by Dave Meltzer
Bret and Michaels have blurred the line between shooting and working on their interviews going back to the build-up of their 1996 WrestleMania match, through Bret’s comments during his hiatus, and the comments of both after Bret returned.
The original office plan was for Bret to return around SummerSlam, and put Shawn over in a series of ladder matches. This was when the plan was to build the entire company around Shawn, and Bret would be one in a long list of challengers to headline a classic series of main events. Bret felt that the ladder match was his gimmick, an invention of the old Calgary Stampede Wrestling territory that his father ran and that he participated in several early in his career. He brought the idea to the WWF and demonstrated it in a few dark matches and made-for-video bouts, before the idea was debuted for the mass audience at the famous WrestleMania X—a match with Shawn Michaels against Razor Ramon.
Ramon won the bout, but it was Shawn who turned the ladder match into the hottest new gimmick (a short-lived identity as it turned out none of the copiers were able to do ladder matches anywhere near as well as Michaels) in wrestling. So Bret vetoed the idea of putting Michaels over again and lengthened his time off, and when he returned it was with the proviso that he’d be getting the title from Michaels at WrestleMania. Of course, a lot changed before that never happened.
It’s been blurred to the point that the issue of which one will put the other over has become a heated point. Once Shawn’s days as being the guy the company was going to be built around for the foreseeable future had ended—about the same time that Bret on the sidelines became the new savior and the hottest commodity in wrestling, so now it was Shawn’s turn since Bret did the first one.
To this day Bret hasn’t forgiven Hulk Hogan for what he perceives, and there is a lot of truth to this, that Hogan bailed out on the WWF rather than put Bret, his promotion picked successor, over clean at SummerSlam in 1993, voluntarily dropping the title to “big” Yokozuna on a fluke rather than putting “little” Bret over clean since Hogan came from the period where size ruled and even when standards in the business change, the guys whose heyday were under previous standards, can almost never change with the times.
Of course Hogan’s problems with Vince McMahon at that time were likely a lot deeper than just being asked to drop the strap to Bret Hart. Naturally Michaels’ knee injury, which the vast majority of those within wrestling believe was more a personality collapse and a business move for Michaels to avoid doing two key jobs in a row, the second would have been to his most hated rival, only made Bret feel the same way, if not more strongly.
On Raw on 5/12, Bret babbled on and on at the end of the show leaving Michaels standing there like an idiot to the point the show went off the air before Michaels got his comeback, the superkick spot which people had to wait five days to see. While most WWF officials seem to believe that it was simply Bret missing his time cue, Michaels, and his friends who are in his ear, believe Bret was double-crossing him on live television to make him look stupid.
On 5/19, Michaels showed up at the Raw taping in Mobile, AL and appeared to be in no condition to perform. When he was on television, he was slurring his words badly and made a remark that Bret was having some Sunny days, a remark that naturally sent the rumor mills buzzing all week.
The unfortunate thing in the age of the Internet is that wrestling stars have now become like television stars in the tabloids, and because of that, the work feud can carry over into real life because the public at large doesn’t differentiate between the fantasy world and the reality world. It isn’t as if Bret’s family wasn’t well aware of what Shawn was supposed to be saying and for every rumor, whether real or otherwise of that type, there will be plenty of people ready to make up confirmation of such, and you can imagine how someone’s wife and young kids will react.
But the situation with Michaels over the past weeks has gone far deeper than making shoot comments after being told not to, slurring his words on live television, wearing a bandanna on his head on television to signify to the world he’s still best friends with Kevin Nash, complaining backstage about having to do an interview putting Ken Shamrock over, or even walking out on the company the day he was supposed to drop his title, and not returning until after the WrestleMania that he was supposed to return the favor from the biggest victory of his career, thereby screwing up nearly one year of promotion and being a key factor in the show during a poor buy rate and the company being down literally millions of dollars in revenue from its biggest show of the year.
The enigma of being arguably the most talented performer in American rings and seemingly being ill-equipped emotionally to handle the spot his talent has gotten him, came out again in recent weeks.
Michaels became at odds with Vince McMahon by demanding a new contract, one that would put his pay at the same level as his rival, who fell into a bidding war and came out of it with the most lucrative guaranteed money contract in the history of the WWF. When McMahon turned down his demands, he gave his notice, wanting to join his “real friends” in WCW. With four years remaining on his contract, McMahon refused, and the general attitude during the week was that they had no idea where Michaels’ head was and contingency plans were being made both for television and the PPV and house shows if Michaels wasn’t going to appear.
There are reports that Michaels had a contract clause that was to guarantee him the status of being the highest paid wrestler in the company. What exactly happened, and how the contract with Hart was structured, is unknown in regard to how this has all and will all play out. In WCW, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash have contracts guaranteeing them to be the second-highest paid (behind Hogan) in the company, but were both willing to waive that clause in order for WCW to sign Bret.
The feeling during the week seemed to be that if Michaels were to quit the promotion, that they would do everything they could to enforce the contract and make him sit out the next four years rather than go to WCW. Michaels had signed a five-year contract shortly after getting the title with a downside guarantee believed to be in the $750,000 per year range and having the top spot during a period where house shows are doing well and the merchandising that goes with the top spot, he figured to earn significantly more than that.
