Bret Hart was a perfectionist. He hated "phoney" wrestling. That's what separated him from the pack. His work looked REAL, and matches looked like an actual competition, which is pro wrestling is not easy to do.
From Bret's entrance to the entrance music... His image... Giving shades to the kids. The versatility with wrestlers of all sizes. His psychology in the ring.. his execution of moves!! ..him speaking on the mic like he truly means what he's saying! The iconic catch phrase... That's wtf made Bret Hart great in the ring. The main thing wrestling misses is the authentic heat Bret could generate with guys like Shawn and Austin. He is.. the best there ever will be. 😎❤️
I've always been a Bret Hart fan, but it has only been in recent years that I've gone back and noticed just how damn great Bret Hart was. In the ring, everything that Bret Hart did looked real and made sense. And on the mic, everything that Bret Hart said felt real and I could believe that he really believed everything that he was saying.
Bret's matches have got better as time has gone on. Not many people's matches do. In a hundred years people will still look at his psychology, timing, realism and technical ability in awe. The absolute fucking man.
@@TheLuscious I think his chest bumps and athleticism makes Bret a top 5 worker. I am more of a Owen fan but Bret and Owen should be in the "Top 10 (or top 5) in-ring Performers" list
@@kenterminateddq5311 Owen was great, but his classic matches were *against* Bret. The Hitman could pull a classic from anyone, even an ageing Jerry Lawler in '93.
I always remember Raven saying on his podcast about modern stiff wrestling. He said "literally anyone can hit a guy for real. My grandmother can hit a guy for real. Wrestling is about not hitting someone and convincing the crowd that you did." and they really just don't do that anymore. They either hit you for real and it looks real because it is, or they don't hit you and it looks fake as shit because it's too choreographed and no one sells.
I was 9 years old in 92 and one of the biggest WWF fans of all-time. Bret Hart, Rick Flair, The Undertaker and Mr. Perfect. Now, those were talented wrestlers. They made you believe what you were watching. To me, Bret is the greatest wrestler to ever live, hands down. He did everything perfect
As great a technician as Bret was, and as great at making sure his opponent never got hurt as he was.... Bret's truly most amazing ability, that set him above the rest was his ability to make his opponent look better. He got the best out of each of his opponents in ways no one else could. When you ask the big names that had big matches with Bret, they always tend to say their best matches were against Bret. He let the Undertaker show he could grapple and do technical stuff, he let Austin go over from big name to cult hero, he brought everything out of Shawn to take him from a Rocker to the HBK etc. It wasn't about hitting his own spots, it was about making sure to get his opponent his spots and working his own in with them.
I wasn't much of a Bret fan as a kid. I gravitated towards Austin and The Rock in the 90s but going back and watching Brets matches, he deserves that moniker of the best there is,was, and will ever be.
Bret was absolutely a perfectionist and to some may have “taken things a little too seriously”….but that is what made his matches so legendary. He knew how to adapt and it showed. He understood you had to wrestle a Diesel or Undertaker completely different way than a Shawn Michaels or Owen Hart. Bret did not just “wrestle matches”, he truly told the audience a story. He was one of those guys who knew where he was, every second he was in the ring. He didn’t just throw “spots” out there. Every little thing made sense. He is a well earned holder of the 🐐 title. 💖 🖤
I think Shawn summed it up perfectly with “Bret’s the greatest wrestler. I’m the greatest entertainer” Pretty accurate assessment. Bret put on the best matches ever. Shawn was an amazing entertainer. I’m a massive mark for stone cold Steve Austin and I’ll die on the hill of Steve’s best match ever was with Bret hart. The best angle of his career was that road to wrestlemania 14. I recently watched that again. January 1st to wrestlemania. By the time that match actually happened. I was in absolute raptures. I hated shawn, I hated Vince, it was a tidal wave of relief when that 3 count hit. And I’m talking watching it in 2020 not back in 1998. So for me bret did the best matches, shawn did the best angles. Although shawn also did amazing matches and bret did incredible angles.
