During the Monday Night Wars, competition was truly fierce between WWE and WCW.
In the 1990s, WCW and WWE were locked in a ratings wars on Monday nights and between 1996 and 1998, WCW were the victors for 83 successive weeks.
During this time, plenty of superstars appeared for both sides. For the most part, though, it was WCW who parted with major cash to secure some top names from WWE.
That included names from yesteryear like Macho Man Randy Savage and many others, but they also scooped up present day main eventers like Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and in 1997, Bret Hart.
The Hitman was a major get for WCW and in 1997, he was still well in his prime. His WWE contract had come up and WCW had made the Canadian grappler an offer that WWE, financially, couldn't match.
Still, Hart would have stayed with the company had Vince McMahon - a man who had been like a father-figure until this point - had major plans for Hart. But, he didn't.
With the Attitude Era in full swing, McMahon saw the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock leading the company into the next millennium and that left Hart was virtually no choice but to accept WCW's offer.
Appearing on WWE Backstage this week, Hart explained that he wished he never joined WCW.
“I’m sorry that I ever went there for a lot of reasons ... including Goldberg’s kick in the head. Bill was one of those kind of guys that, the more he was wrestling, the more total disregard for the safety of the wrestlers he was working with. It didn’t matter.
"I remember they’d pat him on the back and tell him what a great job he did. ... I remember telling Bill before I worked with him, ‘Whatever you do, don’t hurt me.’ It’s like 10 minutes later, he kicks me as hard as he can in the head. He didn’t know any better.
“And the people that told him how great he was, they didn’t do anybody any service either by not educating him and telling him we’re not crash test dummies. You actually have to protect the guy you’re working with.”
The career-killing kick from Goldberg occurred only about two years into Bret's WCW run and brought his career to a close.
WCW didn't use The Hitman how they should or could have and were more attracted to the name than anything else.
Of course, Hart's exit from WWE would be acrimonious, too. The Montreal Screwjob went down at Survivor Series in 1997 as McMahon didn't want Hart joining WCW while still being WWE champion.
In 1999 and 2000, WWE signed names like Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero from WCW. Talent that was under-utilised that would go on to be major stars with WWE.
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