Is Bret Hart's Sharpshooter The Greatest Submission Move Of All Time?
Nowadays, Bret Hart has become a bit of a polarizing figure in the world of professional wrestling. In one camp, there are the fans who remember him as one of the great wrestling stars of the 1990s and an all-time great international draw. Everyone has a take on the Montreal Screwjob, and Hart loyalists remember it as a great injustice in which The Hitman fell victim to evil machinations of Vince McMahon and company. On the flip side, there are those critics who site Hart not drawing at the level of champions to precede him and making himself hard to work with at the end of his WWE tenure. Those fans who are anti-Hart also suggest he comes across as bitter when he shoots with critical opinions about his colleagues and today’s wrestlers. Regardless of divergent opinions about him, though, there’s no denying his technical expertise—that he was a ring general with a nearly incomparable talent for mapping out matches and figuring out the physical mechanics if different scenarios. This leads to the question of whether his Sharpshooter finisher was the best submission hold pro wrestling has ever seen.
The Sharpshooter Proved Bret Hart’s Gimmick As The Excellence Of Execution
When Bret Hart broke out as a singles star, he began calling himself The Excellence of Execution. More than a cool, alliterative catchphrase, the gimmick called attention to Hart’s precision in the ring, executing at a truly excellent level from bell to bell every match. The Sharpshooter became the embodiment of this identity.
Though it was Konnan who purportedly taught Hart how to apply the hold when he was looking for a new finisher, The Hitman quickly made the Sharpshooter his own. Ronnie Garvin had used a similar hold, billed as a Reversed Figure Four in his WWE feud with Greg Valentine, and all the more notably Sting was using the Scorpion Deathlock before Hart espoused this move. However, the sure-footedness, consistency, and tight application The Hitman used all proved him to be the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever would be with the hold.
The Sharpshooter Won Bret Hart An Intercontinental Championship, Then The WWE Championship
It would be difficult to call any wrestling move the greatest of all time if it didn’t yield at least some kayfabe success. For Bret Hart, the Sharpshooter was indeed the key to career redefining victories. First, at SummerSlam 1991, Hart applied the hold on one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time, Mr. Perfect, at the end of an instant classic. Perfect sold the Sharpshooter perfectly, surrendering immediately upon its application to put over The Hitman and his move.
Related: That Time Bret Hart Turned Heel In 1993... Only In Memphis
From there, a fall 1992 house show saw Hart use the Sharpshooter against Ric Flair. For all of the modern controversy surrounding The Nature Boy, the fact remains that he was one of the defining world champions of the era. Hart submitting another, even more iconic champion to win the biggest prize in wrestling furthered Hart and the hold’s legacies alike.
The Legacy Of The Sharpshooter Lives On
Though Bret Hart has no claim to innovating the Sharpshooter, he applied it well enough and used it to achieve enough success that his has been synonymous with him for the last thirty years. Indeed, when The Rock started incorporating it in his own repertoire, it was not so much stealing as a sign of respect to one of legends The People’s Champion admired most.
Hart’s kin and close associates like Natalya, Tyson Kidd, and DH Smith have used the Sharpshooter as well in more recent times, and The Hitman has also given his stamp approval to Cesaro’s usage of the hold. Others have applied the Sharpshooter, with varying degrees of success. It’s noteworthy WWE has not made any attempt to rebrand the hold—the way The Full Nelson has become The Masterlock or The Hurt Lock in different hands. Rather, just as the Figure Four Leglock, The Sharpshooter keeps its name when anyone besides Sting—for his own iconic history using the Scorpion Deathlock—uses it. In so doing, The Hitman is kept alive, even for fans who started following WWE years after Hart had to retire from full time wrestling.
The question of the greatest hold will always be subject to opinion. Nonetheless, Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter has to garner mention among the elite, as a particularly great hold, expertly applied by a great wrestler to achieve outstanding results. The hold’s name and legacy live on both within and well beyond The Hitman’s, there’s reason to believe they always will.
