by Murray Speer 
OnlineOnslaught.com Guest Recapper

First segment, 8 minutes

Topic: recovery from the stroke.  Nothing much interesting here.  The day of the stroke Bret had a lunch date with Canadian Olympic Wrestling Champion Daniel Igali and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.  Bret also explained that his condition and body building hindered the first part of his recovery, because of the extra mass he had to carry around, but it helped with the second half of the recovery time.

Second segment, 5 minutes

Topic:  Change in perspective due to the stroke?  Bret told a story about the first time he winked his left eye, and how significant that was to him. He said that he had to work to avoid bitterness about his condition.  Hard feelings that he had been carrying around became less important.  People who called him soon after the stroke included Walter Gretzky, Roddy Piper, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Edge, a "lot of Canadian wrestlers", and Undertaker. Bret theorizes that there was a stigma around calling him because of the bitterness with which he left television and the risk of getting in trouble with management for calling him.

Topic:  Mike asked whether his family, divided by Owen's death, had rebonded around Bret's illness.  The answer was no, as Bret forbade some family members from visiting his bedside.  These included his sisters Diana Hart Smith and Ellie Neidhart, who he blames for being more concerned about employment for their husbands than about Owen's death.

Third segment, 5 minutes

Topic:  Vince McMahon.  Does Bret hate Vince?  Bret says:  "Hate's a big word" and "I don't forgive him."  He accuses Vince of dishonest and unfair practices.  Vince called him in the hospital, and they discussed once again Bret's access to his photo and video archives.  Bret referred to this as Vince extending an olive branch.  Bret has decided to let go of the bitterness attached to the past.  He was upset that there was no resolution or explanation for Owen's death.  He wants the bitterness gone because he supports his nephews' efforts as pro wrestlers.  He steers his kids away from wrestling careers, but implied that he wouldn't necessarily be heartbroken if they took it up.

Fourth segment, 5 minutes

Topic:  Bret's meeting with Vince in Florida.  Bret's sisters had made it out as if he was the driving force behind Martha's lawsuit, but Bret denies this.  He thinks Vince believed that Bret was "behind" the lawsuit.  He suggested that the death of his brother overrode his hard feelings from Montreal '97.  Bret wants peace with Vince.  They talked about doing a greatest matches DVD and similar projects.  Bret claims that there is "not a chance" of him making a WWE appearance.  He wants to be "remembered for his contribution".

Topic:  Curt Hennig.  Bret was upset by news of Curt's death.  He considers Curt one of his five best friends in the industry.  Six months ago, he was asked which wrestler he would choose to work a major match with, if he had his choice, and he answered Curt Hennig.  He began to tell the story of his Summerslam IC title match with Curt -- that Curt wrestled with an injured back and that not many guys would have gone through what Curt went through in that match, putting Bret over.  Mike interrupted Bret, saying that time was up.

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