Pro-wrestling legend Bret Hart has been more than willing to speak his mind in recent years, and his latest WWE rant comes after superstar and now former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor was injured at SummerSlam.
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The injury, a dislocated shoulder, came in a match between Balor and Seth Rollins. It occurred in a spot where Rollins attempted to throw Balor into the ringside barricade, but the throw came up just a bit short, meaning Balor's right arm got caught by the top of the barricade.
Balor popped his shoulder back in on the spot and continued the rest of the match.
The injury sparked a reaction from Hart, who is apparently tired of seeing these reckless injuries occur between wrestlers that he thinks should know better.
"I take no great pleasure in saying 'I told you so,' but if you're a professional wrestler and you keep hurting opponents and or yourself, clearly you're doing it wrong," Hart said in a statement. "I wrestled a very realistic and physical style and not once in 23 yrs did I ever hurt one opponent ever."
Hart has shown previous concern over Seth Rollins after he injured John Cena and Sting in the span of a couple of months last year.
"That knee in the face that he gave to John Cena was unprofessional, at best," Hart said in an interview last year. "It's really strange that a guy like Rollins, who I have a lot of respect for, would be that reckless with that knee in the face. If someone kneed me in the face like that, I would have met him in the back dressing room with a baseball bat. There's just no excuse for it."
Hart takes great pride in never injurying his opponents, and it is clear that he is fed up with some of pro-wrestling's over-the-top risky moves. Rollins is considered one of the best workers in the business, and Hart thinks that the WWE takes that reputation too seriously to confront Rollins on some of his high-risk moves.
"I saw this coming, if anything WWE producers are negligent for not speaking up about it to him already, instead they're probably gushing with joy, slapping him on the back telling him 'great job!'"
Eventually, Hart made a rather pointed statement on the pro-wrestling business in general.
"It's not real, it's only supposed to look real, wrestlers are not crash test dummies!"
Hart was forced to retire back in 2000 after an errant kick from Bill Goldberg left him with a severe concussion. It makes sense that he would be passionate about this issue, and for the most part, he's right; wrestling is always going to be dangerous, but moves like the one given to Balor more dangerous due to their execution. Both wrestlers have obstructed views when they are trying to execute the move, and that can be a recipe for disaster.
Balor will likely miss six months after undergoing surgery to repair the injured shoulder. Rollins, meanwhile, is in next week's Fatal Four-Way match for the vacant Universal title.
[H/T Wrestling Observer]
