So word on the streets of the internet is that Bret The Hitman Hart has signed a contract with the WWE and will be appearing again starting on the January 4th Raw, huh? Well if that’s not the news of the week, I don’t know what is (certainly not the 3 hour abortion that was this past Monday Night’s Raw). And of course the speculation is already rampant as to what’s to come, even though really, this being the tumultuous world of professional wrestling, nothing is for certain until the Hitman actually shows up on WWE television.
Despite the fact that’s what been reported is simply an on air role and MAYBE one match (most likely a street fight with Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania, if you believe the majority of the hubbub), the internet is abuzz, oh yes it is. People are daydreaming of another match with Shawn Michaels, or a managing spot so he can lead the Hart Dynasty against Degeneration X, even a full blown comeback…
Now obviously, a full blown comeback is not going to happen. It’s just not. Bret Hart is a recovered stroke victim in his 50s. Even if he’s at whatever peak physical condition is possible for a man of that age with that medical history, he’s still not going to be able to be a full blown wrestler of the caliber his legacy demands, both in terms of what we would want to see or, based on his own statements and attitude about his career, what Bret would apparently want for himself. It’s total wishful thinking. Deep down, all of us know it. But we want it to be true, don’t we? Because Bret Hart represents something to all of us wrestling fans; something that has been lacking in the WWE for awhile now. He represents honest to God, athletic, “competitive”, professional wrestling, the likes of which we haven’t seen in McMahon land since… well, since Bret left the company.
Now, obviously, an aged Hitman returning for a handful of months in 2010 is not going to lead to a creative renaissance in the world of WWE wrestling (sports entertainment, sorry). But most of us, deep down, I think want that era back. And perhaps more than anyone else, Bret Hart represents the sportsman like aspects of professional wrestling that we long for. Him simply being back on television rekindles those feelings for a product that , quite frankly, we’ll probably never get from the WWE ever again. But it does so in a fond and positive way, rather than the negative “those days are gone†way that most WWE programming leaves so many of us with now. It’s not quite nostalgia; it’s more righteous. It’s like the return of a Clint Eastwood character in one of his Westerns, where he‘s been betrayed by the town and has come back for his due. I think that’s a big part of why Hart’s Hall of Fame induction was so popular; it was like having an old friend who had been wronged come back to claim what’s rightfully his. And while the Hall of Fame induction provided us with that moment for the man himself, there has never been such catharsis for the character in the ring. I think that’s what all of us are hoping to see here.
We want to see the Hitman screw over Shawn Michaels the way he himself was screwed over. We want to see him batter HHH for lying to Julie Hart about the screw job in Wrestling With Shadows and gloating about being in on it ever since. We want to see him take the last remnants of one of the greatest professional wrestling families ever and raise them to the top of the card with his presence. And most of all, we want to see him punish Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Not just for the Montreal Screwjob, but for what he’s done to us, the fans. For turning professional wrestling into a sports entertainment that only barely clings to the word sport. For insisting on pushing size over talent time and time again. For placing the future of his company in the hands of his daughter and her husband instead of the son who so clearly understood the business of pro-wrestling in a way his sister doesn’t. And on and on. The wrestling fans’ list of grievances is near endless. And even if it’s not a match or a half year return; even if it’s just one night on Raw and a worked punch to Vince’s face, the catharsis for us die hard wrestling fans will be unbelievable.
We want Bret the Hitman Hart to represent us when he shows up on Monday nights. That’s really what it comes down to. We hope that we can get more out of Bret Hart than he could possibly give, even tho the bare minimum will actually satisfy most of us, because that‘s how badly we want to see someone who represents us knock Vince down a peg (and how ironic that this is the very emotion that made Stone Cold Steve Austin‘s feud so popular, thus fueling the entire Attitude era). And so we speculate, and daydream, and want, and desire. And you know what?
I’m doing it too. January 4th can’t come soon enough.
