How would you have booked Bret Hart’s debut in WCW?

[hazardous]

They had the right idea with the Flair feud at the start; the promos and match was good.

I would've kept Bret away from the main event, and have Sting go over Hogan at Starrcade 97 without the controversy.

Bret then transitions to a feud with Hogan after Souled Out 98 - Hogan wins the first matchup with outside interference, and Bret wins the rematch.

Bret then has a face vs face fued with Sting over the title, loses, culminating in a heel turn.

 

[John Reena]

It’s crazy how Bret was red hot coming from WWE off the BIGGEST controversy in wrestling history and these muthafukkas booked him in the most backwards n dangerous way.

 

[Dusty Bake Activate]

Brets 2 week introduction in late 97 was not handled well, but look at how they used him in 98. The first half, he's introduced as a star to WCWs audience and goes over familiar big names (Flair, Hennig).

The 2nd half of 98, Bret turned heel and feuded with Sting, DDP, and Booker T, and was positioned as the #2 heel (behind Hogan), who was putting big names on the shelf and beating them. Despite getting to beat and injure DDP and Sting (who were both very over and got 50/50 responses in their matches against Goldberg), he was only kind of over. He got reactions, but clearly not as big of reactions as Nash/Goldberg/Sting/Hall/DDP/Hogan.

I thought his heel promos and character in 98 were pretty good, but he worked with a lot of top talent at the time and the only good match was with Flair. And he wasnt that over despite a really big push. Pushing him even harder would've been a mistake.

He should’ve debuted hot in the midst of the main event scene. You don’t bring in the reigning world champion of the WWF hot off the biggest controversy in wrestling to let him sit on the sidelines.

They should’ve milked the screwjob and his debut for all its worth, then if he isn’t drawing, ease him down the card. But he should’ve debuted in the midst of main event fukkery.

Imagine if they brought in Hall and Nash to be announced as guest referees for 2 non-active wrestlers. They were Vinnie Vegas and The Diamond Studd in WCW before that, but they were given a great angle to debut with

 

[CM_Burns]

He should’ve debuted hot in the midst of the main event scene. You don’t bring in the reigning world champion of the WWF hot off the biggest controversy in wrestling to let him sit on the sidelines.

They should’ve milked the screwjob and his debut for all its worth, then if he isn’t drawing, ease him down the card. But he should’ve debuted in the midst of main event fukkery.

Imagine if they brought in Hall and Nash to be announced as guest referees for 2 non-active wrestlers. They were Vinnie Vegas and The Diamond Studd in WCW before that, but they were given a great angle to debut with

Him debuting hot against the Outsiders would've been a better way to start him, yea. As it played out he still ended up getting a big push as a heel and went over some big names, but didn't get that over from it. He didn't get pushed as hard as a babyface, but what do you really do with him? Put him above Goldberg, Nash, Sting? People are in here calling for him to go over Hogan, Nash, and Sting, and his reactions in WCW and record of drawing in WWF just don't back it up.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

It’s crazy how Bret was red hot coming from WWE off the BIGGEST controversy in wrestling history and these muthafukkas booked him in the most backwards n dangerous way.

if bret hart was so red hot, then why did vince cut him?

montreal screwjob wasnt as big of a deal as its made out to be in hindsight.

WCW's roster >>>>>> WWF roster in every category.

bret hart never drew sticks in the WWF. do you really think WCW fans cared about dude?

Yeah he should have been feuding with the outsiders the moment he stepped in to wcw. It's an easy obvious transition that writes itself

terrible idea.
no way the crowd would have sided with bret hart over the outsiders.
and they wouldve destroyed him on the mic and made him look like a jabroni every week.

they did the right thing, having his first feud being against upper-midcard curt hennig, and it was still looking dicey for bret.

Brets 2 week introduction in late 97 was not handled well, but look at how they used him in 98. The first half, he's introduced as a star to WCWs audience and goes over familiar big names (Flair, Hennig).

The 2nd half of 98, Bret turned heel and feuded with Sting, DDP, and Booker T, and was positioned as the #2 heel (behind Hogan), who was putting big names on the shelf and beating them. Despite getting to beat and injure DDP and Sting (who were both very over and got 50/50 responses in their matches against Goldberg), he was only kind of over. He got reactions, but clearly not as big of reactions as Nash/Goldberg/Sting/Hall/DDP/Hogan.

