From Tag Team To Top Guy: Bret Hart's Ascension To The WrestleMania Main Event

Chronicling the rise to the top of one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots.

by Andrew Pollard
The Hart Foundation Bret Hart
WWE

These days, Bret Hart is a two-time WWE Hall of Famer, a seven-time World Champion, and viewed as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - to ever lace up a pair of boots.

While it's fantastic to see the Hitman regularly 'getting his flowers' nowadays, the road to the top of the mountain was a long one for the Canadian. Having made his in-ring debut back in 1976, it would take 16 years for Hart to capture his first major World Title, with the Excellence of Execution toppling Ric Flair to become the WWF Champion in October '92.

Bret wasn't the first nor last tag team specialist to break out and become a World Champion, of course, but the Calgary native did so in a way that shaped the future of the wrestling business, with it at one point unimaginable for a competitor of the size and stature of Hart - bar the crazed charisma and sheer intensity of Randy Savage - to reach the top in a company that forever fawned over the muscles upon muscles of a Hulk Hogan, an Ultimate Warrior, a Bruno Sammartino, a 'Superstar' Billy Graham.

For those looking to discover how Bret Hart went from a tag team talent to a bona fine WrestleMania headliner - or for those just looking to relive some brilliant memories - let's chronicle the rise of one of the best to ever step foot between the ropes.

10. The Early WWF Days

The Hart Foundation Bret Hart
WWE

By the time Bret Hart arrived in the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, he'd already been wrestling for eight years. Of course, Hart, like so many others, cut his teeth in his father Stu's Stampede Wrestling.

It was upon Stampede being purchased by Vince McMahon in '84 that the Hitman landed in the WWF, with Bret one of a handful of Stampede wrestlers whose contract was included in that sale. Initially competing as a lower-card babyface singles act - despite his WWF debut seeing Hart team up with fellow Stampede alumnus, the Dynamite Kid - it was in 1985 that things really started to click for the Canadian when he turned heel, paired up with brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, and was placed under the stewardship of Jimmy Hart as the Hart Foundation.

That Hart Foundation moniker had previously been used for wrestlers managed by the Mouth of the South, but it soon became a mantle exclusively used by Bret and the Anvil. Neidhart's power and brash charisma meshed perfectly with Hart's sleek, smooth in-ring game, and the tandem would end up becoming one of the greatest tag teams in WWE history.

For the years that this iteration of the Hart Foundation were active, the tag ranks of the WWF was absolutely stacked, with classic teams such as the British Bulldogs, Demolition, the Rockers, the Fabulous Rougeaus, Strike Force, the Killer Bees and even the likes of the Nasty Boys, Power & Glory and the Powers of Pain - all of which the Hart Foundation put on brilliant bouts with.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.