Bret Hart Recalls Triple H Pushing For Him To Beat The Rock For The Intercontinental Title
Bret Hart and The Rock only worked together once time during their respective careers.
The bout took place on the March 31, 1997 episode of WWE Raw with Rock defending his Intercontinental Championship against Bret Hart.
Bret was coming off his famous double turn against Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 while The Rock had his first WrestleMania moment, retaining the IC Title against The Sultan.
Speaking on the 81 Podcast, Bret recalled Triple H pushing for him to win the Intercontinental Title on that night and why he didn’t want to do it.
“Triple H and maybe even Shawn [Michaels], were pretty ruthless. If someone was tied to me or connected to me, they would try to ruin them. Even Dwayne Johnson [The Rock]. They really tried to crack him and bust his chops. I remember telling Dwayne all the time, ‘Don’t listen to these guys. You’re a really good talent and you don’t need these guys.’ When I did the big interview about America, the next week’s taping, I wrestled The Rock and they wanted me to beat him. Triple H did. He wanted me to beat Dwayne and win the Intercontinental Title. I refused. ‘What do I need the Intercontinental Title for?’ We did the figure four on the post, Steve Austin came out, Owen [Hart] and Davey [Boy Smith] came out, a bunch of interference. I remember Triple H was sick about it because he had a thing for Dwayne and wanted to ruin him. He hated him. I remember say, ‘I like Dwayne, he just got the Intercontinental Title and doesn’t need me to take it from him.’ I didn’t want to be Intercontinental Champion. It was all politics, Triple H was trying to steer me into the Intercontinental Title instead of the World Title. It didn’t make any sense. I told Vince, ‘I don’t get heat from beating Dwayne for the title, it doesn’t do anything for me. Let him keep it.’ I think Dwayne always appreciated that I went to bat for him. I didn’t want to beat him, I wanted to wrestle him down the road as a future guy to draw money with. It’s a shame I didn’t get to work with him other than that one night,” said Bret.
The Rock retained the Intercontinental Title on that night by disqualification. He would hold the title until April 28, 1997 when he lost it to Owen Hart.
Bret would leave WWE in November 1997 over the Montreal Screwjob.
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