Bret Hart Recalls Triple H Wanting To "Ruin" The Rock
It's no secret that Bret Hart isn't a fan of Triple H. In an interview with Asif Zulfiqar Ali on The 81 Podcast, Hart reiterated his lack of respect for The Game, recounting some stories of how Triple H was backstage during Hart's last year in WWE, including his treatment of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"I know that Triple H and maybe even Shawn (Michaels) back then were pretty ruthless," Hart recalled. "If someone was tied to me or connected to me, they would try to ruin them. Even Rock, Dwayne Johnson. They really tried to crack him, really bust his chops all the time, all while I was there. I remember telling Dwayne all the time, I remember going 'don't listen to these guys. Don't let these guys, like you're a really good talent. You don't need these guys.'
"In fact I wrestled, if you remember, when I did that big interview where I talked about America and how they could kiss my ass and all that. That same night, I think maybe on next week's taping but it was filmed that night, I wrestled The Rock in a match. Wrestled Dwayne Johnson. They wanted me to beat him in the ring. Triple H wanted me to beat Dwayne Johnson and win the Intercontinental Title. And I remember I refused. I said 'what do I need the Intercontinental Title for?'
"We ended up doing the Figure Four on the post and Steve Austin came out, Owen and Davey came out for a run in and a bunch of interference. And I remember Triple H was sick about it. He wanted me to beat, he had a thing for Dwayne Johnson, he wanted to ruin Dwayne Johnson. He just hated him. And I remember saying 'I like Dwayne Johnson. And I think, he just got the Intercontinental Title. He doesn't need me to take it from him.' I didn't want to be Intercontinental Champion. It was all politics. I think Triple H was trying to steer me into the Intercontinental belt instead of the world belt.
Hart said that he went directly to Vince McMahon and explain why he should not beat Johnson.
"I remember telling Vince 'I don't get any heat beating Dwayne Johnson for the title. It doesn't do anything for me. Why don't we let Dwayne Johnson keep the belt?' I think Dwayne always appreciated I went for bat for him that day. I could've easily said 'hey I'll beat Dwayne Johnson.' But I didn't want to beat him.
"I wanted to actually wrestle Dwayne somewhere down the road, be a future guy for me to work with and draw money with. It's a shame I never did get to work with him other than that one night."
"There's always some guys, no matter what they do with them, you always wonder how they got there," Hart said. "I never thought Triple H had an original idea for anything. I always thought he was overrated. The only reason people even know him or remember him today is because his daddy in law put him in charge."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The 81 Podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.