What was Bret Hart's best feud in WCW?

[CM Steel]

WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart's legendary career in wrestling was mainly made in the WWF. Where Bret Hart had the greatest feuds to have against any superstar who was wrestling in the WWF at that time.

-The Undertaker
-Shawn Michaels
-Mr. Perfect (R.I.P.)
-Yokozuna (R.I.P.)
-Diesel (Kevin Nash)
-ECT.

But there after Bret's contract with the WWF ran out Bret signed with rival promotion WCW in 1997. Then was the infamous "Montreal Screwjob" where Bret Hart was screwed by WWF/E chairman Vince McMahon and the rest of the WWF (Michaels, Hemsley, Hebner).

Bret Hart started a new journey in WCW as a active wrestler getting involved in some newer feuds with different kinds of superstars.

-Diamond Dallas Page
-Sting
-Chris Benoit (R.I.P?)
-Bill Goldberg
-Booker T
-ECT.

But in WCW, what was Bret Hart's best feud and why?

 

[thebarber]

Bret didnt really have an ongoing feud in WCW. He didnt fight anybody at consecutive ppvs, was turning from face to heel and back so many times, he could never keep a fued going. The closest he came to a rivalry was with Goldberg, the famous angle shot in Canada in late March 1999 was to be the start of an ongoing angle with Goldberg, buit the death of Owen Hart ended that and nearly Brets career. This is why Bret was so frustrated in WCW, he was not used in an effective way, and by the time he got the belt, Bret was clearly "phoning in" his efforts. Bret Hart did not have any feuds in WCW, which was a pity.

 

[The Liar]

I'll have to go with the feud he had with Sting. I remember them having at least one good match together, as well an awesome brawl on Nitro.

 

[berlinbrawler]

Can't say I really recall Bret feuding in WCW. It's was such a random mess. One day Bret was a good guy, the next he revives the nWo for the 322nd time, the next he is a good guy again and then he suddely attacks Goldberg with a shovel in the middle of the dessert.

His entire stint at WCW was utterly forgettable. Only a couple of matches stand out as noteworthy, above all probably the Owen Hart Memorial match with He Who Shall Not be Named.

 

[IT Factor]

As WWE have pointed out, WCW mishandled Bret's character. He had alot of buzz around his arrivial into WCW after Montreal. They could've built a big storyline out of the Montreal angle and made the WCW audience sympathetic to Bret making him the huge babyface he was throughout the course of his WWF career. They could've done a shoot interview and the whole nine. Sadly, WCW was on a downward spiral towards eventually going out of business and Bret was lost in the shuffle.

As for his feuds, I'd say his most memorable moments were with Goldberg. The whole spear with the metal plate under Bret's hockey jersey sticks out the most and it showed us what Bret was capable of in WCW. I also enjoyed the Owen Hart tribute match on Nitro that Bret & Chris Benoit had. The best quality feud Bret had was probably with Sting, as many fans thought it was a virtual dream match and add the whole Sharpshooter/Deathlock finisher thing and it just worked. Although the feuds with Booker & DDP were good as well, the Sting feud was probably the highlight of an otherwise brief and disappointing career in WCW. Thank God that Bret & Vinnie Mac patched things up and Bret got to end his career on a better note than being squandered away in a second rate promotion he didn't wanna go to anyway.

 

[Ryyu]

His match for Owen with Chris was the only good to ever come out of his time spent in WCW, it was a shameful waste of one of the hottest and best talents in order to protect the lime light of has beens that could hardly move.

 

[thebromm]

I was always a huge Bret Hart fan. Always will be. I will still mark out anytime he shows up on WWE television. I know I'm going off topic a bit but I dont really care. I get back on topic in a few minutes.

As a wrestling fan I came along when Bret was in his prime. He was a brilliant ring technician, brilliant at crowd psychology, and brilliant at story-telling. All of which are pretty much lost arts in todays product. For many years he played the hero role very well and when he and Austin did the double turn he played that antagonist anti-American heel very well as well. The whole Montreal Screwjob you know had to hurt him pretty deeply. Whether Bret was right or wrong for not wanting to do the job that night is debatable and would have many different opinions. It'd be like any of our fathers who we love and love us back, stabbing you in the back. I cant imagine it'd feel very good. So I know Bret took that with him to WCW, a place he never wanted to be, which also showed. He felt out of place. With that company being run the way it was no one had any idea how to capitalize on Montreal. His love for the business was severely lessened by the time his debut rolled around. Combined with the death of Owen, he lost all passion for the business. It showed. I'm pretty sure all of that took a cumulative effect on him and contributed to his stroke. I just hope people remembered they were fans when Bret came back to WWE on Jan 4. Remembered that thrilling rivalry he had with HBK during those last few months of 97. Remembered that the screwjob was real. Remembered that the hatred between Bret and Shawn, at least at the end, was very real. I hope people saw that moment on RAW with Bret "The Hitman" Hart and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels standing face to face in the middle of the ring after 12 years, as something so surreal that it gave you goosebumps. I can tell you as a kid growing up and idolizing these two men I was happy to see both of them finally put all the bad blood behind them. I know it had to have taken a load off both men. A weight that they both carried for 12 years. I think that resolution was important. Not only to Bret and Shawn but to those who were along for the ride.