@@troystaunton254 firstly all his matches with Bret were amazing including survivor series In your house takers revenge In your house Canadian stampede all were classics Austin doesn’t get enough credit for how good he was in the ring before spinal injury he was awesome & even after he was still pretty good not as good as Bret but who is Secondly the angle comment I disagree massively that angle was only good cause Austin was so over Also bringing Tyson in but you knew it was Austin’s time to be champ that’s why but The Austin v Hart feud is arguably the greatest feud in wrestling history had everything from amazing matches to great promos great stories n made us all think they really hated each other when they are good friends that’s a brilliant story & feud & that elevated stone cold massively in Austin’s own words there’s no Stone Cold without Bret Hart Lastly the thing about hbk saying he’s the best performer or sports entertainer that’s WWE propaganda they always push hbk n they just changed the wording when we were young it was always who’s the best wrestler never ever the best performer or sports entertainer that’s BS n brought in to justify Shawn being the man I’ll tell you this if you put Austin’s best matches with Hart & Wrestlemania 17 against The Rock I’ll put that against any of Michaels matches As brilliant as he was & not even gonna talk about Bret’s matches they are another level to anyone who’s wrestled A lot of the bad stuff in wrestling today is from wannabe hbk fanboys doing the high spots wanting to be entertainers no ring psychology like bret u see the wrestlers bret influenced like Benoit, Angle etc how much better their quality is Hart v Austin WM13 greatest match ever didn’t need any flips
Bret was a better wrestler but thats where it stops. HBK was better at every other thing else. Charisma, Angles, Controversies, Entertainment, Performance. HBK hooked you up with everything. With Bret you only got hooker to his work in the ring, and nothing else.
One thing I loved about Bret was the babyface v babyface matches he had. At some point in the match he would start playing the heel perfectly, but not go full on heel, and by the end of the match not only did he make his opponent look like a million bucks, the fans loved and appreciated him even more and still cheered. Wrestling is storytelling and in my opinion there was no greater storyteller in wrestling than Bret.
He's right about Bret Hart in the context of punches, kicks etc. I feel like modern wrestlers look good when it comes to flashy moves, but when it comes to the real basics...there is such a lack of believability. We all know, as adults, they aren't actually hitting each other in the face full force, but when you watched Bret Hart punch someone in a match...it sure as hell looked a lot more believable than what you see by todays standards. In fact, just watch Bret get thrown into a turnbuckle....compare that to what you see today. It's night and day. There was a legitimate visceral effect when Bret went chest first into the turnbuckle...you know he's not actually THAT hurt (although I'm positive that doesn't feel good), yet a part of me still winces when I see it. I wince harder watching that than I do most of the time seeing the high spots that are supposed to make you wince. There's a lack of believability. The old times are correct when they say it looks a lot more like a mutually rehearsed dance nowadays. Even though it's always been simulated and/or rehearsed...it didn't look like it. You COULD suspend disbelief back then...it's exceedingly difficult now. Even the way many modern wrestlers look...look at Mark Davis...come on bro. Dude looks like someone who sits around eating bon bons playing world of Warcraft. Jungle boy? Dude...come on. I'm not even for Roided freaks...Bret Hart looked solid..legitimate. Every aspect was more believable.
@@freebachelor5060 yeah I know they were sauced. Being on drugs and being in Scott Steiner/ultimate warrior level drugs are two different things. I didn’t say they were clean. I said they looked like wrestlers. I’d be willing to get you even omega is on testosterone.
@@freebachelor5060 He was on it in the early days and you can see it when you compare his look in the Hart Foundation to his singles run. He didn't like that it made him look puffy, so he didn't stick with it.
@@fluorophoremusic3679 A lot of that is what they call in bodybuilding "genetics." Whenever someone says they have good "genetics" that's code for "they respond really well to steroids." There is such a thing as non responders plus some guys don't know how to dose or diet properly. Steiner actually got SMALLER when he looked his biggest. Being cut makes you look bigger. He's even said that he went on a cut when he turned heel and it shows. Warrior is the same. Look at his bodybuilding pics and his matches in Memphis. He was WAAAAAY bigger than he ever was in the WWF or WCW. In both cases, they cut weight to look that big.
