WWE: 10 Greatest Canadian Wrestlers Ever

1. Bret Hart

Hart Bret The king of Canadian professional wrestling in the modern era is undoubtedly Bret Hart. A 5-time WWE Champion, 2-time WCW Champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 2-time WWE Tag Team Champion, 1-time WWE US Champion (a joke reign), 4-time WCW US Champion, 1-time WCW Tag Team Champion and 1993 WWE King of the Ring winner, Hart's a man that has done it all in the wrestling business. He's the guy that other wrestlers, not just Canadians, looked up to. If you look at everybody else on this list, Bret Hart is a guy that had a role in all their careers in some way. He was the best wrestler of Stu Hart's children and he accomplished the most. Hart's expertise was technical wrestling. Nicknamed "The Excellence of Execution," Hart was the man that made the Sharpshooter submission hold famous. It's a move that won him multiple championships and was also used by his brother Owen as well as current WWE stars Natalya (his niece) and her husband Tyson Kidd. When people see that move in a WWE ring, they think about Bret Hart. He had a lot of great feuds over the years with his rivalry against Shawn Michaels as the one that stands out the most. Part of the reason for that is because of the legitimate dislike they had with each other that culminated in the famous Survivor Series "screwjob" in 1997 that most wrestling fans are aware of. It's one of the most well known matches in wrestling history. The best feud that Hart had was with Steve Austin. It started in the summer of 1996 when Hart took some time off from the ring to rest his body and Austin was talking trash about him. Hart returned at Survivor Series '96 to defeat Austin in a technical wresting classic. When they had their rematch at WrestleMania 13 in 1997, it was one of the best matches ever. Personally, it's my favorite match. Hart went into the match as the fan favorite and left it as the villain because after he defeated Austin so bad that Austin was in a pool of his own blood, Hart wanted to continue the attack. Fans hated him for it. Austin became the biggest babyface ever and it was the match that was known as the best double turn ever. It's a shame that Hart left WWE later in 1997 the way he did because if he hadn't they could have had Austin get his win back and ended this magical rivalry the right way. That feud with Austin also led to his most famous heel run as the leader of the Hart Foundation that spoke against America. That run in 1997 was some of the best work he ever did because instead of portraying this hero to everybody around the world, he was hated in America like before or since. You wouldn't think he had it in him, but not only did he did it - he thrived at it. Heel Bret Hart in 1997 is one of my favorite characters ever. I wish it lasted longer. In addition to Austin and Michaels, Hart had plenty of classic matches over the years with the likes of Undertaker, his brother Owen, Mr. Perfect, Diesel, Bob Backlund, Chris Benoit, Roddy Piper and his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith (SummerSlam 1992 anyone?) among others. Before his singles career took off, he teamed up with his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart to form The Hart Foundation tag team that would go on to become one of the best tag teams ever. Hart did it all in every way possible and is one of the best wrestlers in the history of WWE. He's also the greatest Canadian professional wrestler ever that's proud of his country and still lives in Calgary to this day. Thanks for paving the way, Hitman.
In this post: 
Bret Hart
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.