Ken Shamrock Speaks About Advice Bret Hart Gave Him And His Feud With Vader

Below are highlights taken from a recent interview between former WWE IC Champion Ken Shamrock and Jeffrey Harris with the 411 Wrestling Interviews podcast, where they discussed his transitioning MMA to wrestling, advice from Bret The Hitman Hart, and his first feud being with Vader.

Ken Shamrock on who he credits for helping him quickly transition from MMA to wrestling: “Well I think it was just being able to have an ear and a person to be able talk to. And for me, I had a lot of guys that I was friends with, and being able to just kind of talk different things out. I know being around Steve Blackman, and Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg. I mean, there was just so many different guys that I was around. But I would say the one guy when I first started out and went back into pro wrestling, and I got to talk [to] was Bret Hart. And his psychology that he laid out for me was just not to try to be something I’m not. They brought me in because I am who I am. And he said, ‘You’re keeping your same name, you’re the world’s most dangerous man. When you’re getting into the pro wrestling ring, that’s who you are. Do everything you do when fighting, but do it in the pro wrestling ring.’ And I thought to myself, ‘Well wow, that’s genius.’ It’s like, I don’t have to change, I got the same character, this is who I am. And so having that person there to say ‘Listen, just be you, that’s why they brought you here.'”

Ken Shamrock on facing Vader in his first feud: “For me, being able to go in there and have it against Vader, because me and Vader beat the crap out of each other. But I literally thought that’s how it’s supposed to be. When I had that match, I thought ‘Okay, it’s kind of like sparring, right? Where you’re not trying to knock anybody out, but you’re hitting them and making sure they know you’re there.’ So when I had the match with Vader, I thought it was a great match. And I remember going back to the locker room and people are looking at me. One of them said, ‘Man, are you okay?’ And then asking Vader, ‘Dude, are you okay?’ And I thought to myself, I go, ‘What are they talking about?’ And they literally thought when me and Vader were in the ring, that we went after one another. And I laughed, and I was like, ‘What are they talking about?’ And they thought for real, when he hit me and did all those things that Vader was trying to hurt me, or I was trying to hurt Vader. And I thought to myself, ‘Well, I guess we did well?’ Because they believed it! [laughs]”