Jake Roberts had some harsh words for both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.
In the mid-1990s, Hart and Michaels were two of the top stars in the then-WWF. The pair’s infamous personal animosity also played into their onscreen rivalry, with everything culminating in the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series in 1997.
Ever since that period in wrestling history, debate has raged over which of the two was the better wrestler. According to Jake Roberts, the answer is “neither.”
Neither Bret Hart nor Shawn Michaels was “a champion” to Jake Roberts
When asked on his Snake Pit podcast who the better in-ring worker between Hart and Michaels was, he responded “neither”, before explaining that HBK was the better performer, while Hart was “dull at times”, particularly with his promos.
“Better performer? Shawn. Bret just gets dull at times, you know? And his interviews aren’t up to par; I don’t think, to what they should be for what position he held. I think his interviews were poor at best.”
The Hall of Famer went on to claim they were both from an era that “quit selling” moves, although he admitted Hart did wrestle more than Michaels.
“They were part of that era that quit selling things. [They] just did everything. I will give it to Bret that he did wrestle a lot more than Shawn.
“But Bret, to me, just — oh, boy, I’m going to get myself in trouble here. He just wasn’t a champion to me. There, I said it. Neither one of them [were].”
Roberts put part of this down to their size and style, saying neither looked like the legendary Bruno Sammartino.
While discussing the downturn WWE business took after Hart became champion in 1992, Roberts said he didn’t think Michaels would have done any better.
“Shawn didn’t set nothing on fire, either.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the above transcription.