10 Most Uncanny Predictions Ever Made About Wrestling
6. Vince McMahon's Biggest Power Play Succeeds...
...because he knew WCW wouldn't know what to do with Bret Hart.
Vince told Bret himself this, and has obviously taken great joy in telling it to the world across various WWE-produced retrospectives on the acrimonious fallout.
Vince was always incredibly erratic - he wanted to sign Bret for 20 years before deciding that he didn't want him at all - but he always stayed true to that belief, even when he had to convince Bret otherwise to get him to go away.
"Maybe that Eric Bischoff, who I hate, very publicly, will actually get you right, Bret."
WCW booked excellent professional wrestlers with respect, but only to a certain level. And that's before the promotion fell apart. This was an especially bold gambit on the part of Vince because he let Bret go before Starrcade 1997 happened - when WCW was kicking the living sh*t out of the WWF artistically and commercially. The WWF of 1997 was excellent at its experimental peak, but WCW had actually discovered the way to connect - and its crowning achievement was imminent.
Then, Bischoff lost his absolute mind with hubris and, unable to build Bret Hart, went the controversy-creates-cash route by...
...installing Hart as a referee.
He made no cash with Bret Hart.
He didn't give him any of his beloved stories.