Bret Hart was so freaking good

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

I mean, it's not some shocking revelation but I'm watching his work extensively for the first time thanks to the WWE Network and he's brilliant. His moveset is simple but he makes you believe in everything that he does. He's also a fantastic seller.

[Deleted]

Check out his matches with Dynamite Kid from Stampede and Tiger Mask from New Japan/All Japan.

One of the best wrestlers of the late 80's/late 90's in the world around that time period.

[Chip Chipperson]

For me Bret has always been overrated. Capable of a good match with the right opponent but doesn't bring a lot to the table past that.

[Tiger Millionaire]

I have tears in my eyes watching him.

[TGM]

Easily in the top five wrestlers of all time.

Gets a bit of a bad rap for taking himself and wrestling too seriously

[The Dark Order Inferno]

The vast majority of what Bret did made wrestling seem real and drew me into whatever it was he was doing, little things like his selling, smiling when he did clever little things, even doing common sense things like twisting Bam Bam's hands during a test of strength.

I could never get into guys who oversold, I absolutely hated the way certain guys would flip to sell simple moves like they were an inflatable toy.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

I'm pretty open about being a huge Bret mark, so I'm biased as all f***, but he was definitely amazing at what he did. For 20 minutes, he was gonna convince you wrestling was real. His moves were crisp, never seemed too stiff, and he always told an amazing story. I can spend days watching Bret matches

[somsta]

The greatest in ring performer to ever live.

[jmule]

I bet anyone that says Bret is overrated are flair fans who love watching 45 mins of chops..

[HMARK Center]

Old school posters here know my handle is short for "Hitman Mark"...no, my name isn't Mark, but I'm a mark for Bret.

Bret did something that few wrestlers could've done to me, as a fan, back in the early 90s; I was a dyed in the wool Hulkamaniac, but when Hulk went away, I stuck around because Bret became my bar-none favorite. When I'd check back in on WWF circa 1994-1996 and see HBK or Diesel on top I'd get disappointed, because Bret was the guy I wanted on top of the card.

His work just translates on so many levels, and could appeal to a kid or a fully grown, jaded smark like most of us are now. Everything felt real, and while he moves remained basic, his approach to different opponents and psychology varied in nuanced ways that few have matched.

The last few years of his career remain one of wrestling's greatest non-death related tragedies (though, obviously, death was involved in Bret's story, as well), from the screw job, to WCWs poor booking, to Goldberg hitting too hard on that kick, and then all the follow-up including his stroke. Whatever people think of him now, however egotistical people might view him, I'm just glad it seems like his life has settled down in recent years.

[WWHHHD]

Feb 17, 2015 18:10:19 GMT -5 jmule said:

I bet anyone that says Bret is overrated are flair fans who love watching 45 mins of chops..

Nope Hogan fans who like to be entertained and not bored to death.

[evilone]

What was the match when Vince stepped of the announcing table to congratulate Bret?

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

Feb 17, 2015 18:47:47 GMT -5 evilone said:

What was the match when Vince stepped of the announcing table to congratulate Bret?

Survivor Series 96 after he beat Austin. Funny how things would change a year later...

[Deleted]

I have to question the judgment of anyone who can't appreciate how good Bret was.

I'm not a huge Bret Hart fan. I don't think he's in the top 5 of all time. I don't think all of his matches are masterpieces. Yet, I can't be so blind as to not see how good he was.

Bret's offense was absolutely 100% on point. Everything he did looked real and looked like it hurt, but yet he was one of the safest guys to work with. Bret was also one of the best at selling. I'm not talking about dramatic overselling like HBK or Mr. Perfect - while entertaining, it doesn't compare to what Bret could do, because Bret made everything look real.

I've often said that if I wanted to try to convince someone that pro wrestling matches were real fights, I would show them a Bret Hart match. People make fun of him because he took wrestling too seriously, but the fact that he took wrestling so seriously translated into his work, which was excellent.

I'm ok with people not liking him, thinking he's boring... whatever, because he's not out there posing or doing flips or spamming his finisher. That's fine, but I cannot understand any fan over the age of 15 who can't at least appreciate his body of work.

[Deleted]

Bret was good, but I had no interest in watching him. Dude actively turned me off from watching the WWF when he was on top. That sucka was boring.

[Andrew is Good]

When I was a kid, you were either a Shawn guy or a Bret guy. I was a Shawn guy honestly, despite being a Canadian and all that fun stuff. I feel now as I'm older though, I appreciate Bret a lot more, and everything that he's done.

