Before examining the ramifications of Goldberg's streak ending it is important to examine WCW's failure to utilise Bret Hart correctly after snapping him up from the WWF. At the time Hart was one of the hottest properties in the wrestling world. Having established a reputation as a solid hand in his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion Hart made the jump to the WWF and was eventually teamed with Jim Neidhart to form the Hart Foundation. The team made its mark in the company's tag division, with Hart eventually breaking out as a singles star. He went on to hold the company's Intercontinental Championship, having amazing feuds with Mr Perfect and Roddy Piper along the way, before eventually capturing his first WWF Championship from Ric Flair. Over the course of the next few years Hart was a main event player, racking up multiple title wins until his eventual exit from the company in the wake of the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 97. Hart had been signed by WCW before the screwjob occurred and, with the momentum of the event solidly behind him, he should have been a force to be reckoned with upon his arrival at WCW. Instead he languished in mid-card feuds and was eventually inserted into the NWO drama before the unfortunate death of his brother Owen in a WWF ring at Over The Edge 99. Many claimed that Hart lost his passion for the wrestling business following the incident, with some adding that it probably soured his WCW run. Hart opposes this viewpoint and it could be argued that he did his best WCW work in a feud with Goldberg following the accident. Unfortunately that feud would eventually end his career as a mistimed kick from Goldberg gave Hart a concussion from which he eventually developed post-concussion syndrome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oYig-3Om1M At no point did WCW truly capitalise on the signing of Hart and make him the major player that he should have been. With the Montreal Screwjob offering the perfect opportunity to use Hart to get one over on the WWF, WCW instead misused one of the greatest wrestlers of his era and his signing eventually did little to help the company during the Monday Night Wars.
Lee Price is a writer for 411mania.com and Starburst Magazine, which is published in the UK. He is currently working as a freelance writer. He hopes to one day fund his addiction to video games by writing about video games, and he maintains a sporadically updated blog at leesrandombulls*it.wordpress.com