@@BluesRiffage Bullshit. He got bigger towards the end of his career and I'm sorry, but you don't carry that much muscle into your 40s naturally. In his early days he didn't know how to diet. Bret never really learned (or possibly cared) to diet as he always had a gut that was covered up by his singlet/tank top. Also, drug combos can change. Just because one drug makes you puffy doesn't mean you stop taking it. It just means either you change to something else or you change the dose. Either way, Bret Hart's traps are a dead giveaway that he was juiced. He just doesn't look roiled to the gills because 1) the public doesn't really know what is achievable naturally 2) he never really dieted down to reveal his mass & 3) He may not have responded well to the roids or even cared more than just enough to make him muscular without losing athleticism (totally valid). Again, see how Bret's physique IMPROVED over his career vs when Hulk Hogan got off the roids briefly and his arms looked stringy. That's what happens when you stop juicing. Same for Scott Hall. Got off the juice in WCW and shrank big time. Guys don't get bigger when they stop juicing. They get smaller.
For me bret hart was the most complete wrestler Passion for his sport, great work ethic, nice gimmick, super technician, nice brawler, never injured anyone, very professional, could make a great match with anyone (no matter how bad his opponent was) and gave everything 4 it
The Nature Boy is right about the punching and kicking. The old matches especially in territories outside of the WWF looked like fights instead of two guys performing routines (like the modern wrestling). Bret was great because his matches actually looked like fights. Bret's matches stood out in the WWF because they seemed like serious fights or contests. The guys today don't understand this and it is a major reason why the ratings are low. Bad promos is another reason the ratings are low. Most of the current guys in WWE and AEW don't have any charisma, they are bland, they don't stand out. The scripted promos in the WWE are boring and those segments are too long. Neither company will change and wrestling will continue to be a hollow shell of what it once was.
I think the biggest problem now is that there's too many high spots for high spot's sake and everything is executed in a way where nobody looks like they really want to take the bumps. It all looks too slow and telegraphed now, being too careful with landings. Back in the day, I'm not sure if anyone noticed or really appreciated the fact that those old schools guys of the past were really actually putting their bodies on the line and taking serious bumps just to make the impacts look as real as possible and give the fans what they wanted. It's a difficult one, because they wrestled through injuries and were on permanent pain killers, giving us that level of entertainment literally damaged their health and shortened their lives as a result. Given the choice in hindsight, would you have rathered the matches look less real and the wrestlers be in better personal shape? Unfortunately, you can't have both. Certain guys like Bret didn't really engage in too many highs spots, although he did have his fair share of injuries. Just depends on the style of the wrestlers. I can see arguments for both sides. It's difficult to blame the company for trying to be more careful, as the spotlight has been on wrestling for a while now with all the tragedies, so they have to be seen not to be putting the wrestlers wellbeing at risk by doing reckless spots with impunity. There is the side of wrestling that you don't see. I'm sure you'll probably be aware that Curt Hennig wrestled Bret at Summerslam '91 with a back injury and he did it out of respect for Bret, he wanted to put himself out for him to pass the torch. Learning that so many decades later made me feel bad looking back at the match now, because when I saw it at the time I simply didn't have a clue and it's actually unsettling to think that Curt effectively suffered all the way through that match and probably only got through it on meds. I loved that match at the time, but enjoy it less watching it now knowing what I know. I thank and appreciate all those guys for going through all that pain and shortening their lives to make my childhood as magical as it was. Those guys sacrificed so much and many of them died under such undignified circumstances, it's really sad.
@Longlostpuss The legendary matches didn't have a lot of crazy high spots or bumps. The crazy bumps started happening when guys like Mick Foley and ECW started doing them. I would rather have a matches like Magnum TA vs Tully Blanchard, Flair vs Steamboat, Funk vs Lawler, Savage vs Steamboat and Hart vs Austin than anything with extreme bumps. Tiger Mask vs Dynamite Kid took as far as it should have gone everything beyond that seems like nonsense to me.
@@MrBeavis84 Funny that you find current wrestlers bland and not charismatic and you find Bret Hart interesting.🤣🤣🤣🤣 Bret hart was the original bland vanilla wrestler who was a mid carder at best and nearly most wrestlers are inspired by boring Bret and Shawn were were mid card talent. The business insiders only ruined the business by burying guys like Hogan, Luger, Warrior, Goldberg etc because they know how the business works and have no respect for such wrestlers. The have more respect for boring wrestlers like Bret Hart, Shawn Michael's, Curt henning and even modern day charisma vacuums. The only reason Bret got the belt I'm 92 was because of the steroid scandal. They pushed Bret in 92 and Shawn later was like WWE pushing Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin as main eventers and Brock Lesnar and Goldberg as mid carders. No doubt wrestling today is all about supporting the niche. Wrestling is no longer mainstream and all low card wrestlers are main events like WWF post Hogan till Austin became the Champion. Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were low card wrestlers killed WWF in the 90s.
