Vince McMahon Denies WWE Humiliating Owen Hart Over Bret Hart Leaving the Company

– The Mr. McMahon docuseries covers the period when former WWE Champion Bret Hart left WWE for WCW in 1997. During an interview, the WWE Hall of Famer claimed that WWE humiliated his late younger brother, Owen Hart, after Bret left WWE. During his own interview, Vince McMahon denied Bret Hart’s assertion that they were trying to humiliate Owen Hart due to Bret leaving, claiming that it “only speaks to Bret’s ego.” Below are some highlights from Episode 4 (via Fightful):

Vince McMahon on Owen Hart telling him he wanted to stay in WWE: “After the problems I had with Bret, I met with Owen and I said, ‘Do you want to stay with us or do you want to leave with Bret?’ He said, ‘Well, I’d like to stay’.

Bret Hart on WWE humiliating Owen Hart after he left for WCW: “When I went to WCW and Owen stayed, nothing was the same anymore. He thought I was mad at him. If anything, I had great sympathy for Owen and felt badly that he was in the predicament that he was in. Owen had nothing to do with either me or Vince, but you know, he was gonna pay for it. They kind of humiliated his character as often as they could for quite a while to get at me.”

Vince McMahon Bret’s claim that they humiliated Owen due to his leaving WWE: “The hypothesis that we would do something against Owen because Bret left only speaks to Bret’s ego [laughs]. Really, Bret? You know, why would we do that? We don’t care about you, you left. We’re trying to make Owen a star.”

Owen Hart tragically passed away in May 1999 after falling from the rafters while trying to make his entrance with the Blue Blazer gimmick for his match at Over the Edge. The events of the Montreal Screwjob and Owen Hart’s tragic passing were also documented in the Dark Side of the Ring docuseries. The Mr. McMahon docuseries is streaming now on Netflix.