After everything he’s gone through with Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels is grateful that the two men are on good terms with one another now.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels was a recent guest on The MMA Hour to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about the last time he saw Bret Hart in person prior to WrestleMania this year, Michaels admits that it was quite some time ago.
“Oh my gosh, I mean quite some time,” Shawn Michaels admitted. “I think it might have been at an appearance with one another briefly. But yeah, that WrestleMania was the last time. And look, it really is. I mean, it is genuine. There’s nothing put on there. When everything’s said and done, that was hard on both of us. It really was. And for two very different reasons. And we both, again, had to go through this process.
“And I do know that I was so — it’s kind of weird. I hope you can understand this. I don’t mean to rattle on, but it’s like an out-of-body experience. I have nothing in common with the person that I was then. That’s why I always get emotional about it. It’s so strange to me. I don’t know how I got there. But I always go like, I’m sorry if you don’t think drugs affect somebody. I’m telling you they do because not in my wildest dreams would I think of doing something like that to someone.
“That’s the one thing that we talk about in this business is the trust that we have when we’re out there with one another. And again, Bret and I always talk about it; there was a friendship there before. There really was, and to have damaged that, and then to have wanted to mend it for many years and it not being possible, or he didn’t want to, or we could never get it done. And I don’t know, again, It’s one of those things that really sucks. I mean, it isn’t a fun place to be. It’s not a fun experience to be that guy.
“So, as I say, it means a lot to both of us when we see each other now, and I always appreciate it. He always looks at me and says we’re good. That means a lot because I know it’s genuine. Bret doesn’t say stuff just to say it. Bret is not a mixer of words. And he means that, and again, it does. It means a lot to me because it’s one of those things that you don’t want to go the rest of your life not having that healed.”
When asked what he would do differently if he could go back and relive the Montreal Screwjob now, Michaels said he would try to find an alternative, but he would have be the person he is now to be able to do things differently.
“I would have done everything I could to find an alternative,” Shawn Michaels said. “Or I don’t know — some of it is so much to I wasn’t afraid of controversy. I wasn’t afraid of being hated. I was almost into it dangerously. And so I would have needed to be a different person, the person that I am now, and think about the long term. I didn’t have the ability then to think past that moment, let alone ten years from now.”
When asked about a scene from Wrestling With Shadows where he sat in the locker room by Bret Hart following the match and insisted he had no part in what happened, Michaels said it came down to the fact that he wasn’t afraid of anything at the time.
“Again, I know because it’s funny because I have this reputation for being such a wuss. But the thing is, I just wasn’t afraid of anything back then,” Shawn Michaels said. “I just wasn’t. Again, to a dangerous standpoint, that’s why I always try to make sure I preface it. Not saying I was just a really bad tough guy. I just wasn’t afraid of anything. I wasn’t afraid of getting my clock cleaned. I wasn’t afraid of dying.
“And that’s why when people always asked me, ‘Gosh, do you think you would have been able to do the job as well as you did it if you didn’t have that attitude?’ I’m not sure because I am at my soul a pretty conservative — I don’t like the spotlight. I don’t like doing interviews and stuff like that. I’m getting back into being used to doing them, but I like being away. That’s why I was on a ranch in the middle of nowhere for years before I came back to NXT. But at that time in my life, I had no fear of anything, so it’s just whatever would have happened would have happened, and I wouldn’t have lost an ounce of sleep over it.”
READ MORE: Shawn Michaels On Taking Over NXT 2.0 TV: If It’s Good Or If It’s Bad, That’s On Me
What do you make of Shawn Michaels’ comments? Which side were you on during the rivalry between The Hitman and The Heartbreak Kid? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The MMA Hour with a link back to this article for the transcription.
