Bret Hart or Ric Flair?

[Skillz]

In their prime who was the better wrestler, Bret Hart or Ric Flair?

Definately Bret Hart! In wrestling terms, Ric Flair isn't even in Bret Hart's league.

 

[Bad Ass]

Ric Flair. There is more to wrestling than technical ability. There is selling, working the crowd, pacing. Ric Flair had the crowd eating out of the palms of his hands when he was in his prime. Bret Hart hardly ever did that.

 

[Skillz]

Ric Flair. There is more to wrestling than technical ability. There is selling, working the crowd, pacing. Ric Flair had the crowd eating out of the palms of his hands when he was in his prime. Bret Hart hardly ever did that.

How can you say Bret Hart never did those things? Bret Hart was the best storyteller in WWE history. He had the ability to get the crowd more and more interested into the match as it went on, therefore was very able to work the crowd and very good at pacing a match. Bret made all of his opponents look good in the ring, no matter who they were, and this is partly because he was very good at selling. So in my opinion, your comments don't make any sense at all.

 

[PauLwaLL]

Bret Hart... Guy has more wrestling abilities... just wasnt as good on the mic... Hart also put on better matches

Bret Hart vs Bulldog (I.C. Title)
Ironman Match
Bret vs Austin - I quit

All three of them > any Flair match

 

[Skillz]

Bret Hart... Guy has more wrestling abilities... just wasnt as good on the mic... Hart also put on better matches

Bret Hart vs Bulldog (I.C. Title)
Ironman Match
Bret vs Austin - I quit

All three of them > any Flair match

Said perfectly! 3 of the best matches ever!

 

[Eternal Dragon]

This is almost impossible to choose. Both Bret and Flair are legendary figures in wrestling, and they have a lot of similarities. From wrestling, to hype, to mic work (Flair was better than Bret when it came to mic work, though). They were both amazing in their prime, so I can't choose in this.

Flames Out
Dragon

 

[peopleschamp]

Not even close. Definitely Ric Flair. Bret Hart was great when he was champ, but Ric Flair is the greatest of all-time. Flair carried the entire NWA on his shoulders during the 80’s, and has been a brilliant performer over four decades. In terms of ring presence, showmanship, and ring psychology there is simply nobody better in the history of pro wrestling. Nobody.

Bret Hart is Evander Holyfield, but Ric Flair is Mohammed Ali.

 

[Bad Ass]

Bret Hart... Guy has more wrestling abilities... just wasnt as good on the mic... Hart also put on better matches

Bret Hart vs Bulldog (I.C. Title)
Ironman Match
Bret vs Austin - I quit

All three of them > any Flair match

Have you ever seen Flair vs. Steamboat? Their series of matches were the best ever held.

 

[peopleschamp]

Have you ever seen Flair vs. Steamboat? Their series of matches were the best ever held.

Not to mention...

Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes
Flair vs. Harley Race
Flair vs. Sting
Flair vs. Lex Luger (Yes, Flair even got decent matches out of Luger)

...and his recent matches with Mick Foley were some of his best works as well.

 

[Bad Ass]

Yeah. I am not bashing Bret Hart. I like him, but he is not in Ric Flair's league when it comes to all around wrestling ability. All the great wrestlers now have borrowed from Flair. HHH, HBK, Y2J, Austin, Rock. Ric Flair is the man for a reason.

 

[Skillz]

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold
Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit

All of these matches are better than any Ric Flair match.

Ric Flair is a legend, and one of the greatest wrestlers and champions of all time. Bret Hart is simply better when it comes to all round wrestling ability.

 

[peopleschamp]

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold
Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit

All of these matches are better than any Ric Flair match.

Ric Flair is a legend, and one of the greatest wrestlers and champions of all time. Bret Hart is simply better when it comes to all round wrestling ability.

Not that I pay much attention to Dave Meltzer, but he listed two five-star matches for Bret (vs. Owen, SummerSlam '94; vs. Austin, Wrestlemania 13), while Flair has had six in his career, including four in one year:

vs. Barry Windham (1987)
Vs. Steamboat (three times in 1989)
Vs. Terry Funk (1989)
Flair, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, Barry Windham, & Sid Vicious vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, Rick Steiner, & Scott Steiner (War Games, 1991)

Also, PWI (it's a kayfabe company I know) named Flair Wrestler of the Year six times (1981, 1984-86, 1989, & 1992), while Bret has won none.

