The Bret Hart return should have been done in 2006

[WarMachine1]

Seeing how at the beginning of 2006, Vince did a personal review of the Bret DVD that was released around that time and it was more of Vince gloating than reviewing, which brought Shawn out to say "Let it go". Don't get me wrong, the McMahons and HBK feud was great, and from watching some of it back, I think it would have been much better if Bret returned in 2006 as he was on good enough terms to accept an induction into the Hall of Fame that year and him having involvement in the McMahons and HBK storyline would have made a lot of noise, and maybe then the Vince/Bret match wouldn't have sucked as bad.

The point I'm trying to make here is the McMahons and HBK storyline was calling for a Bret involvement right from the beginning and I still to this day don't know why it never happened. Hell, he could have appeared at the post WM 22 RAW or something and instead of HBK's tag partner being "God", it could have and should have been Bret. After WrestleMania, the McMahons and HBK feud was starting to lose steam and went to the religion part of things, which really was just unnecessary. Imagine what Bret coming in could have done for the storyline.

 

[Dat Girl]

But could Bret Hart make the best entrance ever, like this?

 

[Roadster]

he was on good enough terms to accept an induction into the Hall of Fame that year

He has said that McMahon didn't personally contact him for the induction, and that he did it because he felt that his fans deserved a better taste in their mouth, since he left on horrible terms. He wasn't on good terms at all. He did it solely for his fans, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I think he shook hands with McMahon as he walked off the stage, but he wasn't talking to either McMahon or Michaels. And I don't know what universe you're living in, but that feud was awful. Great Mania match, but that was just Michaels carrying McMahon and wrestling a garbage can, for the most part of it. Then it lead to a god awful angle that involved Michaels' religion and that equally disgraceful DX reunion, that lead to nothing at all.

 

[Prince Bálor]

But could Bret Hart make the best entrance ever, like this?

:

 

[TheChuck]

Bret Hart was not on good terms with Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon back in 2006. As I recall, one of his demands for appearing at the Hall of Fame ceremony was that Michaels not be around him at all. He did not appear with the other Hall of Fame inductees the following night at WrestleMania.

In hindsight, the ship sailed on Hart having any sort of good feud with McMahon when Bill Goldberg connected on that kick. The inability of Hart to participate in the level of physicality required of a feud that needed the intensity on the microphone is why 2010's feud flopped as badly as it did. An aging McMahon did not help. Thirteen years, or under your scenario, nine years, was way too long for the feud to live up to the hype, anyway.

 

[The GOAT]

That was, in fact, originally the plan - to have Bret vs McMahon at Wrestlemania 22. Bret was the one who shot it down and refused to participate. He wasn't even comfortable showing up and standing in a row with the rest of the Hall of Fame inductees that night either.

I agree that nearly all of the steam and hype of a Bret/Vince feud had gone out the window by 2010, but that was all on Bret for not going along with it earlier.