Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels Complete History | Wrestling Timelines
April 21, 1997 - A Peace Offering
Bret requests a meeting with Shawn at the TV taping in Broome County.
Bret wants to thrash it out. Even though Shawn is still somewhat aggressive, telling Bret that morale was better during Bret’s hiatus, Bret remains calm and intent on putting this emerging feud behind them. Shawn provides a rationale behind the shoot promo, revealing that he was upset by Bret doubting the legitimacy of his knee injury. In a note of irony, Bret has just suffered a knee injury of his own. Bret is introspective. The night prior, he had just obscured his injury from the world in a 20 minute war with Austin at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker. Bret realises that Shawn is a worker, and a great one, and accepts that it’s difficult to know for sure.
They shake hands and agree to work together professionally at King of the Ring. That match doesn’t happen.
May 12, 1997 - A Misunderstanding
Bret is a full-blown heel and the leader of the expanded Hart Foundation stable. He’s still on TV, despite a slow and agonising recuperation from knee surgery. Bret suspects that Vince will prevent the troubled Jim Neidhart’s WWF comeback if he doesn’t agree to perform on TV in a wheelchair - after which, ever the dutiful pro, Bret finds himself in the weekly rotation.
With King of the Ring still the target, Bret calls Shawn out. The idea is for Bret to antagonise Shawn into super-kicking him out of the chair. It’s a great visual, but the fans only get to see it on replay the week after: Bret misses his cue, and Raw goes off the air with him mid-rant.
Shawn is furious. Bret maintains that this was not a deliberate act of sabotage, but a simple and, in his defence, rare botch. But think of this from Shawn’s (cynical) perspective: isn’t “I’m too over as a heel, and couldn’t hear the cue over my heat” exactly the sort of thing an irrational, self-serving mark for himself would say?
The heat in the building is intense - the WWF is on fire creatively - but it’s not close to a riot. It’s not something Bret hasn’t conjured before. And if Bret simply lacks the composure to do the job adequately and on time, doesn’t that strengthen Shawn’s case that he’s not the man?