Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
7. Range
Face:
Was anyone in this category ever better?
If that reads rhetorical, it's not. Because here's the f*cking answer - no, they weren’t. Hart’s babyface style was to treat wrestling as the sport we were asked to believe it was, and be the most perfectly well-rounded sportsman. If you were an athlete, he had to physically better you. Brawlers and bruisers were out-thought then outfought. Oak trees were cut down. Family members using and abusing emotional connections had their fragility exposed. The job was to be 'The Best There Is, The Best There Was & The Best There Ever Will Be', and Hart very literally never missed a shift.
Heel:
It broke Bret's heart to turn on his fans in 1997, but you wouldn't know it to watch him. His post-WrestleMania 13 promo is an exercise in catharsis for the man that genuinely doesn't believe he's changed, but the biliousness in his verbiage foreshadowed how he'd expertly adjust his working style.
As a villain, Hart didn't just exhibit his abilities. He punished "all the American wrestling fans" and their favourite "hyenas" with them. He changed nothing, and everything. He just didn't get to do it for quite as long.
Winner: Face