Tag: Bret Hart

Bret Hart praises Rhea Ripley, disses John Cena and yes, Goldberg

Bret Hart doesn’t like a lot of what he sees in WWE today but does appreciate the Women’s World Champion.

Contrary to popular belief, Bret Hart does like some aspects of modern pro wrestling.

You just might never know it because the 66-year-old Hitman spends a lot of time telling anyone who will listen how it was better when he was the Excellence of Execution. Hart is definitely not someone who believes in the “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything” philosophy.

But Hart clearly keeps up on the business today and does have his favorites, one of whom is WWE Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley. In an interview this week with Fox Sports Australia, he gave Mami his seal of approval.

I really like her a lot. I really like her poise, her staying in character and sort of living her – she seems like she’s adapted a character that’s fun to play, and she’s playing into that, full tilt.

She’s putting that realism into it; that’s what I miss in a lot of wrestling today, just making it feel more real, and she makes it feel pretty real all the time.

That’s high praise from the Hitman, as one of his pet peeves is that he believes so much of pro wrestling circa 2024 does not look real. The difference between what he did in the ring and what he sees today is that his version of pro wrestling didn’t look so choreographed ahead of time.

And I think it’s starting to stand out now where it’s like – in my honest opinion, without trying to sound too boastful, they’ve pulled the curtain back on wrestling so much. So now we know the whole thing’s a show, and they’re just really good physical actors, and that is what it is.

But you watch my wrestling and you go, jeez, he was the best. I think I made it look more real than anybody all the time. I made your stuff look good, I made my own stuff look good, nothing looked rehearsed. There’s so much I think in today’s wrestling that’s so badly rehearsed, over and over.

He’s not talking about just aerial maneuvers or “flippy” moves as some derisively call them (though he’s not super fond of all of them either), but even the most basic holds, invoking the name of one of the biggest WWE stars of all time in his disdain.

I was a technical wrestler that made you, you know, when I put a headlock on, it look like a real headlock. Not like John Cena or somebody that’s got a headlock that looks like he has it on a tire. The headlock has to be tightened – real. You know, I that’s what I pride myself on. And I also pride myself on the fact that I never injured anybody, ever.

John Cena catching strays there, as they say.

Some of what Hart says always comes off like the proverbial old man yelling at a cloud. Yet his respect for his opponents is unquestionably admirable, and his pride in his safety record.

Of course it wouldn’t be a Bret Hart rant without invoking the name of the man who once injured him in a match, Goldberg. Hart says pro wrestlers shouldn’t be all that hurt once they finish a match because their opponents should be doing all they can to ensure they’re fine.

If they don’t, well, you can see where this is going.

In my understanding of pro wrestling, anytime anyone does anything to you that hurts, for real – chopping, putting blisters on your chest when you go to your room or bed, anytime anyone does things to you for real, they’re in the wrong business. They’re doing it wrong. Because you’re not supposed to get hurt. You’re not supposed to come back to your dressing room that night, or to your hotel room and have a big lump on your head and a black eye and your teeth are knocked out. That’s Bill Goldberg wrestling. That’s not how it’s done.

Never change, Hitman.

The nuance behind Drew McIntyre’s story is giving 1997 Bret Hart vibes, and it’s been great

Far from a typical villain, Drew McIntyre has easily understandable grievances that have carried him to the dark side in WWE.

Pro wrestling is a lot of things.

It’s loud, it’s full of action, it’s emotional. But one thing it has rarely been is nuanced. 

There usually aren’t a whole lot of layers to a pro wrestling story. One person dislikes another person, they fight out their grievances, and we move on to the next chapter. Oh, and one of those entities is usually good and the other is typically evil.

That may sound elementary, but it has proven to be an effective formula for the industry for the last century or so. A promoter or booker’s job at the end of the day is to give the fans someone to root for and someone to root against. Pro wrestling can in fact be that simple.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room in for a more layered story. It’s just that we haven’t seen it very often. However, I think WWE is crafting one right now with Drew McIntyre.

