WWE News: Bret Hart Claims He Risked Career By Cutting Stone Cold Steve Austin At WrestleMania 13
Gigging or Blading are two out-of-date terms in WWE today. This is the art of cutting during a match in certain areas of the face to cause blood to flow down the face. This was done years ago during a match to make the match look far more intense and to be far more dramatic. Sometimes it was overdone, such as in almost every Ric Flair match. However, in the right time, this could lead to an amazing match, with blood being present to add drama that would seal it up as the best match of a certain event. One of the most memorable matches in WWE history had a ton of blood, and to this day every, wrestling fan feels it helped the match look amazing.
The match was “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13. To many, this is one of if not THE best WrestleMania match of all time. The match has stood the test of time, and many have probably checked it out since getting the WWE Network.
However, the match almost didn’t look like it did. Bret Hart claimed this past week in an interview with the Leicester Football Club in Leicester, England, that he risked his career a bit in his WrestleMania 13 match with Austin.
He and Austin contemplated the idea of bringing blading into the match, but the WWE rule at the time was to not do this. Like today, WWE had a policy at the time of cutting in a match as issues from it had happened to past talent. Defying the rules, Austin and Hart decided they wanted to do it and we saw what we saw. Hart claims that he hid the blade in his upper lip.
Austin had never cut himself during a match, so he trusted Hart to do the cut for him. This could be why the blood flowed as heavy as it did.
Hilariously, when the time came during the match to do the cut, Hart spat the blade out into the mat. Austin then told Hart, “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Hart replied with, “It’s too late!”
Hart insisted that the cut was “just a little cat scratch,” which makes many wonder about how bad Canadian cats scratch people.
Obviously as we know, the match ended up being amazing. The wrestling quality alone was fantastic, and it had everything you could want. Most memorably, Austin refusing to tap out to Hart’s sharpshooter with blood pouring down his face. Eventually leading to Austin passing out and Hart winning. The match put Austin on the map even more than he already was, and Hart came out looking like a true “Hitman.”
WWE Chairman Vince McMahon did not end up firing Hart. As we know the whole Montreal Screwjob after Hart was already leaving for WCW was how Hart left.
Don’t expect this to be something that happens in WWE today. WWE is PG now and blood only happens when people are cut open “the hard way,” meaning by accident. Hart felt back then that his career was in jeopardy and still went through with the idea. While it turned out for the best, and we cannot think of that match without blood now, he still felt threatened that he’d get fired. If Bret Hart can think this back in the 90s, imagine what today would hold for someone? Most feel McMahon would only fine someone, but you never really know what policy rules get what penalty. That said, don’t expect rules to be violated today.
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