10 Exact Moments Wrestlers Died Inside

6. Bret Hart

CM Punk Inside
WWE Network

At Survivor Series 1997, Bret Hart, screwed out of the WWF Title on his way out of the company his brilliance saved from financial damnation, wrote the letters 'WCW' in the air. Meant as a defiant gesture, he looked defeated. There was no real conviction behind his body language.

He visibly did not want to go, and the reason why revealed itself immediately.

He debuted at Starrcade '97 as a special guest referee. He had questioned whether WCW would know how to book a wrestler of his standing, and LOLWCW being LOLWCW answered that question quite literally. Contractually, he wasn't able to immediately wrestle for WCW, but there were a million different means of introducing him to the company. Precisely one million of those reasons benefitted from the anticipation, and it's not as if, as shown through Sting's year, they shouldn't have built it.

WCW booked WWF loyalist Bret Hart like a WCW fan, and not an incoming superstar, when the nWo was way cooler.

A multifarious relegation before he was even promoted, Hart's WCW run was doomed well before Eric Bischoff wasn't inaccurate in pointing out that Hart, in the ultimate irony, had lost his smile.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!