Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

9. Entrance

Bret Hart Faces The One Opponent Good Enough To Lace His Boots
WWE

Face:

Understated compared to some of his contemporaries and uniquely defiant as a result, Bret Hart's arrival came with the sort of rock solid security his in-ring work provided.

With apologies to Jim Ross and Becky Lynch, business picked up when 'The Hitman' came around. Slapping as many fives as his arms would allow, he strode with confidence thanks to the scintillating shredding in his theme from WWE music guru Jim Johnston. Capturing the balance between Superstar and Superhero, giving away the glasses at the end brought the whole thing wonderfully full circle.

The crowds and buyrates weren't as big, but Hart at least looked like a money performer.

Heel:

Pissed off being pissed on by the American wrestling public, 'The Excellence Of Execution' showed off his surly side during his heel entrances.

Partial to the odd bird-flipping battle with the ringsiders, he held everybody in such quiet contempt that it provided a perfect contrast to the theme that had once generated the biggest pop of the night. Unless he was in Canada, when it still did. Bigger than ever in fact - Hart was every action hero and sports star wrapped in one. Vince McMahon's never been able to "make movies" despite his water-chewing assertions in Beyond The Mat, but that Bret would have made an amazing lead.

Winner: Heel

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett