As we previously reported here on eWn, six documentaries were removed from the WWE Network involving specific match footage from Bret “Hitman” Hart and his father’s promotion, Stampede Wrestling. Footage from Stampede Wrestling is owned exclusively to Bret Hart and therefore, this is the primary reason as to why these documentaries were removed from the network.
Also Check Out: Bret “Hitman” Hart Documentaries Pulled From WWE Network
In a report provided by the WON, when WWE did the 2005 DVD “Bret Hart – The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be”, Bret Hart gave them rights to use his Stampede footage for that documentary. WWE would have to negotiate any other footage through him and they haven’t made a deal for any other project with that footage.
Footage was also used in the “Hart and Soul: Hart Family Anthology” that came out in 2010 and WWE included footage of Bret in Stampede Wrestling without asking him. There was a dispute, but Bret didn’t seem to mind it at the time, as he felt the DVD would be beneficial for Natalya, Tyson Kidd and Davey Boy Smith Jr..
WWE then used it for another documentary about Bret Hart. Hart called Mark Carrano to get it removed. Carrano said that WWE owned the footage and he should contact legal. Hart sent a text to Vince McMahon. Vince apologized to Bret over the incident and immediately had it taken down.
This week had a similar situation. Someone told Hart they saw a match of him vs. Dynamite Kid from Stampede on the Network. This caused Hart to text McMahon and Triple H. They said they would take it down as soon as possible and did so. While they had the rights to the footage for the 2005 documentary, it’s possible that they only had permission to use it for the DVD and not to stream on the WWE Network.
