The Monday Night War Review: Episode Six – ‘The Hart of War’

The Monday Night War Review: Episode Six- ‘The Hart of War’
-This one should prove interesting as Montreal is just one of those topics that generate a lot of conversation. I will note that once again we are focused on another WWE aspect of the War, but there should be enough WCW stuff in this one once they get into Bret negotiating with the company in Atlanta.

-Still love that opening!

-In Jan of 1993 Vince made history by launching RAW in primetime and they moved from the larger than life characters of the 80s and into a more athletic style, and leading that change was Bret Hart. Funny that they talk about how they moved on from cartoon characters at this time, yet the previous 5 episodes harped on how they were still stuck in the 80s with those cartoon characters while Nitro was running with reality based angles.

-The talking heads put over Bret Hart and Hayes calls him a dependable and responsible star. While he was ushering in a new era in the WWF, Turner was buying former WWF stars (take a drink) and using them in WCW. With their momentum on the rise, WCW launched Nitro in Sept of 1995 directly opposite of RAW. Lots of recycling here again and covering stuff we have already heard.

-WCW was using old talent and the WWF was using new talent famously called “The New Generation.” It showcased athletic ability and youth to counter the star power of WCW. Very quickly Shawn and Bret became the 2 most popular stars of the new generation. Nattie says that Bret genuinely respected Shawn and Sheamus says they brought the best out of each other.

-The WWF pitted their top 2 stars against each other at Mania XII in an Iron Man Match. There wasn’t any hostility between the two as they were just excited to pull off this match that they both agreed they could only do together. JJ Dillon puts over the competitive fire between the two and Sunny pops up to talk about the professional jealousy they had of each other. They show the build to the match and Bret says things started to go off the rails around that time. Bret felt that he was being overlooked when he was carrying the title and having some of his best matches. To him he was just holding the belt to hand over to Shawn without any real appreciation for what he was doing. Well, that kind of is the job Bret. I mean I can understand feeling a little bitter, but the goal was to get to Mania and drop the strap to the younger Shawn. Hogan did it to Warrior, Yoko did it for you, etc. Time goes on and the business goes moves forward.

-Bret drops the strap to Shawn in a tremendous Iron Man match, and Bret took a break afterwards (that was planned). Now while he took his planned break, the WWF was caught off guard by the defection of Hall and Nash. So more recycling as they reuse the previous footage of Hall and Nash talking about making the decision to leave. In June of 1996 as the n.W.o was starting to form and then take off with Hogan, WCW was dominating the ratings war.

-The n.W.o was a cool brand that was hipper than the WWF and WCW and Bischoff mentions how they geared things towards college students. During this time Bret started negotiating with WCW even though he says his business manager set up the meeting behind his back. They actually show footage from Wrestling with Shadows, which is fucking crazy, of Bret discussing the 3 year 9 million dollar deal that WCW offered him.

-Vince mentions Bret was last star that WCW hadn’t bought so he couldn’t let Bret go and gave him a piss load of money. To be fair again, WCW didn’t do anything different than Vince did to the AWA when he poached Hogan, Heenan, Okerlund, and countless others.

-Bret comes back at the perfect time for the WWF as Shawn was having personal problems and they needed someone dependable just in case. They wanted to build towards Shawn and Bret again, but now things were getting very personal between the two. They cover Bret taking shots at Shawn for being in Playgirl, and Shawn insinuating that Bret couldn’t help himself and had to take a look at the magazine. Bret says that he was told that they were building to a rematch for the WWF Title at Mania 13.

-That changed in February when Shawn came down with his infamous injury, lost his smile, and surrendered the title. They do cover the fact that many were skeptical of Shawn’s injury and most notably Bret never believed he was injured. Bret says exactly that and covers that Shawn did a back flip off the top rope with rather ease. Shawn says that he did that stuff on purpose just to piss Bret off even more. Now things get interesting as Shawn breaks out the “sunny days” comment and you can see the utter disgust on Bret’s face. It really hit home when Bret got home and his kids and father questioned him. Bret says that nothing ever happened with him and Sunny. Shawn, to his credit, admits that he crossed the line and if someone did that to him today he would punch that guy in the face. Kid of disappointed we didn’t get Sunny’s take on that whole situation since they obviously had her there.

