WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart commented on how he rates wrestlers and how he thinks he matches up to Hulk Hogan, and more, during the latest edition of his “Confessions Of The Hitman” podcast. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the first part of the rating system: “I’ve always had a scale that I’ve used in my mind to try and measure how to diagnose was a great wrestler would be. And it’s like if you give 10 points in each category and there’s like three categories. The first category is the look. What’s your look? You’ve got a good look, you look at Hulk Hogan, okay? Unbelievable look, 6’8″ with the 24″ pythons, it’s an incredible [look]. When he walks in the room, the whole room stops. Like, you see it. He [has] got, like, legs stuck on his shoulders. His arms are as big as somebody’s legs. Then, you look at somebody like [King Kong] Bundy comes along or Andre The Giant and you go, ‘holy!’ Then you see someone like Rick Rude come in. Anyway, certain guys have a look and as soon as you see them, you go, ‘wow, that guy could make money as a wrestler!’ and you could see it. And a lot of wrestlers had great looks and great gimmicks and great character or personalities. As Hulk Hogan as an example, I’d give him a nine-out-of-10 on his look or maybe even 10-out-of-10 for his look. It was so good.”
On mic skills being another category: “Then, the next category would be mic skills, the ability to sell yourself as a wrestler. How good are you at that? It’s like, ‘give me a mic and I’ll show you.’ You get some guys who can just talk – Honky Tonk Man, Roddy Piper, ‘Dr. D’ Dave Schultz. Certain guys could talk. Sweet Daddy Siki talked. Archie ‘The Stomper’ Gouldie, boy, what a talker. He could put goosebumps up the back of your neck with his stuff. Yeah, I’d give Makhan a good seven or an eight. He was a good talker.”
On wrestling skill factoring in as the third category: “Anyway, the final category is how good you can actually really wrestle. Like, can you really wrestle? How can you wrestle? How is your wrestling? How are your skills? Can you throw a dropkick?”
On how he’d rate: “In my case, I’d say my look, I wasn’t Hulk Hogan. I never pretended to be. I didn’t have the kind of build. I would say I was a seven-out-of-10. I didn’t have a bad look. I looked like an athlete, and I was pretty fit, and I was pretty strong. Yeah, I evolved into a good look. My look wasn’t holding me back. I had a decent gimmick.” And then, it’s like, ‘Okay, is he a talker, Bret Hart?’ And it’s like, well, that’s his weakest point. I did get better, and better, and a lot better. I sometimes had great mic moments in my career, but it was my weakest area and I knew that. I would give myself a four-out-of-10 or a five-out-of-10 on promo skills. Maybe in my prime, when I was in my best years near the end, I would give myself an eight or a nine, so there is some evolution there, but it was my weak spot. And then, it’s like the third category is, how good can he, Bret Hart, actually wrestle? I think on that scale, I’d give myself a nine, maybe a 10. I could wrestle anybody, any shape. You could put me in there with big, huge guys. I could wrestle Andre. I could wrestle Roddy Piper. I could wrestle any size guy. I could wrestle and have a great match with just about anybody.”
On how Hogan rates: “And when you add all those up, like, each category, I think of Hogan, if you give him a 10-out-of-10 on his look, you give him 10-out-of-10 on his promo, but his actual wrestling skills, you might give him a two, so you give him a 22-out-of-30 and that’s what I would gage him that.”
