The Worst Wrestler In WWE History
Bret Hart's worked strikes are celebrated in all circles as some of the most realistic of all time. Magee almost kills the magic of his elbow smashes dead by barely moving. 'The Excellence Of Execution' measures a leg drop beautifully and safely across the arch of Magee's neck, but still has to adjust mid-move because his opponent is rolling over for some reason. The same thing happens again seconds later as Hart prepares his body to miss an elbow but instead lands it on Magee because he doesn't get out of the way.
With somebody else out there, the contest falls somewhere between calamitous and dangerous. In the skilled hands of 'The Hitman', Vince McMahon (merely two years into Hulkamania and a year before it helps WWE create a global cultural moment at WrestleMania III) was convinced Magee could be wedged into the industry's top slot. Hart takes his trademark turnbuckle bump and the OG Large Tom looks so impressed with it that he forgets to build on it and pootles forward with a celebration that's the antithesis of enthusiasm. Featherlight strikes and pinning attempts have Bret on wobbly legs, but he has to tighten his entire frame to make Magee's winning roll-up look remotely credible. Hulk Hogan didn't need to be a technical general out there, but he was burly and tough and always looked like he wanted the win. The only thing Magee really had in common with him was the red and yellow attire.
There are other matches over the following years that inadvertently pull back the curtain on the big man's substantial limitations, particularly in light of the other legends he was sharing the ring with. Ted Dibiase and Arn Anderson are capital-G Greats when it came to finding magic moments from opponents that often fell short, but they can't extract the fire from Magee's belly, no matter how ripped and cut it still looks.
It just wasn't meant to be, no matter how hard Hart and others like him tried. In defence of the affable and charming Magee, he was thoroughly open about the reality of his lot whenever he spoke on it too. There are no rules nor roadmaps to success in the industry, and he deserved the door of opportunity being opened as much as anybody else even if his dodgy footwork wasn't going to help him walk through it. His brush with greatness at least served as a reminder why wrestling's still better than the thing you love - even when you're watching the worst version of it, you stand a chance to see the absolute best at the exact same time.