-Pat Patterson was in charge of both guys and then one day in Hartford they finally got into a brawl in the back. They battle was so intense they blasted through a wall and Patterson laughs about having to put up with the two of them.

-Shawn returned from his injury and WCW was still kicking their ass, so Vince decided to go in an edgier way and that leads to Shawn and HHH forming DX. Steph mentions that one of the keys to the WWF’s success was that they listen to their audience. Yeah, I know, she was able to say that with a straight face. I mean I was there in Pittsburgh and it only took the fans hijacking the Rumble and CM Punk walking out on the company for them to finally run with Daniel Bryan.

-Anyway, Bret was one of those in the WWF who was less than thrilled with the new direction of the company. Mick mentions that Bret never saw himself as an entertainer and was always a wrestler, while Shawn was ok with the edgier product. CM Punk discusses how Shawn was a better poster child for that new direction and they show Shawn pretending to suck a dick while caressing balls. Yeah, Shawn, real cool there!

-With RAW trailing in the ratings, Vince started to reconsider the deal he made with Bret. He admits he couldn’t afford it and he also didn’t think Bret was worth it anymore. He said he would live up to the deal, but he would prefer if Bret could get his deal back with WCW. That is damning on Vince’s part as you think he would ask Bret to just restructure, but instead just seemingly wanted the man out of the company.

-Bischoff mentions that Turner was pushing to launch Thunder and thus they needed new talent to anchor that show. Bret didn’t want to leave, but felt he was pushed out by Vince and that after Survivor Series, Vince wasn’t going to have much more for him. More from Wrestling with Shadows as Bret discusses sending the signed contract and how he felt horrible about it.

-The plan was for Bret to drop the WWF Title to Shawn in Canada of all places and Bret balked at that idea. Russo says Vince came up with every scenario possible and that Bret shot down every single one of them. I call bullshit on that one as seemingly Bret said he would drop the strap to anyone other than Shawn and I know Shamrock’s name came up among others.

-A secret meeting was held and here is where it gets good as HHH and Shawn were both in on the meeting. We get old footage from 2007 of HHH talking about the meeting and how they were worried Bret would show up on WCW TV with the title. HHH was the one who finally said “fuck him, if he won’t do business, we will do business for him.”

-Shawn gives his patented answer of how he felt like a soldier and was only doing what he was ordered. Shawn knew it was a big deal, but never thought it would be something he would be talking about in every interview for the rest of his life.

-We get to Survivor Series and shockingly Bret and Shawn reflect on their careers and they had a long, productive talk to make peace before the show. Shawn admits he knew things were going to suck and he was put in a horrible situation. He was given strict orders by Vince to always deny anytime he was asked about being in on it. Patterson was watching backstage with Bulldog and Owen and then next thing he knew nobody was there, but he was too caught in the match to really notice.

-Bret says the match was supposed to end in a DQ and we get the infamous ending of Shawn putting Bret in the sharpshooter and the bell rings. Owen and Bulldog started screaming to Pat, and he told them he had no clue what was happening. Miz covers Vince getting spit on and we see it in all its’ glory as Bret gets the mother of all loogeys right in Vince’s face.

-Bret says he felt so betrayed because of all he had done for Vince and Nattie mentions a little part of him died that night. Bret raged against the WWF after the match and started destroying announce tables and TV monitors. Backstage, Foley mentions that the atmosphere was morbid and Edge says the boys were all on the side of Bret. Heyman says that as an owner he agreed with Vince and does so in the usual kick ass Heyman fashion.

