Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
4. Promos
Face:
Bret Hart's wonky way with words is overstated by his critics and adored by his fans.
He rendered participles and clauses as twisted as left and right legs trapped in a Sharpshooter, and made legendarily confusing use of "the" when you'd least expect it. But he was a pro wrestler outlining how he'd win a match - in canon, this bit wasn't what he was there to do.
If that reads as generous, it's perhaps because your writer was too young to catch a load of slightly awkward micro-flubs in the early-'90s. He was believable, even if some of those organic stumbles would be pounced upon as a botch in the modern age.
Heel:
Bret Hart completed wrestling in 1997.
Already peerless between the ropes, he'd main evented WrestleManias, helped draw at least one huge crowd for a SummerSlam in 1992, and secured the first of two huge contracts in 12 months. He only had talking left to tick off, and all of the wobbles as a face were erased with a slew of amazing speeches that shifted the tectonic plates moving beneath the business.
Refining himself as a whiner to foreshadow the turn, he deflected all his rage on the American audience only when he formally made the switch. This gave him weekly ammo against Your Town He Now Hates as well as a newly-acquired glint his eye working babyface when back in Canada.
There's no WrestleMania 13 match without his microphone skills in the weeks and months prior, and there's probably no Attitude Era without the WrestleMania 13 match, sooooo.
Winner: Heel