[Mikey]

“I beat Steve Austin every time I fought him!” ~Bret “The Hitman” Hart, March 1999 on Nitro

You all know the battles these guys had. Austin disposed of the Million Dollar Man in round two. The Hitman got by TNA’s A.J. Styles. The two old bitter rivals meet again in this showdown. Can the Excellence of Execution fend off the pesky Texas Rattlesnake? Or will Stone Cold’s bottom line send Austin to the regional finals?





Poll closes Monday at midnight eastern.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I don't have anything against Bret... great in the ring but just incredibly boring as fuck on the stick. Austin made it fun to watch wrestling again (except for Cole) and my closet is full of at least 5 of his shirts.

[Lucky]

I have no fucking clue. Really, any confident voters who'd like to make a case. I am a clear swing vote. I like both. They feel even to me. I saw both tag careers and liked them very much. I saw both main event primes. I found both stale and shitty for a time and awesome for a time. Both good wrestlers, one more than other. The other being enough of a better talker to balance it. I don't know.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Well using the same criteria for Taker-Andre... you have

Drawing power - Austin
Star power - Austin
Workrate - Hart
Character - Austin (slightly)
Interviews - Austin

Really the only thing Hart has in his favor is workrate, and I'd take Angle or Benoit over him in department anyway. If someone (Tex) can make a better argument for Austin, by all means.

[National Champion Chris Cole]

Austin was one of the reasons I stopped watching wrestling for a time. I hated hoe EVERY FUCKING RAW ended with him stunnering all of the world and hearing his music while JR yelled "STONE COLE! STONE COLD! STONE COLD!" This is the very reasons I hate Cena so much today.

Bret Hart, by a fucking mile.

[Moreofabreadguyanyway]

I actually remember the heel often getting the better of Austin at the end of many RAWs. Probably one of the many reasons why he remained more over than Cena has for so long.

[National Champion Chris Cole]

I don't know how we were watching different shows but we must have been. But he still never lost when it counted. The only Main event face who DID lose about half his big matches was Rock. That is why I loved Rock so much and can't stand Austin or Cena. When Rock was on anything could happen.

Bret was the best and most consistent wrestler for the WWF through the 80s & 90s.

[salmonjunkie]

I am also a swing vote. I like them both.

[Batman]

Eh. I'm a big fan of Austin, I enjoy his promos and his matches, and I've never really been into Bret.

But I don't care enough to try to sway the swing voters. If the question is "Austin or Bret?", the answer is "Angle."

(That is to say, I'm less interested in who wins here, and more interested in Angle beating whoever it is next round.)

[Angle]

I wouldn't count out Edge so fast. He's only behind by 2 votes and there's 4 days of voting left.

[Batman]

True. I'm off to campaign for Angle now.

[Tommy]

I'll never understand the fascination with Bret Hart. No one was able to put crowds to sleep quite like he was, until Orton came along.

[williamssl]

tommyd420 said:

I'll never understand the fascination with Bret Hart. No one was able to put crowds to sleep quite like he was, until Orton came along.

I've been trying to think of how to articulate my pro-austin lobby, but this anti-Bret quote works extremely well in the interim. Well said.

[Lucky]

He made Austin. Without Bret Austin never becomes what he becomes and wrestling never does and this board might not exist and we might not be fans!

[Tommy]

I hate you Lucky

[Lucky]

Hey. All I'm saying is if you don't vote Bret you're a dirty hypocrite.

TOMMY IS A DIRTY HYPOCRITE!

[williamssl]

In that alternate reality you suggest, can we pick the people who aren't fans? And therefore aren't on the boards? And ban 'em?


Ooops - should have typed this in staff housing.

[Tommy]

Hey. I made an arguement.
I never said it was a good arguement.
And Bret Hart wasn't as big as Andre was.

[Batman]

I've never been a big fan of Bret, but I've got to admit that Lucky's right about the Bret feud "making" Austin.

[creepy]

I agree with MKid. That Austin/beer/JR ending got soooo old. I used to like Austin before all that crap.


Hart

[National Champion Chris Cole]

Me too. I liked Stone Cold prior to the huge push. I liked Austin again during his heel run with Angle. But those 2-3 years of Austin number 1 face were absolutely brutal. Meanwhile when Bret was the Top dog they constantly had him losing to guys like Diesel, Yoko, Lawler, Owen. While it sucked as a fan of the Hitman to see him lose it also made me never get tired of him and always wanting to see him get back to the top and win the title.

[DevSop]

Hollywood Blondes > Hart Foundation and Dangerous Alliance > Team Canada.

[Tommy]

I think Bret Hart was a main eventer simply because it doesn't matter how badly you kill the crowd heat if it's the last match of the night.

Canada doesn't count.

[Mikey]

devilsoprano said:

Hollywood Blondes > Hart Foundation and Dangerous Alliance > Team Canada.

True.

But standalone, Bret > Austin.

[Moreofabreadguyanyway]

I guess Bret was a better wrestler, but holy shit, did he ever suck on the mike. I remembered him being pretty good on the mike after his '97 heel turn, but I'm watching some RAWs from '97 on Youtube right now, and I guess I was wrong. Hell, turns out, Austin was the guy pulling the weight in their feud. It's painful to see Bret ramble on and on and on about nothing; if it wasn't for the constant cheap heat ("Americans don't know family values), the crowd would've been sleeping.