10 Precise Moments Wrestlers Should Have Retired

7. Bret Hart - WCW Monday Nitro, October 4, 1999

Finn Balor Kane
WWE Network

Bret Hart has had literally two bad opinions: he thought Edge Vs. Randy Orton from WrestleMania 36 was a good match, and thought it was a good idea to work a match with Vince McMahon in 2010.

This wasn't some delusion, rooted in a deep pathos, that he could still go. He literally couldn't, nor was he legally permitted to bump, rendering the whole overbooked and genuinely harrowing business a genuine ordeal for his most ardent fans. Bret Hart was an artist. It was perhaps a restorative and necessary experience for him personally, irrespective of how it (fractionally) marred his professional career. He needed to close the loop.

But - and I write this with the greatest will in the world, and the most profound respect for a man etched into my personal Mount Rushmore - he hasn't really stopped banging on about Montreal, so...was there much point?

Bret Hart wasn't right for WCW and WCW wasn't right for Bret Hart, except on one remarkably sensitive, artful, moving night: October 4, 1999, Monday Nitro, the site of his powerful - in action and tone - technical wrestling tribute to brother Owen with Chris Benoit.

That was the last pinnacle in a career full of them - literally, in an alternate, exponentially less cruel universe.

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!