Eric Bischoff On How He Wanted Bret Hart To Leave WWE In 1997

Eric Bischoff has said he did not want Bret 'Hitman' Hart to join WCW with the WWF Championship, after leaving McMahon's company in November 1997.

Speaking on his '83 weeks podcast', Bischoff recalled a phone call where he told Hart not to worry about the title, and that he felt Bret should have chosen to lose at that year's Survivor Series.

He said: "What I wanted Bret to do is just pass the belt on. Do the right thing. Shake Vince McMahon's hand. Leave on good terms. The business; the audience would have had more respect for him than to hold on to the belt because he didn't want to lose in Montreal."

Despite plans for Bret to retain the title and vacate it on RAW, The Hitman lost via submission to Shawn Michaels despite never tapping, in the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

Bischoff said how he did not care about seeing Bret with the WWF Championship at the time, because he was coming to WCW. 

"The fans were sophisticated enough to know that if he lost a match it wasn't going to diminish who Bret Hart was. That logic from talent never made any sense to me. That is when you get sucked into the work where you work yourself," he said. 

Despite being in WCW from 1997-2000, many found Hart's run in the company to be lacklustre, with the Hitman saying his steel plate incident with Goldberg, and his Owen Hart tribute match to be his two worthwhile moments. 

"Bret came in rather abruptly," Bischoff told listeners. "We didn't have a long time to really lay out in a thoughtful way where we can balance different options and really creatively do the best job that we can do."