10 Great Matches When Wrestlers Stopped Giving A Damn

4. Bret Hart Vs. Booker T - WCW Nitro 22/02/99

Booker T Bret Hart
WWE.com

Truth be told, most of Bret Hart’s WCW career could find a place on this list. The Excellence of Execution walked into a veritable clusterf*ck, a land of bloated paychecks and creative confusion that stifled anything that was good about professional wrestling. His move also coincided with the tide turning in the Monday Night Wars, so needless to say Hart can be forgiven for not really caring too much about his creative output on Nitro.

But there are gems in there, don’t you doubt it. One of the highlights of Bret’s time in WCW was this Nitro match against Booker T, one of the few homegrown stars to find serious and long-lasting success in the company. Bret and Booker had a number of excellent matches but this was arguably the best, a babyface battle that showed the energy and excitement of Booker and the veteran prowess of Hart. It was proof that, even as WCW lurched from one creative misstep to another, it was capable of putting on top-quality professional wrestling.

Booker T eventually pulled out the win, tying Bret up after the Hitman went for a sunset flip. Was that Bret’s signature way to lose? Going for a sunset flip, only for his babyface opponent to sit down and hook the legs? Who knows, but this was one of Bret’s best matches in the twilight of his care. Hart was so good that - with the right opponent - he could create magic whatever the level of interest.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.