10 Best Foreign Heels In WWE History
3. Bret Hart
The Hitman’s run as an anti-American heel lasted little more than six months, but it was legendary. Hart wrestled the vast majority of his career as a babyface without his Canadian nationality ever coming to the forefront, but his 1997 heel turn changed everything.
Shortly after wrestling the new-famous “double turn” submission match with Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, Hart became a proud flag-carrying Canadian whose condescending brilliance made him a universally despised villain.
Reuniting with his brothers-in-law Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart to form a new Hart Foundation (along with Brian Pillman), the anti-American Bret Hart was hated passionately in America, but loved everywhere else. Canadians predictably adored the change of direction and took to him like never before, and WWE did a masterful job playing to Hart’s contrasting reactions on either side of the border.
The crowd reactions started turning around later that summer. Talk of backstage problems between Hart and Shawn Michaels spilled into the public domain, and coupled with recently-leaked reports of Michaels' affair with Sunny, fans turned on the Heartbreak Kid and took Hart's side. The Montréal Screwjob followed, and the rest is history.
Capable of backing-up his obnoxious hate-filled tirades with his undeniable in-ring capabilities, Bret Hart was a masterful foreign heel.