Championship Region, Fifth Round: (2) Bret Hart vs. (5) Chris Jericho

[Da Prophet]

Bret is a bitter old man.

The guy loves to get on his high horse about Shawn Michaels refusing to put him over and how he was screwed by the WWF. He had his fake belt taken away from him and decided to go expose the business afterwards when he was going to make millions elsewhere. The best WWE comedy is the Hart vs. Michaels DVD where Shawn barely remembers any events in the 90s and has moved on. Bret recalls every single detail and is still just as angry about things that happened in 1997. I've never laughed so much through a WWE production.

Bret is the same guy who refused to let Kevin Nash hit his finisher in some cage match. Ya know, cause Bret didn't wanna look weak.

Bret wins. He takes things way too seriously and Jericho can't overcome that. I doubt he even hits a finisher.

[Gallops77]

Both men are great. I vote Jericho just because Bret's career took a nosedive after the Montreal Screw Job.

Jericho is a great heel. He's also a great face. Bret has the in ring ability but Jericho would be carrying the promos for this potential match.

Jericho also beat two of the all time greats in one night. With help or without. Jericho would get help against Bret if he needed it to.

If Bret hadn't come back to WWE and wrestled Vince, The Miz etc, I'd vote Bret. His return to WWE I felt tarnished his career because he couldn't go like he used to. Not even close. His WCW ruined him too. Had Goldberg not kicked him in the head for real, Bret's career would have ended better than it did. Unfortunately, his career had a major decline, where Jericho finds new ways to keep himself fresh. He left WCW and became "Y2J" in WWE. He went with that for a while and left. He came back as the Savior to WWE. He became a heel with no theatrics and a monotone promo style that was still great. He left and came back and didn't speak for weeks. He came back again and became Kevin Owens' best friend and created the List of Jericho.

He's the Gift of Jericho. Drink it in maaaaaan.

[Dragon Chief]

What was the point of having Y2J go over Goldberg? Goldberg arguments in the final 8 would have been much more exciting.

I'm voting for Bret Hart, he was the better technical wrestler and delivered 5 star matches regularly while being the face of the company, which no one other than HBK has done in the WWE. I genuinely enjoyed watching Bret Hart matches over Y2Js.

Vote: Hitman.

[The Gribbler]

If you look at the entire body of work, the man who was more entertaining for a longer period, and in my opinion the better overall performer the score goes to Jericho.

But if you are looking at their primes, who I think would actually win, Hart in a heartbeat.

Vote Hart.

[Big Nick Dudley]

Jericho's better on the mic, and that's it. At no point in his career do I believe Jericho could beat a prime Bret Hart. I love Jericho, but Hart is just better and wouldn't lose here.

[Tastycles]

When Bret Hart moved as the most recent WWF Champion to a company full of has beens, he never managed to break through into being a convincing top name. He had a couple of runs, but there was something lacking. When Jericho moved to the WWF having been off for six months and treading cruiserweight water before that, he managed to convincingly break into a main event scene that included Rock, Austin, Triple H, Undertaker and later Kurt Angle all at their absolute peaks. That shows that he is a superior wrestler to Bret Hart. Bret Hart was the main guy when there were no alternatives, whereas Jericho may never have been the main guy, but he forced himself into the top tier with his talent.

[Pay Per Ghost]

I voted Hart.

Didn't put much thought because maybe nostalgia, not being a big fan of Jericho till 7 months ago and just the fact that when I see the words: Bret Hart Vs Jericho... I just feel it's all Bret.

Yeah.

[SSJPhenom]

I understand the love for Bret Hart. I really really do, but are we sure that a lot of his support isn't nostalgia based? Let me explain why I say that...

