13. Bret Hart Was More Popular Than Shawn Michaels
WWE won the wrestling war, and so they control wrestling history. As such, they're free to take certain liberties with the past, and only the shrinking number of fans who've watched wrestling for decades (or have researched it extensively) can point out inaccuracies in the company's version of the facts. One of WWE's greatest acts of revisionism involves the legacy of Shawn Michaels. Unquestionably one of the greatest performers in wrestling history, Michaels's in-ring career with the company spanned two decades and ran for an additional eight years after the world thought he was retired. From a business perspective, though, HBK wasn't the superstar WWE makes him out to be. He was on top for two years, and his run as WWE's main star was marked by tepid business and inconsistent performance. Bret Hart - who's not treated with the same veneration Michaels is during his modern-day appearances - anchored WWE during the shaky early and mid 1990s, and while he wasn't a star on the level of The Rock or Steve Austin either, Hart had a global popularity that made him a huge draw in Africa, and Asia, and Europe, and allowed WWE to explore greater business opportunities outside of the U.S. Both men are beyond reproach as wrestlers, but Hart made more money for the company.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
