In a March 2023 interview with HNLive, Bret Hart shared his candid thoughts on the 2022 WWE Clash at the Castle PLE, which he attended. Hart expressed his disappointment, saying:

“It was embarrassing to sit in the front row and watch all the kids in the audience slap their leg as the wrestlers slap their leg in these kick spots where they pretend to kick each other with shin pads and slap sounds over and over. To realize that the crowd is in on it, the entire floor is clapping and slapping their leg. I’m going, ‘we used to try and make it real, what happened?’ Everybody is in on it. It’s a big giant charade.”

Responding to Hart's comments on WWE’s The Bump, Gunther offered his perspective:

“I think it’s obvious that, in-ring, he’s one of the best to ever do it. Very enjoyable. He was very popular in Germany and Austria. He was a big superstar there. I don’t forget, and that man sat at my match in Cardiff and was not mentioning nice things after that, so he’s not going to get anything nice with me. Too bad he’s not in the state anymore to settle this in the ring.”