WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has reflected on one of the most meaningful moments of his wrestling career while also taking another shot at longtime rival Shawn Michaels.
During an appearance on the Johnny I Pro Show, Hart was asked which single day of his life he would choose to experience again, without changing anything about it. The former WWE Champion selected the night he captured his first world championship, explaining that the unexpected victory gave him a sense of validation he had spent years seeking.
Hart won his first WWE Championship by defeating Ric Flair in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on October 12, 1992. Looking back on that milestone, “The Hitman” recalled the happiness he experienced and how the achievement changed the way he viewed his standing in professional wrestling. “I think it would be, as odd as it is, the first time I won the title. Just the happiness, because I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t expect it, and it was for sure going to change my life. It was finally going to give me that credit that I maybe never got from anywhere else. I always kind of felt like, ‘Bret’s a great wrestler, but is he really?’ I just always wanted someone to verify that I was actually any good.”
Despite earning praise from fellow wrestlers throughout his career, Hart admitted that he often questioned whether he had received the recognition he deserved. He recalled how other performers would approach him backstage to compliment his matches and ask about techniques he had used in the ring. “It’s one thing in the dressing room. I remember even when I first started WWF, I’d come back to the dressing room, and wrestlers would come up and tell me what a great match I had. They’d ask me about certain things I did, like, ‘Can you show me how to do that?’
But I was always kind of a dark horse. They didn’t really think I was any good at first, but then they’d go out and watch me, and it was like, ‘Oh, he’s actually pretty good. He’s got a lot of experience.’”
The conversation then shifted toward Hart’s confidence in his ability to work with different opponents, leading him to make a pointed comparison with Michaels.
Hart suggested that, unlike himself, Michaels was selective about the wrestlers he wanted to face, arguing that his own approach as champion was to work with anyone and deliver the best match possible. “I could wrestle anybody. Whereas someone like Shawn Michaels, he can’t wrestle everybody. He can only wrestle the guys he handpicks. ‘I want that guy and that guy, but I don’t want that guy. Don’t give me that guy.’ For me, it was like, give me anyone. It’s my job. I’m the champion. I’ll face anybody and give them the best match that I can.”
Hart and Michaels have a well-documented history of personal and professional differences, most notably surrounding the infamous Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997.
Although the two have publicly reconciled in the years since, Hart has occasionally continued to criticize aspects of Michaels’ wrestling career.
His latest remarks highlight the pride he takes in his versatility as an in-ring performer, while also revealing how much his first WWE Championship victory meant to him personally.
For Hart, capturing the title in 1992 was more than a career milestone. It represented the recognition he had worked toward for years and remains a moment he would gladly experience all over again.