At the time Michaels, figuring he was going to be the long-term king of the promotion, seemed more than happy to sign the deal and was outwardly bragging when the subject of his buddies leaving for WCW about how the opposition couldn’t afford to pay him what he was making. Michaels was a huge success in some ways as champion. His PPV matches for the most part were excellent, with a few exceptions. House show business was very good. Of course, television ratings plummeted and he regularly seemed on the verge of self destruction, freaking out way more than he should have over bad time cues, heckling crowds, a timing problem on a high spot, or even musical screw-ups.
His dropping the title the first time was more an angle to build up a monster house in San Antonio, which ultimately proved successful. But the reality of the WrestleMania screw-up was a decision as much by McMahon as Michaels—the idea that the match the company spent a year building would be a non-title co-feature and that he was going back to the big guys, Sid and Undertaker for the main event title match. So while Michaels walking out destroyed the biggest match on the supposed biggest show of the year in the United States, it was a corporate decision that destroyed it being the biggest match to begin with.
In hindsight, one would think if Vince McMahon had a crystal ball, he may have reacted a lot differently when it comes to matching offers that WCW had made for both Nash and Scott Hall, although I’ve always been told that is likely the case with Hall, but not Nash, who the feeling was that the company felt was more trouble than he was worth after being a failure as champion.
There were complaints about the WWF not competing when it comes to negotiations with top talent on a level playing field because WCW can offer the top stars more money and at the same time have them work less dates and certainly the industry
belief is that WCW has a less-restrictive if non-existent or unenforced drug policy.
On the first two points, the field in any entertainment field is never level and the situation isn’t all that different from a decade earlier when the roles were reversed. The idea of a less restrictive drug policy being a means to lure talent is a sad commentary if there is truth to it, and the fact of the matter is that everyone inside the business knows full well there was some truth to that belief, whether outwardly expressed or just understood. However, it isn’t as if the WWF hasn’t all but eliminated drug testing and if drug problems are singular to any one company or not prevalent in every major company in this industry.
The match with Hart was already pretty well being scrapped, largely because Hart himself wasn’t going to be able to make it back in time. That situation was explained in storyline fashion on the 5/26 Raw when after Michaels & Steve Austin beat Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith in a excellent tag title change, Austin attacked Bret’s injured knee.
Several people close to Bret are saying that Bret is actually, when he gets the chance, going to punch Michaels out, and although he is saying that to friends, nobody knows how much of that is bluster or a work, although the emotion behind it most feel is clearly a shoot after Michaels went “too far” with that remark. Or is that all a carefully designed work as well?
The decision for Michaels & Austin to win the tag team titles was apparently made at a booking meeting on 5/23, although at the time the decision was made, the future of Michaels wasn’t clear. Michaels showed up on 5/26, wrestled his first match since early February, and showed no signs of injury or ring-rust, and could very reasonably be described after his performance in the tag title match as being the best performer in the United States.
He stood out in a match that included Austin, the hottest wrestler in the company and a top-notch worker, and the inconsistent former tag champs, who are as talented as they come when they have their working shoes on and decidedly did have them on in the television match. On 6/2, Michaels & Austin defend the belts against the Legion of Doom, who were initially promised to win the tag belts on the 6/8 PPV. Don’t take that as a sign the belts are going to change hands again, just because logic seems to indicate a title change and break-up situation.
JUNE 9
The photo of Michaels wearing an Outsiders t-shirt appears in the July issue of one of the Napolitano magazines, which should further endear Michaels to the WWF. One more note regarding Michaels and his contract. If he did have a written clause saying he was guaranteed to be the highest paid guy in the company and McMahon didn’t renegotiate his contract when Bret got the better deal, then that’s a contract breach and he could leave anytime he wants. The fact that he can’t leave tells me there is more to the story.
JUNE 23
Heat from fantasy feuds and storylines in this attempted shoot environment spilled out into real life dressing room problems on 6/9. The end result was no serious injuries, but Michaels’ future with the WWF is questionable.
The incident took place at approximate 7:20 p.m. in Michaels’ dressing room resulting in both Hart and Michaels not appearing on the live show from Hartford, CT that they were originally both supposed to play a prominent role in.
The problems had been brewing for a long time, for well over one year as has been well documented in these pages. Although skeptics could try and label the incident, since it involved wrestlers who have a bitter feud in the storyline as promotions and wrestlers attempting to work the boys in doing angles for the hardcores ala the Brian Pillman-Kevin Sullivan angle which in many ways changed the entire face of pro wrestling and not necessarily for the better, that was absolutely not the case.
The problems between Hart and Michaels, bad seemingly forever based on professional jealousy based on who would be the top star and highest paid wrestler in the company and who would put the other over in their next meeting and if they ever would have a next meeting, some of which has become ironic since in their personal battle, Steve Austin and probably Undertaker as well passed them both by when it comes to being the top star although not the highest paid.
