This past Monday night's (May 27, 2013) episode of Raw was held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and featured an "Appreciation Night" for legendary former company flag-bearer Bret Hart. He made a few appearances backstage in pre-tapes with the likes of Team Hell No and Curtis Axel as part of the live broadcast but it was during the dark segment after USA went off the air that he got his moment under the lights.
And it was there that he got himself into trouble.
Indeed, "The Hitman" was being celebrated by many employees of WWE, including Pat Patterson, well known within the industry for being gay. At one point, Patterson bent down to salute Hart and Bret joked that he "gets nervous" any time Patterson gets down on his knees.
While there has been no real controversy surrounding the incident -- obviously, as it happened on Monday and he's just now apologizing on Friday -- Hart still felt the need to go on Twitter today and apologize for his comments:
I sincerely apologize to anyone that was in any way offended by my in-ring joke to Pat Patterson on Monday, especially to Pat ...
— Bret Hart (@BretHart) May 31, 2013
...whom I hold in the highest regard. I was only trying to take some of the edge off an emotionally challenging moment and I failed.
— Bret Hart (@BretHart) May 31, 2013
The comment does not in any way reflect my feelings toward the gay and lesbian community. B
— Bret Hart (@BretHart) May 31, 2013
The fact that Hart and Patterson are friends has taken the edge off what could have been a bad situation. It was just a joke between buddies, after all, though some may take offense to it, hence the apology.
Good enough for you?