Post by Grey on Aug 14, 2005 8:20:53 GMT -5
Source : www.wwe.com/inside/news/hartonhart
Bret “Hit Man” Hart arrived at WWE headquarters Wednesday to discuss a joint DVD production with WWE documenting the Excellence of Execution’s career. While Bret’s arrival in Stamford came as a shock to many, his former manager Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart had actually talked to the Hit Man about how great it would for him to be involved with WWE again just a couple weeks ago. Jimmy Hart was reunited with Bret and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart for a Hart Foundation reunion at an event in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a couple weeks ago and talked to WWE.com about his reunion with Bret.
WWE.com: How long has it been since you’ve seen Bret Hart?
Jimmy Hart: It’s been two or three years since I saw (Jim) Neidhart and Bret together. We had a Hart Foundation reunion up in Canada for a show in Windsor, Ontario, a couple of weeks ago. We started signing autographs at 5:00 p.m. and it was nonstop pictures and autographs until 7:45. The show was supposed to start at 7:30, so it had to start late. Bret looked great; Neidhart was phenomenal. It was so flattering for the people to bring in the tapes, the posters and the magazines for autographs.
WWE.com: Bret coming to WWE this week was a big surprise to most fans. Did Bret talk about his upcoming visit with you at all?
Jimmy Hart: We just talked about the past a little bit and what’s been going on. We talked about all the great times we had – me, Neidhart and him. I said to Bret if you ever get inducted into the Hall of Fame you know who has to bring you in – me and Neidhart. We all laughed about that. When I did my speech for the WWE Hall of Fame this year, I said I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for some of the talent I managed like the Hart Foundation. And when I mentioned the Hart Foundation the people went crazy. He said, “Good pop, huh?” I said, “Oh my God, Bret, they love you, man.”
I didn’t even know he was going to be going to Stamford. My gosh, just the idea of him doing stuff with WWE is so phenomenal no matter what the project. He seemed very responsive when we talked. He didn’t’ seem bitter about anything. We talked about all the great times we had and all the great fun and how we never argued. A lot of teams can rub each other the wrong way, but we never had an argument. Even when we got back together a couple weeks ago and we were doing pictures I told Bret, “You get in the middle,” but he said, “No, let’s do it like we used to – with you in the middle.” I love Bret. When I came out and did our speech a couple weeks ago I said there were always two parts of the Hart Foundation – the foundation and the heart. Neidhart was the foundation and Bret was the heart.
WWE.com: What do you think Bret still has to offer to the world of sports-entertainment?
Jimmy Hart: History. When you think of legends in wrestling, Bret Hart is right up there. The fans seem like they’re really hanging onto the 80s. You can tell with the Road Warriors DVD and The Greatest Superstars of the 80s. They’re selling really well. His ability in the ring back then was amazing – he was never really flashy or cocky. He was one of the few wrestlers where the girls liked him because he was handsome, but the guys didn’t mind coming to cheer for him or buying his merchandise either. To me, I still say the past is still the future. I’ve said that for a long time. What Bret could bring to the table would be phenomenal.
WWE.com: Were you surprised to see Bret and Vince McMahon put the past behind them and move on?
Jimmy Hart: People let their feelings resolve and forget about what happened in the past and move on. I loved hearing that Bret and Vince were able to shake hands and move on. Vince is the best at that. When we were on the road, guys would go to Vince and say “I’ve been on the road for 40 days and haven’t seen my family” or “I should make more money.” When they walked away, they didn’t’ get a raise and were still on the road, but somehow felt so good about it. I’ve been with so many people over the years, but the people everyone always ask me about are Hulk, Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation. I think there’s plenty of room for Bret Hart, his knowledge in the ring, training kids, as a good will ambassador, or whatever he wants to do. Youngsters can learn so much about the way he handled himself outside the ring.
WWE.com: What’s one of your fondest memories of working with Bret?
Jimmy Hart: Bret, Neidhart and myself were in White Plains, NY. The referee in there was wearing a toupee. He told everybody, no matter what you do, don’t touch my toupee. We were always a little late going to the ring, because Bret would always wet his hair down. This time, Neidhart had been taping up his elbow pad really fast. Well, some of the tape got twisted where the sticky stuff was on the back of the elbow pad. We were going against the Rougeau Brothers. He got one of the Rougeaus in the corner, Neidhart went in to hit him, but the ref got in between him, facing Rougeau. So, of course, he tried to break them up. Neidhart throws the punch over the ref’s head. When he pulled his arm back, the tape stuck to the wig of the ref. It comes off in the ring. The wig is hanging on the elbow pad. Bret jumps under the ring. I go onto the floor. Everyone’s laughing. The Rougeaus are laughing. That’s just one of the stories. There’s just so many of them. We had so much fun together. I remember back when we were all wearing sunglasses for an interview. They wanted Bret to take his glasses off. They argued back and forth for over an hour. Vince came in and said he wanted him to take them off, but let him wear them in the beginning of the interview. A week later, they put out brand new Bret Hart sunglasses, so he got to wear them anyhow. I am just tickled to death that Bret was in Stamford. Not even knowing this, we were talking about how great a Hart Foundation DVD would be because of all the great matches we’ve had and how great the other DVDs have been selling.
