Bret Hart reveals Vince McMahon paid Mike Tyson more than him a year after his WWE release
WWE has had numerous special guest appearances from celebrities and sportspersons from other walks of life. One boxing legend that featured in WWE over two decades ago was Mike Tyson, who was special outside enforcer at WrestleMania 14, in the match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels.
Michaels lost the match, in turn losing the WWE Championship which he had won a year earlier when he defeated Bret Hart at Survivor Series, where the infamous Montreal Screwjob happened.
Hart, in a recent interview with Fightful, revealed how he was "screwed" out of a contract as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him that they couldn't afford his contract, while they hired Mike Tyson for a huge sum the very next year.
Bret Hart on WWE paying Mike Tyson a huge sum of money for officiating at WrestleMania 14
The WWE Hall of Famer said that Vince McMahon did things out of "petty reasons" and that WWE spent more money on Mike Tyson the next year after he was let go:
"Vince did what he did out of petty reasons. They screwed me out of a twenty-year contract. They spent more money on Mike Tyson the next year, paying him for fifteen minutes of refereeing, as opposed to what they would have paid me for twenty years of work. I’ll never understand the reasoning or the logic of what they did or how anyone can justify, and, I think, the loss of what they would have gained. All the different guys that would have benefited from working and teaching and passing on what I knew to the next generation. All that was lost."
Bret Hart signed with WCW after Vince McMahon informed him that WWE couldn't afford his wages, and he was with the company for just three years as injury caused his in-ring career to come to a halt.
He returned to WWE in 2005 to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, before re-signing with the company in 2009. He recently revealed the conversation he had with Vince McMahon before joining the company once again.