10 WWE Angles Everybody Gets Wrong
8. The Stolen Jacket
What people think: Crummy, mid-90s gimmick hell pirate Jean-Pierre LaFitte stole Bret Hart's ring jacket because WWF creative couldn't come up with anything better. The 'Hitman', who was one of the promotion's top stars, was then forced to pretend he couldn't buy 100 more of the things and slap LaFitte around anyway.
How it really was: This was about more than a simple ring jacket for that dastardly seaman Jean-Pierre.
In promos before the feud started, he spoke about avenging what North American people had done to his ancestor, the legendary pirate Jean LaFitte. They used him, and now he wanted to do his roots proud by wreaking havoc on the world, starting with the WWF. To do so, he'd have to target the best and make a statement.
So, perhaps Jean-Pierre wasn't just stealing Bret's ring jacket. Maybe he was seizing a valuable piece of WWF iconography and holding it hostage to send a message that he was deadly serious. Sure, it was handled clumsily, and the company could've put more emphasis on this narrative, but it's an interesting thought.