Bret Hart ripped WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins in 2016 by calling him an unsafe worker after injuring both John Cena and Sting in separate matches in 2015. Also, his SummerSlam 2016 Universal Championship match with Finn Balor resulted in Balor suffering a torn labrum.
Rollins confirmed in a new interview with The Daily Mail that he cleared the air with Hart.
“I love Bret Hart, I’ll preface this. Bret didn’t really critique me, he called me ‘unsafe’. Bret’s going to spit the truth, he’ll tell you from what he saw he thought I was an unsafe worker, and I would say anybody I’ve ever been in the ring with would tell you the exact opposite, including the guys who have got injured during matches with me – that’s a fact I think. To finish it up nicely, I did approach Bret at a Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Bret was backstage and we ended up in the catering line together and I said, ‘Hey man’ and he said, ‘Hey’ and I just said, ‘I wanted to tell you as somebody who looked up to you lot and still does – it really kind of hurt my feelings.”
“I felt bad and I don’t say that often,” he continued. “Bret was a hero of mine when I was growing up and so to have someone like that criticize you and your work and your work ethic and your empathy towards other people, that really is painful. So, I expressed that to him and I don’t think he knew that I had that feeling towards him, I don’t think he knew I cared about him that way and it hit him in a spot and he apologized and we have been friends since then and we’ve had good conversations. I’m happy we did do that as Bret is still someone I look up to to this day.”