During a live Q&A event in Germersheim, Germany, WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart offered his candid thoughts on several of his legendary contemporaries, praising those who helped elevate his career while criticizing others for what he described as selfishness and a lack of creativity. Hart detailed his experiences working with Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels.
Hart credited Mr. Perfect (Curt Hennig) and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper for being instrumental in helping him transition into a singles star in WWE. He explained that they went out of their way to help him prove his value to the company’s management. “[They] wanted to help me and prove to the office and promotion that I could be a big star,” Hart said. “I owe a lot to Mr. Perfect. He was the first guy to really go in there and just show everybody how good I was… He was one of my favorite guys to ever wrestle. He was the first guy then to step up and help me, and then Roddy Piper was probably the second”.
In contrast, Hart had sharp criticism for Hulk Hogan and Jake “The Snake” Roberts, stating they did not help build new stars for the future. “I look back on what Roddy and Mr. Perfect did for me. And I could tell you that Hulk Hogan never did that for anybody,” Hart stated. “He never helped anybody else after his time was being the top guy. He would rather see the company sink than actually come back and help make the next star… Jake Roberts is another guy that never made anybody”.
Hart also spoke at length about his in-ring experiences with Ric Flair, drawing a distinction between their creative philosophies. “I always wrestled different matches with different guys. I never had the same match with the same guy… which is exactly what Ric Flair does,” Hart said. “He wrestles everybody in the exact same way. It’s the same script, the same patch, the same spots, the same moves. And whereas I’m an artist, I do it different every night”.
He recalled that after he won the WWE Championship from Flair, their subsequent rematches declined in quality, leading him to believe it was intentional. “I didn’t have very good matches with Ric Flair,” Hart said. “I think he’s purposely not giving me good matches. He’s trying to sabotage my matches”.
This tension came to a head before an Iron Man match, where Hart asserted his control as the new champion. After Flair attempted to change the match to his preferred layout, Hart refused. “I looked at him, I said, ‘We’re not doing any of that. We’re doing my match… No, we’re not doing any of that. I’m in charge. I’m the champion. I tell you what to do,'” Hart recounted. He called this a “turning point” in his career, after which he took full creative control of all his matches.
Hart also briefly touched on the original plans for WrestleMania 13, where he was scheduled to have a championship rematch with Shawn Michaels. “Vince told me I had to wrestle Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 13 in a rematch for the title,” Hart said. “But politics and Shaw’s ego, he didn’t want to do that… Shawn retired, lost his smile and all that stuff. And basically, I think, refused to wrestle me at WrestleMania 13”.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit the video below with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
