Were You Team Bret or Team Shawn?

[Jonyboyuk2]

I was Team Bret. Bret Hart was my childhood hero. I loved HBK when he was in the Rockers, and he was an incredible wrestler from the beginning. Shawn never really seemed too comfortable with being a good guy in 1995/96 era. The time he got powerbombed 3 times by Psycho Sid was the turning point I remember seeing on WWF Mania on a Saturday morning (back in those days, here in the UK we never had Raw on TV or Cable at all). My (pre 2002) favourite time for watching Shawn Michaels was when he started DX with HHH and Chyna and he was a bad guy/good guy. Seeing the modern day DX, you would not believe how good they were, and I feel they revolutionised the business with those segments and matches.

None the less, Shawn has since said, he drove Bret Hart crazy and he is sorry. It is nice they have made friends and put that past behind them.

After 2002, Shawn Michaels was even better because you could see in him the changes he had in his life. He seemed more settled and had some of the greatest matches of all time.

On the fact that Shawn wrestled longer, I would say Shawn is the greatest wrestler that there has ever been.

Just wish he had one feud with the Rock at least, and maybe a match with Brock Lesner...

 

[FlairFan2003]

Team Shawn - Brett was Vince's hybrid, he wanted to get away from the muscled up, three moves and then the finish body builders who dominted his scene in the 80's, punctuated by Hogan. He wanted someone known for the long matches, great in ring performances, he wanted to distance himself from Hogan and get someone closer to Flair. He did still want his goody too shoes fan favorite however, Brett became that guy.

For pure entertainment value, HBK was better. As the industry moved to a more harder edged style post 95, with Hogan saying his prayers and taking his vitamins to a chorus of boos in WCW while the womanizing Flair was getting cheered, Vince looked more to HBK because he could not only sell it in the ring he was more creative and entertaining on the mic. HBK had more charisma. The idea of carbon copy candy sweet good guys may have grown stale (part of the Hogan backlash was his rep for mediocre matches and not working very often, it wasnt all character driven) and HBK was working machine.

I liked Brett as a wrestler, just found him to be very average on the mic. He wasnt as believebale as a heel to me either, of course Brett has said many times he doesnt like playing the bad guy, he likes playing the hero. Other guys liked one side or the other but played both with conviction. Hart was a very good hero, he just lacked the charisma and entertainment value that made previous heroes like Dusty & Hulk so engaging.

HBK was a guy who could convincingly play any character, fan fav or villain, and I believe he was a shade better in the ring than Hart although I wouldnt want to live on the difference. In the end, for me it was a virtual draw as far as who I thought was more dependable in the ring. As far as the rest of the package is concerned, it was all HBK

 

[Wald]

Team Bret by a million miles to be honest.

It's funny looking back on it now, given all that has happened between the two, but I remember there being a schoolyard rivalry between a few of us as to who was the better team, the Hart Foundation or the Rockers. I think it's a toss up between the Foundation and Demolition for the WWF's greatest ever tag team so I sided with the Hart Foundation in that debate. I also always thought that Bret was the standout star of the tag division, and that Marty Jannetty was the standout of the Rockers team. So I was Team Bret before there was a Team Bret guess.

As their singles careers progressed I thought, and still do think, that Bret was a much better worker. Most of that is probably down to the style of wrestling I prefer, but I also don't think Shawn, or anyone else for that matter, could touch Bret for storytelling in the ring. The biggest shame of Montreal for me was that Bret was never able to transition into the role I thought he would have excelled at behind the curtain, he could have been the new Pat Patterson, the guy who laid out matches and finishers for people and who could train up the younger guys to be more convincing in everything they do in the ring. Shawn, though he was great in the ring, just could never reach the heights the Hitman could.

As World Champions I think its easy to see the difference in quality. Bret was given the title 5 times sure, but I don't think he ever got the full McMahon hype machine that Hogan, HBK, Austin, Rock and Cena got. I don't think Vince ever saw him as anything other than a transitional champion, but despite that Bret was the most over guy in the WWF for years. HBK on the other hand got the full Super Cena push (as it's now known) and flopped with it.

It was also very easy to see that HBK had a rotten attitude by 1996 as well. You could tell when he didn't like someone he was in the ring with because he would no sell or just act a douche. When he started bringing real life issues into his promos I thought it was to cover up his own failings. When Montreal happened I knew that despite his protests that he was in on it. Bret always seemed more like a proper man I thought. A fighter who would stand up for what he believed in and was someone you could back to the death. After Montreal I quit watching the WWF for a few months, went back after Austin won the title and HBK disappeared. I do believe Bret when he says that no matter what the issue between him and HBK that he would never have done to Shawn what Shawn did to Bret.

So as a wrestler and as a person it was Team Bret for me

 

[Slash-LN]

I was team Shawn all the way. I didn't know anything about the backstage stuff. I grew up being an HBK fan so when it came to Bret and picking sides I felt Shawn could do no wrong. I knew he was arrogant but that's what I loved about him.
Don't get me wrong thought I liked Bret. He just couldn't hold a candle to Shawn in my opinion.

 

[lowandmighty]

I only saw some of this feud pan out because I'd switched to mostly watching wcw in that period of time so I was team none of them. However I had lost all respect for Bret Hart the year before after he lost that iron man match to Shawn Micheals. I thought the fact Bret Hart thought it was over and tried to walk away with the belt after the time expired was deplorable. I wanted Bret to win. I also hated the fact he claimed that Shawn Micheals "made a believer" out of him in the wrestlemania magazine that came out after the event.
I thought Bret Hart was better than to show respect for a pompous backstabbing punk like Shawn Micheals.
I liked Bret Hart up till that point and despised Shawn Micheals ever since he bluntly stabbed Marty Janetti in the back by throwing him through a pane of fake glass. I'd respected the fact that Bret Hart gave Hogan his blessing to face Yokozuna at the end of wrestlemania 9 and held him in high esteem for his recognition of Hulk Hogan who already had the legacy of having championed wrestling better than anyone else ever.

To answer the question properly I would've been team Shawn because in 1997 Bret had turned into a punk too and Shawn was always a better punk than Bret.
I hated Bret Hart the most in that period of time because I saw his heel turn as his own version of a cheap rip off of Hogan's with Canadians being like nwo fans.
I wanted Shawn to finish the job on Bret that he'd started the year before.

 

[HitmanFan4ever]

im gonna say team brett all day every day! i was never a huge fan of his inside the ring our out until later on in his career (but i think that had more to do with his attitude and lack of professionalism) i will say that hbk did come out of their rivalry dvd looking like the better man tho