Bret Hart is a wrestling legend, and is considered by many as the greatest technical wrestler ever. He was perhaps the first wrestler who got a push in WWE solely based on his wrestling skills, paving the way for future technical wrestlers to get pushes in the company.
Bret had a ton of great matches in his long wrestling career. He had the unique ability to get the best out of every wrestler he faced, thus rarely having bad matches. While he had great chemistry with most wrestlers, he also had stinkers against some.
10 Worst: Sting
Bret Hart arrived in WCW during the end of his career. Although he still had enough steam left, his WCW run wasn’t very memorable. Both Bret and Sting are solid workers, but for some reason the contests between them never really seemed to click.
They faced on PPV two times in the years 1998 & 1999, but both the matches were mediocre. Their matches had weak build up, and WCW overbooked their encounters. It’s a shame Sting is counted among Bret’s worst opponents, since these two could have stolen the show under different circumstances.
9 Best: Diesel
Diesel wasn’t much known for his in-ring skills, but he somehow always delivered against Bret Hart. Bret is among the wrestlers whom Diesel enjoyed working with the most, and it is clear as he had most of his best wrestling matches against The Hitman. They wrestled each other on four different occasions in WWE.
Their matches featured some awesome psychology. All their battles had the WWE Championship on the line. Their best match together was easily the No Holds Barred match at Survivor Series 1995. Their only lackluster match was the Steel Cage match in 1996, but even that was watchable.
8 Worst: Skinner
Skinner was one of the most random opponents of Bret Hart’s career. They had two matches against each other in WWE. They faced each other at This Tuesday in Texas 1991, where Bret put his Intercontinental Title on the line.
The match was decent but not up to Bret’s standards. Skinner was quite limited in the ring, and Bret carried most of the contest. They had another match at SummerSlam Spectacular 1992, which was worse than their previous encounter. It wasn’t a good idea to put Bret against Skinner.
7 Best: Shawn Michaels
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels have a very storied past. Bret had many real-life issues with Shawn, but the two had some great matches. Their first singles match dates back to 1992, when the two competed in the first-ever Ladder match in WWE.
Their first-ever PPV bout was later in the same year at Survivor Series. They also had a grueling Iron Man match at WrestleMania 12, where Shawn won his first-ever WWE World Title. Their final bout against each other at Survivor Series 1997 is known for wrong reasons, but it was a solid encounter as well.
6 Worst: Bob Backlund
Bret Hart and Bob Backlund faced each other four times in WWE. Their first two encounters were actually pretty good. They had a good match on Superstars, and a similarly good match at Survivor Series 1994, where Backlund defeated Bret to win the WWE Title.
However, their third match was absolutely atrocious, and the reason why Backlund is remembered as one of the worst opponents of Bret. Their I Quit match at WrestleMania 11 was very bad, and perhaps the worst Bret Hart match during his prime. The referee for the match was Roddy Piper, and he made the match worse with his antics.
5 Best: The British Bulldog
Bret Hart and his brother-in-law British Bulldog created magic whenever they faced each other in the ring. They faced each other in multiple tag team matches in the 1980s, but their first one-on-one match was at SummerSlam 1992 for the Intercontinental Championship.
The match was spectacular, and is widely considered to be one of the best WWE matches ever. Three years later, they had a match for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Season’s Beatings. It was almost impossible to top their first encounter, but the two did an amazing job and delivered a great contest once again.
4 Worst: Goldberg
It is not a surprise that the guy who ended Bret Hart’s wrestling career was among his worst opponents, and he is none other than Goldberg. Goldberg was an extremely dominant figure in the wrestling world at the time he faced Bret, but he was a very unsafe worker and Bret unfortunately got the worst of it.
During their match at Starrcade 1999, a stiff thrust kick from Goldberg left Bret concussed badly. Bret wrestled a few more matches after the incident, which also included a horrible matches against Goldberg on Nitro. But his career was soon over due to the concussion he received from Goldberg’s kick.
3 Best: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
Bret Hart and Steve Austin were involved in one of the most legendary wrestling feud ever. This storyline was the actual game changer for Austin, and Bret Hart helped him massively to achieve super stardom. The feud started in late 1996, when Austin started challenging Bret repeatedly.
Bret had three PPV matches against Austin, and all of those encounters were outstanding. Their most popular battle was the submission match at WrestleMania 13, which is widely recognized as one of the best wrestling matches ever. Austin and Bret had stellar chemistry, and both men certainly brought the best out of each other.
2 Worst: Vince McMahon
The story behind this storyline was perfect. Bret had returned to the WWE more than 12 years after the famous Montreal Screwjob, and him going out there at WrestleMania, and brutally beating up the guy who screwed him sounds like a juicy encounter. Despite sounding great in theory, the match between Bret and Vince ended up being a complete disaster.
The main reason behind for this was the fact that Bret was too old, and his body was unable to take any bumps. It was an 11-minute-long squash with The Hart Family teaming up to beat up Vince McMahon. Bret hit Vince with several chair shots before making him tap out to the Sharpshooter. The match was extremely boring, and you’d actually feel more sympathy for Vince rather than being satisfied for Bret.
1 Best: Owen Hart
Bret Hart really took his game up a notch while facing family members, as he had his best matches against his younger brother, Owen Hart. After spending some time as a tag team, Owen Hart had enough and wanted to make a name for himself, and that’s when the feud between the two brothers began. The two had insane chemistry, and had a ton of classics during their feud.
The storytelling and psychology during their contests was on another level, and this feud is definitely among WWE’s best ever. Their matches at WrestleMania 10, and SummerSlam 1994 are among the best wrestling matches ever. They even had some top tier matches at house shows.