HBK or the Hitman?

[Rick Mad]

For a while I'd have voted Hart, but now I think I have to go with both equally. They're both incredible workers.

[The son of a plumber.]

Bret Hart is my favorite of all time and is in my favorite matches of all time. Those I respect HBK as a performer.

[Banned Member]

metalgeardizzle said:

Alright, so who do you like better?


I go with HBK. Better charisma, better moveset, more variety, and just better all around. Bret was good, no question, but I thought really overated. The only time he showed character was when he was complain and/or rude femaleing about Canada being great.

qft

[The Jeebus]

Anyone who voted 'I like them both the same' is a little girly-pants. "Ooh, I just can't choooose!"

I voted for Shawn, I prefer him. Yeah, Bret was a crisp wrestler, had his psychology down to perfection, but all of his matches were practically identical. Headlocks, slowly build-up as the match progresses, throw in the Five Moves somewhere, and finish the match either with Bret hitting the Sharpshooter, rolling or cradling his opponent, or him being pinned in some nefarious fashion. I'd watch more Bret Hart matches if they weren't all full of standard holds which inevitably lead to either a Sharpshooter or an inside cradle, but that's how it stands. He's not like Chris Benoit who in his prime, even if all his matches ended with a crossface, would do a bunch of cool stuff and would utilize as many moves while building to the finish. And what was the craziest part of Bret Hart matches? An elbow drop from the second-rope. Move over Sabu, there's a new crazy man in wrestling.

Then there's Michaels. You can say that Hart has the advantage over him in that Bret's psychology was probably flawless while Shawn had the tendency to kip up (nip up?) at the wrong times or whatever, but it wasn't like he was John Cena or anything so he isn't annoying to watch. Even if there's only a few options for an ending for any wrestler's match, and even if the Sweet Chin Music was the only option for one of his matches to end, the whole match would still be a whole barrel of fun. That never happened with Bret that often.

The more I think about this, the more I feel that the potential of many matches were neutered thanks to Bret, and helped a whole lot more by Shawn Michaels. When Shawn wrestled Bret in the Iron Man match, they wrestled a more Bret Hart-kind of a match, and it was boring. Shawn wrestles Diesel or Undertaker with his pace, it's excellent. Bret departs from his usual bollocks in his match against Stone Cold, and it's great. And just think: HBK had a sweet-ass match with Shelton which ended in the Best. Spot. Ever. Now, imagine if he wrestled Bret instead. It'd be a bunch of headlocks and would've ended with an inside cradle. You know it.

[Austin's Middle Finger]

I love them both, but I grew up watching Bret. The greatest face of all time.

[skskillz]

Not a huge fan of either of them, but I preferred Bret. I never liked Shawn's male stripper gimmick, and HATED his post-match celebration of pulling down his trunks so the audience could catch a glimpse of his pubes.

I'll go with Bret.

[hitman87]

I am a huge Bret Hart fan obviously. I went with Bret. But I do respect HBK for his work and longevity (sp).

[hollywood]

Like so many others, I like both. But in my case, I just like Bret a little bit better.

[Hiroshi Hase]

I prefer Bret, easier to take seriously and didn't seem like such a wuss like Shawn was, losing his smile and what not.

Sure Shawn is a great high-flyer, but on the mat he's not all that great, so I'd give the edge to Bret there.

[AmandaJ]

They both have positives and negatives, and although I do respect Bret a lot, I always have and always will like HBK better.

[royboy8]

Hbk easily...I wasnt of this opinion until I watched Hart's dvd which I literally fell asleep watching. Every match he used the same moves in the same order...including more headlock takedowns into a chinlock then Randy Orton has used in his career.

[Johnny D]

Bret all the way, baby!

[King Fox -1017 Bricksquad]

I have to just barely go with Shawn. Shawn just had better matches IMO.

[peopleschamp]

Bret definitely. Dont get me wrong I like Michaels but I just feel that Bret on a lot more occasions was able to make even the most mundane feud and limited worker look better than it really was. As mentioned before HBK only did it when it suited him and when his spot was protected for so long.

Bret could make the poor look mediocre, the mediocre look talented, the talented look special. Also HBK does deserve kudos for his longevity but you have to question how "career threatening" his back injury really was considering he was beginning to just get caught up in the Attitude phenomenons of Stone Cold and The Rock

[Sim]

I like them both, deal with it.

[odanobunaga]

Hart. And I´ve never liked HBK gimmick or Promos and he is just "ok" in the ring, at least comparing with Bret.

[MadLinus]

Not too long ago, someone around these parts said they believed HBK and Hart actually held the company afloat during the "New Generation" time period (I believe that Scott Hall did as well). I couldn't agree more with them. There was pretty much nothing else to look forward to on WWF television at this time, so I understand why people have such a hard time choosing. Hart and HBK did wrestle very different styles, which makes them each have their own characteristics that stand out.

But I'll go with Bret Hart for a couple of reasons. First, Bret always made his opposition look great! He sold his opponent's moves just enough to make them look good, but not too much to seem ridiculous. HBK looked like a fish out of water a lot of the time, so whoever said he was the best seller of all time hasn't seen his earlier singles work. Second, Bret didn't cop out of jobbing to his opponents like HBK did. He just did what he was paid to do. Those two points showcase the class and respect that a true professional should have for his peers. HBK, while being a fantastic performer, just wasn't mature enough to possess them, which puts Hart a notch above him.

[BHB]

Bret. He was just a fantastic champion, a great wrestler, could play heel or face equally well and had a lot of respect for the business.

[Garee]

I always loved Hart as a kid, so I gotta go with him

[dennisisevil]

HBK Shawn Michaels edges out Bret Hart by a tad in my opinion. While Bret was better at the technical side Shawn just had that little something extra that got him more over. Also Shawn Michaels versus Virgil was the first match I ever watched. Anything before that I watched it on a videotape