WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley gives his take on what stemmed the real-life animosity between Shawn Micheals and Bret Hart.
When it comes to real-life rivalry, it’s a well-known fact that The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Micheals and Bret “The Hitman” Hart had bad blood between each other back in the early 90s. WWE legend Mic Foley recently spilled his opinion on what he thinks caused the rift between the two legends. Speaking on “Foley is Pod” the WWE legend explained how he saw the fragility in the relationship between Micheals and Hart.
“It’s the ‘Sunny Days’ comment,” said Foley”. “I was aware that there was a healthy competition there, and I think there should be. To me, it was like they were on eggshells.”
Foley was alluding to the contentious promo that Micheals cut on the May 19, 1997, episode of “Raw” that insinuated that Bret Hart was having an affair with former WWE diva, Sunny. The duo first feuded in 1992 which was followed by multiple matches. Most of which were for Gold and supremacy. Foley also recalled the time “life imitated art” when the animosity caused an outbreak of fisticuffs backstage after the same year’s Survivor Series event.
The Infamous “Montreal Screwjob”
Their rivalry took the turn for the worse when Vince McMahon covertly devices a plan unbeknownst to Bret Hart that is famously known as “The Montreal Screwjob”. Hart had a chip on his shoulder and had expressed his willingness to jump ship to WCW. Vince was against Hart’s decision because he was the reigning WWF Champion at the time.
According to Vince, for Hart to leave WWF, he had to relinquish the WWF Championship, but Hart had other plans. Hart wanted to leave still being the owner of the most coveted Title in the WWF. This led Vince to craft a devious ploy against Hart with Shawn Micheals and former referee Earl Hebner in on the plan.
During the closing moments in Hart’s last match before he left the company, Vince signaled Earl Hebner to call for the bell while Hart was locked in his own signature hold, The Sharpshooter. Soon as the bell rang, the referee and Micheals bolted from the ring leaving Bret confused and in a state of shock.
It seemed as though Vince had crossed the line by forcing the title to exchange hands and making Bret lose in the most humiliating way possible. The show culminated in the most brutal fashion when Bret Hart leaned over from the ring and spat in Vince McMahon’s face who was standing outside the ring. The bridges were burned and Hart left the WWF.
However, in 2010, the water was under the bridge when Bret called a truce with the WWE and finally made his comeback.
