10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 1994 Facts

5. Bret Hart Was Initially Skeptical About Losing To Bob Backlund

survivor series 1994 poster
WWE

In early-August 1994, WWE Champion Bret Hart was informed by McMahon that he was considering putting the belt on Bob Backlund sometime in the near future. By late-September, Hart was made a privy to the full plan: Hart would drop the belt to Backlund in dramatically-screwy fashion at Survivor Series, and Backlund would transition the gold to new thoroughbred Diesel in short order.

By the time Hart learned of those blueprints, he was on board with the idea, but he admits that when McMahon first broached the plan, he was less than enthused. Hart thought that Backlund didn't fit well with Vince's New Generation campaign, and initially advised against the switch.

When Backlund started to get over with his deranged and disappointed elder statesman character, Hart was more convinced that losing to Backlund would be a good thing. He also conceded that he wouldn't want some younger wrestler to refuse to put him over one day for ageist reasons.

Contributor
Contributor

Justin has been a wrestling fan since 1989, and has been writing about it since 2009. Since 2014, Justin has been a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine. Justin also writes for History of Wrestling, and is a contributing author to James Dixon's Titan series.