Jim Ross Recalls Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart’s Infamous Backstage Fight

AEW commentator Jim Ross gave his account of what he witnessed during Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels’ 1997 backstage brawl.

The conflict originally stemmed from the infamous ‘Sunny Days’ promo, in which Michaels implied the WWE Hall of Famer was having an affair with Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch.

Weeks later, Hart confronted Michaels in his dressing room, after having problems at home following HBK’s accusations. An argument ensued, which eventually led to a fight backstage between Shawn Michaels and The Hitman.

On his Grilling JR Podcast, Jim Ross recalled his first-hand memories of the brawl, noting that he got to the scene just before the end of the scrap. Ross talked about the late Pat Patterson getting physical with the two performers.

Here is the quote, courtesy of WrestlingHeadlines.Com:

“I got there about 30 seconds after it ended. [Pat] Patterson was deeply involved in it. Patterson loved those two guys like sons. Bret with his great heritage and Canadian legacy – Pat was especially drawn to it. Of course, Shawn was one of Pat’s favourites. He just loved his in-ring work and loved the things he could do. Pat would say, ‘Shawn Michaels is as close to Ray Stevens as anybody I’ve ever seen.’

I remember Shawn lost a lot of hair. Bret was ripping and tearing anything you could get a hold of. [Jerry] Lawler was in there, Patterson was in there. I think they took Patterson down. Patterson was trying to separate them and they all went tumbling down. But nobody really got hurt.

It wasn’t a fight that saw teeth knocked out and broken noses and eyes swelled shut and things of that nature. It didn’t get that to extreme, but it was intense. And then the aftermath – I think Shawn wanted to go home, and Bret still hung around.”

This fight took place on June 6 1997, six months prior to the ‘Montreal Screwjob’, when Mr. McMahon forced a title change between Hart and Michaels after The Hitman refused to drop the WWF Championship to The Heartbreak Kid.

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• jim ross
• bret hart
• shawn michaels
• wwe

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