Bret Hart Reacts to Vince McMahon's Retirement Announcement
Bret Hart was the latest WWE legend to address Vince McMahon's sudden departure as he gave an interview with Bill Apter while at The Gathering 3. Hart's long history with Vince is incredibly well-documented, but "The Hitman" didn't attempt to gloat while discussing his former boss' impact on the pro wrestling industry. McMahon announced his retirement back on July 22 after accusations of him paying millions of dollars to former employees to keep alleged sexual misconduct allegations quiet were made public and caught the attention of the SEC and federal prosecutors. WWE announced this week that it had discovered another $5 million in unrecorded payments connected to McMahon.
"Like everybody else, I'm mostly just kinda surprised. I don't think anybody's ever made as big a footprint as Vince McMahon," Hart said. "I feel kinda sad about it, actually. I know people probably think I would be gloating or happy to see him go through what he's going (through), but I don't. I feel bad that it happened, or whatever's happened. I think his loss or his absence from the business will be sorely missed."
With McMahon gone, Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan have been named the Co-CEOs while Paul "Triple H" Levesque has taken over as Head of Creative. "The Game" spoke with the press for the first time after McMahon's departure during SummerSlam weekend.
"There are a massive pair of shoes to fill that I'm trying in some way to step into. But I do not dream for one second that I can fill those shoes by myself. It's going to take a lot of us, it's going to take a team, it's going to take everybody here to fill those shoes and continue this in, but we will," Levesque said.
"I want ideas from everybody," he later added. "I want thoughts from everybody. To me, this is inclusive. That goes for the talent — when I say it's going to take all of us, it's going to take all of us. And I want that. Paul [Heyman] is one of the best promos in the history of this business. So who better? When I asked him to be a part of this (the tryouts in Nashville), he was thrilled... Who better to come here and talk about that skill? Paul has the gift of gab, always has. Who better to come here and motivate these kids?"