In a new, brutally honest, and unfiltered interview, WWE Hall of Famer Bret “Hitman” Hart has shared his complicated and largely negative thoughts on the legacy of the late Hulk Hogan. While acknowledging Hogan’s massive accomplishments, Hart unloaded on the “Hulkster,” calling him a selfish performer who never helped elevate other talent and a “bulls**tter” who treated him like an enemy the moment he became champion.
Bret Hart on Hulk Hogan’s Place in History and His Flaws
Speaking on The Masked Man Show, Bret Hart was asked about Hulk Hogan’s legacy following his passing last month. Hart began by giving Hogan his due as a business icon, but he immediately contrasted Hogan’s selfishness with the generosity of other legends like “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
“You can never deny what Hulk Hogan did. His footprint in the wrestling business will always be huge, maybe as big as it is ever going to get,” Hart began. “Roddy Piper made me and contributed to the next generation. There were a lot of wrestlers who didn’t do that. Hulk Hogan never did that for anybody, never pulled anyone else up. Jake Roberts never did anything for anybody else, he only did for Jake Roberts. I look at Jake Roberts and Hulk Hogan, that’s just two guys.”
His comments paint a picture of Hogan as a star who was only interested in protecting his own spot at the top, rather than helping to build the future of the business.
A Champion in a Time of Crisis
Hart then reflected on his own rise to the WWF Championship in 1992, a time of major crisis for the company. He explained that with Hogan gone, the steroid scandal raging, and the roster of top villains depleted, Vince McMahon had to make a drastic change. Hart believes he was chosen to be champion not because he was the top choice, but because he was a “safe bet.”
“I wasn’t a guy who was going to get busted for having a couple ounces of coke in my bag… I wasn’t a guy who was going to fail my drug test. I was a safe bet. That’s why Vince picked me to be the champion,” Hart said. “‘I need somebody who is not going to drop the ball and have any scandals. I can’t take any more scandals. Stick it on Bret Hart.’ So, they stuck it on me.”
He stepped up to the plate and carried the company through one of its most difficult periods, a responsibility he feels Hogan was never willing to take on.
The Day a friendship Ended
The most personal and scathing part of the interview came when Hart described how his relationship with Hogan changed the very day he won the championship. He had expected the departing top star to congratulate him and pass the torch, but instead, he was met with jealousy and animosity.
“I always thought that the day that I won the belt, Hulk Hogan would come up and pat me on the back and tell me how glad he was that I was the guy they picked to pull the sword out of the stone for him. Unfortunately, that’s not how it was,” Hart recalled. “The second I won the belt, I was the enemy. I had what he wanted, and we were never really friends ever again. That had nothing to do with me. I was always honest… I think Hulk Hogan was a bulls**tter.”
Bret Hart’s brutally honest and unfiltered comments provide a stark and controversial counter-narrative to the wave of tributes that have followed Hulk Hogan’s passing. His perspective, as one of the few top stars who worked alongside Hogan and then succeeded him as champion, is a unique and vital piece of wrestling history. While Hart does not deny Hogan’s immense contributions to the business, his personal account paints a complicated and, in his eyes, unflattering picture of the man behind the Hulkamania character, ensuring that the debate over Hogan’s true legacy will continue for years to come.