Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day!
On this day in pro wrestling history, Bret Hart announced on the October 21, 1996 edition of Monday Night Raw that he would be staying in WWE after turning down a contract with WCW. In fact, he had signed what was supposed to be a whopping 20-year deal with the company, only to leave WWE just over a year later in terrible fashion following the Montreal Screwjob and end up in WCW anyway, where his career would ultimately end, also under unfortunate circumstances.
My question for you today is “What do you think would have happened to the timeline of pro wrestling had Bret Hart actually stayed in WWE for a 20-year contract instead of leaving for WCW?”
Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.
Naturally, the first thing to mention is that everything any of us says is complete and utter speculation and fantasy, as none of us know how fate would have turned things for the better or worse. However, I do think some things are worth dissecting that we could all agree on that have a strong chance to happen, just given the nature of the business and the way some of the other events played out.
For instance, I think it’s safe to say Hart would have had at least one more world title reign, if not multiple. I can’t imagine that’s even up for debate.
In all likelihood, The Hart Foundation would have continued much longer, which would have put an interesting conundrum for WrestleMania 14. Shawn Michaels wouldn’t have won the WWF Championship at Survivor Series, so does that mean he’s not wrestling The Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1998 and doesn’t suffer that back injury? Is that better for him, or worse?
Undertaker still would have fought Kane at WrestleMania. Stone Cold Steve Austin still would have likely become the next big thing and won the title at Mania, but I think he would have been the one to beat Bret Hart for the belt, making it a follow-up from losing to Hart in their submission match. HBK, if he would have wrestled at all at WrestleMania XIV, might have been in the Owen Hart position instead of Triple H, who could have been relegated to a supporting role. Hell, we could have gotten Owen Hart, British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart against HBK, Triple H and X-Pac for all we know, if he could have been there in time.
I think it’s safe to say Owen wouldn’t have reverted to the Blue Blazer gimmick and would never have passed away in such a horrific accident. Who knows how much that in and of itself would have changed other things. We could have gotten Owen still wrestling well into the early 2000s and feuding with people like Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle and more.
I could see Bret winding his career down into the 2000s, stepping aside once that OVW crop came through. But there might not have been as much of a need for a Ruthless Aggression Era if Bret never left, as the Attitude Era might not have been as strong with him there, either. Stone Cold still would have become a major player, and I think The Rock would have as well, but keeping Bret in the mix might have actually hampered things a bit. He was never a great fit for that style. Maybe WCW stays around a little longer by proxy of watering down Austin, or maybe, WCW crumbles even quicker without Bret, for all we know.
I still think WCW folding would have been inevitable, and Vince McMahon purchasing the company or them just going under would have happened at some point. Bret would have stuck around in the ring for as long as he could have, eventually becoming one of the bigger players behind the scenes as a producer of matches and a creative force. I don’t think his idea of being in Pat Patterson’s position would have necessarily played out exactly that way, though, as Bret’s strength was more about the in-ring match making and less about coming up with creative gimmicks and “the gaga” of it all. But he would have made for one hell of a teacher to the next generation, and if he had his hands on someone like a Randy Orton, a Batista, a John Cena, and a Brock Lesnar? Imagine the lessons they could have learned.
That sentence immediately got me thinking about Lensar eventually taking Bret out, Orton doing the Legend Killer gimmick on Bret, and so many other stories that I feel like we were robbed of. But I think if we were to go to that timeline, we would then look over at this one and see some other things that wouldn’t have happened, just the same, like I doubt Evolution would have occurred like that, and I don’t think we’d be looking at a SmackDown Six, either.
For what it’s worth, I asked ChatGPT for some ideas of who would have eventually retired Bret. The five options it gave were Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, John Cena, and CM Punk. I don’t think any of those would have played out like that, but I do think we were robbed of a Bret/Angle feud that could have been one of the best ever.
In the grand scheme of things, I’m the type of person who struggles with sometimes believing that everything happens for a reason, and other times cursing up a storm looking up at the heavens wondering why there seems to be no cause/effect or karma related to anything in life. As such, if you asked me now if I think things would have worked out better than the way they did, my opinion might be different than in a week. I do put a lot of stock into thinking things might have been better if not just because I don’t think Owen would have died, and that is already worth all the rest, and Bret would have been spared not only that heartbreak, but so many other things as well. Wrestling with Shadows certainly would not have been as big of a documentary—that is a certainty.
What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!