411’s WWE Greatest Moments Report: Bret “Hitman” Hart

-Written: 6.01.26
-Source: A&E
-Run Time: 30 Minutes (w/ commercials)

-Plug: Last time: Ladder Matches

-Michael Cole is our host!

10. The Foundation Arrives
-August, 1985

-We start with Bret saying “it’s fair to say The Hart Foundation gave The Bulldogs their best matches.” That’s our Bret. We get footage from that first match as a team and Bret says they took off because they had such great chemistry.

9. A Macho Battle
-Nov. 11, 1987: SNME

-Bret: “Randy was really excited about working with me.” That’s our Bret! I remember watching this match as a kid. The story is Vince challenged Bret to do a match where they worked the leg and they delivered a classic. Savage had to take his boot off to relieve the swelling and gets a roll-up off a slam counter for the win. It was the first match where people realized Bret had something as a singles wrestler.

8. Clash for The Ages
–Survivor Series 1996

-This was a classic as they had instant energy. Bret says he took time off and came back to wrestle the best in the company and “that was hard for me to pull off.” That’s our Bret! Bret gets the win the same way he beat Piper at Mania VIII. This match ruled and it was this feud where Austin arrived. People just like to bring up the Austin 3:16 promo, but it was this feud with Bret.

-Commercials!

7. The Veteran vs. The Kid
-RAW: July 11, 1994

-Bret says it was one of the most beautiful matches he ever had. That’s our, oh wait, he speaks the truth with that one. Waltman says he was a huge Bret fan and let him come up with everything. He credits Bret for letting him do his stuff. Waltman says it is the greatest match of his career. Bret says it was his way of giving back. By winning! I am just kidding there as Kid had no business of going over Bret for the WWF Title there.

6. Proud to Be Canadian
-RAW: July 7, 1997

-I thought this was going to be about the AWESOME 10 Man Tag at Canadian Stampede, but it’s just Bret cutting a promo about how great Canada is versus The US. Bret talks about being loved in Canada that summer and being hated in America and now nobody had done that.

-Commercials!

5. The Road to Royalty
–King of The Ring ‘93

-Bret says he had more confidence than he ever did that night and was going to beat three different men. He beats Razor first and then has a brilliant match with Mr. Perfect that topped what they did at SummerSlam. He then beats Bigelow in the finals to become King of the Ring. Punk notes this isn’t Bret’s greatest moment because “how do you count them all, but that was one of them.”

4. The Deadman vs. The Hitman
–SummerSlam ‘97

-Bret says this match is one of his greatest. I don’t agree with that as I liked the match in England so much more. Taker says Bret was no nonsense and thus he dropped the Taker garb a little and added some more realism to their matches. This was the famous finish with Bret spitting on Shawn and Shawn taking Taker’s head off with a chair by accident. Shawn then has to make the count as the ref. Bret says the ending to that match always makes him smile. It was a tremendous ending!

3. Burying The Screw
-RAW: Jan. 4, 2010

-This was the famous night where TNA went head-to-head with RAW for the first time and got smoked as the WWF finally got Bret to return for the first time in 13 years. This was a tremendous moment as Shawn and Bret buried the hatchet and made peace. Bret says the best thing he ever did was make peace with it. Shawn deserves tons of credit for the way he looked like he might superkick Bret, before turning to hug him. I was there for Mania XXVI when Bret had his return match in a WWF ring. It’s still kind of wild to even type that sentence as who had Bret wrestling in a WWF ring in 2010?

-Commercials!

2. A Perfect Opponent
–SummerSlam 91

-Great match, but better moment as Bret wins the IC Title in MSG. Perfect’s back was screwed up and you could tell he was hurting. Bret gets the sharpshooter and Perfect taps before Bret even fully hooks the hold. Very good match and a tremendous moment. Bret felt it stole the show that day. SummerSlam 91 was a tremendous show!

1. Excellence vs. Greatness
-Oct 12, 1992

-This as number one makes sense as it was Bret winning the WWF Title for the first time and it was in Canada. Flair says he had a great time working against Bret and thinks it was a great match. Bret said he had to find a different gear to be able to keep up with Flair. They take shots at each other often, but Bret has always put over Flair’s conditioning and ability to just keep going. He wins the WWF Title and says he dreamed about being Champion, but never expected it to happen.

-What nothing from his WCW run? That was a joke! As always this show gives me nostalgia and lets me remember big time moments that I forget. Bret did his normal job of putting himself over, but that’s part of Bret’s charm I suppose. The WrestleMania X win over Yoko is one that probably deserved to make this list. That inclusion of the pro Canada promo was weird as it seemed like they wanted to include something from that time, but didn’t want to do The Canadian Stampede Tag Match. Perhaps because everyone on Bret’s team had passed. The top two they nailed so credit there. Thanks for reading!