Bret Hart is proud of Steve Austin for physically getting back in the ring at WrestleMania 38. Austin will confront Kevin Owens down in Dallas at the “Showcase Of The Immortals” and in a new interview with the Hitman, Bret talked with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated about how happy he is for one of his greatest rivals.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Hart says. “I’m proud of him. It takes a lot of courage to come back and do what he’s trying to do. I’ll be there to cheer him on,” he told SI after looking back on his infamous WrestleMania XIII match with Austin.
“The match with Steve, that’s the greatest song I ever sang,” Hart says. “When I watch it back, I wouldn’t change a thing. I still love seeing that spot where I’m punching the daylights out of Steve in the corner and he kicks me in the groin. It was a beautiful, violent piece of art. Working with Steve was easy, it was fun, and it was memorable.
“We put a lot of heart into that match. It captures every element you see in a back-and-forth UFC fight. I always love the Iron Man match [against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, too. Pound-for-pound workload, that was the hardest match of my career, but I love the psychology of my match with Steve. I think of the expression, ‘No animals were harmed in the making of the movie.’ There were some hard falls and good shots with Steve, a fight between two warriors.”
There was few that knew Hart was going to turn heel at Mania 13 and his opponent was one of them.
“Steve was one of the only guys I talked to about my eventual turn,” Hart says. “It was a big secret and no one knew. Steve did, and I remember him saying that we were switching places but that he wanted to stay a bad guy as long as possible. He liked being a bad guy.
“We had this harmonious relationship. Steve was somebody that had a lot of respect for me, and he showed it in that match. And I wanted to do all I could for Steve in those days. I was a big advocate for Steve before he ever got to WWF, so I was really happy for him.”
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