I’m going to do my best to look at this objectively, focusing on the end product while ignoring the backstage bullshit.
On the Bret Scale:
BRET
Look: 8
To this day I’m shocked that the long, greasy hair and neon bubblegum pink ring gear caught on.
I don’t know if anyone else could have pulled that off the same way, and for that I give the Hitman credit.
Bret never had the body of a Warrior, or even Rude for that matter, but he had an athletic build and it worked to his advantage.
Hitman had an attainable/believable physique, which matched his realistic character & wrestling style.
Also, they gave him the top spot at a time when Vince was trying to distance the company from the negative press of the steroid scandal.
Talk: 7
Certainly not the greatest, but it worked.
He connected with the audience, which matters most, but I attribute much of that to his overall character.
By adding bits of his real/personal life, he grew the legend of his family to international heights, which also built up his own “mystique.”
Some of his promos seemed mundane and often ran maybe longer than they should have, but many of them had an edge - particularly towards the end of his first WWF run.
Wrestling Ability: 9.8
Solid ground game.
Versatile.
VERY REALISTIC.
EMOTIONALLY CHARGED.
Vast improvement over the era of Hogan’s, Warrior’s, etc.
Had Steamboat not shot himself in the foot, I believe the Dragon would have eventually stepped into this type of role.
While other guys maybe knew more and/or flashier moves, Bret knew how to make his moves MEAN THE MOST.
That comes from knowing how to tell a story in the ring; not with the microphone.
Bret’s matches always looked reactionary; never rehearsed.
The pacing, timing, psychology - everything was as close to perfect as one can get.
SHAWN
Look: 8.5
Got better with time.
In the Rocker days he didn’t even look like he trained, but once he went solo, he developed a respectable amount of muscularity.
He looked his best from about 96 to when he dropped the big belt to Austin.
I always thought the hair & ring gear matched the flamboyance of the character to a "T."
Talk: 8.3
Not the worst, but far from the best.
Used to stutter & lose his place a lot - can‘t even blame the placydils and booze because his ring work was damn near flawless.
The cockiness of the character really got him over as both a heel and a face: a true rarity in pro wrestling at that time.
Wrestling Ability: 9.7
Flashier than Bret, but still believable to a degree - especially when he had a good opponent to work with.
Like Bret, his performances almost always had an emotional hook.
Shawn also took great bumps that got him and his opponents over.
He could bring out the best and get the most out of any opponent.
Both men’s finsihers relied a great deal on the cooperation of the opponent.
Bret would sometimes hit the sharpshooter from an awkward/unexpected position (which made it more interesting), but almost always, the only way you could hook that move is if the other guy allowed you.
Sweet Chin Music was even more tacky.
Unless your opponent had never seen an HBK match and/or was deaf, that foot stomp & skip across the ring was perhaps the biggest telegraph in history.
I always preferred when Shawn hit it from out of nowhere - that always made more sense to me.
The other way, the guy had a good 10 seconds to move out of the way.
Regardless, the way Bret & HBK sold their finishers always popped the crowd.
I think their ratings are close enough to a tie.
Both were EXCELLENT workers.
Poll