I thought his heel promos and character in 98 were pretty good, but he worked with a lot of top talent at the time and the only good match was with Flair. And he wasnt that over despite a really big push. Pushing him even harder would've been a mistake.

THIS.

but these dudes dont want to hear that.

they didnt even watch WCW, but they want to play booker.

Pretty damn good to me. Bret was smoking hot and WCW dropped the ball totally with him. Instead of having him contend versus Sting or even Hogan they bring him in as a fukking referee. What type of shyt is this to do to a legend like the Hitman. So much talent in WCW and so many cats he could have good programs with and they literally did not do one thing right whatsoever with Bret. He should have been a main focus from day one and him and Sting versus the NWO eventually leading into them facing each other would have been some classic shyt. But WCW couldn't even put their left foot in front of the right at this point.

if bret was so smoking hot, the WWF wouldnt have been in the dark ages in terms of business, and vince certainly wouldnt have cut him from the roster.
the idea of him being a hot commodity going to another company in front of a different audience after all that, is ludicrous.

LOL @ the idea that bret hart should have been the focus of WCW.
WCW fans did NOT want to see that chit.

as an actual WCW fan, all we really wanted was bret hart vs sting down the line - and they had that match at halloween havoc that year, which was always their most stacked event during that era. so i dont know what yall are complaining about.

it also wouldve been nice if they kept the hart foundation together, but i remember hearing that bret didnt even look out for bulldog & anvil when they went over there, so .

other than that, they didnt do anything wrong with bret. he just wasnt over.
yall love to criticize other companies when they immediately usher ex-WWE wrestlers to the main event. but when they dont do that, yall complain about how they dropped the ball.

and bret was still booked strong the entire time he was in WCW, and won the belt. but let yall tell it.

 

[Reggie]

if bret hart was so red hot, then why did vince cut him?

montreal screwjob wasnt as big of a deal as its made out to be in hindsight.

WCW's roster >>>>>> WWF roster in every category.

bret hart never drew sticks in the WWF. do you really think WCW fans cared about dude?





terrible idea.
no way the crowd would have sided with bret hart over the outsiders.
and they wouldve destroyed him on the mic and made him look like a jabroni every week.

they did the right thing, having his first feud being against upper-midcard curt hennig, and it was still looking dicey for bret.





THIS.

but these dudes dont want to hear that.

they didnt even watch WCW, but they want to play booker.




if bret was so smoking hot, the WWF wouldnt have been in the dark ages in terms of business, and vince certainly wouldnt have cut him from the roster.
the idea of him being a hot commodity going to another company in front of a different audience after all that, is ludicrous.

LOL @ the idea that bret hart should have been the focus of WCW.
WCW fans did NOT want to see that chit.

as an actual WCW fan, all we really wanted was bret hart vs sting down the line - and they had that match at halloween havoc that year, which was always their most stacked event during that era. so i dont know what yall are complaining about.

it also wouldve been nice if they kept the hart foundation together, but i remember hearing that bret didnt even look out for bulldog & anvil when they went over there, so .

other than that, they didnt do anything wrong with bret. he just wasnt over.
yall love to criticize other companies when they immediately usher ex-WWE wrestlers to the main event. but when they dont do that, yall complain about how they dropped the ball.

and bret was still booked strong the entire time he was in WCW, and won the belt. but let yall tell it.

It wasn't Bret's fault that WWF was losing to WCW at that point so don't even try to spin it like it was. With the controversy around the screwjob Bret was smoking and on fire and WCW COULD have capitalized better than they did. Never said he should have been THE focal point but he should have 100 percent been a primary focus for them in the main event scene.

