Bret Hart has narrowed down his 2 favourite matches from his career, describing one of them as “beautiful”.
It can sometimes be difficult to pick a wrestler’s greatest match, especially when they’ve achieved a legacy and reputation like Bret Hart. The Hitman has recently narrowed down 2 matches that he feels are his favourites from his illustrious career.
During an interview with the Attitude Era podcast, Bret Hart reflected on his 1997 feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, which culminated in a No Disqualification Submission match at WrestleMania 13. Hart labels this match “the best [he] ever had”:
Steve [Austin] was one of my favorite guys to ever work with. He was a really good wrestler. Steve would have been a great wrestler without wrestling me. I don’t want to ever say he couldn’t have been who he was [without wrestling me]. But I do believe the match that I had with him was the best match he ever had. The best match… The best match I ever had.
If you ever look at a match and how it is put together, and you watch all the little layers… That has the most layers. Like, that’s a match you can’t predict anything that’s going to happen. You sat down and said this is what they are going to do. Like if it was a Ric Flair match, you could sit there and go, ‘Okay, he’s going to take the beat off…’ You can see the whole thing. But I mean, in that match, no one knows what’s gonna happen. And that’s what I love about it.
Bret Hart went on to name his other favourite match – his 1996 Iron Man match with Shawn Michaels. Taking place at WrestleMania XII the previous year, Hart ultimately lost the WWF Championship to Michaels, but states that the outcome is “irrelevant” due to how “beautiful” their bout was:
WrestleMania 13 was my favorite match. Just because it was so special. But the Iron Man Match is right close to it. Those are the two greatest matches I ever had. And despite the outcome of WrestleMania 12 and not keeping the title on Shawn, that’s irrelevant. The match itself is just beautiful. It’s the hardest match I ever had. It was the one where I had to work the hardest, think the most. Of all the matches in my career, those two matches stand above. I want to see somebody else have a better Iron Man Match someday.
Bret Hart Shares His True Feelings About Vince McMahon: “Rot In Hell”
Later on in his Attitude Era interview, Hart was asked about his feelings towards Vince McMahon – and the Hitman didn’t mince his words. Hart described the joy he felt after delivering an “absolutely beautiful uppercut” to McMahon backstage after the infamous Montreal Screwjob in 1997, and feels McMahon deserves to “rot in hell”.