9 Wrestlers Who Didn't Learn From WWE Royal Rumble Mistakes

3. Bret Hart - Didn't Learn From His Brother-In-Law's Error

Scotty 2 Hotty Royal Rumble 2001 Royal Rumble 2002
WWE.com/WWE.com

Bret Hart is known for being one of the smartest in-ring workers, both in a kayfabe and shoot sense, in the history of the wrestling business.

So much of what made the Hitman one of the all-time best ever is that everything he did between the ropes mattered. There was forever a reason and rhyme to what Hart would do when on offense, and the Excellence of Execution was known for always having a thorough, well-informed, unique plan of attack for each and every opponent that he'd face.

With all of that in mind, you'd have thought that Bret would've at least made sure to be wary of making the same schoolboy error as his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith.

Instead, 1997 saw Hart, much like the British Bulldog did in 1995, take his eye off the prize at the most vital moment.

In '95, it was Davey Boy who fool-heartedly believed he'd won the Royal Rumble, turning his back on a Shawn Michaels who would 'skin the cat' and eliminate the Bulldog to win that contest. Two years later, it was Hart turning his back on the eliminated 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin that cost the Best There Is, The Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be from notching up his second Royal Rumble win.

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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.