Bret Hart On How He Would Rate Hulk Hogan

On episode seven of Confessions Of The Hitman, WWE Hall Of Famer Bret 'Hitman' Hart shared his methodology for evaluating professional wrestlers. Also, Hart shared the overall rating he would give fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Hulk Hogan as well as the rating he would give himself.

According to Hart, he breaks down professional wrestlers based on three categories, the first of which is the performer's look. 'The Hitman' went on to name Hogan, Andre The Giant, King Kong Bundy, and 'Ravishing' Rick Rude as legends of the squared circle with great looks.

"I've always had a scale that I've used in my mind to try and measure how to diagnose was a great [pro] wrestler would be," Hart explained. "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."

Hart's second category is promo skills. 'The Excellence Of Execution' listed The Honky Tonk Man, 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, David Schultz, Sweet Daddy Siki, Archie 'The Stomper' Gouldie, and Makhan Singh as great talkers.

"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." Hart added, "yeah, I'd give Makhan a good seven or an eight. He was a good talker."

Hart's third and final category for evaluating professional wrestlers is wrestling skills.  

"Anyway, the final category is how good you can actually really wrestle," Hart said. "Like, can you really wrestle? How can you wrestle? How is your wrestling? How are your skills? Can you throw a dropkick?"

As for Hart's self-assessment, the seven-time world champion gave himself a seven-out-of-10 for his look. Hart noted that while he was not the physical specimen that Hogan was, 'The Best There Is, Was, And Ever Will Be' was not held back because of his look either.

"In my case, I'd say my look, I wasn't Hulk Hogan. I never pretended to be," Hart considered. "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."

Hart acknowledged that mic skills was always his weakest category, giving himself the dreaded score of four-out-of-10.

"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." Hart added, "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."

During the show, Hart gave himself a nine-out-of-ten or a perfect score for wrestling skills because he could wrestle anyone.  

"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." Hart admitted, "I could wrestle and have a great match with just about anybody."

Although Hart ultimately gave himself a score of 21/30, 'The Pink & Black Attack' gave Hogan 22/30. Hogan's perfect scores for look and mic skills gave 'The Hulkster' the edge over 'The Hitman'.

"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."

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