Bret “The Hitman” Hart steps back into the WWE ring for the first time in years – and plays a major role on the RAW episode in his home country.
One of the greatest wrestlers in history has returned to the stage where he became a legend!
On the latest edition of the TV show Monday Night RAW, Bret “The Hitman” Hart made his first WWE appearance in two years – and entered the ring for the first time in over five years.
WWE RAW: Legend Bret Hart is back
The now 67-year-old – still sporting the long hairstyle of yesteryear – opened the second hour of the episode advertised as the “Season Premiere” of the new fall TV season in his native Calgary, warmly received by fans in his native Canada.
The “Excellence of Execution” was welcomed and recognized in the ring by US commentators Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett and gave a short speech. It segued into an appearance by World Champion Gunther, who also appeared to greet Hart warmly, only to mock him instead.
The Austrian explained that he was happy to see Hart, he was a childhood hero and his second favorite wrestler from back in the day – just behind his biggest idol Bill Goldberg.
Those familiar with Bret Hart’s story know that mentioning Goldberg was a mocking affront: Goldberg was the one who ended Hart’s career with a botched kick, for which the “Hitman” still harbors a deep resentment towards his former WCW colleague.
The “Hitman” teases champion Gunther
Gunther’s malice called out his current rival, Sami Zayn, also from Canada. Zayn – the man who ended Gunther’s record-breaking reign as Intercontinental Champion at WrestleMania – had already challenged Gunther to a title match last week.
The Ring General refused again and left the ring, whereupon Bret Hart accused Gunther of being a coward. As Gunther menacingly made his way back to the ring, Zayn stepped in and began brawling with the champion, with a line of officials separating the brawlers. The segment ended with Hart raising Zayn’s hand in the air.
Hart later reappeared as his niece Natalya made her WWE comeback after a three-month absence. The daughter of Hart’s late brother-in-law and former tag team partner Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was the mystery partner of Zelina Vega and Lyra Valkyria in a match against the Pure Fusion Collective (Shayna Baszler, Sonya Deville, Zoey Stark). After Natalya – who recently renewed her WWE contract – forced Stark to tap out with the Sharpshooter hold adopted from Uncle Bret, the “Hitman” congratulated Natalya backstage.
Bret Hart’s checkered relationship with WWE
Five-time WWE Champion Bret Hart has had a checkered relationship with WWE since former boss Vince McMahon gave him an undignified exit in 1997 with the famous “Montreal Screwjob” – exacerbated by the scandalous circumstances of the accidental death of Bret’s brother Owen in front of the WWE cameras two years later.
Hart initially broke completely with WWE before agreeing to his Hall-of-Fame induction in 2006 and a full-fledged nostalgia comeback in 2010. The relationship with McMahon later soured again, with Hart finally breaking up with him when the rape allegations of ex-employee Janel Grant became public. Just recently, in a podcast interview, Hart looked back with newly heightened glee at having given McMahon a real-life fist bump in Montreal in 1997, saying McMahon should “rot in hell”.
Hart’s WWE appearances have become rare in recent years, even after he signed a new contract there in 2022 – before the scandal revelations surrounding McMahon.
He was last seen in the audience at the Clash at the Castle show in 2022 and last appeared in the ring in 2019, when the Hart Foundation of Hart and Neidhart were inducted into the Hall of Fame – and Hart was physically attacked by an apparently mentally disturbed fan
Bad Blood: The card is taking shape
While it is still not confirmed if the hinted match between Gunther and Zayn will take place at the next big event Bad Blood on October 5th, the first three matches are confirmed: Arch-rivals CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will face off in a Hell in a Cell match as expected, plus Rhea Ripley will challenge Women’s Champion Liv Morgan and Damian Priest will take on his former Judgment Day teammate Finn Balor.
In the main event of RAW, Jey Uso was crowned the new top challenger for Bron Breakker’s Intercontinental Title in a four-way match, Uso defeated Braun Strowman, Pete Dunne and the up-and-coming German-Russian Ilya Dragunov.
On Friday, after RAW, SmackDown also celebrates a “season premiere” with possibly the biggest TV match of the year: WWE Champion Cody Rhodes meets Bloodline leader Solo Sikoa once again in a Steel Cage Match.
WWE opens a new TV era with the big duel: SmackDown moves this week from the previous US home channel Fox to the USA Network, the previous home of RAW – which will move from linear TV to streaming giant Netflix from the beginning of 2024.