Background and History
Bret Hart winning the WWF title in 1992 was the first surprise that I experienced as a fan of pro wrestling.* Bret won the title in the fall that year by defeating Ric Flair. Flair had only been in my life for about a year as an active wrestler. I knew that he was a legend in WCW/NWA due to magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated, but I never saw a single match of his until he came to the WWF. I did know that he was a legend and that legends don't usually lose to guys like Bret Hart.
Bret Hart was different from previous World Champs. Guys like Hogan and Warrior were super human. They were also crazy and prone to say non-sense. Bret came across as a smart guy. I identified with him because of it. His cleverness set him apart. I first got hooked on the pink and black during Hart's match with Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991. Hart won the Intercontinental Championship with a surprising counter that lead into the Sharpshooter, his finisher. It was out of nowhere and a stark contrast to Hulk Hogan's slow and predictable workup to the atomic leg drop.
There have been several suggestions on why Vince McMahon decided to go with Bret.** Some have suggested that it was because of McMahon's steroid trial a desire to showcase a less-muscled champion. There is also the possibility that Macho Man, Flair, and the Ultimate Warrior were not connecting enough with the fans to keep in the spotlight.*** Irregardless, he got the job as the guy and he would be tie together the next five years for the company.
Bret Hart: Main Event Hero
After a year of being the work horse, Bret got the ball in 1992. Hart would main event Survivor Series 1992 as champion. Vince McMahon would spend the next 5 years trying to undo it. Vince would look away from Bret and towards a varied array of stars to be the focus of the WWF. Despite trying everything under the sun, he eventually would also come back around to the Hitman. The era crests with WrestleMania 10 and ends when with a final Bret/Shawn encounter in which Vince completely and totally ends the Hitman era.
Hart was undermined in a way that other centerpieces have never been since mid-1980s. Fittingly, it would be Hogan who would first steal the spotlight by defeating Yokozuna moments after he had defeated the Hitman. By the summer, Hogan would be gone and replaced with Lex Luger. Luger was a muscled up, recently turned good guy who looked more like the Ultimate Warrior and Hogan. Luger even copied Hogan's love of America and super posedown at the end of PPVs.
Luger would remain at the top of the card through Wrestlemania X. There is more to the art of wrestling than when matches occur on the card and Hart made the most of his feud with Jerry Lawler. Luger would fail to connect with the fans and Hart would reclaim the conch with a title victory over Yokozuna in 1994. This point represented the artistic highpoint of Hart's reign. He had fantastic matches with Owen Hart, Bob Backlund, and Diesel after he lost the title in early 1995.
The Hitman did not have a good 1995 into 1996. After finishing his feud with Backlund in a disappointing "I quit" match, Hart listed along competing against Hakushi, Isaac Yankem, DDS, and one of the Quebecers. Hart would win his third title at Survivor Series in a fantastic match, but then would knock around match-to-match biding time before he would drop the title to Shawn Michaels.
It is during this period that it became obvious that Vince McMahon was uncomfortable with Hart at the top of the card or as the focus of the show. Even as champion, the Hitman was really the fouth biggest thing on the program.**** Michaels' boyhood dream dominated pre-Rumble through Wrestlemania 12. Bret's PPV matches with Diesel and Undertaker existed to get that feud going. As the Diesel/Kevin Nash experience faltered, Hart would be used to showcase Shawn Michaels.
End of Days and Perspective
Hart would return to the ring at Survivor Series 1996 and ultimately find his voice as a heel. Through SummerSlam 97, he would have iconic matches against Stone Cold and Undertaker. Hart was able to pivot his character without changing the core of who that character was. Instead of being the tenacious competitor who outsmarted his opponents, he became the bitter veteran who couldn't understand that the game had changed around him.
In my reading and listening, people do not tend to look back too fondly on the early-to-mid 1990s in the WWF. When Hogan started to stale and eventually left, it created a vacuum in the product. Within months after Hogan's leaving, Bret Hart found himself briefly at the top of the mountain. He would have to step aside for Hogan, Luger, Diesel, and finally Michaels. From the fall of 1992 through the fall of 1997, he was the one character and performer that tied the period together. It is fitting that the start of the Attitude Era came with Vince permanently exiling Bret from the mountaintop with the Montreal Screw Job.
Today, Bret Hart comes across as pretty bitter. In his book, he spends an inordinate number of pages talking about how much fan mail he received compared to other performers or how impressed those other performers were with him. He even was upset that he didn't get the same championship perks that guys like Hogan or Warrior got. In the wonderful documentary produced by the WWE on his feud with Michaels, it is pretty obvious that Shawn has moved on while Bret continues to fight that battle.
My thesis is that the war Hart is waging is motivated by his need to justify his time at the top and his place in history. Since he was jerked around in away that few other immortals have been, it is fair to ask the question: Was Bret Hart actually an immortal? Bret thinks so and I agree with him. Either way, it is a shame that one of the most accomplished performers of his generation can't be at piece with his career.
SUGGESTED CONSUMPTION
International Object Episode 69: This is the show that got me thinking about Bret's thoughts on himself.
Hitman: My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling: Bret's book. Must read. Top two wrestling book.
Bret Hart bashing Triple H: Classic Hitman. One, he refers to Triple H as "Hunter." Brings back one of my favorite memories from the Wrestling in the Shadows doc. Bret's very Candadian ex wife tore into Triple H for a good three minutes and kept calling him "Hunter" in an extremely Canadian accent. Two, this came out in the middle of me writing this essay and it is on point.
Bret Hart Tribute Video: Worth it just to listen to his kick ass entrance music.
Wrestling with the Shadows: Documentary that captures Bret's 1997 and the Montreal Screwjob. Also available on Netflix streaming.
*My first sentence on this blog is a lie. The first surprise was Ultimate Warrior coming out at the end of Wrestlemania 8 to save Hulk Hogan. That makes the narrative less interesting so I will ignore it.
**Hulk Hogan "retired" in 1992 at Wrestlemania 8.
***A combination of these three would headline Wrestlemania 8, SummerSlam 1992, and Survivor Series 1992. Within a few months of ascending to the championship, Flair and Warrior would be out of the WWF. Macho Man would be pushed down the card and to the announcing booth.
****There is nothing wrong with being the fourth biggest character in any story. There is something wrong with the fourth biggest character not having a story. This is especially true if that guy is the champ and his only function is to be a catalyst that gets other stories going.
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