Face Vs Heel: Bret 'The Hitman' Hart
2. In-Ring Work
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