Bret Hart Contacts Vince McMahon and WWE Attorney Over Stampede Wrestling Footage

It’s now confirmed that WWE Network pulled the recently added Stampede Wrestling episodes due to Bret Hart owning all footage that has him in it. As noted, Bret’s parents gave the rights to his content to him before they passed. This has been known for years, so it appears there was a miscommunication somewhere.

I heard Bret actually found out about the Stampede uploads on Twitter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Hart then called WWE’s Mark Carrano, who claimed to Hart that WWE owned all Stampede footage after a deal was made with Bruce and Ross Hart. Bret then contacted Vince McMahon, who said he would look into the matter first thing this past Monday. Hart also contacted WWE attorney Scott Amann and said there would be an issue if the footage wasn’t removed. Bret then sent a copy of the agreement between WWE and Ross Hart, which apparently says Bret owns the rights to all footage involving him.

Vince ordered that all Stampede footage be removed from the WWE Network until the situation is resolved. No word yet on when the episodes may be added back.