Did Triple H Try To Sabotage The Rock In 1997?

Bret Hart has claimed that Triple H wanted to "ruin" The Rock back in 1997, when Rock was Intercontinental Champion as Rocky Maivia.

Speaking on the 81 Podcast, Hart called Hunter (and Shawn Michaels) "ruthless," saying the duo would try to take down anyone connected to him (h/t 411Mania for the transcriptions):-

"Triple H and maybe even Shawn [Michaels], were pretty ruthless. If someone was tied to me or connected to me, they would try to ruin them. Even Dwayne Johnson [The Rock]. They really tried to crack him and bust his chops. I remember telling Dwayne all the time, ‘Don’t listen to these guys. You’re a really good talent and you don’t need these guys.’"

The Hitman then described an incident from 1997, when he wrestled Rock for his newly-won Intercontinental Champion. Bret claimed that Triple H wanted Hart to go over, which Hart spoke up against, saying he didn't need to win:-

"I wrestled The Rock and they wanted me to beat him. Triple H did. He wanted me to beat Dwayne and win the Intercontinental Title. I refused. ‘What do I need the Intercontinental Title for?’ We did the figure four on the post, Steve Austin came out, Owen [Hart] and Davey [Boy Smith] came out, a bunch of interference. I remember Triple H was sick about it because he had a thing for Dwayne and wanted to ruin him. He hated him."

Hart claimed that this was well Triple H's attempt at steering him away from the World Title and towards the Intercontinental. He took his complaints to Vince McMahon:-

"I told Vince, ‘I don’t get heat from beating Dwayne for the title, it doesn’t do anything for me. Let him keep it.’ I think Dwayne always appreciated that I went to bat for him. I didn’t want to beat him, I wanted to wrestle him down the road as a future guy to draw money with. It’s a shame I didn’t get to work with him other than that one night."

Hart and Rock wrestled for the Intercontinental Championship on the 31 March 1997 episode of Raw. Eight months later, Bret was out of the company via the Montreal Screwjob, of which Triple H was a reported conspirator.

Triple H and The Rock worked together countless times over the next few years, entering one of the Attitude Era's defining feuds. Even if The Game was politicking while Hart was around, it's safe to see that any issues he and Rocky may have had were buried a long time ago.