News & Notes: Bret Hart / Simpsons Story, Asuka “Undefeated” Shirt

Bret Hart Simpsons Story

Bret Hart was interviewed by Comic Book Resources and told a story about his appearance on the Simpsons back in the 90s. He said that he was originally supposed to voice a fictitious wrestler called “The Mad Russian,” but when the Simpsons producers found out that he was a big star, they included his likeness instead. Bret claims that the voice used in the episode was supposed to be for the “Mad Russian” (even though he isn’t speaking in a Russian accent, so I don’t know).

Hofer: Why did your appearance on The Simpsons sound so, well, weird?

Hart: They approached me about doing a voice as a wrestler, but not Bret Hart. It was the Mad Russian or something. I said, “I don’t want to be the Mad Russian, I want to be Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart!” We went back and forth for a while and they eventually said, very politely, “This is the way it’s written, take it or leave it.” I agreed, and flew down to FOX Studios. They had blocked off this huge chunk of time for my three lines, and were saying things like, “We need you more mad,” “Okay, not quite that mad!” I did my lines about 100 times in two minutes! I went outside to wait for my limo that had gone to get gas, and I signed autographs and took pictures for 45 minutes. The guy that was in charge of my episode came up to me and said, “I had no idea you were this big of a star! If we haven’t already started the artwork, we’re going to draw you in as yourself.” That’s why the voice doesn’t really sound like me, because I thought I was playing a crazy Russian!

Asuka “Undefeated” Shirt

In celebration of Asuka beating Goldberg’s “undefeated streak,” WWE is now pretty much fully acknowledging the record with a new Undefeated” shirt for Asuka on WWEshop.com.