On the latest episode of Bret Hart's "Confessions of The Hitman" series, Bret explained in detail how he has a rating system in his head for how he decides how good somebody is in the wrestling industry.
āIāve always had a scale that Iāve used in my mind to try and measure how to diagnose was a great wrestler would be. And itās like if you give 10 points in each category and thereās like three categories. The first category is the look. Whatās your look? Youāve got a good look, you look at Hulk Hogan, okay? Unbelievable look, 6ā8ā³ with the 24ā³ pythons, itās 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 somebodyās legs. Then, you look at somebody like [King Kong] Bundy comes along or Andre The Giant and you go, āholy!ā Then you see someone like Rick Rude come in. Anyway, certain guys have a look and as soon as you see them, you go, āwow, that guy could make money as a wrestler!ā 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, Iād give him a nine-out-of-10 on his look or maybe even 10-out-of-10 for his look. It was so good.
Then, the next category would be mic skills, the ability to sell yourself as a wrestler. How good are you at that? Itās like, āgive me a mic and Iāll show you.ā You get some guys who can just talk ā Honky Tonk Man, Roddy Piper, āDr. Dā Dave Schultz. Certain guys could talk. Sweet Daddy Siki talked. Archie āThe Stomperā Gouldie, boy, what a talker. He could put goosebumps up the back of your neck with his stuff. Yeah, Iād give Makhan a good seven or an eight. He was a good talker.
Anyway, the final category is how good you can actually really wrestle. Like, can you really wrestle? How can you wrestle? How is your wrestling? How are your skills? Can you throw a dropkick?
In my case, Iād say my look, I wasnāt Hulk Hogan. I never pretended to be. I didnāt have the kind of build. I would say I was a seven-out-of-10. I didnāt 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 wasnāt holding me back. I had a decent gimmick.
And then, itās like, āOkay, is he a talker, Bret Hart?ā And itās like, well, thatās 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. 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. And then, itās like the third category is, how good can he, Bret Hart, actually wrestle? I think on that scale, Iād 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.
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 thatās what I would gage him that.ā