Did Bret Hart bring the Screwjob situation on himself?
Yet, Bret criticizes Shawn for playing politics, and acting like he would never do that, and then does exactly the same thing.
It isn't that Bret was only doing what Shawn did first, it was Bret's self-righteousness in that he was better than Shawn, when his actions in the end show that he was no better.
Bret should have agreed to do the job at SS '97, and then could hold the high moral ground. But Bret prefers to play the victim.
Shawn played politics, and was a "bastard". The difference was, Shawn never claimed to be anything else (he hadn't cleaned up his life until many years later). Bret pushed his moral stance around, and often spoke about the "immorality" of things that WWE did. It was Bret's self-righteousness and hypocrisy that was the problem.
Also, Shawn said that he knew what was going to happen, everyone else knew what would happen (at SS '97), and he believed, deep down in Bret's heart, Bret "knew" what was going on to.
Two scenes in "Wrestling With Shadows" stand out to me. Bret asked Earl Hebner if "something was going down tonight" and if Hebner would call it down the line. Why would he ask Hebner this? If Bret never saw it coming, why would he ask the referee for his match these questions?
Also, Bret pulls Vince aside before the match, and goes to talk to him privately in the corner. But Bret is wearing a mike, so we can hear the conversation. Why would Bret record a private conversation, and not tell Vince?
I think Bret knew something was going to happen, but maybe not all the details. So to claim to be totally surprised is wrong.
In the end, Bret could have just kicked out of the submission Bret could have refused to do the match. What would Vince do, fire him? He was already leaving, so he could have turned the tables.
But Bret's image is all important to him. He has to look like the good guy in any situation, so blames others for things that went wrong, when some of it is his own fault.
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