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1. Bret Hart
Simply put, Bret Hart is the best pure wrestler to ever step inside a WWE ring. His moniker, “The Excellence of Execution” was just a nickname, but it was the perfect description of the “The Hitman”. Ever thing he did between the ropes was precise, exacting, and brilliant. He could work any type of match and make it work and was involved in some of the best matches all time, most notably (in my opinion) the best wrestling match in WWE history when he battled StoneCold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIII. That match set the landscape for the next decade of pro wrestling as it propelled Austin to super-stardom while turning Bret into a villainous heel.
Growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Hart like his brother, trained in their Dad’s dungeon. He was signed to the WWF in 1985 and his first 6 years were spent tag teaming with his brother-in-law, Jim Neidhart. The duo won two tag titles together and was one of the best teams of the 80’s. But by the end of that decade, it began to look very clear that Bret was destined for bigger things. In 1991 he became a singles wrestler and won 5 world titles while being consensus best wrestler on the planet for the following 9 years before retiring due to a head injury.
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“The Hitman” personified what it meant to be a professional wrestler. He could work equally well as a heel and a babyface and he was severely committed to his craft. As mentioned in the opening slide, there is plenty of potential for another Canadian superstar to emerge, but it would extremely difficult for any of them to ever come close to matching the legendary Hitman.