The WCW Conspiracy Iceberg EXPLAINED!
16. Bret Hart Was A Mole
Bret Hart and Vince McMahon were not involved in a bitter, acrimonious business dispute that altered the course of the industry forever: they were in cahoots. That’s actually why they used that word so often on Raw in 1998: quietly, all the while, the WWF was dropping teasers about a mega-event in the years to come. You see, Bret and Vince had concocted a masterplan, and would you put it past them?
We’re talking about the best promoter and the most intelligent wrestler of his generation. Bret and Vince knew that the WWF was in a precarious position financially in 1997. Bret’s 20-year contract was offered in haste. Vince couldn’t just let Bret go. There was a story to tell. People to con. Interest to build.
Bret and Shawn were very different personalities. It was very easy to buy the idea that they loathed one another; it was even easier to buy that Vince would exploit this “rivalry” in order to generate interest in WWF programming. The events of Survivor Series 1997 were set in motion with the willing participation of Vince, Bret, and Shawn. Hell, Bret might have developed the double-cross idea; he knew wrestling history inside and out, and isn’t it funny that he started talking about getting screwed all the way back in February?
Bret jumped to WCW, saving the WWF a fortune in the process. The idea, apparently, was for Bret to spend a few years down south - with the added benefit of draining WCW’s budget - only to make his grand return when his contract expired and feud with Vince’s heel character, which he would establish in the meantime. This programme would become the biggest sensation in pro wrestling - bigger than Sting, bigger than Hollywood Hogan, bigger than the New World Order - bigger than WCW itself, which would thus fall behind as the distant no. 2 outfit in the United States. The only thing that prevented the masterplan was the serious concussion that forced Bret into permanent retirement.
It’s a nice story, but if you believe it, you’ve been watching wrestling too long.