RIPbossman
Occasional Pre-Show
In Ric Flair's autobiography he said "Shawn Michaels is much better than Bret Hart. There really is no comparison." I've seen many other people say HBK is much better than Bret.
I feel the most fair way to compare these two, since they wrestled in the same era and wrestled many mutual opponents, is to compare the matches they had with the same wrestlers.
Which wrestler, Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart, had the better matches with these opponents: (Note: You shouldn't factor in no dq matches unless both wrestlers had no dq matches with the same wrestler. These types of matches make it far easier to be entertaining. Even Great Khali was significantly better in gimmick matches.)
Mr. Perfect
Owen Hart (Summer Slam Cage Match not factored in)
Diesel (both had no dq matches with him, it all gets factored in)
Sid
Undertaker (HIAC and Casket matches not factored in)
Steve Austin (Submission match not factored in)
British Bulldog
Vader
Chris Benoit
Razor Ramon (Ladder matches not factored in)
Here are my thoughts.
Mr. Perfect: I say Bret had better matches against Hennig. I know Perfect's back was in bad shape against HBK at Summer Slam 93, but his back was also in bad shape against Hart at Summer Slam 91. Bret wrestled Perfect less than 3 months before Shawn did at KOTR and both Hart/Perfect matches are classics. Shawn's match was nothing special.
Owen Hart: I give this to Bret. I'm not counting their cage match. Shawn had a really good match with Owen at IYH February 96, but nothing Shawn did with Owen is as good as the WM 10 match.
Diesel: Tie. Here both wrestlers each had a high profile no dq match against him. Both, imo, were equally spectacular. Both had very good but not great standard matches with him.
Sid: Shawn. Bret had a pretty good match with Sid at IYH December 96. But imo Shawn's matches at Survivor series 96 and Royal Rumble 97 were better.
Undertaker: Not enough sample size to determine. I can't count Shawn's HIAC match or his casket match because they are no dq matches. To my knowledge Bret never had a no dq match with Undertaker. I also can't count Shawn's WM matches because by then Taker had improved dramatically as a worker, and that's not a fair comparison.
Steve Austin: Bret. Based on their televised matches, I say Bret. I don't factor in the WM 13 match, and I won't count the WM 14 match because Shawn's back was in terrible shape. Going by the KOTR match Shawn had and the other ppv matches Bret had with him, I say Bret.
Bulldog: Bret by a little bit. Shawn had some really good matches with him like on SNME and One Night Only, but Bret also had really good matches with him at Summer Slam and IYH December 95. This could go either way, but I think Bret edges him out.
Vader: Haven't seen Bret wrestle Vader. N/A.
Benoit: Both had lengthy standard singles matches with Benoit on free tv. In my opinion, Shawn had the better match with him. Benoit is all about wrestling at a fast pace and non stop action, and I feel Shawn complimented him more. Bret's match with Benoit that was a tribute to Owen on Nitro was still great.
Razor Ramon: Bret. I'm can't count the ladder matches Shawn had with Razor, so I'm going by Shawn's Raw matches with him and Bret's Royal Rumble 93 match and his KOTR match. Shawn had some really great, edge of your seat matches with Razor, but Bret's Royal Rumble match with him was excellent and well crafted. This is very close and could go either way.
So in my opinion, based on what I've seen, when Bret and Shawn had mutual opponents, under the same circumstances, Bret usually had the better match.
I feel the most fair way to compare these two, since they wrestled in the same era and wrestled many mutual opponents, is to compare the matches they had with the same wrestlers.
Which wrestler, Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart, had the better matches with these opponents: (Note: You shouldn't factor in no dq matches unless both wrestlers had no dq matches with the same wrestler. These types of matches make it far easier to be entertaining. Even Great Khali was significantly better in gimmick matches.)
Mr. Perfect
Owen Hart (Summer Slam Cage Match not factored in)
Diesel (both had no dq matches with him, it all gets factored in)
Sid
Undertaker (HIAC and Casket matches not factored in)
Steve Austin (Submission match not factored in)
British Bulldog
Vader
Chris Benoit
Razor Ramon (Ladder matches not factored in)
Here are my thoughts.
Mr. Perfect: I say Bret had better matches against Hennig. I know Perfect's back was in bad shape against HBK at Summer Slam 93, but his back was also in bad shape against Hart at Summer Slam 91. Bret wrestled Perfect less than 3 months before Shawn did at KOTR and both Hart/Perfect matches are classics. Shawn's match was nothing special.
Owen Hart: I give this to Bret. I'm not counting their cage match. Shawn had a really good match with Owen at IYH February 96, but nothing Shawn did with Owen is as good as the WM 10 match.
Diesel: Tie. Here both wrestlers each had a high profile no dq match against him. Both, imo, were equally spectacular. Both had very good but not great standard matches with him.
Sid: Shawn. Bret had a pretty good match with Sid at IYH December 96. But imo Shawn's matches at Survivor series 96 and Royal Rumble 97 were better.
Undertaker: Not enough sample size to determine. I can't count Shawn's HIAC match or his casket match because they are no dq matches. To my knowledge Bret never had a no dq match with Undertaker. I also can't count Shawn's WM matches because by then Taker had improved dramatically as a worker, and that's not a fair comparison.
Steve Austin: Bret. Based on their televised matches, I say Bret. I don't factor in the WM 13 match, and I won't count the WM 14 match because Shawn's back was in terrible shape. Going by the KOTR match Shawn had and the other ppv matches Bret had with him, I say Bret.
Bulldog: Bret by a little bit. Shawn had some really good matches with him like on SNME and One Night Only, but Bret also had really good matches with him at Summer Slam and IYH December 95. This could go either way, but I think Bret edges him out.
Vader: Haven't seen Bret wrestle Vader. N/A.
Benoit: Both had lengthy standard singles matches with Benoit on free tv. In my opinion, Shawn had the better match with him. Benoit is all about wrestling at a fast pace and non stop action, and I feel Shawn complimented him more. Bret's match with Benoit that was a tribute to Owen on Nitro was still great.
Razor Ramon: Bret. I'm can't count the ladder matches Shawn had with Razor, so I'm going by Shawn's Raw matches with him and Bret's Royal Rumble 93 match and his KOTR match. Shawn had some really great, edge of your seat matches with Razor, but Bret's Royal Rumble match with him was excellent and well crafted. This is very close and could go either way.
So in my opinion, based on what I've seen, when Bret and Shawn had mutual opponents, under the same circumstances, Bret usually had the better match.
