40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told
4. Bret Hart Turns His Back On America (WWF, 1997)
Tweener characters are tough to get right, but Bret Hart mastered the art in 1997 during his last year as a WWF/WWE full-timer. The 'Hitman' worked an excellent double turn with Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13, then developed a bitter distaste for American wrestling fans and their morality, which he called foul.
'Stone Cold' represented what the fanbase had become in major markets like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and more, and Bret wanted to let each and every person know that they made him sick to his stomach. Running parallel to the emerging boos Hart heard in the United States? Wild cheers in Canada, as well as wherever the WWF visited throughout Europe. Those people still adored him, and Bret played up to that by using their support as further evidence of the American degeneracy.
He proudly waved a Canadian flag, turned his nose up at the stars and stripes, promised never to wrestle in America again if he didn't beat The Undertaker at SummerSlam '97, and generally went on some tear as the hottest heel in the company at the time. Reuniting a reforged Hart Foundation alongside his brother Owen, Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman was a tidy decision too.
Hart turned his back on people who had cheered him for years, but argued that they'd turned against him first. So, why should he seek their approval or try to do things the right way when that style wasn't even appreciated anymore?
What a character shift this was. One of the best there was or ever will be.