10 Times Wrestlers Took Their Careers Into Their Own Hands
7. Bret Hart
Bret Hart was never a fan of sports entertainment wrestling: watch any shoot interview or talking head appearance, and you will hear the word "athlete" far more than the word "screwed".
Realism was always the goal.
Hart, unlike a Triple H or a Hulk Hogan, was never a great politician. In the end, this was undoing - but prior to the insane events of the Montreal Screwjob, the unassuming Hart had an insidious way of shaping his own destiny. In less opaque terms: Hart was a naughty boy with the blade, and used it with cloak and dagger precision to work the office. At WrestleMania VIII, he sliced his forehead open under the pretence of a Roddy Piper sucker punch. At In Your House: Season's Beatings, he sliced his forehead open after taking a face-first bump into the ring steps. At WrestleMania 13, he went into business on Steve Austin's behalf - and sliced his forehead - in order to guarantee a dramatic classic of a wrestling match.
The common denominator was apparently lost on higher-ups - probably because Hart executed the blade jobs in typically excellent fashion - but, regardless, Hart defied standards and practises for the sake of his art.