Though he hasn't worked a match in over a decade, it's hard to argue that anyone has forgotten about the exceptional work of former WWE Champion Bret Hart, with “The Hitman” remaining as popular as ever at 66 years old.

From his incredible look to his all-time great in-ring technical abilities to the very unique energy he brings to the promo game, few could match “The Hitman” when he was regularly working for the WWE during the 1980s and 1990s and even in his WCW run, which was ill-fated but had its moments all the same.

Discussing his legacy as part of a wide-ranging interview with Fox Sports Australia to promote the Elimination Chamber, Hart celebrated the next generation who took inspiration from his work and kept the Hart Foundation flag alive, as they are some of the few performers who actually attempt to make wrestling look as real and physical as his efforts back in the day.

“It's hard to criticize something that seems to be going through the roof. Wrestling has had a surge in the last little while, the last few years. And even in my case, I seem to be as revered or popular as I've ever been – and it's maybe because of the salutes I've been getting from guys like CM Punk and FTR, different wrestlers have mentioned my name, or do something that I did in the ring as a nod or a salute to me, and I appreciate all that. I think CM Punk alone has done a lot to remind wrestling fans to take a look back at some of the stuff that I was doing and how good it was,” Bret Hart told Fox Sports Australia.

“And I think it's starting to stand out now where it's like – in my honest opinion, without trying to sound too boastful, they've pulled the curtain back on wrestling so much. So now we know the whole thing's a show, and they're just really good physical actors, and that is what it is. But you watch my wrestling, and you go, jeez, he was the best. I think I made it look more real than anybody all the time. I made your stuff look good, I made my own stuff look good, nothing looked rehearsed. There's so much, I think, in today's wrestling that's so badly rehearsed, over and over.”

Now granted, is it too surprising to see Hart shout out FTR and Punker? Nope, as he's managed the former on the indies, and the latter has basically based his entire return on Hart's run in the 2000s, when he took a “h*ll froze over” return following his exit to WCW and the death of his brother, Owen. Fortunately, Hart has much, much, much, much, much more to say about the “rehearsed” nature of modern wrestling, as he believes few performers work matches the “right” way anymore.

Hey, 2024 wrestlers: Be like Bret Hart, not Bill Goldberg.

Continuing his conversation with Fox Sports Australia, Bret Hart revealed which move he'd like to see taken out of circulation among modern professional wrestlers, the chop, as the goal of working matches shouldn't be to leave their foes beaten and bruised at the end of a bout. Why? Well, because that's Bill Goldberg behavior.

“There's a lot of great wrestlers out there that can deliver great matches. But there's so many wrestlers out there that are subpar in my opinion, that don't know what they're doing out there. And they allow themselves to rely on things like chops, which I think is sort of like cheap heat – you get a reaction, but what's your reaction? You're whipping a guy across the chest with your hand? Okay, so you're hurting some guy for real, for some stupid reason. And the crowd sort of reacts to it,” Bret Hart noted.

“In my understanding of pro wrestling, anytime anyone does anything to you that hurts, for real – chopping, putting blisters on your chest when you go to your room or bed, anytime anyone does things to you for real, they're in the wrong business. They're doing it wrong. Because you're not supposed to get hurt. You're not supposed to come back to your dressing room that night or to your hotel room and have a big lump on your head and a black eye, and your teeth are knocked out. That's Bill Goldberg wrestling. That's not how it's done.”

You know, you have to give it to Bret Hart; even in a conversation that has nothing to do with Goldberg, “The Hitman” still finds a way to include his long-time rival, talking trash on his in-ring work and his professionalism in a larger conversation about modern wrestling. So, in sumation, if you want to get in the good graces of Hart, follow these simple rules: 1. don't do phony baloney spots 2. don't use moves that actually hurt people, and 3. don't be Goldberg.