Bret was absolutely the excellence of execution. And lets not forget that he understood and practiced ring psychology. He could sell a match. In todays wrestling, the talking is the story. In yesterdays wrestling, the talking plus the action told the story. Every punch, kick, low blow, eye rake mattered. Today, everyone is Superman. No impact.
I like listening to opponents of sports people. I think their opinion matters most. I don’t see too many of Bret’s opponents saying anything bad about him. I think that is what makes the best there ever will be.
Many years ago (1980's and early 90's), I never respected or liked Flair. I have only come to appreciate and understand why he is a legend and a pioneer of wrestling. And when I go back to watch those Ricky the Dragon matches, (and I did watch them as a kid) I have mad respect for him and Ricky.
Bret's weak spot was his charisma on the stick, and even that went up a few notches toward the end. Those Canada V America promos were gold dust in the pan. He was just a late developer in that area. If I were a jobber doing a five minute match for a top guy, I'd want to work with Ric, who by the sounds of it was the most generous top guy ever to jobbers. If I'd been told I was being boosted up the card and could choose any top guy I wanted to work with, it would probably be Bret. He could sprinkle fairy dust on someone's career like no-one else.
He really came into his own on the mic in 1997. Even before the Canada vs America stuff his "whining" Bret Hart work was great. I think his mic skills got great after he got done with Lonesome Dove (which he was quite good on) and brought the same level of "reality" to his mic work as he did to his in-ring work.
Same here, Flair could take a jobber and make him look great. Bret cpuld take ypur career to another level. He took Davey boy, HBK, Owen and Stone Cold to another level after working with
I won't lie, when they put the WWE title on Bret I was shocked. I knew he was a great wrestler but I didn't think he was the one to carry the company, especially during that time when there were so many names in the organization. Over time, though, he gained my respect and admiration. He was definitely the blue collar workhorse that put a new legacy on the strap and made it a situation where his matches became the most competitive on the card. His title defenses against The Undertaker in '92, '96, and their war at SummerSlam '97 showed just how well he could make his opponent look. 'Taker was able to grow out of that "no-sell" nonsense and actually wrestle, and I think Bret was a key part in that evolution. Kudos to you, Hitman!
Flair v Steamboat, Flair v Sting, Lawler v Funk Dark Match, Funk v Sabu Barbwire, Lawler/Idol v Road Warriors, Savage v Steamboat, Funk v Hansen in the river are classics. They are on the Tube and something modern guys can't replicate. Too bad the Briscoes aren't on television. Their matches against FTR and The Young Bucks were gold and had the possibility of being classics, but most people didn't see them. Unfortunately, Ric was right about Danielson and Jericho.
It’s nice to here Rick give the respect that Bret deserves. I still believe Bret is the greatest of all time but Shawn Michaels is definitely up there. If only Shawn had of had brets attitude back then. Imagine how great there matches would be
The greatest Bret Hart match is against Curt Hennig in King of the Ring 93. The ring psychology, the technical excellence, the intensity, the bumps, the selling, the finish...it was all perfection, no pun intended.
Bret losing the Intercontinental belt to The British Bulldog at Summerslam in front of the English crowd was an absolute masterpiece; in ring and the whole storyline to go with it. Pure theatre. Like a Hollywood movie brought to life. Bret Hart was a genius and he made superstars out of lesser mortals just by involving them as the support acts in the world class performances he produced, time and time again.
Am I the only one who thought Brets Movement overall was special, one of a kind and made me love his Matches? How he took a bump, Running into the turnbuckle, his explosive punches an kicks, the crisp snap suplex where he lifted one leg, the brutal looking Backbreaker or just his determinded walk to the Ring... Maybe it was just me finding my all time favorite wrestler at 8 years old :D Oh and by the way, since Bret, only Claudio Castagnoli and Dax Harwood put on a good Sharpshooter. Myself as a teen excluded ;P
One of the best examples of what Flair is talking about, besides his own matches with Steamboat, was Bret's match with Davey Boy Smith from Summerslam 92. Just about everything they did looked AMAZING in terms of how believable it was. It was just a totally different level of performing. The crowd was just frothing at the mouth by the time it was over.
