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From here, Bret’s next major feud was against his brother, Owen Hart, and these two put on some of the best matches ever witnessed in the WWF/E. The feud culminated in a Steel Cage match at Summerslam which Bret won to retain the WWF title, and this match was awarded 5 stars by Wrestling Observer, one of the very few WWF matches to have received that honor.
“Arguably the greatest technical wrestler in WWE history” – WWE on Bret Hart
Bret also became the ‘King of the Ring’ twice, and won the Royal Rumble in ’94. Hart was then involved in one of the greatest feuds of all time with Shawn Michaels, as Michaels won the WWF title from Bret Hart at WrestleMania in ’96. Bret was then involved in yet another 5 star match at WrestleMania ’97, when he took on Stone Cold Steve Austin in a submission match, which arguably made Austin’s career.
After the match, Bret turned heel for the first time in years, and reformed the Hart Foundation, along with Pillman, Owen, Davey and Neidhart. Bret would win the WWF title once again, before losing it to Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series in ’97, which is famously dubbed as the ‘Montreal Screwjob’, when he was double crossed by Vince, Shawn, Triple H and Earl Hebner. Bret left the WWF for WCW, and was a part of the roster till he received a concussion during a match with Goldberg, and retired afterwards.
Bret Hart will be remembered for a lot of things, and there is nothing that hasn’t been said about him. He has been an inspiration for future generation wrestlers such as Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle, and was pivotal in changing WWF’s mentality about how a WWF champion should look like.
Bret opened the door for ‘small’ wrestlers to become world champions, such as Shawn Michaels himself. Although Bret left the WWF on bad terms, he has since buried the hatchet with Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. His technical prowess, along with his knack of putting on great matches with virtually anyone led to him being known as the greatest professional wrestler of all time!
His contributions to professional wrestling, along with his wrestling ability earn Bret Hart the number 4 spot in our list of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time in the WWE.
