Bret Hart Says HBK Stole Ladder Match Idea, Going Over Warrior

[Donald Trump_]

Arda Ocal of theScore Television Network once again sat down with WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart. Here are some highlights:

On Wrestlemania 8 with Roddy Piper and his chance with the Intercontinental Title: “When I realized I was going to wrestle Roddy Piper, my gut instinct told me that Piper was going to keep the title for a while, and I would sort of be back up to him. It didn’t work out like that, and I’m glad it didn’t because I kind of had my heart set on a good healthy long run as the Intercontinental champion. I thought at the time I got the title that I earned it and I wanted to have my chance. When I lost it to The Mountie, I thought ‘They never gave me my chance.’”

On Piper ‘passing the torch’ to him and other wrestlers not doing the same: “For him to pass the torch down to me, kind of thing, was a pretty big step for me. At that time a lot of wrestlers didn’t want to make that kind of effort for me, and I’m not sure why or what their arguments might have been. So many guys when I look back on my career, like even when I won the World Title I was supposed to go over on Warrior, I would have gone over on Warrior at the Rumble… never happened. I was supposed to wrestle Jake Roberts first at Survivor Series… never happened. It’s too bad in the case of Jake Roberts, he’s a guy that, I had this great career and never wrestled Jake Roberts one time.”

On creating the ladder match and Shawn Michaels stealing the idea: “[Vince] told me to pick anybody I wanted, I said ‘I’ll pick Shawn’ because I was good friends with Shawn back then. I went to Shawn and said ‘We’re going to do a ladder match’ and he didn’t know what it was either. I tried to explain it to him. I knew it was a million dollar idea. Once I showed him how to do it I knew it would be a great idea… and then Shawn stole then idea from me. It was the idea that was the the million dollar idea. A lot of guys could have had a great ladder match, a lot of guys have. But it was the idea that I brought forth that they stole from me.”

 

[Lockard 23]

I hope Bret isn't trying to make it sound like he invented the ladder match, because I'm pretty sure the first ladder match ever was in the 1970's but I forget who the participants were in it.

 

[Crayo]

About older stars not passing the torch - he's 100% right. It's typical of Piper to be the exception, he's such a class act.

 

[Dolph'sZiggler]

The ladder match could have been invented by either Dan Kroffat of the Stampede Wrestling organization out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada or British wrestler Kendo Nagasaki. In September 1972, Stampede Wrestling held the first-ever ladder match between Dan Kroffat and Tor Kamata, where the object to be grabbed was a wad of money.[2] In 1987, Kendo Nagasaki competed in a ladder match on the popular World of Sport.[citation needed]

In July 1983, Stampede Wrestling held a ladder match where Bret Hart faced off against Bad News Allen. Hart went on to join the WWF and suggested this type of match to promoter Vince McMahon, where the gimmick achieved its current popularity.

The first ever ladder match in the WWE was Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels and the outcome was Bret Hart leaving as the first ever wrestler in the WWE to win a ladder match.


from wiki

 

[Leo C]

Not sure about the ladder match thing, but old wrestlers refuse to pass the torch many times. Piper is a great guy for doing it.