Excerpt from an ESPN interview with Bret Hart

Dated March 10, 2009

ESPN.GO.COM

ESPN: Speaking of Wrestlemania, are you still upset that Hulk Hogan never gave you a main event match at the big show?

Bret Hart: I just thought that somebody preempted my run. For somebody like Hulk Hogan, when he was on his run, nobody preempted it. Everyone was happy to make him. But when I needed some of the bigger guys to make me, especially some of the bigger names like Jake Roberts or Ultimate Warrior or Hogan, when it came to passing the torch down and doing me a favor and I had always been loyal, working my ass off on their undercards and I was always respectful of those guys and paid my dues, but I always felt short changed by some of those guys who didn't do anything to help me. And that was a critical time in the business. The wrestling business back then was kind of like the stock market right now. There were some tough times business-wise, and everyone was fearful of the future, especially after they implemented the drug testing. But they handed me the ball, and back then I was only six feet tall, I wasn't a giant, I didn't have 24-inch arms, and I wasn't a good interview. Then all of a sudden, I found myself carrying the torch at a tough time and trying my hardest.

If you look at wrestling when I started to get my big break back in 1992, I changed wrestling from the cartoons of Hulk Hogan and Iron Sheik and the matches with the leg drop and the hand behind the ear and the playing to the crowd. They were just cartoon characters if you ask me. Hogan had the same match every night for years and so did Warrior. They didn't tell great stories, to be honest. I went out there and had those matches with Piper and Perfect and the match with Davey at Wembley. I went out there and tried to have great matches all the time, and it wasn't about Bret Hart, it was about these matches. I think I changed the style of wrestling, and even today, there's not another Hulk Hogan out there, it's guys like Edge, and it's all about work rate. When you see Bret Hart versus Steve Austin, it just seemed so much more real than Hulk Hogan versus Sgt. Slaughter. All of the storylines started to be more realistic, and the belt started to mean more. I made the belt seem like the world to me and to my fans. I kind of pat myself on the back today and think that I did more good for professional wrestling than people realize.

Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania

Wrestlemania V (1989): Loss to The Twin Towers in 8 min. 2 sec.
Wrestlemania VI (1990): Loss to The Orient Express in 7 min. 38 sec.
Wrestlemania VII (1991): Defeated The Barbarian & Haku in 11 min.
Wrestlemania VIII (1992): Defeated Tito Santana in 10 min. 39 sec.
Wrestlemania IX (1993): Loss to Tatanka in 18 min. 13 sec.
Wrestlemania X (1994): Loss to Razor Ramon in 18 min. 47 sec.
Wrestlemania XI (1995): Loss to Diesel in 20 min. 35 sec.
Wrestlemania XII (1996): Defeated Bret Hart in 1 hour 1 min. 52 sec.
Wrestlemania XIV (1998): Loss to Steve Austin in 20 min. 2 sec.
Wrestlemania XIX (2003): Defeated Chris Jericho in 22 min. 33 sec.
Wrestlemania XX (2004): Loss to Chris Benoit in 25 min. 10 sec.
Wrestlemania 21 (2005): Loss to Kurt Angle in 27 min. 17 sec.
Wrestlemania 22 (2006): Defeated Vince McMahon in 18 min. 28 sec.
Wrestlemania 23 (2007): Loss to John Cena in 28 min. 20 sec.
Wrestlemania XXIV (2008): Defeated Ric Flair in 20 min. 23 sec.
Wrestlemania XXV (2009): Loss to The Undertaker in 30 min. 41 sec
Wrestlemania XXVI (2010): Loss to The Undertaker in 23 min. 23 sec

Record at Wrestlemania:
6 wins-11 losses
Total match time at Wrestlemania:Approx. 5 hours 39 minutes

Undefeated at Wrestlemania

The Undertaker (Mark Calaway)

Wrestlemania VII (1991): Defeated Jimmy Snuka in 4 min. 30 sec.
Wrestlemania VIII (1992): Defeated Jake Roberts in 6 min. 34 sec.
Wrestlemania IX (1993): Defeated Giant Gonzales in 7 min. 33 sec.
Wrestlemania XI (1995): Defeated King Kong Bundy in 6 min. 36 sec.
Wrestlemania XII (1996): Defeated Diesel in 16 min. 46 sec.
Wrestlemania 13 (1997): Defeated Sycho Sid in 21 min. 19 sec.
Wrestlemania XIV (1998): Defeated Kane in 16 min. 58 sec.
Wrestlemania XV (1999): Defeated The Big Boss Man in 10 min.
Wrestlemania X-Seven (2001): Defeated Triple H in 18 min. 17 sec.
Wrestlemania X8 (2002): Defeated Ric Flair in 18 min. 47 sec.
Wrestlemania XIX (2003): Defeated The Big Show & A-Train 10 min.
Wrestlemania XX (2004): Defeated Kane in 7 min. 45 sec.
Wrestlemania 21 (2005): Defeated Randy Orton in 14 min. 14 sec.
Wrestlemania 22 (2006): Defeated Mark Henry in 9 min. 26 sec.
Wrestlemania 23 (2007): Defeated Batista in 15 min. 47 sec.
Wrestlemania XXIV (2008): Defeated Edge in 23 min. 50 sec.
Wrestlemania XXV (2009): Defeated Shawn Michaels in 30 min. 41 sec
Wrestlemania XXVI (2010): Defeated Shawn Michaels in 23 min. 23 sec

Record at Wrestlemania:
18 wins-0 losses

Total match time at Wrestlemania:
Approx. 4 hours and 23 Minutes