In addition, Flair has also won just about every major title known to man, inluding NWA World, WCW World, WWE World, U.S., IC, World Tag, NWA Tag, NWA TV, among many others.

 

[PauLwaLL]

I think the reason why I dislike Flair is because I really didnt like how wrestling was back then much.. And I've seen Bret in action more... But I did see his match against Funk... It was great... But Bret vs Bulldog at Summerslam was better IMO...

 

[peopleschamp]

I think the reason why I dislike Flair is because I really didnt like how wrestling was back then much.....

Can you elaborate on that??? Do you mean that wrestling matches “back then” were longer and actually had some semblance of “psychology”? And Bret and Flair pretty much wrestled in the same era, so I wasn’t sure what you meant by “back then.” Both men started out in the 70’s and competed throughout the 90’s until Bret was forced into retirement due to injuries.

 

[PauLwaLL]

Can you elaborate on that??? Do you mean that wrestling matches “back then” were longer and actually had some semblance of “psychology”? And Bret and Flair pretty much wrestled in the same era, so I wasn’t sure what you meant by “back then.” Both men started out in the 70’s and competed throughout the 90’s until Bret was forced into retirement due to injuries.

What I ment was... Back then the matches were pretty slow paced... For example... Bret vs Terry... Was a good match... But alot of resting holds like sleepers etc.

And Brets matches were more fast paced... It had a lot of resting/submission holds... But it was non-stop action.... Brets best matches happened in the 90's... More or less gimmick matches but still... Its a completly different type of wrestling now then it was in the 80's dont ya think?

Edit : I would also like to add... There was a limited of moves back then... Now there is so many moves you cant even count them...

 

[peopleschamp]

What I ment was... Back then the matches were pretty slow paced... For example... Bret vs Terry... Was a good match... But alot of resting holds like sleepers etc.

And Brets matches were more fast paced... It had a lot of resting/submission holds... But it was non-stop action.... Brets best matches happened in the 90's... More or less gimmick matches but still... Its a completly different type of wrestling now then it was in the 80's dont ya think?

I didn’t know what match you were watching, but Flair vs. Funk didn’t really have much “rest holds.” It was a “hardcore” match where Flair and Funk pretty much beat the crap out of each other, and it had intense psychology. It was a classic match which was ahead of its time in terms of intensity.

And Bret Hart had been involved in his share of “snoozefests” as well, as the Ironman Match was mostly composed of rest holds for 60 minutes.

 

[Skillz]

And Bret Hart had been involved in his share of “snoozefests” as well, as the Ironman Match was mostly composed of rest holds for 60 minutes.

???

The Bret/HBK Ironman Match is the best WWE Championship match of all time!!! Better than all of Flair's hour-long matches.

 

[PauLwaLL]

I didn’t know what match you were watching, but Flair vs. Funk didn’t really have much “rest holds.” It was a “hardcore” match where Flair and Funk pretty much beat the crap out of each other, and it had intense psychology. It was a classic match where both guys were basically fighting for pride.

And Bret Hart had been involved in his share of “snoozefests” as well, as the Ironman Match was mostly composed of rest holds for 60 minutes.

Hmm... Its on a tape my uncle had... It wasnt a hardcore match tho? Prob diffrent match... Anyways... Yeah the Ironman match was a snoozefest... But in the beginning it was intence and as well at the end... But you cant really expect two men to just keep goin at it... But maybe Flair is better then Bret in his prime... But Bret got robbed of his legacy... He could of been "The best there is, The best there was, And the best there will ever WOULD be"... But like I said his carear was shortened... But honestly I really havnt seen much "Classic Flair" as much as I saw Bret... So what I consider Flair in his prime.. I consider it from 1992... That was the 1st time I actually saw him live...

 

[peopleschamp]

???

The Bret/HBK Ironman Match is the best WWE Championship match of all time!!! Better than all of Flair's hour-long matches.

Well, it's pointless for me to try to convince you to believe otherwise since that's your opinion, but when I watched the match I wasn't that impressed. It had it's moments, but I personally preferred Flair vs. Steamboat from Clash of Champions in 1989. To each his own.

 

[Mickey-B]

I always thought Ric Flair was overrated personnaly, Bret Hart all the way.

