The Bret Hart appreciation thread

Vince135792003

I just got done reading his book and I thought it might be cool for people to post their favorite Bret Hart moments, matches and even promos.

Just on his book, I won't do a small review on it or anything. There's just too much in it to even try. It's the best book I have ever read related to wrestling and would be up their with Lance Armstrong's first book as the best "sports" related book I've ever read. Just very well written and scarily honest.

My favorite Bret Hart match is against Owen Hart at Wrestlemania 10. Just a perfect match, that you can watch again and again even today.

To be fair though, it's hard for me to pick one. Leaving aside his singles run, he had some awesome tag matches in the Hart Foundation with the Rockers, Bulldogs, Nasty Boys, Demolition and Brain Busters.

My favorite Bret Hart moment was when he won the belt at Wrestlemania 10 with everyone lofting him above his shoulders. It was probably the peak of his career and was really the only time in how he was booked that Vince basically said "Your 100% my number one guy".

Dean820

My favourite Bret Hart match was the one he had against HBK at WrestleMania 96' (WM 12?). I remember just being up 'till about three in the morning watching this wonderful match with my brother. Best thing about that match is it told a story, something you don't get much of these days.

That Owen Hart cage match was great as well, I remember that match like it was yesterday.

HorseRadish

Got the signed autobiography over the christmas off his site,the other day I found my old Hitman shades I got at the Point house-show in '94!!

Favourite Bret moment was him winning the first King of The Ring. Great match with Mr.Perfect along the way.

Vince135792003

HorseRadish wrote: »

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Favourite Bret moment was him winning the first King of The Ring. Great match with Mr.Perfect along the way.

3 pretty dam good matches along the way!

HorseRadish

Vince135792003 wrote: »

3 pretty dam good matches along the way!

True that. The Perfect one stands out for me though.

Vince135792003

HorseRadish wrote: »

True that. The Perfect one stands out for me though.

Yeah I agree. It was an awesome match.

Perfect and Hart had great chemistry. It's a pity WWE didn't give them a longer term programme.

fatal

So far is the book as good it is said to be?Also how much you did get it for?

My favourite bret hart match....damn thats a hard one.The one against perfect at KOTR and the iron man match against michaels are certainly two of his finest matches ever,among others. He was always a guy that was great at getting a good match out of crap opponents.That alone should be recognised as something which makes him one of the very best to have ever stepped into the squared circle.

Vince135792003

fatal wrote: »

So far is the book as good it is said to be?Also how much you did get it for?

.

You get can get it off www.amazon.ca. It's pretty cheap with the exchange and the price (20 to 30 euro) really all depends on how quickly you want to get it.

The 3 things I like most about it is how well he has written it, the amount of detail in it and just how honest he is.

chopperbyrne

What's his take on Montreal?

Michaels was very honest about it in his book and said he regretted it, but felt that it was the right (and only) choice to make at the time.

Vince135792003

chopperbyrne wrote: »

What's his take on Montreal?
.

I think you'd need to read the book for that!

What I do like about the book is that it traces his relationship with people. For example, the book doesn't rip into Shawn Michaels from page 1. He talks about how friendly they were for quite some time in the late 80's early 90's and then obviously their relationship soured as the years went by.

Personally, I would give more credence to Bret's book than Shawns on the subject. That's not to say Bret isn't biased or anything but 1. Bret kept detailed diary tapes throughout his whole career and 2. Shawn by his own admission was all over the place at that time and 3. Bret is finished with wrestling which gave him the freedom to say what he felt.

James Caldwell wrote a good review that I think is available on www.pwtroch.com Here's an interesting piece from it:

Very introspective, Bret pulls no punches in Part 4. There are quite a few potatoes mixed in. Some people will call him bitter, some people will call him a hypocrite for defiling the heroic image he built up with the Hitman persona, or some people call him just another wrestling con man who tried to get people to believe he was a hero in a hero-less world.

Trying to make sense of some of the most poignant and raw emotions ever published in a wrestling book, my ultimate takeaway from reading Part 4 of Bret's book is his honesty. He had everything to lose by publishing this memoir. But, to Bret, he'd already lost everything in the wrestling business that ever mattered to him in the first place.

Gerard.C

I love Brets matches with Mr.Perfect, they had great chemistry together.

