"I can’t get beat here" - Bret Hart refused to lose to The Undertaker in front of Canadian soldiers
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart allegedly refused to put The Undertaker over during a match in Bahrain many years ago. According to Gerald Brisco, The Hitman didn't want to lose against The Deadman because there were too many Canadian soldiers present.
This isn't the only instance of Bret Hart not wanting to put another star over, as he infamously refused to drop his WWE World Championship to Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Survivor Series pay-per-view in his native country of Canada, which led to the notorious Montreal Screwjob.
Speaking on the Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard podcast, Gerald Brisco shared that The Undertaker was booked to defeat Bret Hart in a non-title tournament match in the main event, but the latter got the finish changed because he was against losing in front of many fans and Canadian soldiers.
“We were over in Bahrain,” said Brisco. “It’s a little island right off Saudi Arabia. We’re running an outdoor show there. This is probably the same year. We had a tournament. It came down to Bret Hart and Undertaker as the main event. It wasn’t a title match, it was just a Bahrain tournament. Bret said, ‘I’m not going to drop the match here. I can’t get beat here.’ I’m thinking, we’re in the middle of nowhere. I asked Bret, ‘Why? It’s The Undertaker.’ He said, ‘There’s too many fans.’"
"Granted, there were a contingent of Canadian soldiers in attendance, so he was right in that aspect," added Brisco. "There were some Canadian soldiers, but most of the people were native people there. It wasn’t like there were overwhelming Maple Flags flying there. We’re 10,000 miles away from anywhere, and back in those days, there wasn’t any social media or anything like that. Of course, I made my phone call to Vince. Vince said, ‘Just get the match in the ring.’ When Undertaker comes in, he likes to know what he’s going to do so he can develop a game plan in his head during the course of the event." (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
If only we had seen one match from 🤠 "Cowboy" @BretHart... #WWEHOF https://t.co/8EMjOb8l42
Gerald Brisco reveals how Vince McMahon and The Undertaker responded to Bret Hart's request
It's not uncommon, at least in those days, for a major star to refuse to lose a match to another wrestler -- WWE legend Hulk Hogan was notorious for this.
Gerald Brisco added that he was instructed by Vince McMahon to talk to The Undertaker regarding Bret Hart's request to win the match.
The Phenom was taken aback that Bret Hart did not want to put him over, but he eventually agreed to lose the bout.
"Taker looked at me with a look of shock with those piercing eyes of his that scared me to the bone," added Brisco. "I said, ‘Well, what do you want to do? He said, ‘The hell with it. I’ll put him over.’ That’s the professional that Taker is. I approached Bret Hart and said he’ll put you over. He said, ‘Well, I don’t have to pin him. I can put the sharpshooter on him.’ I said, ‘Well you’re not going to put the sharpshooter on him. You’re going to pin him.’ So we worked out the match for VKM. That was my first example with Bret Hart.”
MONTREAL SCREWJOB
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Unlike the Montreal Screwjob, this didn't cause a big incident and there wasn't any real life heat between Bret Hart and The Undertaker. The Deadman, being the professional that he is, dealt with the situation properly.