WWE Hall of Famer says punching Vince McMahon was "probably the greatest thing" he ever did
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart rated punching Vince McMahon in the face after the Montreal Screwjob as one of the greatest things he has ever done.
The Montreal Screwjob is one of the most infamous moments in wrestling history where the Hitman was screwed off the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels. Hart went on to punch Vince after the incident in a backstage confrontation before leaving the Stamford-based promotion.
Reflecting on the moment in a recent interview with The Ringer, Bret Hart defended his decision to get physical with his former boss, stating that he stood up for himself.
"I said, 'I'm not in a friendly mood and this is not going to go well and you need to go right now.' And he stayed. And I always think whatever happened that day defined me as a person. And it was probably the greatest thing I ever did, in the sense that I stood up for myself like no other wrestler ever stood up for themselves," he said. (H/T wrestlinginc)
25 years ago today, Bret Hart knocked out Vince McMahon with one punch and made Shawn Michaels cry. GOAT 🖤💗 https://t.co/GVxfxNKuJL
Bret Hart revealed what Vince McMahon told him after he won the WWE Championship
Bret Hart is widely considered one of the greatest superstars to have stepped inside the WWE ring. The veteran won the WWF Championship five times before jumping ship to WCW.
During the same interview, Hitman disclosed the advice he received from Vince McMahon upon winning his world title.
“When I became champion, Vince gave me a lecture on it one time, saying, ‘You’re the champion, you call the shots, no one tells you how to wrestle. You’re the guy that tells everyone else how to wrestle.’ And I made that my new rule. For a long time up until that, I always had to incorporate some other wrestler’s ideas into my match to make him happy. Now I could tell people, ‘No, we’re not going to do that idea. We’re going to cancel that because it doesn’t make any sense, but we’re going to do this instead.’ And nobody would argue with me anymore,” said Hart.
Bret Hart on Vince McMahon’s retirement. https://t.co/vNZK6RYNeu
While the Montreal Screwjob hampered Hart's relationship with Vince McMahon, the duo managed to bury the hatchet as the Hitman returned to WWE in 2007 after getting inducted into the company's Hall of Fame the prior year.