4. Bret Hart Turned Down A Guest Role At WrestleMania X8
Four years had passed since Montreal, and it would still be another three-plus years before Hart, in an early concillatory gesture, would collaborate with WWE on a DVD retrospective of his career. In February 2002, days after appearing as the commissioner for the short-lived World Wrestling All-Stars promotion, Hart was offered a guest referee appearance for the forthcoming WrestleMania X8 in Toronto, which would reportedly have included getting to punch McMahon to pay off the screwjob. Hart saw this as an attempt to hollowly create the appearance that he and McMahon were on good terms again. He did agree to fly to New York to meet with the office about the deal (which would include them authorizing the use of company photos for his book), but ended up cancelling the trip after an unpleasant phone call with one-time friend, and then-WWE official, Carl DeMarco.