Bret Hart Can't Watch Today's Wrestling: "It's Too Fake For Me" (WWE News)

Bret Hart shoots on today's wrestling.

Bret Hart
WWE

During a recent live appearance to tie in with the anniversary of the infamous Montreal Screwjob, three-time WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart discussed how he has a hard time watching today's wrestling due to how "fake" it looks.

In a video published over the weekend, but actually recorded on 9 November - 28 years to the day of the 1997 Survivor Series - Hart appeared for the Johnny I Pro Show (via f4wonline), where a wide variety of subjects were covered.

On today's wrestling, Bret explained:

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"It's too fake for me, but I love watching the old '90s wrestling, I really do. When I watch my matches back, just in almost any match, even obscure Stampede Wrestling matches, there's something about the realism, the punches and the kicks, and even just the way the presentation is. It just seems to me to be more onus put on the workmanship of learning the craft of being wrestlers. I think that today's wrestlers are actors, most of them are actors pretending to be wrestlers, and, you know, they don't actually know how to wrestle and they don't even know what a headlock is."

The five-time WWE Champion added:

"Everything is high spots. Like, I want to get my move in. It's like, I don't know, I always thought wrestling needed to actually pretend to be wrestling. I miss the wrestling aspect and the psychology of the '60s and '70s wrestling, [and] like the presentation of trying to, you know, pretending that it's a real sport."

One of many people Bret Hart singled out during this appearance was WWE's Sheamus, who was lambasted for the way he throws a worked punch. As Hart put it, whenever he sees the Celtic Warrior in action, he always thinks, "Why don't you take ten minutes and go down and have someone teach you how to throw a punch, instead of throwing that embarrassment of a punch?"

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Bret would also have some harsh words for Hulk Hogan and Jake Roberts, calling them "two of the biggest pieces of s**t in wrestling," and would once again take shots at Bill Goldberg. However, the Canadian did have praise for several other talents, ranging from Roddy Piper and Mr. Perfect to Brock Lesnar and Rey Mysterio; Hart even called Mysterio "maybe the greatest wrestler of all time."

Interestingly, when a crowd member suggested MJF as a dream opponent for Bret, the 68-year-old didn't know who Max was, asking, "Who is that?" As it stands, Hart's one AEW appearance to date - at Double or Nothing 2019 to unveil the AEW World Championship - was a segment involving MJF and 'Hangman' Adam Page.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.