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Former WWE writer Vince Russo believes Triple H was responsible for preventing Shawn Michaels from potentially assaulting Vince McMahon in the 1990s.
McMahon famously booked Michaels to beat Bret Hart at Survivor Series 1997 despite informing The Hitman that the match would end via disqualification. After the show, Hart gave the WWE Executive Chairman a black eye after punching him backstage.
On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show, Russo revealed that Michaels was also furious with McMahon around the same time. He thinks The Heartbreak Kid's best friend Triple H likely stopped the then-WWE Champion from lashing out like Hart:
"Thank God for Hunter [Triple H] because Hunter kinda settled Shawn down as much as anyone could," Russo said. "Bro, I swear if Hunter wasn't there, I think it might have been Shawn Michaels that punched Vince McMahon in the face. Crazy time, bro. Crazy, crazy time, man." [16:16 – 16:40]
Watch the video above to hear Russo pinpoint the exact moment that Hart and Michaels' strained relationship spiraled out of control.
How Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels behaved behind the scenes in WWE
It is well known that the legendary rivals did not get along at the peak of their WWE careers. While Bret Hart took wrestling seriously both on-screen and off-screen, Shawn Michaels was notoriously difficult to deal with due to his well-publicized drug use.
Vince Russo, who worked closely with both men, recalled how Hart and Michaels' personalities could not have been more different:
"You had two complete total opposite people. Bret was always serious, the Canadian hero, smiled very rarely. It took something to get him to laugh. And you just had Shawn that didn't give a cr*p what he said to who. Literally, two total opposites, bro." [14:04 – 14:29]
More than two decades later, Hart and Michaels are now on good terms. The latter confirmed in 2022 that his former opponent always has nice things to say whenever they see each other.
What are your thoughts on Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels' rivalry? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
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