"A cancer in the dressing room" – When Bret Hart blasted his former WWE co-workers
Bret Hart has never shied away from giving his brutally honest thoughts on the wrestling business. Several years ago, The Hitman was particularly critical of The Kliq after WWE released a DVD celebrating the backstage group's careers.
The Kliq (Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H) were often accused of backstage politics. All five men featured prominently on WWE television in the mid-1990s when Hart was involved in the world title picture.
In a 2015 interview on The LAW with John Pollock, Hart provided a candid response when asked about The Kliq receiving widespread praise:
"Praised by who? Triple H? [The Kliq was] a cancer in the dressing room, all of them. I don't doubt that Shawn Michaels is sorry for a lot of that kinda behavior. Kevin Nash was a great wrestler and a good guy, but I don't think he can be that proud of that association. It was a cancerous environment in the dressing room with those guys, and they certainly did more negative than positive harm to the business." [6:21 – 6:58]
Hart added that another Kliq member, Scott Hall, made other wrestlers feel self-destructive due to his own unhappiness in life.
How Bret Hart conducted himself backstage in WWE
The five-time WWE Champion is widely regarded as one of the greatest in-ring performers in wrestling history. Behind the scenes, it is well known that he used to draw amusing cartoons of his co-workers before shows.
Unlike The Kliq, Bret Hart felt that he brought positivity to the dressing room as one of WWE's top stars:
"I'm glad I'm not remembered for that kind of stuff [dressing room negativity]. I think if you talk to different wrestlers from that era – the Savio Vegas, those kinds of wrestlers that were on my cards – I'm pretty proud of how I conducted myself and how I related to them. I may have been the top guy, but I didn't act like a superstar, not to my friends, not to my peers." [7:28 – 7:51]
Kevin Nash previously opened up about his experiences working with Hart in WWE. He claimed that The Hitman's refusal to lose against him played a part in his decision to join WCW in 1996.
What are your thoughts on Bret Hart and The Kliq? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit The LAW and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.