Bret Hart speaks on the lofty promises of Vince McMahon in 1992.
In 1992, Bret Hart was elevated from the WWE Intercontinental Championship to the WWE Championship. His first run as the WWE Champion lasted from October 1992 to April 1993, when he lost the title to Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. While that would be his second-longest WWE Championship reign, Hart says he was promised a title reign for six years, not six months.
During an appearance on The Ringer's Masked Man Show, Hart proclaimed that Vince McMahon told him he would be the WWE Champion for six years when he was asked how things changed after WrestleMania IX, where he lost the title to Yokozuna, and Yokozuna lost it moments later to Hulk Hogan.
"It changed a lot of things. At that time period, the world champion is the highest paid guy. Here I am, the highest paid guy in the company. Business has gone down a little bit, but I’m the star of the show now. My memory of it, things were like an elevator phone, business was plummeting every week because [Hulk] Hogan had the steroid scandal and the ring boy scandal had come out at the same time, and Vince was being investigated. It was a lot of dark, gloomy things. The steroid testing and all that. It was almost like, ‘Who can we put the belt on that’s not going to screw everything up? Put it on Bret Hart.’ The match I had with [British] Bulldog at Wembley kind of elevated me up.
"I remember when I won the title, Vince [McMahon] told me that I would be champion for, they were looking long-term, kind of like Bruno [Sammartino] and he brought up Bruno and [Bob] Backlund, and he said, ‘You’re going to be champion for six years. You’re going to be champion for a long time. Don’t worry about your position. You don’t have to worry about anything.’ When Hogan came in, ‘Don’t worry about Hogan, he’s got nothing to do with you. He’s here to promote a movie. He’s short-term.’ It was always Vince telling me things. I was very confident. The reason I became the champion that I did is because I believed I was going to be the champion for a long time, and I’m going to be like Bruno. It’s a tougher time, almost like a depression feeling, and I’m going to be the guy. I think I’m the best guy to carry it going forward."
While Bret never had a single reign with the WWE Championship that lasted even one year, he did become the second man in history to win the title five times. The first was Hulk Hogan; his fifth victory came at WrestleMania IX.
Today, Vince McMahon is no longer at the helm of WWE. Bret Hart believes he gets a little more respect from the company now. Fans can read his comments on that here.
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