The Undertaker names the WWE opponent who took him to the next level as a wrestler
The Undertaker is widely regarded as one of the greatest WWE Superstars of all time. In a recent podcast episode, the Hall of Famer had nothing but praise for Bret Hart while reflecting on their in-ring battles.
The legendary wrestlers shared the ring more than 80 times in WWE between 1990 and 1997. One of their most memorable matches against each other came at SummerSlam 1997, where Hart won the WWE Championship from The Deadman.
On Six Feet Under w/Mark Calaway, The Undertaker said Hart helped him prove he could be much more than an interesting wrestling persona:
"I didn't wanna be known, 'Oh, he was one of the greatest characters ever.' I also wanted to be known as one of the great workers, and Bret, working with him allowed me to do that because his work was solid and he was only gonna go so far within the range of the gimmick and everything, and I liked that because it forced me to figure out how to have good wrestling matches and be in character too." [20:59 – 21:34]
In his prime, Hart was known as one of the world's best technical wrestlers. He won the WWE Championship five times and received Hall of Fame inductions as a singles competitor and member of The Hart Foundation.
The Undertaker reflects on a lesser-known Bret Hart match
Despite being two of WWE's top stars in the 1990s, Bret Hart and The Undertaker only wrestled each other on television eight times. Their matches usually took place at untelevised live events, with many of those bouts coming after SummerSlam 1997.
The Undertaker recalled how one particular match at a United Kingdom live event stood out above the rest:
"We took this crowd on a ride that you would not believe. It was one of those situations where one minute it's, 'Let's go 'Taker,' and then the next minute it's, 'Let's go Bret.' And then there's one half of the building yelling 'Undertaker!' and then the other half of the building is yelling 'Bret Hart' back and forth. It was just an emotional rollercoaster that we took the audience on, and, man, it was one of my best matches, I think." [22:36 – 23:13]
In the same episode, The Phenom gave his take on fans calling Hart "sour" due to his comments on modern-day wrestling.
What are your thoughts on The Undertaker's career? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Six Feet Under w/Mark Calaway and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.