Bret Hart was a phenomenal wrestler with rightful claims to be "the best there was the best there is and the best there ever will be". Spending time in three major promotions, his father's Stampede Wrestling based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Vince McMahon's North Eastern WWE and in the last years of his career the Southern-based WCW, after the infamous Montreal Screwjob.
He won World Heavyweight Titles in all three promotions to become the number one wrestler in each. Six in Stampede, five in the WWE and two in WCW. He is considered one the best wrestlers of this or any other era, but here are the wrestlers that defeated him for the World Titles by fair means or foul. His WCW reigns won't be mentioned, as he vacated those titles without being beaten.
8 Bob Backlund – WWE Survivor Series '94
Losing to the aging Backlund was not something Hart recalls fondly, calling it possibly his worst match of all time at this level. After the controversy surrounding a title match between the two in the summer, a Submission match was set for Survivor Series 1994. Bret’s mother Helen was convinced to throw in the towel after Bret's cornerman, the British Bulldog was knocked unconscious. This was done by his heel brother Owen who was the cornerman of Backlund.
Backlund would end up being a transition champion as he was decimated by new poster boy Diesel with a Jack-knife powerbomb in seconds at a house show soon after. This started Diesel’s year-long run that ultimately went back to Bret, after drawing poorly as a champion during a downward spiral in the industry.
7 Duke Myers - 1980 - Stampede
Myers held the Heavyweight crown once but was more utilised as a tag team champion, claiming the gold seven times in Stampede Wrestling. He faced Bret Hart in May of 1980 defeating him. He was a versatile wrestler who also competed in the NWA and AWA.
His tag-team reigns at Stampede included teams with Terry Brown and the Dynamite Kid and he faced off against the likes of Bruce Hart and the British Bulldog in 1982, and even a young Chris Beniot and Keith Hart in 1986 for the titles. On his death in 2015 Bret said "Duke was a classic example of what made Stampede wrestling great".
6 David Shultz - 1980 - Stampede
Shultz was a wrestler that could easily have hit the big time with stints in the AWA and NWA in the late 70s and early 80s before arriving in Stampede Wrestling in Calgary. He had the look and was eerily reminiscent of Sid Eudy before he arrived on the scene, and even has his own Dark Side of the Ring episode centred around him.
McMahon was impressed with his verbal skills and he was one of the first regional wrestlers along with Randy Savage and his brother to be swooped up by the expanding WWE. Ascending the ladder to become a heel, he even faced Hulk Hogan. It all went wrong when he slapped John Stossel, a news reporter who was doing a story about the "behind the scenes secrets" concerning pro-wrestling and questioned its legitimacy.
5 Leo Burke - 1980 and 1983 - Stampede
Burke was a Canadian professional wrestler competing for most of his career in Canada while having worldwide stints in Puerto Rico and the NWA in New Zealand holding the Stampede Heavyweight Title eight times.
He had a long-term storyline feud with Bret in the promotion, winning then losing the Heavyweight title twice to Hart in 1980 and 1983, then joining forces with him to hold tag team gold. He worked with the WWE after retiring from the ring as a trainer with Bret's help in the 1990s and mentored Ken Shamrock, Edge, Mark Henry, Christian and Test, a famous class, before moving to WCW in a similar position.
4 Bad News Allen – 1982 & 1983 - Stampede
Bad News Allen was a fully qualified black belt in Judo, had won golds in the Pan American Games and bronze at the 1976 Olympics becoming the first African-American to win a medal outside of boxing or athletics. He had also spent time in NJPW and the WWWF before arriving at Stampede so his pedigree was high. Bret had no issues putting over Allen in his father’s promotion not once but twice for the title.
He spent 6 years in Stampede from 1982-88 and beat Bret for the title in 1982 and 1983 before transitioning to the WWE where he performed under the ring name Bad News Brown. He even eliminated Bret Hart to win the Battle Royal for Wrestlemania 4, to renew their rivalry and had a famous altercation with Andre The Giant.
3 Sycho Sid – WWE - Monday Night Raw
Hart had won the title for the fourth time at the Final Four PPV despite Austin being a continual thorn in his side since Survivor Series 1996 on his return. Facing Sid in a title match that had been restarted twice during the episode, Steve Austin interfered with a chair bashing Hart in payback for eliminating him the night before.
Sid’s second run was short-lived however as all plans were in transition due to HBK giving up the title on Thursday Raw Thursday. He eventually lost it to Undertaker at Wrestlemania 13 but he is in fact the only wrestler to hold World Title wins over both Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, a feat not many people can claim. If Austin had not interfered as well, his match with Hart may have ended up being for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 13.
2 Yokozuna (Really Hulk Hogan) – WWE Wrestlemania 9
Bret Hart faced the gigantic Yokozuna at Wrestlemania 9 at the end of his first title reign in 1993. Mr Fuji cost Hart the championship throwing salt into Bret’s face, with Hulk Hogan arriving suddenly to avenge the incident and set up an impromptu title match. Hogan allegedly convinced Vince McMahon that they needed to send the crowd home happy, in some deft political maneuvering.
Yokozuna was a strong opponent for Hart but did not possess Bret’s technical skill and it would have been best for him to have retained here and the build for a match with Hogan as was planned. History went in a different direction with Yokozuna winning the title back at the inaugural King of the Ring, the Steroid trial happened and Hogan departed eventually for TV and WCW. The two would finally meet up again in late 1997 in the Turner based promotion, and it was a perfect opportunity to headline the following Starrcade.
1 Shawn Michaels – WWE Wrestlemania 12
Hart’s most famous legitimate loss against his greatest in-ring rival went down in a one-hour Ironman match at Wrestlemania 12. Overtime was needed with Hart walking away from the ring and then being forced to continue by WWE President Gorilla Monsoon. The match was restarted and ended with Sweet Chin Music with Michaels allegedly telling Hart to “get out of my ring”, wanting the spotlight all to himself after famously arriving from the rafters on a zip line.
Due to the heated nature of their personal rivalry that grew stronger from this point on, this is easily star billing as it marks the beginning of Shawn’s boyhood dream journey and the entire narrative of their personal animosity in the final years of their time in WWE. It is a shame as this rivalry burned so strong and intense, but fans were denied even more great matches between the two, due to a greater adversary.