Now you might ask, what’s so nuanced about a guy who’s clearly the villain in the story? The nuance is that the man’s got a point.

Through no fault of his own, McIntyre was embarrassed in his home country at Clash at the Castle in 2022. The fault falls squarely on The Bloodline, which everyone’s current favorite main event player, Jey Uso, was once a part of. Within the story, I understand why McIntyre would hold a little bit of a grudge against him and any other member of the group, current or former. That includes Sami Zayn. 

And in reality, it makes complete sense from WWE’s end to have The Bloodline’s actions toward McIntyre and others have a lingering effect at least in some way. Uso and Zayn, while mostly on everyone’s good side now, have committed way too many sins for them to go fully unpunished.

He’s also got a point when it comes to CM Punk, who was fired in disgrace from AEW only to be warmly embraced by WWE, essentially rewarding him for his past transgressions.

He’s not the only one that has been hesitant to embrace Punk or Uso for that matter. As soon as Randy Orton returned to Monday Night Raw, he had a chat with Uso to squash their past beef.

But where McIntyre becomes a villain is that he doesn’t not give them a second chance to show that they have turned over a new leaf, whereas Orton and others have forgiven, even if they don’t necessarily forget. McIntyre has clearly done neither.

Where McIntyre becomes a villain is when he lashes out against others for his misfortune rather than looking in the mirror. 

It is reminiscent in ways to Bret Hart in 1997, when the Canadian hero was cheered inside of his home country and abroad, but reviled within these United States.

But like McIntyre, Hart also had a point. Hart was also routinely getting the short end of the stick through no fault of his own. He was also appalled by the fact that a beer-drinking, foul-mouthed outlaw like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was gaining more and more traction as the everyman’s hero. In Hart’s eyes, that role belonged to him, a champion of integrity who spread a more wholesome message, and not Austin, who had children throwing up the double bird in his name.

In McIntyre’s mind, he’s done nothing wrong. He did everything he was supposed to do and still came up short, which is why he no longer has any sympathy or compassion for his colleagues. After all, they didn’t have any for him when he was being embarrassed in front of a stadium full of his people back in 2022. 

Unfortunately for Hart and wrestling fans, his story was cut short thanks to an infamous November night in Montreal. With McIntyre, however, we should be able to see this nuanced story through to its conclusion.

How Gunther’s historic WWE Intercontinental Championship reign has elevated the title and its holder

Gunther’s current run with the WWE Intercontinental Championship is a bit of a throwback in all the best possible ways.

Remember the good old days, when the WWE Intercontinental Championship meant something, when the holder was next in line for the world title?

I feel like we as wrestling fans have asked and answered those questions countless times over the last 20 years or so.

That is not to say the title did not have its share of highlights during the last two decades. The Miz and Dolph Ziggler’s battle over the Intercontinental title in 2016 was the best feud of that year. I thought Cody Rhodes introducing the classic title design was an amazing decision. 

I also believe the list of title holders is still as illustrious today as it’s ever been with the likes of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, Finn Balor and AJ Styles.

But Miz and Ziggler’s feud was an outlier among mostly forgettable ones. The classic design conjured up memories of the title’s heyday, but its historic luster was never fully restored. And the title felt more like a demotion to the middle of the card rather than a stepping stone to greater success.

But Gunther’s record-breaking title reign has changed that.

As Gunther surpasses Honky Tonk Man to become the longest-reigning Intercontinental champion of all time, the title feels as important today as it did during its glory years when legends like Bret Hart, Randy Savage and Shawn Michaels held it.

But how did we get to this point? How did WWE successfully revitalize a title that had seemingly lost its place in the wrestling business for so long? Well, there were a few reasons.

First, Gunther was the right person to become champion once he arrived on the main roster. At the time, there was only one top title in WWE and we all know who that belonged to (hint: it’s Reigns). 

WWE has never been shy about immediately strapping the rocketship to someone’s back and placing them in main events. Gunther’s size and strength made him a prime candidate for such a position. 

