Summary

Bret Hart reflected on the path to his WrestleMania 13 submission match with Steve Austin, saying the timing between their matches mattered and that plans changed when Shawn Michaels forfeited the title. Hart said he viewed Austin as the right choice to become WWE’s next leading star, and he approached their program with that goal in mind.

Why Bret Hart and Steve Austin still matter in WWE history

Hart’s comments reinforce how central WrestleMania 13 was to Austin’s rise, because Hart said directly that he wanted to pass the torch and position Austin as the guy. That also puts the creative turbulence of that era into clearer focus, with Hart describing Michaels’ title forfeiture as a major shift that was not expected on his end.

The Hart name has remained part of current wrestling conversation too, including a recent story where Julia Hart recalled joking about Hart family ties and meeting Bret Hart.

Quote from Bret Hart

"We wrestled at Survivor Series that year, or a few months before. I did that match as a one-off. We didn’t wrestle again until maybe the next year, give it time and space between us. Once you wrestle, you can’t just wrestle again a few weeks later and then again a few weeks after that. So all of a sudden, it felt like we were being thrown together because Shawn Michaels ‘lost his smile’ and all that stuff, and forfeited the belt. That wasn’t planned or supposed to happen, it was news to me at the time."

Hart later went on to say:

"With Steve, I just wanted to deliver a really good story for him because I wanted him to be the guy. I knew he was going to be the guy, and he deserved to be the guy. I wasn’t going to let Shawn and Triple H take that spot from him. I wanted to pass the torch to Steve."

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.