During the latest edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW commentator Jim Ross commented on the decision to turn Bret Hart heel in 1997, Vince McMahon changing his mind on Bret’s 20-year contract, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the decision to turn Bret Hart heel in his feud with Steve Austin: “It seemed to be timely. He had no issues with it. He felt it would be the right thing to do as well. It’s always been a tradition in wrestling I think with top talents that are smart, and certainly he was and is, were always involved in their creative. So, I always enjoyed it too. Bret was always such a smart booker, creator, or whatever you wanna say. It seemed like the stories were starting to come together, and some tweaks were being made on the characters.”
On Steve Austin winning the 1997 Royal Rumble: “He was getting over. The last thing you do, if you have a brain in your body, is to derail that or slow it down. A lot of the guys that Austin was beating in that Rumble were also guys that were looking to have runs with Steve going forward. They all wanted a piece of that hot, redneck babyface because there was money there. So, yeah it worked out well. It was good teamwork with all those guys. I really appreciated Vader, Undertaker, and Bret. All those top guys were giving Austin that rub, and he took advantage of it and ran with the ball.”
On Vince McMahon changing his mind on Bret Hart’s 20-year contract: “I think he thought he could. But he was gonna see how revenues were being generated because there was never a doubt that Vince wanted to keep Bret in the company. He was too valuable. Guys like Bret Hart come along once in a lifetime. Vince was always a huge Bret Hart fan. And why not? [Vince] was looking at the bottom line and doing the accounting. It was not there. It was gonna restrict some growth in some other areas based on the cashflow process of taking care of Bret. Vince overbooked himself. Unfortunately, the money he hoped was gonna be regenerated and created didn’t work out well at all.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)