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

It wasn't Bret's fault that WWF was losing to WCW at that point so don't even try to spin it like it was. With the controversy around the screwjob Bret was smoking and on fire and WCW COULD have capitalized better than they did. Never said he should have been THE focal point but he should have 100 percent been a primary focus for them in the main event scene.

business went down when the faces of the franchises became the likes of bret hart & shawn michaels.
and it doesnt help that it went back up immediately after they were gone.

and i dont know how many times we gotta tell yall. the screwjob controversy WASNT ALL THAT in real-time. especially if the WWF wasnt your favored flavor. do yall really think hardcore WCW fans gave a dam about that chit?? BE FORREAL.

like i said, pull up the tapes. WCW fans werent into bret like that. it was evident the moment he showed up and got a lukewarm reaction. stop arguing and just pull up the footage. yall have watch parties for everything else.

why the hell should he have been a primary focus in their main event scene when WCW had about a dozen guys who were either bigger stars or more over than him?? AGAIN, if you didnt watch WCW, you shouldnt be trying to retroactively book their shows. in reality, WCW booked bret hart stronger than they shouldve and he still couldnt get over.

 

[White City Black]

As soon was he walks in the door you have him go directly after rick rude and punch him in the mouth and make him tap
Then you have him target the outsiders
Also present him as heavyweight champ of the other company since he never lost

Logically yea he could’ve targeted the Outsiders first. Set him up with Hall, then a program with Nash. Bret and Sting become allies eventually, as will Bret and Hoegan have a program, but you could get Bret to both those points organically without forcing it.

Wcw should've booked a show in Canada somewhere, shyt I would've booked a venue in Montreal. Have Bret come out and save someone and clear the ring. You telling me he wouldn't get a huge pop? Have him cut a promo, "I'm here to set the record straight" or some shyt.

The problem was Bret went to a promotion that had Bischoff up Hogan's ass (Dame) and they couldn't accomplish nothing without Hogan's approval.

Bret debuting in Montreal would’ve been money. Get that monster pop in, Have my man come in the next week and explain why he’s in WCW. Not saying he couldn’t have had a hot debut anywhere, but That (in Canada) would’ve been a great look regardless.

Have Hulkkk Honkey beat Sting at Starrcade. Bret Hart comes out after the match & challenges Honkey for the title & beat him with the Sharpshooter in 22 seconds.

Bret comes down and Sting’s holding his head while waving at Hitman to go in there and get that Would’ve been a nice circle around to that ‘Mania with the togas but Hoegan would’ve deaded this shyt on arrival lol. Besides no way you could have Sting lose that match at Starrcade

Someone here brought up them basically doing with WWF did with Flair (“real world’s champ”). If Bret didn’t have any duplicate belt Bischoff should’ve had one made. Could’ve playfully went with that angle, while working into that Flair feud upon coming in

 

[TRIPLE M]

Considering they also had bulldog and anvil at the same but did nothing with them as well was a waste considering the factions they had.
they gave tv time to the flock and nwo b team, they could've easily had the Hart foundation reunite and could've had them reloaded as they had Jericho and Benoit at the same time

Nwo vs wolf pack vs Hart foundation would be been fire

 

[Homeboy Runny-Ray]

Considering they also had bulldog and anvil at the same but did nothing with them as well was a waste considering the factions they had.
they gave tv time to the flock and nwo b team, they could've easily had the Hart foundation reunite and could've had them reloaded as they had Jericho and Benoit at the same time

Nwo vs wolf pack vs Hart foundation would be been fire

\the flock & NWO b-team were more in-demand with WCW viewers than the foundation.
again, you cant retroactively book for an audience that you dont understand.

and as i noted, bret hart didnt look out for bulldog & anvil once he got to WCW. if he wouldve simply requested it, im sure bischoff & co wouldve had no problem putting them together.

but at the same time, it doesnt make sense to have benoit going under bret hart at this point.
and people on here pretend that jericho was deserving a WCW title run, so it wouldnt make sense to put him under bret's arm-pit either.

hart foundation wouldve been dwarfed by those NWO factions.

Someone here brought up them basically doing with WWF did with Flair (“real world’s champ”). If Bret didn’t have any duplicate belt Bischoff should’ve had one made. Could’ve playfully went with that angle, while working into that Flair feud upon coming in

then yall would be complaining about them copying the WWF.

its also funny how yall are so adamant about how WCW shouldve instantly inserted bret hart into the title picture, but this place always criticizes WCW & TNA for letting guys from other promotions come in and leapfrog their homegrowns. is it oochie wally or is it one mic??

