Bret Hart criticizes modern wrestling and Goldberg's training methods

"

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart makes his entrance during Monday Night RAW at the Scotiabank Saddledome on September 9, 2024 in Calgary, Canada. | (Photo by WWE/Getty Images) Bret Hart is justifiably considering one of the greatest professional wrestlers who has ever stepped inside a ring. Along with excellent mat work, he’s known for his top-tier wrestling psychology and practically peerless physical conditioning. Hart is also known —as he’s proven time and again over the years — to hold a grudge. Perhaps there’s no one he holds a grudge against more than Bill Goldberg, and he took the opportunity to once against criticize the fellow WWE Hall of Famer for what he characterizes as a lack of proper training. “Goldberg just hurt me because he didn’t know how to do anything different. No one taught him, no one showed him, no one explained to him, ‘Like, Bill, it’s not really real. You can’t actually kick somebody in the head as hard as you can. You just can’t,” The Hitman said during a recent interview on the Johnny I Pro Show. While Bret has frequently blamed an errant kick to the head from Goldberg for his premature retirement, he said in his latest comments that WCW should have been held legally liable for the incident. “No one took the time to tell him that in WCW, where it’s, like, they should be sued for unprofessional wrestling for putting me in the ring with a guy that didn’t know anything about wrestling,” he said. Hart also took a shot at his well-chronicled nemesis Shawn Michaels while putting a shine on his own legacy. “I could wrestle anybody. Whereas someone like Shawn Michaels, he can’t wrestle everybody. He can only wrestle the guys he handpicks. Like, ‘I want that guy and that guy, but I don’t want that guy. Don’t give me that guy,’” Hart told Johnny I Pro. “For me, it was like, give me anyone. It’s my job. I’m the champion. I’ll face anybody and give them the best match that I can.” Another frequent target for Hart’s disdain is the current state of pro wrestling, and he made sure during the interview to let listeners know his stance hasn’t changed. “I know that I gave so much and tried so hard to make it real, and I have a hard time today when it’s not,” he said. “I don’t think those values are carried forward, and they’re moving on in a different direction now, where wrestling is starting to become hokey.” Bret continued: “In the end, I’m a wrestling fan deep in my heart, and I like to watch a really good wrestling match that builds and tells a story and all that. And I don’t get that fix anymore. I’m not getting that at all from today’s wrestling.” He went on to say that wrestlers today aren’t “trying hard enough anymore to make it appear real.” While he said that he loves a lot of wrestlers today, “maybe they could put a hold on once in a while. “You know, actually put someone in a headlock.” What do you make of Hart’s latest comments? Share your thoughts in the comments.