Happy Birthday, Bret Hart

The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be
Photo Credit: WWE.com

The Hitman himself, Bret Hart, celebrates his 54th birthday today! Hart was one of the most important figures in the '90s. Yeah, his tenure as top guy in WWE was terrible from a domestic business standpoint, but he was one of my favorite wrestlers from that era, so SHOVE IT BUYRATE MARKS. Of course, maybe his most seminal moment really didn't involve him at all... well, it did. The Montreal Screwjob pretty much ushered in the modern era of wrestling.

Be that as it may, I couldn't care less than I do right now about how much money he made or how influential he was. I was always a big fan of Hart's, going back to his days as a tag team wrestler with Jim Neidhart. He was one of the first guys that I appreciated from a standpoint of "Hey, this guy's good at wrestling". Yeah, he had five moves of doom, but you know what? EVERYONE in WWF then had those. Plus, it's what he did with those moves, the pacing, psychology and just the cerebral nature of his matches, especially against his brother Owen or against Shawn Michaels. Plus, the guy has become iconic among wrestlers for being an elder statesman. Listening to the episode of Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast with Evan Bourne, they raved about Hart visiting them at OVW when they were coming up.

And hey, he was one of the only guys who could wear pink and make it seem manly. So here's to you, Bret Hart. Happy birthday, and may you have many more!