Tom Brady is often called the “greatest of all time,” the “GOAT,” if you will, but the Buccaneers quarterback has nothing on the “Hitman.”
When Brady won his seventh Super Bowl in his first year in Tampa Bay, NFL fans lauded the 22-year veteran for being the best athlete in all of sports. Of course, arguments could be made for Michael Jordan and his dominant run in the ’90s with the Chicago Bulls, Bill Russell and his 11 championships with the Boston Celtics. There are even individual athletes like Tigers Woods and his 15 major championships or Serena Williams and her 23 Grand Slam titles.
However, a graphic posted by Super 70s Sports on Wednesday adds a new contender for the GOAT: Bret Hart. They admit they didn’t make the graphic, but it is stylized in a combat sports manner listing out the accolades of Brady and Hart.
The two have won seven world titles, but that’s where Brady falls off. Hart is a two-time King of the Ring winner, three-time tag team champion, three-time Intercontinental Champion, five-time United States Champion and two Hall of Fame inductions.
Now, Brady is likely to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but that’s still one less than Hart, who was inducted individually and as a member of The Hart Foundation.
Because of the scripted nature of pro wrestling, one would scoff at Hart’s accomplishments, and there is merit to that argument. Pro wrestling is not a meritocracy and the best performers are not always pushed as champions, but Hart is the exception.
Hart was a fantastic worker in his era and put on the most exciting matches, specifically his WrestleMania 13 match against “Stone Cold” Steven Austin — arguably the best match of Austin’s career.
Brady is applauded for making his teammates better, but Hart did that on another level to the point of misleading promoters into thinking a wrestler was actually good because they had a good match with Hart. No one exemplifies this than Tom Magee.
This was a match that took place on Oct. 7, 1986, at the Rochester War Memorial Arena. For a “WWF Challenge” taping, Hart took on Magee, who was trained by Bret Hart’s father, Stu Hart, and wrestled in their family promotion, Stampede Wrestling. This is an infamous match because Bret Hart made the former Canadian powerlifter and strongman competitor look so good it convinced Vince McMahon and producer Pat Patterson Magee was the next Hulk Hogan.
This was not the case, and Magee left wrestling in 1990. It was Hart who did the work in the match to help out an inexperienced Magee. While Brady has made average wide receivers into great ones, he has not convinced the NFL public a pass-catcher was worthy of the Hall of Fame as they should have.
Speaking of McMahon, Hart was infamously double crossed in the “Montreal Screwjob” in 1997. Brady’s equivalent was “Deflategate” in 2015. The then New England Patriots quarterback was suspended for four games, won the league MVP and won the Super Bowl that year. That’s all fine and well, but Hart arguably one-ups Brady by punching McMahon in the face in response to being screwed over by McMahon.
While team success was Brady’s goal, Hart lands in more infamy by punching his boss on the job.
