WrestleZone Radio is proud to present the latest episode of The Sharpshooter Show w/ Bret “The Hitman” Hart!
It also features WrestleZone Daily’s host Nick Hausman as the co-host and commentary from Bret’s sons Blade & Dallas.
This episode is made possible by The Sharpshooter Show’s official sponsors Mad River Bar & Grille, Shoe City & Sharpshooter Funding.
In this post you will find a transcribed quotes from Bret & his guest San Francisco 49er’s Torrey Smith regarding:
- Why pro football players become pro wrestlers
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You can listen to Torrey’s appearance on The Sharpshooter Show starting at the 42:39 minute mark in the embedded audio player below:
TS: I played with Mojo Rawley in Maryland. I think it’s that guys that first of all are competative. A lot of guys are in great shape. To be honest with you, every kid watched wrestling growing up. To be able to do that and compete in it and have that kind of personality and showmanship to some guys it just opens them up to a side that they didn’t know they had. There’s some guys who made the transition and you wouldn’t say they were the loudest or most social guys. Knowing Mojo personally I know he’s always been that guy. He really is very energetic in everything he does and it’s exciting to watch guys make the transition.
BH: All my life there’s been football players that got in to wrestling. Like Ernie Ladd and even Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, my partner for all those years, he played with the Raiders. I think what it is is that football is so intense. It really is so intense. Wrestling is a nice sideline to it. I know a lot of football players that wrestled in the off season. In the old days they would have an off season and then they would go back and do the wrestling. It was a good way to stay in shape while they weren’t playing. I think wrestling is, for a lot of athletes, not just football players, a lot of really good athletes, whether or it’s injuries or whatever it becomes, “What do you do after?” I know a lot of powerlifters and weight lifters and amateur wrestlers. They start to go in to pro wrestling because they can’t go full steam. Take Kurt Angle, an Olympic wrestler, after awhile it’s like, “What’s a nice sideline to it?” Pro wrestling is a great way to see the world and make a lot of money… or some decent money. If you are in the middle of it. You can stay in shape and have a lot of fun. For a lot of guys it’s 100 mph on the football field going full blast. The intensity of all that. You go from being a little kid and then through college and then the pros. After awhile it kind of burns you out. For a lot of ex-football players wrestling is a perfect sidebar to it all.
Related: Bret Hart Appearing For Dreamwave In Chicago On April 9th
Some of the topics discussed during the opening “Sharpshooter With Bret Hart” discussion portion of the show include:
- Bret’s actual whereabouts during WWE Roadblock not being what WWE reported
- Fans that are upset that Natalya is not pushed more prominently in the WWE Divas division
- The chemistry between Ric Flair & Charlotte
- Another WWE Diva he sees big things in store for
- Whether or not Brock Lesnar has lost any luster now that he has occasional matches with mid-card talent
- Mick Foley passing the hardcore torch to Dean Ambrose
- The decision to have Triple H beat fan favorite wrestlers like Dean Ambrose & Dolph Ziggler to get heated up for WrestleMania 32
- The Undertaker’s storyline with Vince & Shane McMahon
- If Kurt Angle getting one more run in WWE is a good idea
- More…
Once the news is out of the way Bret dives in to his archives and picks a classic match to feature in this week’s Hit Of The Week. This week Bret has picked his Summerslam 1993 matches against Doink the Clown & Jerry Lawler to take a look back at. Taking fans behind the scenes to talk about:
- Bret and Jerry Lawler’s real life relationship
- His respect for Lawler as a heel
- How great Matt Bourne was as Doink the Clown
- A prank that Bret, Owen & Pat Patterson played on Bruce Hart just before the match
- How physical Jerry Lawler was when he would use weapons in the ring
- Bret refusing to release the Sharpshooter on Jerry Lawler for over five minutes
- More…
After flashing back to 1993 Bret then welcomes to the show his special guest San Francisco 49er’s wide receiver Torrey Smith. Torrey chats candidly with Bret about:
- His favorite Bret Hart memory as a kid
- Why there have been so many pro football players that have become pro wrestlers
- If Torrey thinks the NFL should have more pro wrestling styled showmanship
- How WWE & the NFL have dealt with the issue of concussions
- Torrey & Bret’s friendship and respect for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- Torrey’s work with The Torrey Smith Foundation & Donor’s Choose
- More…
This episode also features Bret, Blade & Dallas giving their “4 Out Of 10” award of the week as well as answering questions from the #AskTheHitman mailbag.
You can listen to the full archives from WrestleZone Radio in the embedded audio player below:
