Line #7 YMMV/BretHart


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** During Bret Hart's heel run in 1997 when he rejoined with the Hart Foundation, there's speculation about whether he actually cared about his family or was just using them for his own gain.
3	** Was his heel run simply a case of him realizing society at the time was passing him by and deciding it was easier to blame the US rather than try and adapt?
4	** Backstage, Bret is generally regarded as a ConsummateProfessional always willing to what’s right for business. However, some, like Wrestling/KevinNash, have noted Bret could take his standing as the top star too seriously and devolve into ItsAllAboutMe at times. An example he cites the cage match they had where Nash as Diesel would give Bret the Jackknife and look set to win the match (and Bret’s World Title) until Wrestling/TheUndertaker interfered and cost Diesel the match to set up their feud. Bret apparently refused to take the Jackknife at first, saying he didn’t want to look weak as a champion, to the point that Taker snapped, “Motherfucker, not everything is about you, this is for me and Kev!”
5	* AudienceAlienatingEra:
6	** Did anyone really think that Bret Hart having a feud with Jerry Lawler's dentist was a good idea?
7	** His Wrestling/{{WCW}} run, which saw him as just another directionless [[Wrestling/NewWorldOrder nWo B-Team]] member in 1998. He nearly gave his life to that company (almost literally with the incident with Wrestling/{{Goldberg}}), for table scraps!
8	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Bret Hart has split the IWC into two camps that only agree on one thing, that Bret was a technically sound wrestler. Everything else, his charisma, mic skills, his nonstop wallowing in the past, his feud with Wrestling/ShawnMichaels, the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob, saying Wrestling/MitsuharuMisawa wasn't that good a wrestler, or his opinion on wrestling today will turn into a pretty massive debate.
9	* BizarroEpisode: ''Survivor Series 89'', which was the only time he and Jim Neidhart were not on the same team, or even in the same match, during the original Hart Foundation's run. Bret was on the 4x4s with [[Wrestling/HacksawJimDuggan "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan]], Wrestling/{{Hercules\|Hernandez}} and "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin in their losing effort against the King's Court ([[Wrestling/RandySavage "Macho King" Randy Savage]], [[Wrestling/JohnTenta Canadian Earthquake]], "Canada's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo and [[Wrestling/GregValentine Greg "The Hammer" Valentine]]). In the prematch interview, it's odd, though funny, to see the normally reserved Bret brandishing a 2x4 and cutting the same kind of cartoonish NoIndoorVoice promo as the other guys.
10	* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: There was once a time when Bret Hart was really considered one of the true "good guys" in wrestling, with both casual and "smark" fans alike, being perceived as a man of integrity who was unjustly wronged by the backstage schemes of Vince [=McMahon=], Shawn Michaels, and Triple H. The death of his brother Owen and his career-ending tragedy in WCW only won him further fan sympathy. Over time, however, Bret became a major BaseBreakingCharacter, particularly since the time gone by since those past hardships are over two decades behind him. While Bret has made amends fully with Shawn Michaels and even got to have his "redemption" storyline in WWE by defeating Vince in a street fight, his seeming unwillingness to move on from ''everything else'' has made fans sour on him more and more. Despite no longer taking shots at Michaels, Bret's continued bitterness and grievances over Goldberg, Triple H, and several other topics have earned him less and less sympathy over time and even now, the fans who once supported him have reached the point where they believe Bret Hart's pro-wrestling martyrdom has reached its expiry date and that it's high time for Bret to move on.
11	* FridgeBrilliance: On his first night as ''Raw'' GM, he offered a badly injured Wrestling/{{Batista}} another opportunity against Wrestling/JohnCena for the WWE Championship if he could beat Wrestling/RandyOrton in a qualifying match to be held immediately, only to name said opponent the winner via forfeit after Batista refused by twice pointing out that he was in ''no condition to compete'', resulting in [[VillainousBreakdown an already angry Batista going ballistic enough]] to [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere quit WWE]]. Harsh until one would remember three months prior Batista assaulted Bret and held him for Wrestling/VinceMcMahon to [[SpitefulSpit spit in his face]]. Bret didn't forget what Batista did to him that night and was subtly getting {{revenge}} on him.
12	* HarsherInHindsight: Bret's Heel persona in the first half of 1997 was based on him being a crybaby who complained about every perceived injustice he had suffered. He would later start acting this way in real life, as he continually dwelt on and spoke out against his treatment at Montreal, his injury from Bill Goldberg, and a bevy of other real-life feuds that were years if not decades old by that point.
13	* HilariousInHindsight: On ''[[Wrestling/WWERaw WWF Raw Is War]]'', Wrestling/DGenerationX tried to set up The Hart Foundation as being racists who vandalized Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination's locker room. Bret Hart's current wife is a black woman.
14	* MemeticMutation:
15	** 4/10/Not Top 1000 Bret, stemming from a shoot interview where he said that Wrestling/TripleH was not in his Top 1000 wrestlers and that his End of An Era match with Wrestling/TheUndertaker was a 4/10.
16	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZe6LvqQaVk "Who are you to, to... to doubt El Dandy?"]]
17	** "With tears in his eyes" due to constantly referring to his family and other wrestlers on the verge of or outright crying in front of him. There are over seventy uses of the word "tears" in his book, so one could probably make a DrinkingGame out of it.
18	** Kid: '''''BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!''''' ''[Bret turns around dramitically]''
19	** Grass Grows, Birds Fly, Sun Shines, and Bret Hart will always talk bad about Goldberg at any given opportunity.
20	*** Related to this is how Bret never mentioned anything negative about Goldberg until he and Shawn reconciled about the Montreal Scewjob gave rise to the joke that Bret is only capable of one blood feud at a time.
21	* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: SCREEEEEEEEEEE WAAAAAAAAAAAH
22	* NeverLiveItDown: The Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob defined both his career and Shawn's career for several years. They finally buried the hatchet on the January 4, 2010 episode of ''Raw'' and Shawn's retirement finally allowed them both to move on.
23	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: His WWF theme sounds a lot like Music/BonJovi's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed-GEZMpNsY "Living on a Prayer"]]
24	* TheWoobie:
25	** Let's see, Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} gave him a career ending concussion, learned his brother Wrestling/OwenHart died on live television while Bret was on a plane, the Montreal Screwjob, suffered a near-fatal stroke, his TWO divorces (albeit the first one was largely his own fault), the death of five of his best friends, Wrestling/BrianPillman, Wrestling/RickRude, Wrestling/CurtHennig, Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith, and his brother-in-law Wrestling/JimNeidhart, not to mention Wrestling/{{Test}}, the wrestler he trained, and is currently battling prostate cancer. Anything else?

Context YMMV / BretHart