-Bill Apter shows up and discusses how Bret started letting the crowd know that he was heading to WCW and finally leaves the ring. Back to Wrestling with Shadows and they show Bret confronting Shawn and Shawn denying as he was told. Present day Shawn says it was a straight out lie and while Bret thought he was in on it, he couldn’t take a shot at him just on the off chance he wasn’t in on it.

-Now as to Vince, he knew he was behind everything and Bret drilled him though sadly that was never captured on footage. Road Dogg mentions how Vince came out with a shiner that he had for a month. He says Vince was a big man for giving Bret that shot and Bret made sure it counted.

-The talk now shifts to Bret leaving for WCW and how the WWF seemed right fucked as they were getting their ass handed to them each week and now WCW was getting a former WWF Champion. Everyone in WCW was excited as they anticipated a big boost while over in the WWF they were on the verge of a mutiny. Cole mentions that half the guys were ready to walk out and Vince tells them he knows it wasn’t the right thing, but he had to do what he had to do to protect his company. It diffused the situation with the boys, but the audience was a different story.

-To combat the audience Vince decided it was best to just be who the audience wanted him to be and that was the start of the Mr. McMahon character that ended up being the best thing that came from that whole situation for the WWF. Bret calls him a smart man and how he knew Vince would have a way to turn things into his favor.

-CM Punk mentions that he was still flipping between the two sides as he wanted to see what was happening with Mr. McMahon, but wanted to see Bret in WCW. The buzz added intrigue to both shows as on RAW DX called out Bret Hart and it was a midget wearing a Bret Hart mask. With Bret no longer in the picture the Attitude Era started to take off and the momentum was apparently changing to the WWF’s side.

-Bret says he broke his knuckle when he punched Vince and had to be out of the ring for a time and it hurt his momentum. It also didn’t help when they made him a referee for a match at Starrcade and that was Bret’s “welcome to WCW” moment. They discuss how he didn’t get the direction in WCW that he got while he was in the WWF. CM Punk says they were handed the Hope Diamond and just threw it in a pile like it was any other diamond.

-While Bret was scuffling in WCW, the Austin Era was taking off in the WWF and with Shawn being retired, the Mr. McMahon character that came from the Montreal fall-out became the biggest foil for the newly crowned WWF Champion. The WWF finally ended the losing streak in the ratings and the 2 sides traded wins for the next 6 months.

-Bret was a disappointment in WCW and he knew right away the guys in WCW didn’t have a clue how to use him. Jericho and Nattie talk about how WCW fucked up with Bret and Waltman covers the angle with Goldberg where Bret wore a plate under his hockey jersey as being the most memorable thing he did in WCW.

-They cover the death of Owen and how Bret wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in regards to wrestling anymore. He finally returned in September of 1999 and they finally started making him the focus of the show. At Starrcade that year they booked Bret and Goldberg, and Bret says he told Goldberg to not hurt him before they went out for the match and of course Goldberg gave him a concussion with a stiff kick. That basically ended the in ring career of Bret.

-Bischoff doesn’t think Bret’s hart was in it when he arrived in WCW and Bret says that is a load of crap as he gave 100% when he was there.

-WWF wins the War in March 2001 and various WCW stars eventually make their way to the WWE. It took Bret longer than most but finally in 2010 he made peace with Vince and made his way back to the WWF. I still get goose bumps watching Shawn and Bret shake hands the night he returned. They redo history a bit as they show Bret and Vince shaking hands and making peace and cut things off there instead of covering the Bret/Vince feud that led to their match at Mania XXVI.

Additional Thoughts: This was the best episode of the lot in my opinion just due to the Montreal deal being a fascinating piece of wrestling history. There wasn’t too much new uncovered here, but just the fact that “Wrestling with Shadows” was used here was mind blowing enough. Hell, I want to see the entire film on the Network now. The spin was kept to a minimum as really it comes down to whose side do you believe in the whole thing.