Bret Hart's 2010 run

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D.]

I was just reading some Bret Hart memes and for some reason got to thinking about his return to WWE in 2010 and how bizarre it got. He went from talking with HBK to wrestling Vince, to winning the United States Championship, to being the GM of RAW, and finally main eventing Summer Slam. I don't understand why he was even wrestling. He can use a chair, throw a punch, and put the sharpshooter on. That's all he was physically able to do. He didn't even have wrestling gear. I like Bret Hart a lot, I'm very indifferent to his return stint in 2010 though. It's a weird run and almost forgettable.

What do you think about it?

 

[nightmare]

He was given a nostalgia run. Nothing confusing or wrong with that, considering it was basically a miracle the prodigal son returned at all.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Wasn't a fan past Wrestlemania.

I loved the angle between him and Vince leading up to the Wrestlemania match. I knew that with his limitations, the match itself was going to be a shit show, and it didn't disappoint in that regard. But the story made up for that, and credit to Vince. He bumped his ass off for Bret in that one and made it half way watchable as a result.

That's where it should have ended though. I didn't mind them using him as a manager/mentor for the Hart Dynasty because that made sense. Having him win the US title though? That never should have happened, and I'm actually surprised Bret agreed to it. Putting him in all those tag and six man matches? In the Summerslam main event against the Nexus? Never should have happened.

They even had him do a European tour where he teamed with Kidd and Smith against various Nexus combo's.

If he could still work in any degree, that would have been one thing. But the guy couldn't take even the smallest bump. He moved like a 70 year old man, and all these 20 something, jacked wrestlers had to spend all their time in awe and fear of this guy that wasn't a believable threat in any way whatsoever anymore.

It was actually the type of run that Bret himself used to say he hated seeing old timers doing.

That entire run would have worked so much better if once he had the WM match with McMahon, he'd never set foot inside a ring again. Or at least if he did, they acknowledged his obvious limitations and made them a part of the story.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It was demeaning and I'm sure that was the intention. Bret used to take a lot of pride in his work and that run was just a big joke at his expense. Five stars.

 

[Uncle Sam]

He did a pretty decent scoop slam in the SummerSlam tag match - but no, surprisingly, he wasn't quite up to his 1996 standard.

 

[Makaveli31]

It was something done for Bret. He is very sentimental about stuff like that. It's why he took Montreal so hard. He didn't want his last WWF memory to what happened at Survivor Series '97. He got "revenge" on McMahon, had a short run with a strap, and got to wrestle a few matches. That's all it was.

 

[Makaveli31]

I am HOPING people don't compare that "run" when he was 10 years removed from his last official match to the runs he had in his prime. C'mon guys let's be smarter than that.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I can't believe this was 6 years ago already? Plus I found out today it's been NINE years since the Benoit murders. Fucking hell!

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Outside of beating Miz for the US title (which didn't hurt Miz's big push at all) I saw nothing wrong with his run. It may have went a bit long, it didn't make a ton of sense after his match with Vince but a good ol nostalgia run is usually a feel good thing and seeing Bret back in WWE just felt right after all the years of animosity. His run hurt nothing, it definitely gave Tyson and DH a good shot in the arm and I don't feel it hit that "GO AWAY!" or "this is embarrassing" phase like so many nostalgia runs before it. It had its place, it fizzled out long before any damage was done and Bret's my favorite so I'm never gonna bitch seeing him on TV.