However, WWE was more patient, mainly because it could be. The promotion already has a monster heel enjoying a lengthy title reign at the top of the card. There was no need to rush another into the same position. It was a luxury WWE fortunately took advantage of by giving Gunther the Intercontinental title instead.

As Intercontinental Champion, Gunther defeated virtually all of the company’s mid-card stars, slowly earning him and the title more credibility in the process. Once again, his size and strength also made him a believable candidate to run roughshod over a good chunk of WWE’s roster. 

This does not feel like the Honky Tonk Man squeaking out technicality victories. This is Gunther winning night in and night out, which brings me to my next point: Gunther has not been pinned.

If there is one well WWE loves to go to time and again, it’s having its champions lose non-title affairs. Yeah, they will eventually somehow win when the title is on the line, but they could easily lose every match leading up to that point, leaving the wrestler and the title as collateral damage to terrible decision-making.

Gunther, on the other hand, literally didn’t lose a match until Chad Gable defeated him a couple of weeks ago on Raw. And even that was via count-out. Gunther being so dominant obviously helps him, but it also helps the person that eventually beats him — because, in theory, that person will also be looked at as a future star.

Speaking of future stars, Gunther’s title reign sure has done a lot for Gable, even with him ultimately coming up short of winning the title in the end. Time will tell if WWE will eventually capitalize on Gable’s newfound momentum as a singles competitor beyond a couple of great title matches. But the opportunity is there, which is saying a lot given he has seen most of his success occur as a tag team wrestler going back to his days on NXT.

The matches Gunther recently had with Gable were not the only great ones during his run. Gunther’s hard-hitting affair against Sheamus at Clash at the Castle was arguably WWE’s best of 2022. Throwing Drew McIntyre into the mix at WrestleMania 39 only helped create another bruising classic.

And these matches are not exclusive to Raw or secondary premium live events. They have taken place on the biggest shows on WWE’s calendar, which was not a guarantee for many other Intercontinental Champions.

Remember the good old days, when the WWE Intercontinental Championship meant something, when the holder was next in line for the world title?

I’m happy to say that I don’t have to think back all that far.

20 best WWE finishers of all time: The best finishing moves ever

Finishing moves come and go in WWE, but these 20 are the best we’ve ever seen.

There’s something undeniably thrilling about the best WWE finishers. Just the anticipation for an especially great finishing move is a lot of fun, the palpable feeling that ripples through the crowd when a match is about to reach its dramatic conclusion.

And those occasions where a wrestler unexpectedly kicks out of a top finisher — provided they don’t happen too often — produce some of the loudest crowd reactions in the business.

Thanks to its position as the No. 1 pro wrestling company in the world for decades (even during times it didn’t want to admit it), WWE has seen more than its fair share of amazing finishing moves. But we wanted to dive in and find the ones that were truly the best, the crème de la crème of match-ending maneuvers.

To do that, we consulted a number of lists of this type that are already out there, including the WWE’s own rankings of the 50 best finishing moves of all time. Like our list of the top WWE PPVs ever, that makes this list pseudo-crowdsourced and not just our own opinions — though we slid some up or down where we felt it was warranted.

So what makes a truly great finishing move? The answer varies from fan to fan, but we considered the following:

  • Recognizability/cultural impact – Is a finisher so famous that even casual or non-wrestling fans know what it is or who does it?
  • Believability – If pro wrestling wasn’t scripted, does the move look like it would really end a fight?
  • Uniqueness – Does the move stand out on its own, or does a certain performer elevate it by adding more atmosphere to it?
  • Sellability – Does it offer the person on the receiving end the opportunity to play it up even more?
  • Legacy – Has it passed the test of time, even if others don’t use it as a finisher?

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in and check out what we found to be a bit of a consensus on the 20 best WWE finishers of all time, starting at 20 and working down to No. 1.

Best WWE SummerSlam main events of all time: Tier list rankings

Some WWE SummerSlam main events were legendary. Others were duds. Our tier list helps rank them all.

