4 Best And Worst Moments Of Bret Hart's WCW Career
1. World Heavyweight Champion
By final months of 1999, Bret Hart had been with the company for nearly two years. However, in that time, Bret had failed to win WCWs ultimate prize -- the World Heavyweight Championship. However, that would all change on the 21st of November inside Torontos Air Canada Centre. Leading up to that nights Mayhem PPV, WCW had run a 32-man tournament to determine a new World Champion. Sting had been stripped of the title by J.J. Dillon after a slew of interference-laden matches and controversial title retentions -- including Sting attacking a WCW official. To crown a new champ, the tournament was established and began on Nitro some weeks prior. By the time the pay-per-view came around, there were four men left vying for the title. In Mayhems opening bout, Chris Benoit defeated Jeff Jarrett to advance to the finals and main event. Later in the evening, former champion Sting battled Canadas own Bret Hart. The bout seemed to be an even battle, as both men traded offensive maneuvers. That was until Lex Luger came down to the ring, striking Sting in the leg with a baseball bat. The match was ended, and Bret was declared the winner by disqualification. Neither competitor wanted the match to end in such a controversial manner, and at Brets insistence, the match continued. Shortly thereafter, Bret countered Stings Scorpion Death Lock into his own version of the submission hold, the Sharpshooter. Sting was forced to tap, and Bret advanced to the finals, where he would meet fellow Canadian, Benoit. Just like their prior encounters, including the Owen Hart tribute match, fans expected a classic match, and thats what they got. The Canadian grapplers, and friends, battled back and forth, trading holds and maneuvers. However, in typical WCW fashion the match collapsed into a brawl with interference from Dean Malenko, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Goldberg. After dispatching with the interfering combatants, the match continued as per the referees discretion -- even though it was not a no disqualification contest. In the end, Benoit succumbed to Brets patented Sharpshooter, after he failed to lock the Hitman in the Crippler Crossface. Bret waved a Canadian flag as he celebrated in the ring with his family. The best there is, was, and ever will be helped to solidify that statement by becoming one of only a handful of men to hold the two top prizes in the wrestling world -- the WCW and WWE championships. It was the culmination of so many hardships that he endured during his tenure with WCW.
Douglas Scarpa is a freelance writer, independent filmmaker, art school graduate, and pro wrestling aficionado -- all of which mean he is in financial ruin. He has no backup plan to speak of, yet maintains his abnormally high spirits. If he had only listened to the scorn of his childhood teachers, he wouldn't be in this situation.
