Bret Hart Is "Overrated In His Own Mind"; Stars Used To Call Him "Stiffman", According To Former WWE Intercontinental Champion

Bret Hart is one of the most highly acclaimed WWE Superstars of all time. The Excellence of Execution is widely praised for his in-ring abilities, inspiring generations of future greats.

In a recent interview with Monty and the Pharaoh, former WWE Intercontinental Champion Marty Jannetty revealed that other WWE Superstars used to call Bret Hart "Stiffman" due to his hard-hitting style. When prompted if Hart was overrated in his own mind, Jannetty agreed, although reiterating that he loved the Hitman and would not badmouth him:

"He was solid and and you knew it when you wrestled with him because he was called The Hitman, Bret Hart. We called him The Stiffman Bret Hart because you felt it when he did something. You know they called him the Excellence of Execution or something like that. Yeah, because it hurt, and I love the guy... In his own mind, he's way overrated. But in the wrestling world, you know, they forcefed him."

Jannetty added that the company had to make him champion three times before Hart was able to get over with the crowd and become a top draw.

WWE allegedly breached its contract with Bret Hart

The Montreal Screwjob remains one of the most infamous segments in pro-wrestling history. Ahead of Survivor Series 2025, Scott D'Amore revealed his take on the matter in his weekly column, Uncrowned, and claimed that WWE allegedly breached its contract with The Hitman:

"My view, which hasn’t changed in three decades, is that WWE breached its contract with Bret. They had agreed to give creative control over to how his character was presented — and, on top of that, they’d already broken the reported $20 million over 20 years deal they’d signed, by telling him they couldn’t afford it and he should go see if he could resurrect talks with WCW."

In the same edition of his column, D'Amore recounted how tense the backstage atmosphere was on the edition of WWE RAW after the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997, which was incidentally also his WWE tryout date.

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