I was just watching Bret-Bulldog from Summerslam yesterday for the first time in ages. What do ye think of it? I thought it was very good, but the ending just kinda came out of nowhere. That was the only real fault i could find with it.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Allways prefered him in the Hart Foundation. Not sure why, probably because it was the first wrestling I ever saw and it had an air of anarchy about it.

Vince135792003

Gerard.C wrote: »

I was just watching Bret-Bulldog from Summerslam yesterday for the first time in ages. What do ye think of it? I thought it was very good, but the ending just kinda came out of nowhere. That was the only real fault i could find with it.

I guess it did come out of nowhere. It was a back and forth kind of a match though so I didn't have a problem with it. It's also a finish that I would have thought more people would have copied.

Otis Driftwood

Fave Hitman matches are either the Iron Man Vs HBK or the I Quit Match Vs Stone Cold @ (I think)mania 13.

KrazeeEyezKilla

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Allways prefered him in the Hart Foundation. Not sure why, probably because it was the first wrestling I ever saw and it had an air of anarchy about it.

That whole period doesn't get the credit it deserves, having been overshadowed by Montreal and Austin/McMahon. It was his best period for promos/interviews and had his best match (v Austin WM13).

Vince135792003

KrazeeEyezKilla wrote: »

That whole period doesn't get the credit it deserves, having been overshadowed by Montreal and Austin/McMahon. It was his best period for promos/interviews and had his best match (v Austin WM13).

He was really good on the mic in 1997.

michael.etc...

As far as the book goes, i thought it was incredible. Yeah, he toots his own horn quite a bit, and takes credit for absolutely everything. But, by the end of the story, it's easy to see why he's so protective his legacy and achievements, having gone through so much that had the potential to destroy what he built for himself. Anyways, yes, great frickin' book.

Perfect/Bret from KOR might be my favourite Bret match, it was just oustanding. But also, his stuff with Dynamite Kid, In Your House dec95 vs Davey Boy, the title win from Diesel, vs Piper at WM 8. There are so many incredible bouts with the guy.

Dean820

Forgot about his matches with Mr. Perfect, obviously also great. His match with Davey Boy Smith was probably his most impressive in terms of wrestling.

Y2J_MUFC

His match against Austin at Wrestlemania 13...also, did anyone see his shoot interview on TWC (or whatever they call it now!)....it was pretty good. But, then again all the shoot interviews were savage

gerrybbadd

Just about every match Bret had was amazing to watch... especially against top talent. He never looked "Small" or as if he couldn't handle himself, even though he was only236 pounds or so. Even against Sid Vader And Taker!!! And Bret could drag a good match out of even mediocre talent (Sid, Diesel). Its IMPOSSIBLE to pick just one Bret Hart Match as a Favourite, but the one that'll always stand out in my mind is Vs HBK - Wrestlemania 12 - Iron Man Match. :cool:

Mikel Jr.

bret hart is the greatest of all time. match vs the king has stuck in my memory as has the iron man match

he really did get a good match out of anyone.

he could probably make khali look decent if he was still wrestling

I still hate shawn over the montreal incident.

Scott Hall

I was always up for Owen Hart to win anytime he faced Bret

chopperbyrne

Well Owen was better than Bret.

He was almost on a par with Michaels and Hennig.

Vince135792003

chopperbyrne wrote: »

Well Owen was better than Bret.

He was almost on a par with Michaels and Hennig.

Your putting Hennig (and Owen) ahead of of Bret? I like the 2 of them but they don't have the list of matches that he does.

Jerichoholic

The streetfight on Raw with Austin was the best Raw they ever did, it was the main story of the show, but it's not on the Raw 15th DVD....madness.

flahavaj

Yeahhhh...if by boring repeated match structure you mean greatest ever then yeaaaaahhh.......
he was great son ....

joe123

flahavaj wrote: »

he was great son ....

I think someones listening to a little bit too much stone cold steve austin.

Bret was a great though.

Jerichoholic

flahavaj wrote: »

Yeahhhh...if by boring repeated match structure you mean greatest ever then yeaaaaahhh.......
he was great son ....

Oh...explain this a little more "son"!

gerrybbadd

All The Top Guys Have A Repetitive Match Structure. Bret Just Never Deviated From His And Stuck To It Religously. But HBK Etc Are The Same!

Jerichoholic

I don't know about that really, I would put Bret as the more creative when it came to matches, for example his most famous matches ie. vs Perfect in 91' and Austin in 97', couldn't be any more opposite, yet Shawn Michaels is still chopping and nipping up even today.