Bret "The Hitman" Hart Returns to WWE: A Standoff 12 Years in the Making

“Bret Hart screwed Bret Hart.”

These were the words from WWE chairman Vince McMahon that have echoed around the souls of Bret “The Hitman” Hart fans for a dozen years.

On the first Monday Night Raw of the decade, the five-time WWE champion finally returned to the limelight of a WWE ring.

I had goosebumps. My heart was pounding. One of my idols from my childhood was back.

Scripted or not, this was must-watch TV, and it meant much more to me than the side issue of a ratings battle with TNA.

Dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, knee-length, cut-off jeans, and dark shades, the Hitman entered the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio, to rapturous applause and a remix of his walk-on music from the ‘90s.

“Well, I guess hell froze over,” the Hall-of-Famer said as he glanced around the sold out arena.

The Hitman said it’s an amazing feeling to be back in the ring and admitted he’s been trying to come back for many years.

Bret blamed McMahon for not being back sooner, and he said he’s grateful to be back and to have the chance to talk to the WWE Universe.

“Thank you for never letting me be forgotten," he said. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for carrying me in your heart for all these years. Never to be forgotten.”

It took the Hitman just seven minutes to call out Shawn Michaels. It took Michaels less than two to tell him he deserved everything he got.

At the venue where Bret won the 1993 King of the Ring, the Heartbreak Kid said the Hitman disrespected both him and the business and admitted that he had a hand in the screwjob at Survivor Series some 12 years ago.

As the chants of “you screwed Bret” rang out, the Hitman held out his arm and offered to bury the hatchet, starting with a handshake and ending with a hug.

For now, at least, the animosity between them is a thing of the past.

Later in the show, Bret refused Chris Jericho's offer to avenge the infamous night in Quebec. He said he wanted no part in reliving Montreal or screwing Michaels in his upcoming tag-team title defense, and he told Y2J he was honest about wanting peace.

Bret said he didn't want to be a hypocrite like Jericho, the man who cried the loudest in Stu Hart's basement all those years ago.

But the main storyline of the night came, predictably, at the end of the show.

McMahon said he had no need to call Bret out, that as Michaels and Bret had drawn a line under the incident, so had he.

“The Montreal incident is basically over,” McMahon said.

In his power pinstripe suit, McMahon asked Bret to be the better man.

He said he believed Bret screwed himself, that he will never forget Bret spitting in his face or sucker-punching him, and that he’ll never forget him disrespecting him on the night he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

He asked him to say he was sorry.

In a move to make peace, the chairman told Bret he knew he was the future of the company, and he also offered to put Stu Hart in the WWE Hall of Fame.

And in an unexpected move, McMahon told Bret, “I would like to thank you for being the best there is. I would like to thank you for being the best there was. And I would like to thank you for being the best there ever will be.”

As the two shook hands and saluted all four sides of the ring, the casual viewer, the youngsters who never grew up watching the Hitman, probably felt the night had been anti-climactic.

But as the ghosts of Nov. 9, 1997, were being put to rest, McMahon punted Bret in the groin, dropping him to the mat as the show went off the air.

My jaw hit the ground as quickly as Bret did.

Naive or not, I expected closure. Instead, I felt my hand across my mouth.

With WrestleMania just three short months away, and on a night where personal differences were set to be put to rest, this feud looks anything but settled.