10 Wrestling Promos That Were Inadvertently Infamous
9. Everyone Screwed Bret
Bret Hart was a best of/worst of times performer on the microphone during his WWE career. At his babyface peak, he spoke with the same conviction displayed in his matches - 'The Hitman' was a man in a sporting contest that made you believe he was in one, but his stumbling post-match patter sometimes betrayed his incredible in-ring skill.
His excellent execution didn't truly extend to his elocution until he his 1997 heel turn. There - though still guilty of crimes against banter from time to time - he magnificently worked through his personal and professional gripes via the filter of his anti-American villain persona. Either side of his seminal WrestleMania 13 brawl with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret cut arguably the two finest promos of his career. One foreshadowed his heel turn whilst the other cemented it, but the initial rant carried remarkable gravitas six months later.
Hart raged on Shawn Michaels, raged on Vince McMahon and raged on the entire organisation for being "screwed" out of the WWE Title. It was important to cast him as an embittered star ahead of the Austin clash, but the iconic explosion didn't half feed into McMahon's post-Montreal narrative. Were the gears in his head turning even then that Bret wasn't there for the long haul?