Bret Hart Recalls Talking to Vince McMahon About Signing Steve Austin

Bret Hart was a big proponent of Steve Austin even before the latter was in WWE, and he recalled talking to Vince McMahon about signing him on this week’s The Bump. Hart and Austin were on this week’s show looking back at their Survivor Series 1996 match, and Hart recalled talking to McMahon when Austin was in ECW and asking why they hadn’t jumped on him yet.

“Well, the truth of it is, and I’ve said this a few times, is that I thought Steve was somebody to be reckoned with before he ever got to WWE,” Hart said (per Fightful). “I saw him — He was in WCW and I think he even went to ECW for a time, and I remember when he jumped from WCW and he ended up in ECW, I actually remember going into Vince’s office and going, ‘Why didn’t they get this guy? Why didn’t somebody grab him and bring him in here? He’s too good a guy to end up in — He’s working ECW. Why don’t we look into getting him?’”

He continued, “I remember having this conversation with Vince about how I thought he’d be really good for me to wrestle and work with and a week later he was sitting in the dressing room. They went out and got him and I don’t know what they did to get him from ECW or get him out of that contract or if he was free to go, but that’s when he started.”