Much like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart may have caused Seth Rollins to lose his smile.
"The Architect" recently opened up about the WWE Hall of Famer's comments about him in which the "Excellence of Execution" called Rollins unsafe and reckless in the ring.
Rollins broke John Cena's nose with an errant knee on an episode of "Monday Night RAW" last July, which led to Hart's comments about him. Rollins also was involved in Sting's final match in which "The Vigilante" injured his neck during a Buckle Bomb, eventually leading to his retirement.
The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion recently discussed Hart's critical comments.
"Bret Hart had some comments about me and how safe I am in the ring because of John's nose, and then, me getting hurt while I was the champion and just said that you couldn't do that because people relied on you as a top guy," Rollins said on 'Talk is Jericho' (via WrestlingInc). "And that hurt my feelings. And I haven't seen Bret since then, but, I mean, I know he comes from a different era when he worked through a lot of stuff, but, man, that sucked.
"That hurt my feelings. I'm like, 'dude, I idolized you. You were one of the guys who, at 6'1" [and] 230 [pounds], you were a guy who I was like, 'I can do that because Bret Hart does it'', so, like, for him to [say that]. He [has] got to know how hard I'm working every night for him to kind of say that in an interview."
Hart has never been shy when it comes to being critical about the WWE and any Superstar or executive in it, and that includes Triple H. The five-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion appeared at Payback on May 1 alongside his niece Natalya, but Rollins wasn't there due to him still waiting to be cleared from his knee injury.
After Rollins was hurt during the WWE's European tour last November in a match with Kane, he was forced to forfeit the WWE Championship. Hart was asked to compare Rollins and his former nemesis "HBK" when he began speaking negatively about the former.
"Shawn was always really safe. He was always a really safe worker, but I don't know about Seth Rollins," Hart told Sports Illustrated in November. "That knee in the face that he gave to John Cena was unprofessional, at best. It's really strange that a guy like Rollins, who I have a lot of respect for, would be that reckless with that knee in the face. If someone kneed me in the face like that, I would have met him in the back dressing room with a baseball bat. There's just no excuse for it."
Hart also wasn't happy about Rollins getting injured while representing the company as its champion.
"You can't hurt somebody like that under any circumstances," Hart said. "It's totally reckless. It can't happen. The other thing is, when you're the champion, you have a responsibility to not get hurt. You have to be spot on. I love that Rollins kept going on and finished the match, and that shows a lot of courage."
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