Last month, a bombshell lawsuit was filed which saw former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon accused of a long list of heinous sexual assault allegations. Even putting those claims aside, text messages sent by the billionaire made for harrowing reading.
WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has plenty of reasons to hate McMahon. He never paid his family the $1 million he promised for their wrestling promotion and then there's the matter of both the "Montreal Screwjob" and Owen Hart's avoidable death.
The Hitman has forgiven Vince in recent years but didn't mince his words when asked about the accusations by Slate.
"I’m going to speak my truth," he told the site. "I’m not worried about Vince’s feelings. He’s never cared about mine. I don’t have any problem with everybody kicking his head around the parking lot. I’m OK with the truth coming out."
"When you get that vision in your head, you go, ‘That’s messed up,'" he said of the lawsuit's gorier details. "It’s too sick and disgusting to really imagine." Asked about the texts, Hart simply responded, "They sound like Vince."
He continued by saying, "I don’t think this is the only incident of this kind of predatory behavior. I think you’ll find that it’s everywhere in [WWE]. It’s kind of like The Godfather: You never know when a guy like Vince will be your enemy again over something you say or do."
"He’s the Teflon guy," Hart noted. "You just can’t seem to get anything on him. He’s just too powerful, got too much money."
As for what he thinks this means for McMahon's legacy in the pro wrestling sphere, he drew some interesting comparisons with other nefarious personalities. "It’s like Jeffrey Dahmer, Harvey Weinstein, or Jeffrey Epstein: Vince will be a joke. He’ll be used for humor, and you’ll shake your head at the shock value of some joke about, ‘What did Vince McMahon do?’ He’ll always be associated with this story, especially as it gets bigger and bigger and bigger."
"I always had a respect for him. Now it’s tainted. I’m embarrassed that I thought so highly of him."
"I think, despite all of the issues I ever had with Vince, I know, deep down, I always respected him; but now, knowing what kind of a weirdo he became, I have absolutely zero respect for him," Hart concluded. "I do not think I could ever shake his hand if he extended it. Too creepy."
That seems to be the prevailing opinion right now and, while McMahon has vowed to clear his name, it's likely he will never again be associated with WWE - the company he essentially created - in the TKO Holdings era.
What do you think about Hart's assessment? Let us know in the comments section.