Bret Hart Says Running Into Triple H Is 'Always A Pleasure', Reflects on Raw Return

It appears time heals all wounds.
Bret Hart returns to appear on the September 9 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw.
Bret Hart returns to appear on the September 9 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw. / WWE.com

Life shows that time can heal old wounds and that appears to be the case between former WWE champions Bret Hart and Paul "Triple H" Levesque, because on Monday's edition of WWE Raw from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Hart returned to his birthplace for a segment involving current World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER and Sami Zayn.

During their exchange, GUNTHER told Hart that as much as he liked him, Hart's rival, Bill Goldberg was his all-time favorite wrestler.

The former five-time WWE champion was grateful to appear at the final WWE show at the Saddledome, and to the surprise of fans, was happy to see Levesque.

"I didn't just assume or take for granted that they were going to invite me down tonight, Hart told WWE.com in a video interview. "Anytime I get a chance to be in front of the Calgary fans, because I think Calgary fans go back the furthest when I was 18-19. It's a very special and powerful building for me to walk in. A lot of great memories here, a lot of title matches. Even in the old Stampede Wrestling days, a lot of memories here. It's kind of a funny feeling to walk down the ring slowly and kind of pull yourself back into the ring and find yourself standing in the center of it and talking to the fans. I don't know if I looked a little nervous because I'm not sure that I was. Standing in the middle of the ring there for a few seconds, this transformation takes place. I think I transformed back in Bret 'The Hitman' Hart for a minute for everyone. It was fun for me to do that. It was something that was magical that was brought out by the love of the fans. 

"Standing in the middle of the ring there for a few seconds, this transformation takes place. I think I transformed back in Bret 'The Hitman' Hart for a minute for everyone. It was fun for me to do that. It was something that was magical that was brought out by the love of the fans. There's not that many from my generation that are around anymore. Running into Triple H is always a pleasure."

It had been well documented that Hart and Levesque haven't seen eye to eye since the former's rivalry with Shawn Michaels in 1997, highlighted by the Montreal Screwjob at that year's Survivor Series match between Hart and Michaels.

Hart felt and ended up being right that Levesque had some influence on the finish which saw Vince McMahon change the finish and call for the bell to force the WWE title off of Hart as he was set to go to WCW.

While Hart and Michaels made up in 2010, the same courtesy didn't extend to Levesque. Throughout the years, Hart's been critical of Levesque's booking. Thankfully, it seems Hart has changed his tune towards Levesque.

MORE: Bret Hart on SummerSlam '94: "We Never Wanted To Have A Cage Match"


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Steven Muelhausen
STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.