Bret Hart On The Worst Sharpshooters Ever: “Steve Austin Had A Hard Time Putting It On”
If there’s one man that’s the source of intriguing controversy outside the square circle, it’s Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart. Whether he’s speaking about those who did him wrong or recalling stories from his past, ‘The Excellence of Execution’ is among the most outspoken men in the industry.
Recently on episodes of his ‘Confession of The Hitman’ webseries, Bret spoke about being retired from professional wrestling by Bill Goldberg and responded to the comments of Jake Roberts that he and Shawn Michaels never drew as world champions.
He was also the subject of a tirade by Eric Bischoff this week when the former WCW mastermind responded to comments made by Bret about WCW’s drug policy. Among other things, Bischoff stated:
“Bret has a tendency to be a whiny b***h!”
Now though, Hart has opened up about who in his opinion did the worst version of his famous finishing move, the Sharpshooter. The hold which won the technical marvel countless championships across various promotions.
Speaking to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, ‘The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be’ detailed the various people who had attempted his creation and gave his opinion on who was the worst:
“I can tell you the ones that have the worst easier. I know Steve Austin had a hard time putting it on, so did Rock. They would tell you that themselves. You think, when you look at it, you go ‘Oh, I can put that on.’ But, you gotta think about it and gotta know how to put it on to appreciate it.”
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock weren’t the only ones on Bret’s list and attention soon turned to his old rival Shawn Michaels and the version ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ used during the infamous Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997.
Discussing how he had to instruct Shawn to apply the move step-by-step, Bret gave insight into how Vince McMahon may have been correct in what he said following that fateful night about how “Bret Screwed Bret”:
“Yeah. A lot of guys, even on the screwjob, I had to yell up at Shawn as he was putting it on. I had to yell up, ‘You’re putting it on backwards.’ Then, if you watch, he switches. So, I actually helped him put the final screwjob on right.”
Having inadvertently helped the company to carry out the famous deception that fateful night, Bret then shed a positive light on the move in question and opined that in his opinion, other than himself, Sting had the best version:
“I think Sting always put it on. The Scorpion Deathlock and the Sharpshooter are basically the same thing. So, Sting was always a real pro. He put it on as well as anybody. If anything, he had it first, I think.”
Despite who was the worst or best, one fact remains. The Sharpshooter will go down in history as one of the best and most effective finishing moves in the history of the industry and though it will be forever imitated, only one man will be synonymous for its excellent execution.
You can see the full interview with Bret Hart here.
Credit for the interview and transcript: Sean Ross Sapp and Fightful