The day was last Monday, August 15th, 2005. The place was Montreal. HBK was in the ring, cutting a promo for his match with Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam 2005. HBK is cutting on the people of Montreal, and Bret Hart, playing on the people of Montreal's love of Bret, and their hatred of HBK, trying to generate heel heat going into SummerSlam. Chants of "You screwed Bret", and "We want Bret" constantly rise up from the crowd. HBK, being a master of the mic, allows it to happen, and encourages it to happen. Before I go to the next part of this article, let me explain something about myself. I don't really consider myself a mark. I have been exposed to the business since Angelo Poffo ran ICW out of Lexington, KY during the 70's. I rarely get really pumped about wrestling, but I love it all the same.

HOWEVER, during HBK's promo, Bret Hart's intro music hits, and the fans in Montreal go crazy in a way I have never seen before. Me too. I had my surround sound speakers turned up for the show, and I found myself reaching for the remote to turn it down. The crowd was that loud. On television. I could only imagine how it would have felt to be in the audience when it occurred. It was the loudest crowd reaction I have ever heard in my life.

I jumped up from my couch, and scream at the top of my lungs. "Oh my God, it's Bret! Yeeeaaahh!!!" I grab my wrestling-loving four year old son in a bear hug, and run up to stand in front of my television, already wishing I had decided to tape this edition of RAW.

I wait. And I wait. And I wait.

No Bret.

I have never been so disappointed with a wrestling show in my life.

The thing that made this so difficult to accept, was that Bret had inked a deal with WWE to pump a Bret Hart DVD just days before. I guess in the back of our minds, we all just wanted him to appear one more time, even if is health kept him from actually wrestling. And a lot of us thought/think that this will give Bret the chance to do it.

Bret has said in the past that he will never get involved in another wrestling storyline. And I guess we all need to respect and admire his tenacity to stick to his word, no matter how much money is tossed his way. Most guys today would put their word on a back shelf for the right amount of money, but it seems Bret will not do that. I respect that, no matter how much I want to see him walk down the ramp, even if it is just to put HBK in the sharpshooter while he tries to cut a promo.

Don't misunderstand the title of this article. I am not saying that Bret is nothing, I am saying that the pop was for something that didn't' happen.

I hate to admit this, but I so much wanted to see Bret again, that I even thought that maybe Bret would answer the Masterlock challenge, and be the first person to break it.

So, though it is hard to accept by many, I now admit that we will not see Bret on WWE again.

Also, the hardest part of the whole ordeal was when my four-year-old asked me why I was so excited, and I had to look at him and say, "Nothing, Bud, daddy's just a dummy."

by Jay Ingram ..