Sami wants to do modern version of Bret’s anti US character

[héad.casé]

“I would love to do a more modernized version, a bit more of an intellectual approach. A bit more of a factual approach to what Bret did in 1997 because I thought it was revolutionary. It’s never been done before and it’s never been done since. Global hero, despised in one country like that. It was revolutionary, we all remember it, we all rave about it to this day.”

www.sportsnet.ca/wwe/article/oral-history-bret-hitman-hart-became-excellence-execution/

[Deleted]

I love you Sami but it would be less Hart Foundation more League of Nations. Un-Americas if you're lucky.

[Mecca]

He should talk to Bret about this because after the fact Bret thought it was bad for his career.

[Wieners=$$$]

I don't think this gimmick would work in the modern setting. Also, as much as I love Sami, he is no Bret Hart. The Hart family were Canadian royalty, and that's why the angle landed so well.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

When I think 2022 WWE booking I think about a company prepared to tell stories with an "intellectual approach"

[Nosnorb]

This sounds like a really bad idea. And him doing this gimmick while Ali is currently on ice in part due to his refusal to do a similar gimmick makes it worse.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

The thing Bret thought was bad for his career decades ago, you want to try in a 2022 modern WWE setting?

Sami... you really shouldn't.

[Dub H]

I think Sami just wants a plataform to shit talk all the awful things the US does, I'm not against it

[DiBiase is Good]

Bret was not just despised in the USA during that run! I hate that bullshit. He was booed in countries that had always been strong fanbases for him. Go watch One Night Only from the UK in 1997, they booed him so much he was noticeably upset by it during his promo and started to heel out on the crowd.

[joeiscool]

Feb 4, 2022 14:36:49 GMT -5 Mecca said:

He should talk to Bret about this because after the fact Bret thought it was bad for his career.

I personally think it was the highlight of it.

It made way for the attitude era, and was probably Austin's best feud that was not with Vince or The Rock

[Deleted]

He'd be able to pull it off I feel.

[4real]

I don’t mind like small elements of it but I’d keep Sami’s character the way it is right now. He is one of the very few guys on the roster actually booked well so I wouldn’t mess with that.

[A Platypus Rave]

Feb 4, 2022 14:52:52 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

Bret was not just despised in the USA during that run! I hate that bullshit. He was booed in countries that had always been strong fanbases for him. Go watch One Night Only from the UK in 1997, they booed him so much he was noticeably upset by it during his promo and started to heel out on the crowd.

Yeah... that's kinda what's lost in the "he was a heel in Ameridca but beloved everywhere else!" narrative...

he wasn't ... he was pretty much a heel everywhere... and was only a face in Canada because he was Bret Hart...

[salz4life]

It's a decent idea in theory and I think Sami might be able to do it... but the climate isn't right.

[HMARK Center]

Feb 4, 2022 16:09:36 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Feb 4, 2022 14:52:52 GMT -5 DiBiase is Good said:

Bret was not just despised in the USA during that run! I hate that bullshit. He was booed in countries that had always been strong fanbases for him. Go watch One Night Only from the UK in 1997, they booed him so much he was noticeably upset by it during his promo and started to heel out on the crowd.

Yeah... that's kinda what's lost in the "he was a heel in America but beloved everywhere else!" narrative...

he wasn't ... he was pretty much a heel everywhere... and was only a face in Canada because he was Bret Hart...

Yeah, what can't be lost on anyone watching anywhere around the world is that Bret was cast into playing a cheating/"cowardly" heel for a lot of that run, and no matter where you live it can be very tough to cheer a character like that. It doesn't work as well if Bret only plays the legit tough guy who can hold his own with no help in Canada, but constantly gets interference on his behalf and resorts to sneaky and scheming tactics during the >95% of shows that you run in the US.

Bret played his part very well with the character, don't get me wrong; he cut a lot of the right promos, had a justified reason for coming off so bitter both in kayfabe (continuously getting screwed out of the top spot while a "hyena" like Austin was rising with the crowd) and in a meta way for turning heel against the US. He's also just all around arguably the best to ever do it, so whatever Bret does is almost automatically awesome, but if Steve Austin keeps getting more and more over everywhere by stomping mudholes on everybody and Bret's just seen as a guy always relying on interference or cheap tactics to win or coming off as "whiny" on almost every show then people are going to keep cheering Austin and booing Bret, no matter where they live...well, outside of Canada, of course.

Basically, if I was, say, a British or German fan at that point, I might have resented feeling that WWF was essentially booking me as a heel, too, since I was supposed to be cheering this guy who always used shortcuts and who the show went out of its way to depict as a complainer.

A real, earnest attempt at that character, one that truly commits to the entire gimmick, would have to involve a character who, yes, does do a lot of heelish things...but it can't be their default booking. They have to be able to hold their own and come off badass enough that fans from other places would feel fully justified in cheering them, even against top babyfaces in the promotion. Have this character cheat sometimes, sure, but only in ways where they feel fully justified in doing so; their actions are morally dubious, but they're fully convinced their intentions are right.

Basically, you can't book that character like, say, Hollywood Hogan. So much of the point of Hollywood was "Hogan is too old now and can't hang like he used to, so he has the nWo run in to bail his ass out all the time", combined with "Hogan's bitter at the fans turning on him and wants to stick it to them". The latter point is fine; yes, there'll be some fans this character would want to stick it to, so run with that. But the first part? You can't hope to have a character like that remain over as a babyface everywhere else but the US, and 1997 Bret ofter was booked too closely to the Hollywood Hogan side of the spectrum.

[BorneAgain]

I'd love to see someone do that gimmick, but with something completely inane, like a left-handed heel decrying right-handed people, and thus earning cheers from all the southpaws in the audience.

[Hit Girl]

It won't work.

As for Bret, that heel role was one of the greatest of all time IMO. The USA vs Canada/The World storyline was pure gold.

What hurt Bret's career was leaving WWE and getting kicked in the head by Goldberg.

[Deleted]

Feb 4, 2022 14:51:45 GMT -5 Dub H said:

I think Sami just wants a plataform to shit talk all the awful things the US does, I'm not against it

Lawler: "Hey, Sami! If you don't love this country you can LEAVE!" *points and nods while Cole says, "GOOD FOR YOU KING!*

[A Platypus Rave]

Feb 4, 2022 17:38:03 GMT -5 BorneAgain said:

I'd love to see someone do that gimmick, but with something completely inane, like a left-handed heel decrying right-handed people, and thus earning cheers from all the southpaws in the audience.

Sheamus for the Ginger World Order >_>

[H-Virus]

I would love to see him try just so I can find out what his idea of “modernized, intellectual” xenophobia actually is.