 

[peopleschamp]

Hmm... Its on a tape my uncle had... It wasnt a hardcore match tho? Prob diffrent match... Anyways... Yeah the Ironman match was a snoozefest... But in the beginning it was intence and as well at the end... But you cant really expect two men to just keep goin at it... But maybe Flair is better then Bret in his prime... But Bret got robbed of his legacy... He could of been "The best there is, The best there was, And the best there will ever WOULD be"... But like I said his carear was shortened... But honestly I really havnt seen much "Classic Flair" as much as I saw Bret... So what I consider Flair in his prime.. I consider it from 1992... That was the 1st time I actually saw him live...

Flair and Funk fought a few times in 1989, but the match I was referring to was the "I Quit" match at Clash of Champions, and it was one of the earliest hardcore matches in history. Ok, it might be tame compared to some of the future hardcore matches, but its psychology was top-notch, as it had the perfect blend of violence and humor. In that match Flair showed he is a versatile perfomer as it was a departure from Flair's other technical matches (considering that he just had a classic series with Steamboat); and Flair showed that he could excel playing the face role as well.

 

[PauLwaLL]

Flair and Funk fought a few times in 1989, but the match I was referring to was the "I Quit" match at Clash of Champions, and it was one of the earliest hardcore matches in history. Ok, it might be tame compared to some of the future hardcore matches, but its psychology was top-notch, as it had the perfect blend of violence and humor. In that match Flair showed he is a versatile perfomer as it was a departure from Flair's other technical matches (considering that he just had a classic series with Steamboat); and Flair showed that he could excel playing the face role as well.

Definatly not the match I was talking about... Im gonna try to download it on Limewire... Now ya see... I never ever seen Flair be versatile in my life... But if this match is as good as you say it is... Maybe my opinion wont change (cant really change your mind after seeing once match)... But I may have some more respect for Flair...

But as for Bret... IMO he could of been the best wrestler ever... As I said earlier.. He got his carear takin away from him... But you cant say Bret didnt put on great matches... What I'm tryin to say is... in the 80's Flairs matches might have been the best matches ever... But now that there is a variety of gimmick matches... Its really hard to choose...

 

[peopleschamp]

But as for Bret... IMO he could of been the best wrestler ever... As I said earlier.. He got his carear takin away from him... But you cant say Bret didnt put on great matches... What I'm tryin to say is... in the 80's Flairs matches might have been the best matches ever... But now that there is a variety of gimmick matches... Its really hard to choose...

Speaking of having his career taken away from him, you have to respect Flair for the fact that he almost had his taken away from him BEFORE he had ever reached his prime from the airplane crash in '75. For Flair to come back and have the kind of career he's had (and is still having) is simply astounding.

EDIT - I never said Bret didn't put on great matches or that he isn't great. But we're talking about who is the greatest ever, and I just believe Flair has the edge.

 

[PauLwaLL]

Speaking of having his career taken away from him, you have to respect Flair for the fact that he almost had his taken away from him BEFORE he had ever reached his prime from the airplane crash in '75. For Flair to come back and have the kind of career he's had (and is still having) is simply astounding.

EDIT - I never said Bret didn't put on great matches or that he isn't great. But we're talking about who is the greatest ever, and I just believe Flair has the edge.

Yes... Flair did almost have his carear and even his life almost takin away from him... I respect him from coming back from an injury like he did... But you see we both started watching wrestling at different times... you got to see flair in his prime... i didnt... thats the reason why we have a difference of opinions... All in all... This is just a question we'll just never know the true answer too...

BTW did Flair and Bret ever face off 1 on 1? I kno they were in a Tag Match... It was Macho Man and Bret vs Flair and HBK... But did they ever go one on one?

 

[peopleschamp]

BTW did Flair and Bret ever face off 1 on 1? I kno they were in a Tag Match... It was Macho Man and Bret vs Flair and HBK... But did they ever go one on one?

Well, they kind of had to since Bret defeated Flair to win his first WWF/E World championship, on October 12, 1992 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewon to be exact. Supposedly Flair had to drop the title and take time off due to an inner ear infection, and Bret at the time was considered to be the best option, coming off two reigns as Intercontinental champion. The only other options available were the British Bulldog and HBK, but Bulldog was IC champion at the time and HBK was scheduled to win the IC Title from Bulldog.