Bret Hart isn’t a fan of where wrestling is headed. Appearing on the Johnny I Pro Show, the WWE Hall of Famer was asked whether he’d made his younger self proud. He said he worked hard to make wrestling look real, and he doesn’t see that today.
I know that I gave so much and tried so hard to make it real and I have a hard time today when it’s not. I don’t think those values are carried forward and they’re moving on in a different direction now where wrestling is starting to become hokey.
Hart took aim at the spectacle that now surrounds the product.
It doesn’t try to be real anymore. It tries to be unreal. Like too outrageously the more explosions and pyro and stuff that you can do. It has nothing to do with wrestling.
I’m a wrestling fan deep in my heart. And I like to watch a really good wrestling match that builds and tells a story and all that.
And I don’t get that fix anymore. I’m not getting that at all from today’s wrestling.
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Instead, Hart has been watching old black-and-white footage of Buddy Rogers, Killer Kowalski and Gene Kiniski. He said many of today’s wrestlers grew up watching him, which makes the shift harder to take.
I always have a line that I use regularly is like the best pro wrestler has to always pretend to be real. And I don’t think they’re trying hard enough anymore to make it appear real.
Hart knows fans understand wrestling is scripted. He just wants to suspend disbelief while the show is on.
Like I want to pretend it’s real for 3 hours. I can talk about it on the drive home about how fake this was.
I love a lot of the wrestlers that are working today, but you know, for God’s sake, maybe they could put a hold on once in a while. You know, they should put someone in a headlock.
It’s not the first time Hart has criticized modern styles. He’s previously said wrestling like Goldberg is “not how it’s done.”
