Bret Hart recently appeared as one of the guests on this week’s edition of WWE’s The Bump for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.

During his appearance on the popular weekly WWE digital series, “The Hitman” reflected on asking Vince McMahon why he hadn’t signed Steve Austin from WCW during the mid-1990s, how the man who would go on to become “Stone Cold” would ultimately sign with the company soon after that conversation and more.

Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On asking Vince McMahon why he Steve Austin hadn’t been signed: “Well, the truth of it is, and I’ve said this a few times, is that I thought Steve was somebody to be reckoned with before he ever got to WWE. I saw him — He was in WCW and I think he even went to ECW for a time, and I remember when he jumped from WCW and he ended up in ECW, I actually remember going into Vince’s office and going, ‘Why didn’t they get this guy? Why didn’t somebody grab him and bring him in here? He’s too good a guy to end up in — He’s working ECW. Why don’t we look into getting him.’”

On how Austin was signed shortly after their conversation: “I remember having this conversation with Vince about how I thought he’d be really good for me to wrestle and work with and a week later he was sitting in the dressing room. They went out and got him and I don’t know what they did to get him from ECW or get him out of that contract or if he was free to go, but that’s when he started.”

Check out the complete interview at YouTube.com. H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes.

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