Bret Hart On Seth Rollins Injuring Finn Balor And Almost Killing John Cena, Wanting To Help Rollins
On episode 76 of Heated Conversations With Booker T, the five-time professional wrestling world champion spoke with WWE Hall Of Famer Bret 'Hitman' Hart. During the interview, Hart clarified his concerns over the in-ring safety of former WWE World Champion Seth Rollins.
When asked which WWE Superstars he enjoys watching today, Hart named Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn before mentioning Rollins. The 1993 King Of The Ring tournament winner stated that he hoped his comments would inspire 'The Architect' to step up his game and work safer.
"Actually, I'm a big fan of Seth Rollins. I mean, it sounds like I've been a little hard on him the last few months, but I'm trying to make a point to make him a better wrestler, to live up to what I expect out of him. And we're in this business. It's not about hurting people, and, too often, people misunderstand my point, and, maybe, including him. Now, he thinks I've got a hard on for him, or I'm out to get him, or out to make him sound bad. I'm not. I love his wrestling and I like him as a person. He's always a respectful guy and I know he's trying his hardest."
Hart continued, "I hope Seth Rollins becomes the safest, best wrestler in the world. And I wish him all the luck in the world. And I'm not trying to pick on him. I'm just trying to remind him that it's not about hurting guys. That doesn't make you a good wrestler. It makes you a really lousy wrestler."
Hart compared Rollins to Goldberg insofar as the latter had no intention of injuring the Hart Foundation tentpole at Starrcade (1999) when an errant thrust kick severely concussed 'The Hitman'.
"Goldberg was the same with me. He was a great guy and I love Bill Goldberg, but he cost me millions of dollars and he hurt me really badly. And there's no room for it," Hart said. "You've got to go back to the dressing room every night and beat that wrestler and look him in the eye, and go, usually, Book, you know, you come back, you meet, you shake hands, you hug each other, because you put your life in this guy's hands. And I know accidents are going to happen. Accidents happen. Bill Goldberg was an accident. He didn't try to kick my head off, but he did."
With respect to Rollins breaking Cena's nose on WWE Monday Night RAW last July, Hart claimed that 'The Man' is lucky that he did not kill Cena with that messy knee to the face.
"Chris Jericho and Seth did a podcast a few months ago and they were kind of ragging on me for making such a big deal about one little accident in the ring. But I watched, really closely, the match where he kneed John Cena in the face. And do you know what? There's no excuse for those kinds of mistakes. If you're doing CrossFit all day and you're too tired to do your stuff in the ring? there's just no excuse. And you watch a guy grab a guy and jerk his head down and see him full blast knee him in the face as hard as you can, and actually move his nose to the side of his head, there's just no room for those kinds of mistakes. He's lucky, really lucky, that he didn't kill John Cena right in the middle of the ring. That's a potential fatality when you make those kinds of mistakes. And then, I know I kind of made a big thing about it, and, the truth is, there's no room for mistakes in wrestling. When you make a mistake, one time, you could cost somebody's family everything that they've got."
On the subject of Rollins' buckle bomb, The Hitman questioned the logic behind the move. The two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion went on to say that he would have been upset if an opponent threw him back first into the barricade.
"That move that Seth Rollins did where he hurt that Finn Bálor. Well, if you just think about it logically, 'okay, I'm going to pick somebody up, and I'm going to go through their legs under the ropes, and then, I'm going to do like Razor Ramon and I'm going to just grab you and do the [Razor's Edge]'. It's basically the move. And if you just think about it, 'okay, I'm going to pick you up, and then I'm going to run full blast, as hard as I can, just hurl your body against that padded wall'. And if you watch it, it's, like, as soon as I saw it, I thought that if somebody had done that to me, I would have been pretty mad."
Hart added, "I go, 'it didn't even mean anything. It didn't help the match any more. It didn't make the match any better. It's not like everybody went home that night and thought, 'what a great move that was.” It was a wasted effort, I think, to go through all that trouble to do this move, and then, you hurt somebody."
According to 'The Hitman', he knows Rollins has a good heart and he is trying his hardest for the company, but professional wrestlers today must think about the moves they are going to perform and ask themselves whether they really need to do the move.
"I wrestled 23 years. I never injured one single wrestler ever. And I have a very, very physical, rough, tough style. I did a lot of great things in the ring, but my priority was always the safety of the guy I worked with. You meet their kid and you meet their wife in the back and there's just no room for mistakes, especially in wrestling today."
Hart continued, "you can't just think up a move in your head and go, 'okay, I'll just pick somebody up and I'm just going to throw them backwards into the post'. You have to think 'would you want someone to do the same thing to you?' And not every wrestler's a CrossFit guru where they're all super fit and super strong. There are all kinds of different bodies and styles in wrestling and you're working in there with a guy like Sting or you're working with a guy like Bob Backlund or you're in there working with a guy like Jerry Lawler. If you're a young buck and you're full of piss and vinegar like Seth Rollins is, you've got to change your style around. You've got to work a little different. You've got to take care of these guys that are a little older. You've got to protect these guys."
Click here to check out the show. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Heated Conversations With Booker T with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.