Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart

2. In-Ring Work

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

Face:

A polar opposite to Hulk Hogan in every measure (for better and worse), Bret Hart was an exquisite professional wrestler. The greatest of all time to those that had their love of the industry enhanced through his prime years, he's also a f*cking impossibly brilliant force of nature to those that catch up through the WWE Network or playlists curated by his ardent acolytes.

Hogan's superman comebacks made everybody more millions than Bret's intricate counters, slick reversals and hard-fought turnarounds, but never had the fights felt less like fiction. He is - and, hilariously, even he knows this - one of the easiest wrestlers to recommend. He reckons you can count on one finger the amount of duds he had in WWE, and as usual, he's right.

Heel:

This list has favoured his singles runs, but it'd be impossible to not mention the revered singles match he had with Tom Magee when he was still just the workhorse in the hated Hart Foundation.

Hart's work is too sublime to be boiled into a single tweet, gif or list entry, but the one above this one tries to make the point as well as any. The contest's recent discovery wasn't just a boon for the 'Hitman' superfans that had waited years to watch it. It was a carry-job starter kit for younger fans that might have heard about Vince McMahon's heart-eyes for the "next Hulk Hogan" only two years into his run. Selfless but sharp with it, Bret made everybody better while becoming the best.

Winner: Draw

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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