Heath Slater recently sat down with Kenny McIntosh from Inside The Ropes and discussed being one of Bret Hart’s final opponents.
While a part of The Nexus in 2010, Heath Slater worked multiple matches with Bret Hart and The Hart Dynasty on WWE house shows. Slater first spoke about how Hart didn’t have any limitations in their match and how he took pride in being a safe worker, which The Hitman appreciated:
“He wasn’t limited that night (in MSG). I think he was going for real. I just remember Bret trusted me. I take pride in not hurting anybody, making sure my stuff looks good, but it’s snug. I’m a safe worker out there and Bret liked that. TJ and Nattie, we’ve been friends forever. They talked good about me with him, and then Bret got in there, just worked with me a little bit and was like, “Yeah, I like this kid. I’m gonna stick with him when I fight.”
But dude, Bret Hart, he’s such a good-hearted human being, he’s knowledgeable and he’ll help you out with anything if you ask. I worked him at Madison Square Garden, overseas, up and down the road, in Calgary, his hometown. I got to do this and the little kid in me is just like, “Holy crap, this is amazing”. But the adult in me is like, “Don’t sell it”. But dude, working Bret was just an honor.”
Slater also recalled being told that he couldn’t get too physical with Hart in their match but that The Hitman wanted to do more:
“I was insanely proud of that. What’s crazy is that that night at MSG, they said, “Don’t hit him, don’t bump him. Don’t do this. Don’t do that.” I’m like okay, don’t worry. I won’t do nothing. And then I’m in there with Bret and he’s like, “Hey, man, I want to do this and do that.” I’m like yeah, let’s do it. I’m not gonna tell the ‘Hitman’ no, you can’t. And we did, and he was doing all this old stuff. It’s like backbreaking, the forearm off the top, getting the sharpshooter on me, the spine-buster, doing it all.
I remember when we got to the back, Michael Hayes looked at him and was like, “Bret, my goodness, man, you still got it! You looked like you were in the 90s.” And Bret literally looked right at Hayes and was like, “It’s that kid. He’s the one that made me look like that. It was him.” I remember I looked around at [Justin] Gabriel and I said, “You heard that, right?”
Concluding, Slater stated how proud he was to be one of Hart’s final opponents:
“Oh yeah, man. I’m just glad I was a piece of the puzzle when he came back. So many people were jealous of me, my friends, the workers. So when I went on that legends run, everyone was just like, “Dude, how did you get this spot?” I’m like, “I fought for it! It’s mine! Stay away!”
Check out the complete interview at ITRWrestling.com.
