10 Wrestlers Who Peaked In Their First Match
5. Bret Hart
Incoming obvious statement alert: Bret Hart was downright miserable in WCW, and seldom seemed at ease in the company. Introducing him as a special ref for Eric Bischoff vs. Larry Zbyszko was frankly stupid, and you can probably count the number of memorable moments for Bret in Atlanta on one hand.
Souled Out 1998 was one of them.
WCW handpicked Ric Flair as the ideal first opponent for Hart, and that was a shrewd call. Despite rarely seeing eye-to-eye outside it, Bret and Ric had more in common inside the ring than even they'd freely admit. The result was a worthy addition to the pay-per-view lineup, and a fine start in WCW rings for the 'Hitman'.
How many good-to-great matches did he have for the promotion after that? A handful at most? Anyone hoping to see Hart put on clinic after clinic in WCW would be teased by the Flair bout - it was the peak of Bret's post-Montreal stint.