 

[Reggie]

business went down when the faces of the franchises became the likes of bret hart & shawn michaels.
and it doesnt help that it went back up immediately after they were gone.

and i dont know how many times we gotta tell yall. the screwjob controversy WASNT ALL THAT in real-time. especially if the WWF wasnt your favored flavor. do yall really think hardcore WCW fans gave a dam about that chit?? BE FORREAL.

like i said, pull up the tapes. WCW fans werent into bret like that. it was evident the moment he showed up and got a lukewarm reaction. stop arguing and just pull up the footage. yall have watch parties for everything else.

why the hell should he have been a primary focus in their main event scene when WCW had about a dozen guys who were either bigger stars or more over than him?? AGAIN, if you didnt watch WCW, you shouldnt be trying to retroactively book their shows. in reality, WCW booked bret hart stronger than they shouldve and he still couldnt get over.

For one i watched both WCW and WWF so you can't tell me bout what i did or didn't watch in real time. Cause of the screwjob and McMahon turning into a heel character is a HUGE reason WWF got as big as they did so don't downplay it like it wasn't a big deal back then. When Bret first debuted he was not getting shyt reactions, only after the bullshyt booking and bringing him in as a ref did that happen.

 

[Cartier Murphy]

Bret was higher on the food chain in the WWF than Razor & Diesel but a great angle and booking made them even bigger stars in WCW. If they did the same with Bret, I see no reason why he couldn’t have been a much bigger star in WCW than he was. Outside of the Goldberg feud, everything he did there was pretty unremarkable or memorable. Nearly every idea in here would’ve been a better use of him than what they did with him

 

[Buzzed Lightyear]

Logically yea he could’ve targeted the Outsiders first. Set him up with Hall, then a program with Nash. Bret and Sting become allies eventually, as will Bret and Hoegan have a program, but you could get Bret to both those points organically without forcing it.



Bret debuting in Montreal would’ve been money. Get that monster pop in, Have my man come in the next week and explain why he’s in WCW. Not saying he couldn’t have had a hot debut anywhere, but That (in Canada) would’ve been a great look regardless.



Bret comes down and Sting’s holding his head while waving at Hitman to go in there and get that Would’ve been a nice circle around to that ‘Mania with the togas but Hoegan would’ve deaded this shyt on arrival lol. Besides no way you could have Sting lose that match at Starrcade

Someone here brought up them basically doing with WWF did with Flair (“real world’s champ”). If Bret didn’t have any duplicate belt Bischoff should’ve had one made. Could’ve playfully went with that angle, while working into that Flair feud upon coming in

Somebody finally caught on to what I was getting at.

 

[Playaz Eyez]

Bret was higher on the food chain in the WWF than Razor & Diesel but a great angle and booking made them even bigger stars in WCW. If they did the same with Bret, I see no reason why he couldn’t have been a much bigger star in WCW than he was. Outside of the Goldberg feud, everything he did there was pretty unremarkable or memorable. Nearly every idea in here would’ve been a better use of him than what they did with him

Exactly. All that big fish small pond stuff is completely irrelevant.

 

[Box Factory]

I just came up with a probably terrible angle while reading this thread again

Bret comes into wcw still heel, still pro Canada, but he hates Hall n Nash more than America because they're clique guys.


No corny bland debut interviews. He debuts by coming out of the crowd to attack the outsiders and cost them a match. This continues a couple more times, and eventually the outsiders start catching on and getting the better of him

This leads to Bret needing back up and starting a new Hart Foundation. He could bring in Neidhart as muscle and basically as a manager, bring in Lance Storm, and then eventually convince Jericho to join them.

This leads to a couple tag matches with the outsiders and other nwo guys where nothing gets solved and most matches end with a run in or double dq (it's late 90s wcw )


After that, maybe they insult America in Charlotte or wherever in the Carolinas. That leads to some beef with the Horseman, and eventually Benoit turns on the Horseman to join the rest of the guys from stu's dungeon.


Hart Foundation/Stus Dungeon squashes the Horseman in Washington DC on July 4th at the Great American Bash.


Bret then goes on a 3 year world title run. Everyone goes home happy

The end