I love the way Bret targeted his opponents legs, softening them up and breaking them down before he put them in a sharp shooter. He could also adapt to any situation, turning his matches into a street brawl if necessary. The legendary match against Steve Austin at WM13 is one of my favourites matches of all time, and the visual of Austin bleeding profusely while refusing to tap played a huge role in propelling Austin’s career. That’s the thing about Bret. Win or lose, you’re never going to look bad wrestling him. My biggest regret is that we never saw Bret Hart wrestle against Kurt Angle. Two of my personal favourites from different generations. Angle brought with him an amateur pedigree that translated well inside the ring, and his pro-USA gimmick would have contrasted nicely with heel Bret’s anti-American persona in the late 90’s. They would have had some incredible matches together.
If you were able to turn around and go back first into the turnbuckle, then you can stop. That one thing separated him from everyone else. He is my favorite because he was so good and wasn't loud like everyone else
If you wanna talk about an in-ring perfectionist look no further than Ricky Steamboat. He didn't need a push from a promoter to get over. His in ring talent and charisma got him over.
The Best there is, The Best there was, and there Best there will ever be... ladies and gentlemen introducing the excellence of execution, Breeeet HITMAAAN HART!
He had the best and the most believable way of blocking a punch, his own punches looked great, that Russian leg sweep was always a thing of beauty, and the way he turned his opponents after applying the sharpshooter to lock them in? Come on man. The best there ever will be PERIOD!
I think what Ric doesn't get is that the fans don't really see these technical differences, by and large so it's great to hear their greatest matches and wrestlers to work with because as a fan I never caught any of that. My fav wrestlers were nearly always heels (Mr Perfect, Rude, Rick Martel, Million Dollar Man etc) but I also couldn't deny Hogan, and so to later find out that Hogan was a poor wrestler, well I didn't know any of that as a fan growing up, he just rocked! But now I appreciate it from a different side. Thanks for sharing.
Ric is a treasure. He worked with almost every top guy, drew money with them and sent the fans home happy every night ... and he did that for YEARS! The dude delivered every night. Ric's spot on with his analysis. You can take 10 hurricanranas and a dropkick and kick out at 1.9/3 and then sell a ref bump for 15mins and it looks ridiculous by comparison. Bret understood how to create a story you could believe and executed every move perfectly while he was doing it. There are tons of wrestlers who are fundamentally sound in the same way as Bret, I just think his unique way of constructing a match (with a little help from that enormous albeit quiet charisma) sets him apart and distinguishes him as the GOAT.
I love old school wrestling. The kids today even the greats like Daniel Bryan get dragged into bad habits of missing the fundamentals of making a really strong compelling wrestling match. Bryan is an elite performer, Jericho hasn't been close to one for many years.
The problem with todays stuff is it’s so fast and there isn’t time to slow down and sell the offense. So if you are throwing 10 chest chops in a matter of a minute or two then your opponent doesn’t really have that much time to react to it. Same thing goes for all these wrestlers doing dozens of super kicks in a match. Once you do a move so often it loses its uniqueness.
100% watching contemporary wrestling next to some of Bret’s matches on the TVs in the Hitman bar and the old matches are so much more convincing. Everything about the old matches is better! 🖤💖🖤💖
I've heard plenty of the veterans talk about the basics and they are bang on the money. People like Flair or Bret could make a punch or kick mean something. Ok they didn't fly around like modern wrestlers but the fundamentals were just perfect. That's what makes a match believable.
Never been a Ric Flair fan but this is probably the most decent I've heard him talk about another person. I agree I never understood how Bryan Daniel get mentioned alongside the likes of Bret.
Out of all the wrestlers back then if you had Hitman , Mr Perfect , Shawn Micheals , Scott Hall , Six Pac , Taker, Foley , Rock ,Ric Flair , Steamboat, Sting and a few others it was great matches Hell that Perfect vs Kerry von Erich was one of the best ever . Just the way it was back then .