No matter what WWE tells you on television, this year’s SummerSlam has one true main event.

No, it is not the World Heavyweight title match between Seth Rollins and Finn Balor, nor is it the grudge match between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar.

It’s undoubtedly, no, unequivocally, Tribal Combat between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. That’s it, end of discussion, debate whomever you hold dear.

Although I believe Tribal Combat is the biggest WWE match of the year so far, does it have the chance to sit among the classic main events in SummerSlam history? Before we answer that question, we have to answer another question: What are the classic main events in SummerSlam history? And to that end, where do the other ones rank?

That is where I step in to help provide an answer … my answer, at least. I attempt to answer these questions with a tiered list of the main events throughout the event’s 35-year history.

I broke down every SummerSlam main event into four tiers: The Classics, The Hall of Very Good, “It was fine, I guess”, and “Feel free to skip.”

The only matches that qualify are the ones that closed the show, so no double main event nonsense here. However, there is one exception in 2013, which I will explain when it comes up.

Each match is listed in each tier based on chronological order, so don’t take anything away from the order that they are listed.

20 best WWE matches of all time: Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels, John Cena and more

Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker and Kurt Angle are among the WWE superstars with multiple matches on this list.

Rankings of the best anything are always tricky, definitely subjective, and absolutely a lot of fun. When it comes to the best WWE matches of all time, however, there’s also another factor: There’s just so many of them.

Consider lists of the best movie or TV series. Yes, there are a ton of each over the years. But in any given year, there are maybe dozens of movies to consider, and great TV shows tend to last for several years, even in the modern streaming age.

WWE goes nonstop every tear, putting matches on Raw and SmackDown weekly and holding bigger premium live event cards monthly. That’s hundreds of new matches annually, and while some are unquestionably more significant than others, each one is a separate performance with its own unique context.

Just narrowing that list of potential candidates down could be a Herculean effort, but we found a way to reduce the work and make the resulting list pseudo-scientific at the same time. We came up with a formula that incorporates both Cagematch ratings and the Wrestling Observer’s star ratings to give each of the greatest WWE matches ever their own score.

The end product has a satisfying cross-section in terms of both types of matches and chronology, as it includes bouts from 1994 up through this year. Certain names appear multiple times — you’d expect nothing less from the likes of Shawn Michaels, for instance — but there’s also nice variety in terms of who made the cut overall.

And while we certainly have our own opinions about where certain matches should fall in the top 20, we decided to let the rankings remain where the numbers said they should fall. After all, debating lists like this is part of what makes being a pro wrestling fan so much fun. Where possible, we’ve included the full video of the match so you can relive them as you go.

Without further ado, here are the best WWE matches of all time, working from 20 up to No. 1.

Ranking all 41 WrestleMania main events, from worst to best

38 WrestleManias. 41 main events. Here’s how they rank, from Yokozuna and Sycho Sid to stone cold classics.

The biggest event in professional wrestling — sorry, sports entertainment — is nearly upon us. It’s WrestleMania week.

The landmark marvel of storytelling, violence and athleticism is the standard bearer of the squared circle. Everyone knows about WrestleMania, even if they don’t care about pro wrestling. And as such, the pressure is on the WWE each spring to create a memorable event that can sustain the brand’s success for the year to come.

Sometimes this works out better than others. This showcase has been the backdrop of several indelible moments woven into the fabric of wrestling. It has also served to prop up uncompelling storylines and stars who shined in longtime company head Vince McMahon’s eyes but not in the hearts of fans in the stands.

Let’s talk about those headliners and whether or not they lived up to the pressure of closing out WrestleMania. There have been 41 headlining matches across 38 WrestleManias to date — including the six from the last three years, where the WWE wisely opted to spread the card over two nights. This is my crude attempt to rank all 41 from worst to best, hopefully overcoming my own recency bias in the process.

Additionally, please excuse the somewhat bizarre choice of section images. It turns out USA Today Sports doesn’t have an extensive archive of pre-2020s wrestling photos.