Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

6. Drawing Power

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

Face:

Somebody had to follow Hulk Hogan as the company's top draw, and when The Ultimate Warrior failed, somebody had to follow him again.

Bret Hart was that man, but a business in domestic decline depressingly wasn’t addressed by excellent execution alone. The genius of 'The Hitman' was doing with his in-ring skill what WWE have done as business strategy for the last decade or so. In 2020, toy Fiend belts are priced in the four figure range to tip the last remaining hardcore fans upside down for loose change. At WWE's 1990s financial nadir, a company led by Bret Hart squeezed every ticket sale out of producing the best matches in the organisation's history. Quality isn't always reflected by quantity, reducing Hart and career rival Shawn Michaels to the hair-ruffling rung below when Mount Rushmore conversations take hold.

Heel:

WWE never won a Monday Night ratings battle with Bret Hart on Raw in 1997, but it could be argued they won just about every one of them in 1998 for the foundations he'd laid.

The thrilling landscape in Hart's last year was cultivated almost entirely by his making of Steve Austin in their iconic and enduring programme. A style that once only barely kept the ship afloat suddenly steadied it entirely. The tragic irony remains that Vince McMahon ultimately deemed him one of the few remaining holes in the boat.

Winner: Heel

In this post: 
Bret Hart
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

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