Perfect's back was fucked--was likely just to protect him.

Bret could definitely have good matches when he had a guy to carry him

Yeah I think Perfect was already injured by that point. Great match nonetheless. Crowd was hot as fuck for Bret.

He was very injured. Hadn't wrestled for a while because of his back. That was his last match til Survivor Series 92.

We did get Jinder Mahal and over in real life Bryan though small he may be ran down a guy who robbed his house.

He carried Bulldog to a decent match and Bulldog was coked up out of his mind.
I don't know if I should include the Hart Foundation since it's not him by himself and I don't know that they really did anything significant although it did showcase how Bret was way more effective and interesting as a heel.

Bret v. Austin
Bret v. HBK
Bret v. Owen
Bret v. Piper
Bret v. Bulldog

...I could do this forever. Fuck you, Slik.

Love Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect. One of my favorite examples of what makes Bret a great storyteller. The way he "gets his back" on Perfect is awesome. I don't mind the bell being rung so quickly. Pacing-wise, I can understand the drama of holding out for a second, and it does feel jarring, but I think that is sort of the point? Like, it's there as emphasis. Bret has got this motherfucker embarrassingly beat. Not heat-breaking forever beat, just "checkmate, bitch" beat. Might be accident lol, but it makes the win seem so decisive.

I don't know that Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper was important but it was fun to watch.

Well, is wrestling itself important? Can we just throw away the whole industry and would everything be fine? Bret vs. Piper is a match worth talking about. I get what you're saying in that it wasn't the headlining match or anything, but I think it comes up in enough conversations when talking about certain tags -- Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, WrestleMania, IC Title, great matches, great finishes, etc.

Think it was the allegedly the first time Piper had been pinned. Love that match too. Particularly Piper and his mortal struggle while holding I think the ring bell.

Maybe in the WWF. I'm sure he had taken pins elsewhere. He must have, surely?

Piper's a blind-spot with me. I don't know why, I've just never really gone back and looked over the guy's career. I'm probably doing myself a major disservice. I was first introduced to him when he returned to SmackDown in 2003 or whenever it was. Yeah. I have this idea of this renegade promo who drew money against Hogan and was super-important to getting WrestleMania started, but the details and specifics of his career in the Pacific North-West, Georgia, etc. escapes me.

The Intercontinental title is very fucking important, you know.

Bret Hart went heel. Had that whole anti-American angle going with the new Hart Foundation.

Something I thought I would never see from a guy like him. But I remember watching some documentary that Vince pitched the idea to him and Bret bought it.

I look back at that and use it as a baseline for all the other faces/babyfaces who never went the heel direction. If he can do it, everyone else can too. *coughJohnCenacough*

The Hart Foundation faction was amazing.

The Hart Foundation are one of those tag teams you think of when you think of the greatest tag teams of all-time.

Bret did lots of memorable things in wrestling, but the last few years of moaning and complaing by him have tarnishedchis lagacy. He seems very bitter. He partly to blame why he did poorly after montreal.

The thing with Bret's turn is the timing of it all. Instead of shoving him down people's throats, they used the crowd reactions to slowly but surely turn him, and let it go full blown after his match with Austin.

Bret buying into it and running with it made it that much better.

yeah everytime i watch that match, it bugs the shit out of me. But Bret leaned back pretty legit, right? so i guess yeah the ref needed to call it quick

The austin turn but other than that no

the Montreal screw job led to the Mr McMahon character, which led to the biggest boom in wrestling since Hogan. Bret made Mr McMahon, so we can just stop there :)

#brethartfanboy

Especially for WWE.

Yeah, you kind of go through the teams of that era and list Demolition, The Bulldogs, Hart Foundation and The Brain Busters, before moving up to The Steiners, the dark years, and then into Edge & Christian/Hardyz/Dudleyz territory.

Rockers > Hart Foundation

Rockers were cool, but they never held the belts, and wrestling was real then.

Not even close. Hart Foundation far trumps the Rockers.

Good point. Bret leaving was the best thing that ever happened to them.

So was Shawn leaving after WM 14.

Shawn did the job for Austin. Way more professional than Bret.

Shawn also came back and drew money while Bret whined on the internet for 2 decades.

So many good stories and matches which were actually intriguing. Owen feud, Hart foundation, both versions, HBK battles and intrigues, Austin, Perfect, Bulldog, Lawler. He put so much time and effort into everything he did.

Did he take wrestling too seriously? Yeah, but he wouldn't have been half the performer if he hadn't. For me personally, he has more memorable moments than anyone on the current roster, just because he made everything seem so important and he was so creative. Every feud had matches that told specific stories, he was so great.

Well, you also think Bret was better than Shawn which is just insane.

Man, WWE was loaded w/ teams back then. Tag wrestling is definitely cyclical for WWE.

They're actually both my 1 and 1A of the time. Shawn was the better athlete, Bret was the better story teller who made everything seem real.

But Michaels was far from his prime when he was in the Rockers. The Harts were a bit more of an established act who just did a lot more meaningful shit during their run.

Good little opening match guy

I'm not even a fan of Hart like I don't get the love but I will say that Bret Hart is his best self when he's having a moan. His bitterness is the one personality trait that really makes him interesting as a character and as a person

lol well Bret's career got taken away from him and he hasn't exactly had the easiest life. At least he's genuine.

Isn't the Hart family also kind of screwed up? I remember seeing that somewhere.

the Hart family is a fucking disaster lol