Bret "The Hitman" Hart: Overrated or Underrated?

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think Bret Hart is properly rated as one of the best ring technicians of all time. I'd put him in my top 10, and he escapes my top 5 due his limited promo skills, his self-ascribed description of himself that he was "the best there ever will be", and for some degree of predictability in his finishing sequences.

Don't most top level stars have a moniker or something they describe themselves so I don't see why Bret calling himself "the best there ever will be" is an issue. It's like The Rock calling himself "The Most Electrifying Man" or Shawn calling him "The Showstopper, the headliner, the main event".

Generally speaking I do not see what's so bad if his mic skills are "bare bones" I mean his character isn't the type of person who mouth's off promos anyways. It also does not deter from the fact that he has charisma, his vibe and personality has a lot of it.

Also I am not sure how much he is a draw in the US but I still think Bret Hart was good fur business. Bret Hart is one of the key players that kept the WWE afloat at the time. Vince McMahon said so himself in the Bret Hart DVD that he was a huge star not only in Canada but other countries outside North America as well. My belief is that while WCW was crushing WWE in the US with Hogan and NWO, Bret Hart's drawing power outside the US is what gave the WWE the advantage over WCW internationally.

 

[BBally]

I can't agree more with the fact that this is undoubtedly the most argued debate of the over/under type. When breaking down the career of Bret Hart, you really do have to look at his full body of work. You also have to look at this objectively. You have to try not to take all the backstage riffs he had with people into account. Also, some people are so blind by the big matches and accomplishments he racked up in the WWE, they tend to overlook the totally sub-par time he spent in WCW. Now you can't help but agrue that wasn't all Bret's fault in WCW. There were so many other big players in WCW, that Bret was kinda just "another guy." The death of his brother Owen also kind of overshadowed his time in WCW. Bret spent less than 3 years in WCW and really somewhat hurt his legacy because quite frankly, I can barely remember anything Bret did in WCW.

As far as just his in-ring work goes and the way he worked his matches, he is one of the best of all time. That's not even up for debate. You'd have to be insane to think Bret wasn't one of the best, most sound, techincal guys to ever lace up a pair of boots. On the mic, he was better than good, but not quite great. His promos were usually always direct and to the point with very little filler. So if you were to say Bret wasn't one of the top 10 in-ring guys of all time, then he'd be underrated... because he was that damn good.

Now you have to factor in all his shenanigans. Maybe shenanigans is the wrong word for it, but Bret did take the business very seriously... maybe too seriously. That's not a bad thing. But it is after all... a BUSINESS. I guess he took it too "personally" for lack of a better word. From the stories you hear, it didn't sound like Bret was a company guy and he always wanted to be heard, or have things go his way. If Bret had a grudge against someone *ahem*HBK*ahem* he didn't want to do anything for them. The infamous Screwjob is hard not to bring up in this situation. Bret was leaving the company for more money and because he didn't feel he was in Vince's long-term plans as a superstar. A "company guy" would have stayed for what Vince could offer in hopes the company that made you a star could turn around into the right direction. And seeing the past, that was happening when Bret left. So maybe Bret was just in leaving... but his crybaby attitude toward HBK doesn't help his case. Bret was leaving, Bret refused to drop the title as a BUSINESS DECISION... so Vince made his own business decision.

As far as a draw for the WWE, I think Bret is looked at somewhat unfairly. I mean who REALLY orders a PPV, or buys tickets for an event for ONE superstar? Looking back to 1997, Bret was damn near the only superstar selling merchandise. Those Bret Hart bears, the Bret Hart shirts, and every kid had the Bret Hart "sunglasses" with the rubber strap and purple/pink tinted plastic. At that time, Bret was really the only big face that was bankable at the time. So to put the load on Bret and saying "he wasn't a draw" is somewhat unfair. There were other exciting superstars coming up (Rock, Austin to name a few), but even look at the SSeries card for 97, it was awful. One guy can't be a massive draw solely by himself. Sure people will say Hogan, but Hogan was larger than life. Hogan is a rare breed. He is undoubtedly the biggest star in the history of the business. You can't fairly "compare" everybody to Hogan. So when people say "Bret wasn't a draw," they are correct in a sense. But Bret didn't have the best supporting cast to work with either. But at the end of the day... it is what it is.

Bret's time in WCW is just a blip on the radar, but you have to consider it. He was overshadowed by Hogan, The Outsiders, the nWo, Sting, and even a few others. Bret went from a big fish in a small pond, to a big fish... with a pond with bigger fish. He didn't do for WCW what they thought he would do for them.

My diagnosis: Just Slightly Overrated. Bret's great, don't get me wrong. I love watching his matches because they are some of the most real matches I have seen, or will ever see. But his attitude and passion towards the business and others in the business got the best of him a little bit. Whether that be fair or unfair, again, it is what it is.

He's pretty much got it on the mark although I would say he's on the middle, he's rated just right.

 

[instantkarmaVA]

I don't feel his neither over or under rated. His sits nicely in the middle. He has enough accolades to be great but he also has enough flaws not to make him a legend.

 

[MisterRob]

I don't see how this could really be a heated debate. I don't see how anyone can say Bret Hart is overrated. From his beginnings as a tag team wrestler to his prominence as a main eventer his entire career was made up of some of the best matches, the best feuds, the best segments, best angles, the best championship reigns in the history of the business. He's one of the best in ring wrestlers of all time, bar none.. he left a big influence and impact on the business.. his mic work is highly underrated.. he may not have been a huge draw in the US, but there are very few in the history of the business who really have been (not even Flair was a huge draw), and he WAS one of the biggest international draws in the history of the business which people don't realize the importance of since WWE doesn't just make money in the US. House shows, ppvs, etc make money not weekly network television. If anything Bret Hart's not given enough credit and he's downplayed by many, in my eyes.

 

[MisterRob]

He's pretty much got it on the mark although I would say he's on the middle, he's rated just right.

I don't think he's got it on the mark at all. The whole idea that shenanigans outside of the ring or outside of the work of a wrestler having any effect on his legacy or whether he's overrated or underrated makes no sense to me. I guess by that logic then Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels are both highly overrated because they've both done a great deal of shenanigans behind the scenes. And Bret Hart was the epitome of a company man throughout his career in WWE up until that one example at the end in Montreal. Bret Hart never refused to do the job to others, and he always did it for Shawn Michaels too up until Montreal. Shawn Michaels repeatedly avoided doing jobs and played politics backstage, was a baby and played games.. Hulk Hogan is famous for his politics and doing what he wanted against what sometimes was best for business. So that logic makes no sense to me. All that should define a wrestler, whether he's underrated or overrated, is what he does while working as a wrestler.. what he does for business.. and Bret Hart's career speaks for itself. Whether its his work ethic and sheer wrestling ability, or its the fact he worked such a huge workload and always did what was asked of him for his entire WWE career (until Montreal), or the fact his influence is clear in the matches he had and the angles he was a part of.. that's the judge of him being underrated. It's like saying an actor is overrated or underrated based on what the media shows him doing outside of when he's working, and not based on his roles as an actor. So no, shafe_41 is way off the mark.