Bret Hart Is Happy For Bad News Brown’s WWE Hall of Fame Induction, Recalls Working With Him

Bret Hart didn’t love working with Bad News Brown in the ring, but he’s happy for the late wrestling star’s WWE Hall of Fame induction. Brown is set to be a legacy induction into the 2026 class of the Hall of Fame. The wrestling star, who passed away, spent considerable time in Stampede Wrestling for Hart’s father Stu.

Hart was asked about Brown’s induction in his interview on Studio 1 Sports Channel. He said he’s happy for Brown and said he respected the late star, though he says he didn’t enjoy working with him because of his particular style and lack of psychology. You can see the highlights below:

On If He Was Surprised That Brown Is Getting Inducted:

“You know, I didn’t know he got inducted. That’s news to me. I’m always happy for him. To me, he’ll always be a Stampede wrestler. One of my dad’s guys. So I mean — you know, Bad News was maybe not my closest friend. But I always had a respect for him, and he was — you know, he was a pretty intense guy. He was not a stupid man, he was a pretty well-educated, disciplined guy and was really, I think an honorable guy. He was the kind of guy I would say never told a lie in his life, you know? That kind of thing. Like, he always spoke his truth.”

On Brown’s Training In Japan:

“Bad News learned how to wrestle in Japan, which is not the best place to learn how to wrestle. I mean, it is in a lot of ways the best place to wrestle, if you really learn how to wrestle. But they don’t really understand psychology as well, like not psychology that I knew. It’s more of a struggle in Japan. And it’s a harder way to make a living, because it’s based on realism. For example, pro wrestling in the old days used to be reported on in the sports pages.”

On Brown As a Performer:

“I would say he never had any [psychology]. His idea of a great match, he was very — and again, I say this is because this is where he learned. He learned in Japan, right? And it’s different there. It’s kind of hard to explain. I would say Bad News was a meat chopper. That was a term that, in wrestlers there were guys that just go in there and chop meat and beat the hell out of whoever they’re wrestling and then get their hand raised. That’s how he thought he drew money. But he never had any psychology…

“Bad News, maybe gave, in wrestling gave the worst comeback. He didn’t give me anything. He was very limited. Like, you couldn’t hit him in the head. He was very touchy about what you did to him. And he was not the kind of guy you could mess with. You know, he was a very tough man, arguably one of the toughest men ever that put on a pair of boots in pro wrestling. He was a legitimate badass tough guy that was more than capable of fighting anybody.”

On Brown’s Heel Work:

“He was a good monster. He wanted to be a monster heel, or at least that’s what I saw in him. He was a really vicious heel to work with that can really do a lot of damage. So he was all those things, and he could do all those things, and he fit that package. But he couldn’t give an inch to anybody he worked with. His idea of a great match was to take 99 percent of it.

“And you know, I tried really hard. I gave him as good a matches as he could. I felt every time I went in the ring with Bad News, that if I was a seven when I went in, I came out of it a four, or three.”

On His Relationship With Brown:

“I mean, I never had any issues with Bad News. But I knew that when he came to the WWF that — you know, I wanted to help him get over and just help do whatever I could to help him watch, and get him going with the other wrestlers. But you know, the truth is he didn’t have very good matches with anybody.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Studio 1 Sports Channel with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.