True. I think that one of the root causes of why wrestling is the way it is today is that there were too many kids who wanted to be like Shawn & not enough that wanted to be like Bret. Shawn didn't care if the match was bad, so long as he looked good in it. Bret's attitude was that if you make the match itself good, both wrestlers come out good in the process.
Been watching professional wrestling for 60 years....imo...for all whatever faults he may have, Ric Flair was THE consummate pro wrestler, with HIS style. Bret Hart was as, many agree, THE consummate technician in the ring. Both geniuses , as it were, of their chosen profession. But that's just my opinion. 😎
When the 80s talent left the WWF at the end of 1992, I gave up on wrestling. The last great event was Wrestlemania VIII. I could never get into the wrestling of the following years. Although the Attitude Era is loved by many fans, for me it was the beginning of the end. Wrestling between 1985 and 1992 will never be beat.
Even the Wrestling talent that has worked with Brett ❤️ even if they didn't like Brett, even if Brett had a problem with WWF & WCW they all said he was the best Wrestler they've all have worked with. Top said
Bryan Danielson is actually very good and works really solid but it's just that in AEW many guys can get away with sloppy work because who is gonna tell em otherwise? Chris Jericho should not be botching clotheslines at this stage of his career but he wants to still work at the same pace as the young wrestlers and he just can't do that. Back in the day it wasn't a high spot fest and you had to focus on taking your time with what you did in the ring and selling which is so missed in modern wrestling. There's many times today where I'm watching modern wrestling and I'm thinking man why wasn't this the finish? Or why is he doing so many fucking flips? I remember watching what was it, oh yeah Keith Lee and Swerve vs some ROH dudes and Keith Lee was taking his sweet fucking time trying to help Swerve. Like Swerve was on a fucking hold and instead of Keith Lee running to save him from tapping he Walks not runs WALKS to the OPPOSITE post from where he was to do a fucking moonsault. Like What the Fuck was that? That deflated the drama of tapping out cause you know that big guy is going to do a fucking spot. Like come on.
I actually think, "weak," is a great word for a lot of work these days, because if it takes you six big moves instead of one to get the win, I've always processed that as your offence needs some work.
I echo what a few have said. Bret was my favourite. I just thought he was the best as a kid but it's only now years later I know exactly why he was my favourite. He simply is the greatest of all time (and by a country mile) I always remember hating the Shawn/Bret debate I just wasn't sold on Shawn as a kid. For example there was a moment where he gets either a Samoan drop or belly to belly suplex by yokozuna does a no sell and flips up from the floor. I will never forget getting really annoyed (again now I know why it was so annoying) He took liberties and made himself out to be this monster but was one of the smallest guys Bret played his part perfectly and beautifully. The bret wasn't as good on the mic argument is also a load of bullshit. He was the most real at promos that I can remember. OK guys like The Rock we're masters on the mic.. he wasn't in that mold but all round for me, Bret is the top of the tree. I love his honesty as a person too, so get really annoyed when he is unfairly criticised. Not watched wrestlers for years now, probably stopped before wcw merged with wwe.. if bret was involved in teaching the newer guys hows it's done I might still be watching becasue any clips I see now its all become very cabaret
you don't have to like the new era or style, but it's popular enough that it's creating new fans and the profession is seeing a little bit of a resurgence. reminds me of how people have always talked about how current music sucks because it's not as good as it used to be... lol. different doesn't mean bad. things evolved and you can choose to keep up or just stay stuck in the past.
Bret Hart, pure class, technical perfection, his gimmick, entrance, moves, finisher move, everything just perfect. I mean, back in the 90s, every kid on the street was a "Bret Hart fan"
I think it was CM Punk, who once said that HBK had something what blows his mind and I agree. But Bret Hart is THE best technical Wrestler of all time. No one made it look so real as Bret did.
Guys like a Brett & Flair are few & far between. You have to take pride in what your doing, even when you think nobody's looking cuz in that business, I (the fan) am always looking.
Lol. Bob Backlund, Ricky steamboat, Kurt angle, Chris benoit, Jerico were much better than Bret ever was. Ricky steamboat technically was the greatest in ring performer from in ring point of view.
