10 Things We Learned From NWA Worlds Champion Nick Aldis (Exclusive Interview)

6. His Love Of Bret Hart

Nick Aldis
WWE

Who isn't a fan of Bret Hart? Never was a nickname more appropriate than the Excellence of Execution, with the Hitman the very best in the world for several years back in the '90s and revered as the best in-ring worker of all-time in some quarters.

Like so many of us, Nick Aldis is a Bret Hart guy.

Aldis specifically referenced his Marty Scurll match at the Crockett Cup in 2019 as being "a Bret Hart match" that was a tip of the hat to Bret vs. Steve Austin in the way that "we didn't hate each other, we just wanted to beat the other."

Going one further, the National Treasure had special praise for Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect from King of the Ring '93. Praising the commentary team of Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage, plus the sports-like feel generated by the Dayton, Ohio crowd, Aldis perfectly summed up why this battle of two of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots was just so *no pun intended* perfect.

As Nick put it, "If an alien landed from another planet and said, 'What is this professional wrestling?', that's what I would show them. I would show that match in its entirety, from the promo all the way though. That's professional wrestling. That's an entertaining sport rather than sports entertainment. That's giving people the things that they like about sports - the physicality, the skill, the competitive nature of it - but with the stuff that you can't get with real sports, which is the personality, the colour, the pizzazz."

Amen!

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.