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

7. Truly The Excellence Of Execution

The Hart Foundation Bret Hart
WWE.com

Bret Hart is revered as one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions in WWE history, and likewise one of the greatest World Champions that the market leader has ever seen. And a key part of that, was the sheer match quality of so many of the Hitman's bouts.

When Hart's ascension as a singles star started, WWE audiences were conditioned to seeing plodding main events featuring Hulk Hogan against a lumbering monstrous heel. Granted, the Hulkster would have stellar bouts with Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior, but more often than not the big matches of the day saw Hogan against an Andre the Giant, a King Kong Bundy, an Earthquake, a One Man Gang, a Kamala, a Sgt. Slaughter, or a zombified Undertaker.

With such main events playing to the generic formula of being laborious contests that saw Hulk get beaten down and overcome the odds on his way to victory, Bret Hart was quietly wowing lower down the card.

The crisp, technical style brought by the Hitman saw him bring the best out of anyone he tangled with as the '80s rolled into the '90s and Hart rolled from tag team standout to singles breakout.

SummerSlam '91, barely six months removed from the Hart Foundation's split after WrestleMania VII, saw the Excellence of Execution put on an absolute clinic with Mr. Perfect, but that wasn't the first great Bret Hart singles match in the WWF. Even when still part of the Hart Foundation, Bret put on great one-on-one contests with Ricky Steamboat, Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, and many more.

When in and around the IC Title picture, Curt Hennig was just one of many who the Hitman delivered wrestling gold with, as the journey from Intercontinental Champion to World Champion contender had Hart steal the show with names like Shawn Michaels, Roddy Piper, Rick Martel and famously once again with Davey Boy at SummerSlam '92.

Of course, the level of match quality would only continue to grow for Bret as he cemented himself in the main event picture of the World Wrestling Federation.

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 dayjob, 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.