Hart was undoubtedly the primary draw of the WWF from around 92-96. Some would say it was from 92-95 because Diesel was Champion for most of 95 and then after that, Shawn took the reigns. Anyways, though, for a period of time, Hart was undoubtedly the man. His time on top, though, was not very successful. Sure, they were still beating WCW at that time, but they were no where near the numbers that they were generating from the mid 80's to early 90's. Then he would leave and go to WCW and again, he really wasn't that successful there either. The Wrestlemania's that took place during Hart's time on top are considered some of the worst ever. Was Hart a draw; sure. Was he a good draw; not really.

Let's look at Jericho. We all know that in ECW and WCW he never even reached upper mid card status. Hell, in WCW he was a damn cruiserweight. What happended though? He goes to the WWE in 99 and forces himself into the picture with the likes of Austin, the Rock, HHH, 'Taker, Kane, and later Angle. Then there's the oh so famous event where he beat Austin and the Rock in the same night to become the first ever Undisputed Champion. Jericho's career really picked up though when he made his return to wrestling in 07 and since then he's been a constant main event player and has won several world titles as well.

They're both great in the ring and while Jericho would be considered better on the mic; Bret was no slouch on the mic. I guess where many people are going is the fact that Jericho was never THE GUY and Hart was, but again, Hart wasn't very successful as THE GUY. Jericho, on the other hand, was a huge part of the most successful period in wrestling history and has continued to be a huge part of the success of the WWE. My point is, Hart is great but it's arguable that he's better than Jericho. It's just not that cut and dry to me.

I'm going with Jericho.

[sikkbones]

Does anyone seriously expect either man to beat Andre , Brock or Bruno?

The only chance Bret has in the next round is if its angle.

Y2j in his wwe prime was everything Bret was, plus charismatic.. Which Bret wasn't.

[Dragon Chief]

Originally Posted by SSJPhenom

I understand the love for Bret Hart. I really really do, but are we sure that a lot of his support isn't nostalgia based? Let me explain why I say that...

Hart was undoubtedly the primary draw of the WWF from around 92-96. Some would say it was from 92-95 because Diesel was Champion for most of 95 and then after that, Shawn took the reigns. Anyways, though, for a period of time, Hart was undoubtedly the man. His time on top, though, was not very successful. Sure, they were still beating WCW at that time, but they were no where near the numbers that they were generating from the mid 80's to early 90's. Then he would leave and go to WCW and again, he really wasn't that successful there either. The Wrestlemania's that took place during Hart's time on top are considered some of the worst ever. Was Hart a draw; sure. Was he a good draw; not really.

Let's look at Jericho. We all know that in ECW and WCW he never even reached upper mid card status. Hell, in WCW he was a damn cruiserweight. What happended though? He goes to the WWE in 99 and forces himself into the picture with the likes of Austin, the Rock, HHH, 'Taker, Kane, and later Angle. Then there's the oh so famous event where he beat Austin and the Rock in the same night to become the first ever Undisputed Champion. Jericho's career really picked up though when he made his return to wrestling in 07 and since then he's been a constant main event player and has won several world titles as well.

They're both great in the ring and while Jericho would be considered better on the mic; Bret was no slouch on the mic. I guess where many people are going is the fact that Jericho was never THE GUY and Hart was, but again, Hart wasn't very successful as THE GUY. Jericho, on the other hand, was a huge part of the most successful period in wrestling history and has continued to be a huge part of the success of the WWE. My point is, Hart is great but it's arguable that he's better than Jericho. It's just not that cut and dry to me.

I'm going with Jericho.

Jericho was never a big draw and he wasn't a big assistance in the war between WWE and WCW. He only entered the main-event scene after the war was over with cheap wins over Rock & Austin. Despite all that his main-event run was still considered a flop for the most part and ended with the lackluster main-event of WrestleMania x8.

Jericho did not really establish himself as a top dog until 2008 and even that title reign was unimpressive compared to Bret Hart's time at the top.

Bret has had classic matches with HBK and Steve Austin that were both iconic and relevant. Y2J for the most part has had somewhat memorable matches that were good but were never considered on the same level as Bret's best matches.

Vote: Bret Hart a much greater superstar.