Quote:
Originally Posted by Dpeck100
I can't stand Bret Hart. He in my view has a wildly inflated view on his contributions to the business and level of true money drawing stardom.
One of the great things about old wrestling is it isn't politically correct. I bounce around on YouTube from wrestling clip to wrestling clip at times and came across the feud of Strongbow and Ernie Ladd from Georgia Championship Wrestling a few years ago and it is awesome!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlx7ejs6-Rw
I got really fortunate and bought some really nice raw examples and submitted three PSA 9's in one sub. Not one of them but have seven in total.
Edit: I couldn't remember how this cert came to be and I self submitted it August 25th 2010 in a 133 card sub that was shipped September 2nd! |
Bret was certainly his own biggest fan in his book, but I thought the book was excellent. IMO, it is one of the best books by a wrestler out there. There were were so many revealing stories and insights into many different wrestlers. The absolute worst wrestling books are the ones that don't break kayfabe or insult the reader,
Hart wrote that it struck him many times that so many of the nicest, most decent guys in the locker room were heels in the ring and so many of the people that fans cheered for every night were really a-holes.
Hart wrote that just about the worst thing he ever saw in the business was the Ultimate Warrior blowing off a child from the Make-A-Wish foundation and leaving the arena without even acknowledging the kid. Hart wrote that no matter what other criticisms anyone may have with Hulk Hogan, Hogan was always amazing when it came to meeting a Mark-A-Wish child.
Hart also told some hilarious stories about Dynamite Kid (IIRC) taking a shit in Jerry Lawler's crown. Another story involved germophobe Dick Murdoch. The WWF was touring Mexico at the time and when the wrestlers walked into the locker room, someone had left behind a pair of soiled underwear. When Murdoch went to the ring for match, the other wrestlers took his underwear out of his wrestling bag and replaced it with the soiled pair. Murdoch came back to the locker room and was gagging when he found the pair of soiled underwear with his clothes.
Bret also talked about Rick McGraw doing more steroids than anyone he had ever seen. McGraw was a name from my youth, and he was just absolutely ripped, but he was too small for the time to ever get a meaningful push.
Hart talked about the cycle of drug dependency so many of the wrestlers of his era got into. Many guys were making more money than they could even dream of and were spending that money on cocaine and alcohol. So many of the wrestlers were also mixing cocaine and alcohol with painkillers (since there was so such thing as a disabled list) and sleeping pills.
Hart talked about tearing his rotator cuff, and the doctor telling him needed to take six months off. Vince McMahon told him not to worry about money because he would take care of Hart financially while he was out. Hart wrote the he received a check for (IIRC) either $200 or $300 from the WWF. Hart wrote that a couple hundred bucks didn't do squat when his mortgage at the time was $2,500 a month. So he was back wrestling with a torn rotator cuff in just a couple months.