They got hot in recent weeks when Michaels believed that Hart stalled out a live interview on Raw to where the show went off the air before Michaels could do his superkick comeback, which was shown on tape later in the week. As revenge of sorts, Michaels said that Bret had been seeing “Sunny days” on the next week’s television show despite both Michaels and Hart supposedly having been told by management to quit doing insider references that the majority of the viewing audience doesn’t understand.
That remark, combined with a remark made months ago by Michaels on television saying that Bret professes to be a role model but he’s seen him on the road and he’s no role model, apparently caused friction in Bret’s personal life to the point that Hart had been telling friends for weeks that he was going to at some point soon punch Michaels out.
Nobody, including Michaels, would debate that should Hart have chosen to start a fight with Michaels that Michaels would come out of it unscathed. But a lot of people didn’t believe he’d do it since Hart has the reputation for being such a professional, not to mention that with his knee in the shape it’s in, this would be a foolish time for him to do so. Nevertheless the rumors throughout the WWF locker room were that if Hart got the chance, he’d take a poke at Michaels.
Apparently the problems escalated before the show on 6/9 as both were meeting in long personal conversations with Vince McMahon, to the point that McMahon was having little time to converse with anyone else regarding details and attention to the ensuing live television show.
Hart wound up going into Michaels dressing room and the two began arguing. There were eye witnesses to this which basically said they argued and started fighting, and it was rather quickly broken up. Most versions have it that Hart was screaming about how Michaels comments affected his personal life and he crossed the line and that Michaels was a smart-ass back. The two went at it, with most versions having it that Hart started it but that Michaels was every bit as guilty in precipitating it. It was believed to have been a one-sided short tussle which resulted in a few punches thrown and a large clump of Michaels’ hair being pulled out of his head to the point it was described that Michaels was given a major bald spot. Michaels face was all puffed up from the punches and he was bleeding from the elbow, apparently from being thrown on the floor. Hart apparently aggravated his recently repaired knee, but none of the injuries were serious.
Agents Jerry Brisco and Pat Patterson and some other wrestlers quickly broke it up with Hart on top of Michaels pounding on him, and Brisco and Hart argued loudly back-and-forth in another room for a long time before Hart finally left the arena at about 8:30 p.m. without appearing on the television show. Michaels was blown up from the fight and a little worse for wear, but not injured to the point he couldn’t have appeared on the television show.
Michaels was scheduled to wrestle Brian Pillman in the television main event, doing the run-in after the Hart Foundation were all scheduled to jump Austin as he was coming down the aisle for the match. The Austin vs. Pillman match that had been hyped all week was canceled because Austin injured his right knee (the good one) by landing wrong on it coming off the top rope during a spot in the previous night’s match with Michaels. The knee was swollen badly to the point they decided to keep him out of the ring on 6/9 although he was willing to gut out doing the match, because they didn’t want him being hurt any worse and with all the other problems, add Austin to the list of guys who would be missing the upcoming weekend’s major shows in Montreal and Toronto.
Michaels was going crazy after the predicament and said that he would never work against anyone in the Hart Foundation because he couldn’t trust them. He ended up walking out of the building claiming that he couldn’t work or stay in this kind of an environment just before the show was scheduled to go on the air at 7:57 p.m.
Other performers claim as he left the building that he was
screaming about how he was quitting and that if he could make it to Boston (where Nitro was being done live) on time he’d just as soon go there. At that point the entire television show had to be scrapped and a new show put together literally minutes before it went on the air.
The main changes involved doing three angles with Ken Shamrock to put him into the mix as Shamrock will be put in Michaels’ spot in the ten man tag team main event at the next PPV on 7/6, the Canadian Stampede. Shamrock teams with Sid, Austin and the Legion of Doom against Bret, Owen, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart and Pillman. Mankind was then made the replacement for Austin in Pillman’s first major television match, but the match totally fell flat because there wasn’t much to it. It was a major letdown with all the hype of Austin vs. Pillman both on television all week and throughout the live television show airing clips of the ankle breaking angle, the breaking into Pillman’s house angle and Austin sticking Pillman’s head in the toilet bowl the previous night. In addition, Mankind isn’t over as a babyface at this point the way everyone expected he would be and Pillman is limited in what he can do in the ring with his ankle still in tremendous pain.
Exactly how this affects other schedule matches is unclear, although almost all of Michaels scheduled house show matches involved members of the Hart Foundation including a first meeting with Bret in a triangle match scheduled for the 6/28 head-to-head showdown in Anaheim/Los Angeles which at press time barring a reconciliation will now be changed. If Michaels won’t work with the Hart Foundation, it’ll make it extremely difficult to use him in an effective manner since they are the lead heels and his most natural program is with Bret.
On the live show, Vince McMahon did address the situation saying late in the show that both men had been sent home from the arena due to conduct unbecoming unprofessional. Jim Ross acknowledged the incident on the WWF hotline calling it a fistfight and not going into anymore details other than making it clear it was not an angle, that Michaels had walked out of the WWF, that he didn’t know what the results of it would be but acted like he wasn’t sure of the future of the WWF tag team championship with Michaels & Austin as a team and that a decision about it would be made this week.