2. Bret hart
For any Kid in the 90’s who was a wrestling fan, You had only one hero — Bret “The Hitman” Hart. The quintessential nice guy. I always wanted and still wish, I was the kid who sat in the front row getting those sunglasses from Bret. He was my Hero. My wrestling postcard collection had a million Bret Hart postcards. The fact is Sharpshooter is the first wrestling move I tried . When I started watching WWF, he was the world Champion and that is enough for a 8-9 year old kid to gravitate towards him. I remember having this conversation in school on how Bret is gonna defeat Yokozuna. We thought Yokozuna is invisible. The first long feud that I remember of his was with Owen. Storytelling at its best. So here we were watching TV and seeing a younger brother fighting with his Elder. I turned to my Lil brother and started beating him saying “Never Do that to me”.
Those matches with Owen and Bret, technical excellence. Back then never knew about the wrestling style and the class. It was just a fight for me. But now I look back and think Man that is wrestling that I fell in love with. Thanks to Bret, I was introduced to some great wrestlers. British Bulldog, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart . The match against Backland when Owen persuaded his mother to throw the towel to save Bret feels like yesterday. His feud with Diesel was good. Then came Hakushi. Not sure how many of you guys remember him. But for a 10-11 year old Kid he was terrifying. He was undefeated and man when he put an end to that was happy. The problem was most title wins came on a PPV and we in INDIA never had the privilege to watch it. So for me as far as I can remember he was always the champion. So not fortunate enough to watch the iron man match with Shawn as well. But I did now thanks to WWE network.
The one feud that I distinctively remember is that one with Austin. Both the submission match and the one on RAW (although I remember the one on RAW more). Hell of a discussion in school next day cursing Austin. Once they formed the Hart Foundation again and started being heels, I got to watch more then just RAW coz they started promoting WWF more in INDIA. The feuds with DX and Nation of Domination was awesome. I was always on the Hart’s side no matter what. Ahh the Montreal Screwjob, I did not watch the match, but I kind off guessed with the vignette and thing show in the aftermath and one of friend explained it to me. I hardly saw his WCW run (you know why).
But as years passed and me growing up and understanding Kayfabe, when he returned I was elated. However was sad seeing the man that I grew up idolising was weak and could barely wrestle. Knowing Kayfabe now, was not happy with the match with Vince or Miz. The only thing I felt good was Him and Shawn hugging in the ring. It felt really good.
I hope the generation today who cheer for Cena And Roman, can see and appreciate pro-wrestling. All you have to do is watch a couple of Bret Hart matches. The Man who made Pink look cool. Like I said I still wish to have one of those Pink sunglasses. If my kid ever wrestled, I want him to imitate Bret ” The Hitman” Hart coz he is,
“THE BEST THERE WAS, THE BEST THERE IS & THE BEST THERE EVER WILL BE.
