MJF is clearly on one side of the “Bret or Shawn” debate.
The AEW star weighed in on one of pro wrestling’s biggest sticking points during a recent appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show. Helwani joked with MJF and asked what his beef with “his guy” was, pointing to a photo of Hart in the studio.
MJF said he didn’t have a beef with the first and only three-time inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame. He mentioned that he cut a promo at the first-ever Double or Nothing back in 2019 before going on to say that as great as Hart is (was and ever will be), he’s still no Shawn Michaels.
“Bret Hart? I’ve got no beef, just look, man—this dude got rocked by Bill Goldberg, to the point where he had to retire. He’s saying crazy s**t all the time, and 99 percent of the time, it doesn’t make sense. I just think homey’s punch drunk,” MJF said. “And God bless him, he should be. He’s one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He’s no Shawn Michaels, but he’s one of the greatest wrestlers of all time.”
Helwani, seemingly taken aback by the declaration, said—with all due respect—that Hart is so much better than Michaels. MJF questioned what metrics could be used in the debate, sharing several key areas where he believes Michaels was better than his longtime adversary.
“In what world though? I have a reason to pretend Shawn Michaels is better than Bret Hart, because he’s like the WWE NXT guy. But like, I’m not just going to sit here and do that. [Shawn] was the better talker, he’s more athletic in the ring. He was the better wrestler, he was more exciting, he drew you in more. Bret was good at a time period where he was able to get away with this incredible work rate guy, his promos were good, but they weren’t [mindblowing].”
Despite favoring Shawn Michaels, MJF wasn’t trying to belittle Hart’s accomplishments
MJF said no one ever went to school and bragged about a Bret Hart promo. Despite him clearly favoring Michaels, MJF said no one should mistake his comments as him talking trash about Hart.
“I’m literally saying out loud this dude is a legend, he is a Hall of Famer. He’ll go down as one of the all-time greats. But when you put him bar-for-bar against Shawn, I never understood the comparison.”
MJF ended the debate on a somewhat humorous note, claiming he’s getting sick of the Shawn vs. Bret debate because Steve Austin trumps them both.
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