As far as his time in WCW which was pretty forgettable, you got to go with Goldberg. Later on WWE even tried a similar angle with Miz claiming victories over Cena. Bret wearing that armored plate though was pretty golden. knocking out cold the beast that was Goldberg.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

There was no stand out feud because WCW didn't know what to do with Bret Hart. There were some great highlights though -

* VS Ric Flair in his first match there
* VS Chris Benoit for Owen
* VS Chris Benoit to win WCW title
* Segment with Goldberg where he knocked Goldberg out by wearing a plate under his top and Goldberg ran in to spear Bret but got knocked out cold.

Apart from that, Bret's best days were definately in WWF and Stampede.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

I enjoyed his fued with Randy Savage in spring of 98. He had turned heel out of the blue joining up the nWo Hollywood and for at least a couple of months had a interesting program with the Macho Man which featured 2 high profile ppv matches in which imo he & Savage stole the show. They also carried Hogan & Piper in a tag match that would of otherwise been garbage.

 

[UFOcalling]

I'd have to say that my favorite feud for Hart in WCW was with DDP for the US Title. I know it wasn't a fantastic feud, but I liked seeing them go back and forth for the US Strap. I particularly liked seeing Bret hold the top rope when Page went for the Diamond Cutter (I don't know how many times he did it) to avoid being hit by it (out of nowhere! lol!). I'm not sure if Bret was the first to do that (hold the top rope to avoid the Cutter), but he was the first that I can remember to do it.

I've said this before, but I really wish that Bret Hart would have been the one to end Goldberg's streak (instead of Nash). The only other guy I would have preferred to have seen end it was Sting, but I wish it would have been Hart. Goldberg and Hart never had a "proper" feud, but I absolutely loved the segment when Hart called Goldberg out and got Bill to spear him. It appeared that Goldberg was knocked unconscious, then Hart lifted his jersey to reveal a metal plate (à la Clint Eastwood in "Fist Full of Dollars"?). That wasn't an official match or anything, but afterwards Bret covered Goldberg and counted to three himself. Great segment. I still think that it should have been a submission move (preferably the sharpshooter) that ended Goldberg's streak.

The stuff Bret did with Sting is worth mentioning as well, as I liked that Bret got Sting to go back to the black & white facepaint when Sting was with the Wolfpac. If I remember correctly, it didn't take - Sting was back to red & black paint the following week - but that episode of Nitro was great.

Great thread, I had fun remembering all this stuff!

 

[Matisyahu]

I liked when Bret was the US Champ and he was avoiding putting the belt up to any serious contender so in an interview with Mean Gene he insisted that El Dandy get a shot or Hypnosis (Psychosis) or someone of that nature. Pretty sure everyone has seen that interview on youtube but its the ONLY good thing to come out of Brets WCW run

 

[justtxyank]

I'm on board for the four way feud with Hogan, Savage, Piper and Hart as his best stuff in WCW. The promos and matches that involved Savage and Hart were a lot of fun. Side note, the stuff between Savage and Piper ended up being a lot of fun as well.

After that he didn't really do much, but to be fair, he didn't give his best effort to WCW either. He was so bitter and jaded and it was obvious. I enjoyed his heel run as the US champ though. Thought the stuff with Booker T and DDP was good.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

His most memorable feud in WCW was with Vince and the WWF. With the exception of the Owen Hart tribute match with Benoit his best stuff was going back at Vince and company.

Bret did not fit in WCW at all. Vince called that one. I couldn't believe how badly they misused him.

 

[The Eighties]

I enjoyed his fued with Randy Savage in spring of 98. He had turned heel out of the blue joining up the nWo Hollywood and for at least a couple of months had a interesting program with the Macho Man which featured 2 high profile ppv matches in which imo he & Savage stole the show. They also carried Hogan & Piper in a tag match that would of otherwise been garbage.

I'd go with this as well, the angle between them was well built and incorporated Hogan and Piper effectively, plus it actually got fully developed with a proper pay-off as opposed to Bret's other random stuff in WCW. I'm pretty sure there was only one PPV singles match between them though at Slamboree.

In second spot I'd say the US title feud with DDP that had The Giant as Bret's sort of insurance policy and featured a good match at World War 3 that was actually the main event.

 

[HBsam31]

Was a shame how bad Bret was misused as I have been a Bret fan since his tag days with the Anvil. I was an avid watcher of Nitro and Raw back then, and I gotta be honest, I don't remember to much of his days in WCW. Two of my favorite moments are the Owen tribute show vs Benoit, and when Goldberg speared Bret and Bret had the metal plate under his Jersey. I guess he had some good stuff with Sting, but the two things I mentioned is really all that stuck with me. Such a shame.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I wish he was used better in WCW! Bret said couple of times, He did not know why they didn't had him feud with Hogan. That would of been a great feud. The thing with that was Hogan's ego and Hogan did not want to feud with him. The Benoit match was great. Actually, right now im wearing Brets WCW shirt.