WWE News EXCLUSIVE: What does Bret Hart think of WWE's new Performance Center strategy?, Jim Neidhart talks "Total Divas" and Natalya, both address State of Tag Team Wrestling, more
Aug 28, 2013 - 11:06:11 AM
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO BOOKMARK US & VISIT US DAILY
By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist
- During an interview with the Hart Foundation at Marlins Park on Saturday, August 24 for "Legends of Wrestling Night," Bret Hart made it sound like he's not a fan of WWE's new developmental strategy with the Performance Center.
"It'll be interesting to see if they can manufacture, like a printing press, print wrestlers out. I don't think I would've learned very well in that situation," Hart said.
Hart did say that WWE must know what they're doing as he noted that FCW has turned out some very good wrestlers. He admitted the Performance Center will likely be a success, due in part to the trainers WWE has compiled. "I have a lot of respect for the guys they have teaching the wrestlers, they've got some good trainers," he said.
- Asked about paving the way for smaller wrestlers, such as Daniel Bryan, Bret noted that Bryan, Randy Orton, and C.M. Punk in particular are three of the great wrestlers of today. "I'll say this much: I think if you watch the wrestlers of today, you know they weren't watching Hulk Hogan. They were watching Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Wrestling has gone in the right direction as far as being about the wrestling," Hart said.
"There are some great innovators that are coming up with new moves. When I retired from wrestling, I felt that everything had been done. I couldn't come up with a lot of new scenarios or new moves, even though I did come up with a new one all the time. In watching the wrestlers of today, I'm very impressed with how many of them can come up with new moves and new ideas."
Bret continued by saying that while wrestling is essentially the same as it was years ago, there are many wrestlers who have succeeded in creating new moves and concepts inside the same ring he wrestled.
Bret then gave a somewhat surprising answer when asked who he'd like to headline against at WrestleMania today: "Bret 'The Hitman' Hart circa 1997, the U.S.-bashing Bret Hart, would have to lay a beat-down on John Cena. I think everyone would want to see that," he said. He went on to compliment Cena, calling him as hard a worker as there ever has been in the business.
- Hart's former tag partner, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart talked about his daughter, Natalya, carrying on the family tradition on WWE TV. Neidhart said she not only learned wrestling from him, but from the rest of the Hart family and from her grandfather Stu via The Dungeon. "She learned in life that anything Jim did, to do the opposite," Bret joked.
"That's a hell of a show," said Neidhart when he asked about the Total Divas show in which Natalya stars. Responding to a question about whether or not he gets upset with some things, as a dad, he sees on the show, Neidhart said: "Nattie is a big girl and she can take care of herself."
- In discussing the state of tag team wrestling today, Bret remarked that "It's my understanding that Vince McMahon himself doesn't like tag team wrestling. He's grown bored with it or is tired with it and doesn't like it anymore."
"It's a real shame they don't do more to build the tag team divisions in wrestling," said Bret.
"It's a faster pace," said Neidhart, of tag team wrestling.
When asked about what made the Hart Foundation successful, Neidhart chimed in with a colorful answer: "When you take a large wrestler like myself who is strong like a tank; and you take a wrestler like Bret, who was like a Ferrari, and you combine the speed and the strength, that's what made the Hart Foundation."
Bret did not discount the contributions made by Jimmy Hart to the Hart Foundation. "He was a big motivator for us, especially in the early days. He was a big part of that," Hart said.
- On another subject, Hart said that he holds no animosity toward Bill Goldberg, whose superkick at WCW Starrcade 1999 contributed to the end of Hart's career. "I've always had a lot of respect for Bill," said Hart of Goldberg, who was also at Legends of Wrestling Night. "He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I do wish he had been a little bit more careful, but we've always been friends through the years."
- Bret also hinted that he may be writing another autobiography, saying that he had 700 pages of manuscript left over that wasn't used in his first book. He said he left out a lot of stories from his days as a wrestler, and could include his story of coming back to WWE. "There's a lot of interesting backstory to that," Bret teased.
Finally, Hart noted how nice it was to be back in the Miami area. "I have a lot of memories here in Miami, and to see this brand-new stadium," he said.
"Most of the memories I have are related to the fans and the wrestlers themselves," he added. "The fans here were really educated about wrestling and appreciated a guy who could wrestle a good match."
THE TORCH REACHES MORE COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT FANS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
PWTorch editor Wade Keller has covered pro wrestling full time since 1987 starting with the Pro Wrestling Torch print newsletter. PWTorch.com launched in 1999 and the PWTorch Apps launched in 2008.
He has conducted "Torch Talk" insider interviews with Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Steve Austin, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Eric Bischoff, Jesse Ventura, Lou Thesz, Jerry Lawler, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Paul Heyman, Bruno Sammartino, Goldberg, more.
He has interviewed big-name players in person incluiding Vince McMahon (at WWE Headquarters), Dana White (in Las Vegas), Eric Bischoff (at the first Nitro at Mall of America), Brock Lesnar (after his first UFC win).
He hosted the weekly Pro Wrestling Focus radio show on KFAN in the early 1990s and hosted the Ultimate Insiders DVD series distributed in retail stories internationally in the mid-2000s including interviews filmed in Los Angeles with Vince Russo & Ed Ferrara and Matt & Jeff Hardy. He currently hosts the most listened to pro wrestling audio show in the world, (the PWTorch Livecast, top ranked in iTunes)
REACHING 1 MILLION+ UNIQUE USERS PER MONTH
500 MILLION CLICKS & LISTENS PER YEAR
MILLIONS OF PWTORCH NEWSLETTERS SOLD
PWTorch offers a VIP membership for $10 a month (or less with an annual sub). It includes nearly 25 years worth of archives from our coverage of pro wrestling dating back to PWTorch Newsletters from the late-'80s filled with insider secrets from every era that are available to VIPers in digital PDF format and Keller's radio show from the early 1990s.
Also, new exclusive top-shelf content every day including a new VIP-exclusive weekly 16 page digital magazine-style (PC and iPad compatible) PDF newsletter packed with exclusive articles and news.
The following features come with a VIP membership which tens of thousands of fans worldwide have enjoyed for many years...
-New Digital PWTorch Newsletter every week
-3 New Digital PDF Back Issues from 5, 10, 20 years ago
-Over 60 new VIP Audio Shows each week
-Ad-free access to all PWTorch.com free articles
-VIP Forum access with daily interaction with PWTorch staff and well-informed fellow wrestling fans
-Tons of archived audio and text articles
-Decades of Torch Talk insider interviews in transcript and audio formats with big name stars. **SIGN UP FOR VIP ACCESS HERE**