10 Original Failed WWE Pushes You Completely Forgot About

2. Bret Hart - Brett Hart

Honky Tonk Man Hulk Hogan
WWE

The future 'Best There Is, Best There Was, Best There Ever Will Be' managed to avoid a miscasted role as a cowboy upon first signing with Vince McMahon in 1984, but an extra letter on the end of his first name was just about the only thing added to his presentation before he eventually found The Hart Foundation a year later.

As a straight up great wrestler, Hart's typically tight work didn't land all that well with an audience growing ever fonder of the big and boisterous style being popularised by the company's hugely successful promotion of Hulk Hogan.

It's ironic - this version of Hart was so flavourless that he never stood a chance of getting over on his own terms, regardless of how good the worked punches looked. He upped every single other aspect of his game in the following years to become the perfect all-rounder, but it was as though McMahon only remembered the relatively underwhelming Brett when he should have embraced 'The Hitman' he'd had along.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett