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“Bret Hart has noted being greatly appreciative of FTR and C.M. Punk and other wrestlers for calling him the all-time best. The Calgary Hit Men hockey team sent all three jerseys a few months ago. Bret has been wearing FTR T-shirts. He can’t appear with AEW due to his legends contract so can only be with them publicly at indie shows like the recent one with Big Time Wrestling. Bret and FTR tried to do simultaneous Sharpshooters as they requested, but it didn't work out as Bret hadn't done one in ten years.” – These words, written by Dave Meltzer in the June 20th edition of The Wrestling Observer -the headline for this particular issue? Vince McMahon Under Investigation By WWE Board Of Directors – do a pretty good job of peeling back the curtain on the journey “The Hitman” has taken from being the “The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be” in the ring for WWE and WCW to simply being “The Goat” in the eyes of more than a few fans and wrestlers alike.
Though he hasn't worked a match in a very long time, as it's officially been over a decade since “The Hitman” and John Cena took care of Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez on an episode of RAW broadcast from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in September of 2011, Hart has slowly started working his way back into the mainstream wrestling world, as he's become the unofficial manager of FTR outside of AEW where, as Meltzer pointed out, he isn't allowed to work due to his Legacy Contract with WWE.
Could Hart become more of a fixture of WWE now that Mr. McMahon is fully gone from the company as his son-in-law, whom he worked 21 matches with during their shared time in The Fed, is in charge of the company? Potentially so, now that he's buried the hatchet with one-time Montreal Screw Job rival, “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, but even if he doesn't and Hart popping up on RAW or SmackDown remains an occasional treat instead of a sight that occurs multiple times per year, that doesn't mean his in-ring influence won't be present on darn near every match broadcast on television, streamed on YouTube, or run for a live crowd in so-and-so town's Elks Hall won't have “The Hitman” stamp of approval on it, as his no-nonsense style of in-ring work will seemingly live on forever.
My hero. pic.twitter.com/1RBKKkIP1E
— Uncle Dax FTR (@DaxFTR) November 11, 2022
Bret Hart explains how he worked himself into a professional wrestling legend.
Speaking with Jonathan Snowden of The Ringer in a fantastic piece called “The Great Divide: How Montreal Created the Cult of Bret and Shawn,” Hart was asked about his legacy in the squared circle and gave a very interesting answer that will inspire anyone, even folks who have no ambition to step into a professional wrestling ring.
“When I became champion, Vince gave me a lecture on it one time, saying, ‘You’re the champion. You call the shots. No one tells you how to wrestle. You’re the guy that tells everyone else how to wrestle.’ And I made that my new rule,” Hart says. “For a long time up until that, I always had to incorporate some other wrestler’s ideas into my match to make him happy. Now I could tell people, ‘No, we’re not going to do that idea. We’re going to cancel that because it doesn’t make any sense, but we’re going to do this instead.’ And nobody would argue with me anymore. I became a very detailed guy and I think just the passion and the workrate that I brought to wrestling is finally being appreciated today.”
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“When you go back and you watch these old matches over and over again like people do today, I think my matches hold up better than any wrestlers that I can think of. I was a perfectionist in the ring and I was an innovator. I was not a thief. There’s a lot of thieves out there that steal ideas from other wrestlers. … If you watch my matches back, I think you see a psychology and a logic that’s always there. The matches just seem real. You don’t have to see me wiggle to move into the right place, or if I get knocked over the top rope, I’m always in the right spot at the right time. The timing and the ability to be a great wrestler has often been misunderstood or underappreciated. We don’t get credit for being great athletes and we don’t get credit for being great actors when in fact we’re probably a combination of them both in full motion.”
Did Hart enter the professional wrestling world with an advantage? Why yes, yes he did; he's the crown jewel of arguably the most important Canadian professional wrestling family of all time, and as his niece Natalya Neidhart pointed out in a recent interview with Darren Stone of Faction 919, being born into her family is like checking into the Hotel California, but Hart still had to put in the work and transcend his famous pedigree to become a legend that transcended most others.
“If there was a camera on, I was going to give you a five-star performance or at least I was going to try my hardest,” Hart says. “And I think it’s started to show now. I appreciate people going, ‘Jesus, this guy always worked hard, always tried hard, always gave the fans a show, always acted like it was real, always showed emotion.’ … And I’m really proud looking back, and I think I have put up no argument about being the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.”
Considering Bret Hart closed out his career with two five-star matches awarded by Mr. Meltzer, it's pretty safe to say “The Hitman” made a mark and left a legacy that has already well outlasted his time in the ring.