He's also an incredibly underrated promo, maybe the most underrated talker ever in wrestling. People say he's boring and has no charisma. Bret Hart was a no nonsense athlete. He was a professional wrestler, and when he cut promos, he took his matches very seriously. And that's what made him great. I heard this quote from Terry Funk where he said he can't make people believe wrestling is real, but I can make them believe I'm real. And that's what Bret Hart was when he cut a promo. Sometimes the over the top presentation is fine, but not everyone can do it. That's why when Sheamus was doing the John Cena Jr. gimmick, it failed so badly, and how it's starting to fail with Roman Reigns. They're not real.

[chrom]

My Favorite as a kid growing up.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Feb 17, 2015 19:26:22 GMT -5 Andrew is Good said:

When I was a kid, you were either a Shawn guy or a Bret guy. I was a Shawn guy honestly, despite being a Canadian and all that fun stuff. I feel now as I'm older though, I appreciate Bret a lot more, and everything that he's done.

He's also an incredibly underrated promo, maybe the most underrated talker ever in wrestling. People say he's boring and has no charisma. Bret Hart was a no nonsense athlete. He was a professional wrestler, and when he cut promos, he took his matches very seriously. And that's what made him great. I heard this quote from Terry Funk where he said he can't make people believe wrestling is real, but I can make them believe I'm real. And that's what Bret Hart was when he cut a promo. Sometimes the over the top presentation is fine, but not everyone can do it. That's why when Sheamus was doing the John Cena Jr. gimmick, it failed so badly, and how it's starting to fail with Roman Reigns. They're not real.

I was neither, but I guess that's why I stopped watching during the New Generation. I do remember Gorilla putting him over constantly when he was a heel, which Gorilla never did.

[Tiger Millionaire]

Feb 17, 2015 19:12:26 GMT -5 @tafkaga said:

I'm ok with people not liking him, thinking he's boring... whatever, because he's not out there posing or doing flips or spamming his finisher. That's fine, but I cannot understand any fan over the age of 15 who can't at least appreciate his body of work.

Like most arguments, it involves either thinking the guy was the best ever or he stunk. Happens with pretty much any argument about wrestlers. Either Hogan was Babe Ruth or he was a guy that idiots who didn't know better like, Flair could wrestle a broom stick to a **** match or he had the same match every night. Bret also has the misfortune as he was the top guy in a very bad time in the company, so people tend to blame him for the period of time.

I will say this about Bret, and I'm not a mark for him at all(just never got into him or saw him more than a very good tag guy), he did get cheated out of that end of career renaissance that Shawn Michaels got, and missed out on cementing his legacy, so to speak.

[Tony Schiavontay]

Feb 17, 2015 18:20:18 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Old school posters here know my handle is short for "Hitman Mark"...no, my name isn't Mark, but I'm a mark for Bret.

Bret did something that few wrestlers could've done to me, as a fan, back in the early 90s; I was a dyed in the wool Hulkamaniac, but when Hulk went away, I stuck around because Bret became my bar-none favorite. When I'd check back in on WWF circa 1994-1996 and see HBK or Diesel on top I'd get disappointed, because Bret was the guy I wanted on top of the card.

His work just translates on so many levels, and could appeal to a kid or a fully grown, jaded smark like most of us are now. Everything felt real, and while he moves remained basic, his approach to different opponents and psychology varied in nuanced ways that few have matched.

The last few years of his career remain one of wrestling's greatest non-death related tragedies (though, obviously, death was involved in Bret's story, as well), from the screw job, to WCWs poor booking, to Goldberg hitting too hard on that kick, and then all the follow-up including his stroke. Whatever people think of him now, however egotistical people might view him, I'm just glad it seems like his life has settled down in recent years.

Haha I'm a huge mark for Bret and my name is Mark.

I'm a Calgary kid so I'm pretty shameless about my Bret fandom. He's the first wrestler I ever heard about since the Harts were so beloved here back then. He's still my favourite guy to watch. I missed out on seeing his best work firsthand since I started watching wrestling regularly in late 97/early 98 so he was pretty much out and, despite seeing a lot more WCW than WWF, never saw much of him there (due to him never being there) but I rented about a thousand wrestling tapes. The guy was just a good all-around wrestler. He was amazing at selling, his moves all looked crisp, he could get great matches out of absolutely anybody and, while he's not The Rock on the mic, he was perfect for what his gimmick asked for: an athlete getting hyped up for the big fight. If I were to make a top 10 match list, I can think of at least 3 or 4 Bret matches that would easily be on it just off the top of my head.

Sorry, I'm going to stop here so I can wipe the tears in my eyes away.