weekends worth of house shows in tag matches for the ten weeks he is champion. WTF? And who main events almost all the house shows between WM and KOTR? Bret, usually against Luger. Did they think Bret would draw BETTER without the title? That doesn't make a stitch of sense to me. The only thing I can figure is that either Hogan didn't tell Vince he wasn't working house shows until the day after WM or house show attendance was not at all relevant to why Bret dropped the belt, but was just an excuse Vince used. I'd love to hear what Vince's real motives might have been, unless he really though he could restart Hulkamania with a Hulkster who would only work a few times a year.

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