Bret “Hit Man” Hart arrived at WWE headquarters Wednesday to discuss a joint DVD production with WWE documenting the Excellence of Execution’s career. While Bret’s arrival in Stamford came as a shock to many, his former manager Jimmy “Mouth of the South” Hart had actually talked to the Hit Man about how great it would for him to be involved with WWE again just a couple weeks ago. Jimmy Hart was reunited with Bret and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart for a Hart Foundation reunion at an event in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a couple weeks ago and talked to WWE.com about his reunion with Bret.
WWE.com: How long has it been since you’ve seen Bret Hart?
Jimmy Hart: It’s been two or three years since I saw (Jim) Neidhart and Bret together. We had a Hart Foundation reunion up in Canada for a show in Windsor, Ontario, a couple of weeks ago. We started signing autographs at 5:00 p.m. and it was nonstop pictures and autographs until 7:45. The show was supposed to start at 7:30, so it had to start late. Bret looked great; Neidhart was phenomenal. It was so flattering for the people to bring in the tapes, the posters and the magazines for autographs.
WWE.com: Bret coming to WWE this week was a big surprise to most fans. Did Bret talk about his upcoming visit with you at all?
Jimmy Hart: We just talked about the past a little bit and what’s been going on. We talked about all the great times we had – me, Neidhart and him. I said to Bret if you ever get inducted into the Hall of Fame you know who has to bring you in – me and Neidhart. We all laughed about that. When I did my speech for the WWE Hall of Fame this year, I said I wouldn’t be up here if it wasn’t for some of the talent I managed like the Hart Foundation. And when I mentioned the Hart Foundation the people went crazy. He said, “Good pop, huh?” I said, “Oh my God, Bret, they love you, man.”
I didn’t even know he was going to be going to Stamford. My gosh, just the idea of him doing stuff with WWE is so phenomenal no matter what the project. He seemed very responsive when we talked. He didn’t’ seem bitter about anything. We talked about all the great times we had and all the great fun and how we never argued. A lot of teams can rub each other the wrong way, but we never had an argument. Even when we got back together a couple weeks ago and we were doing pictures I told Bret, “You get in the middle,” but he said, “No, let’s do it like we used to – with you in the middle.” I love Bret. When I came out and did our speech a couple weeks ago I said there were always two parts of the Hart Foundation – the foundation and the heart. Neidhart was the foundation and Bret was the heart.
WWE.com: What do you think Bret still has to offer to the world of sports-entertainment?
Jimmy Hart: History. When you think of legends in wrestling, Bret Hart is right up there. The fans seem like they’re really hanging onto the 80s. You can tell with the Road Warriors DVD and The Greatest Superstars of the 80s. They’re selling really well. His ability in the ring back then was amazing – he was never really flashy or cocky. He was one of the few wrestlers where the girls liked him because he was handsome, but the guys didn’t mind coming to cheer for him or buying his merchandise either. To me, I still say the past is still the future. I’ve said that for a long time. What Bret could bring to the table would be phenomenal.
WWE.com: Were you surprised to see Bret and Vince McMahon put the past behind them and move on?
Jimmy Hart: People let their feelings resolve and forget about what happened in the past and move on. I loved hearing that Bret and Vince were able to shake hands and move on. Vince is the best at that. When we were on the road, guys would go to Vince and say “I’ve been on the road for 40 days and haven’t seen my family” or “I should make more money.” When they walked away, they didn’t’ get a raise and were still on the road, but somehow felt so good about it. I’ve been with so many people over the years, but the people everyone always ask me about are Hulk, Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation. I think there’s plenty of room for Bret Hart, his knowledge in the ring, training kids, as a good will ambassador, or whatever he wants to do. Youngsters can learn so much about the way he handled himself outside the ring.
WWE.com: What’s one of your fondest memories of working with Bret?
Jimmy Hart: Bret, Neidhart and myself were in White Plains, NY. The referee in there was wearing a toupee. He told everybody, no matter what you do, don’t touch my toupee. We were always a little late going to the ring, because Bret would always wet his hair down. This time, Neidhart had been taping up his elbow pad really fast. Well, some of the tape got twisted where the sticky stuff was on the back of the elbow pad. We were going against the Rougeau Brothers. He got one of the Rougeaus in the corner, Neidhart went in to hit him, but the ref got in between him, facing Rougeau. So, of course, he tried to break them up. Neidhart throws the punch over the ref’s head. When he pulled his arm back, the tape stuck to the wig of the ref. It comes off in the ring. The wig is hanging on the elbow pad. Bret jumps under the ring. I go onto the floor. Everyone’s laughing. The Rougeaus are laughing. That’s just one of the stories. There’s just so many of them. We had so much fun together. I remember back when we were all wearing sunglasses for an interview. They wanted Bret to take his glasses off. They argued back and forth for over an hour. Vince came in and said he wanted him to take them off, but let him wear them in the beginning of the interview. A week later, they put out brand new Bret Hart sunglasses, so he got to wear them anyhow. I am just tickled to death that Bret was in Stamford. Not even knowing this, we were talking about how great a Hart Foundation DVD would be because of all the great matches we’ve had and how great the other DVDs have been selling.
