Bret Hart Quotable – cancer, Owen not in WWE HOF, Royal Rumble criticism

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart dished on several big subjects in a new radio interview with Donald Wood of Ring Rust Radio.

– On using his cancer diagnosis to help others: “I think just by being open and honest about it. Letting people know that I’m in the fight, and as I go through it, I’ll show people just that. Hopefully in the near future I can prove to people that I will overcome this battle and be on the better side of it in six months or so. Hopefully, people will gain strength from that and use me as somebody they can look up to if someone in their family or themselves goes through it.”

– Regarding Owen Hart likely not being included in the WWE Hall of Fame, Hart blamed Owen’s widow, Martha, for blocking Owen’s induction. Hart continues to describe Martha as a “bitter woman” preventing the fans from celebrating Owen’s legacy, not acknowledging Martha’s position that she believes Owen would still be alive if not for wrestling.

Hart’s perspective: I think Martha is guilty of burying and doing nothing to help keep Owen’s memory alive. Wrestling fans have every right to remember Owen and cherish his career. A lot of people loved Owen just for the type of person he was and not just the wrestler he was. A lot of wrestling fans got to know him over the years and miss him. I just think it’s really sad that Martha is still so obtuse and has it in her head the only ones that can grieve over Owen are her and her kids and everyone else can go to hell. The rest of us miss him, too, and I don’t agree with her and her idea on how to remember Owen. It’s a shame that she can’t accept that fans love him and miss him just as much she does.”

– Hart followed up on his criticism of how the Royal Rumble played out, including WWE emphasizing guys based on “how they look,” and then wasting giants like Big Show and Mark Henry.

Hart’s full quote: “I find it harder to watch wrestling nowadays. I was a really big fan of Daniel Brian and C.M. Punk. They were great wrestlers. I think Triple H is a guy in a different mindset and is more about how you look. More into a guy like Batista, The Rock and Brock Lesnar. I will say though, I think Brock is a great wrestler. If they all look like Hulk Hogan or big muscle-bound guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he would be really happy. That to him is what wrestling is all about. He thinks that is the type of guys you should push, and maybe that’s why he is the champion. I am personally a guy that’s more about wrestling. I don’t really have an interest in watching bodybuilders stumbling around the ring. Most of the time, they aren’t the best athletes. It’s not about how you look; it’s about how you wrestle. Wrestling fans are the priority. I’m a big fan of Kevin Owens and I think he’s a great wrestler, and I’m also a big fan of Brock Lesnar and I think he should have won the Royal Rumble. I wasn’t too impressed with the Rumble this year.  I thought it was really flat and a lot of bad calls were made about who got pushed and who didn’t. I think it’s a sad state of affairs when they have the biggest wrestler in the world, the Big Show, go out there and be thrown out of the ring by just one guy is just stupid booking. I think you look at someone like Mark Henry who is billed legitimately as the strongest man in the world, he goes out there and he’s thrown out of the ring in less than 30 seconds? It all just makes me wonder. They have all these other guys that they are pushing, but then they lose track of what the Royal Rumble is all about. I was extremely disappointed this year. The Rumble was always one my favorite pay-per-views but it has been lackluster and hasn’t lived up to what I had hoped for. The last few years have been downers as far as the Rumble goes. I will say, WrestleMania they always surprise me. When I was there watching it, I was surprised that they pulled it off and it was really exciting to watch. I’m hoping they can pull a rabbit out of their hat with this one, but I am not so sure they can this year.”