Bret Hart puts CM Punk atop list of best wrestlers today while he thinks Gunther is 'unprofessional'
WWE legend Hart praised Punk as the top wrestler today, but was less kind towards Gunther
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1 min read
File Bret Hart under those who were rooting for CM Punk to dethrone Gunther at WWE SummerSlam. Hart recently did media rounds, giving his insight on the modern WWE product. The "Hitman" praised Punk while being surprisingly critical of Gunther.
Hart is often considered one of, if not the greatest, technicians in professional wrestling. When surveyed about today's best wrestler, Hart put Punk ahead in a three-man race.
"I'm a forever Rey Mysterio fan. I love watching Rey even now today, especially as he gets older," Hart told Complex Sports. "But I'm also a big fan of Roman Reigns, and I think if I had answered the question, I'd say CM Punk."
Punk had a bittersweet weekend. Punk endured a grueling match with Gunther to win the world heavyweight championship, Punk's first WWE title in 12 years. His celebration was short-lived as Seth Rollins successfully cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase minutes later.
Punk vs. Gunther was one of SummerSlam's best matches, living up to their respective reputations. Though Gunther is regarded as one of today's top in-ring performers, Hart had a surprisingly contrarian take on "The Ring General."
"The best wrestling has to pretend to be real. That's what I did. I tried to make it as real as I could," Hart told "The Masked Man Show" on Tuesday. "Contrary to that Gunther guy, who seems like a nice enough guy when I met him, but I hate wrestlers that hurt each other on purpose."
"I have no respect for guys who hurt each other all the time. It's just to me, lazy, shit wrestling when guys like Gunther… I've told him this to his face, it's bullshit. When you're hurting somebody for real, you're unprofessional. I wrestled guys and never hurt anybody."
Hart, 68, apparently has a longstanding gripe with the chop, a standard move. Hart had a similar assessment of another revered in-ring worker, fellow WWE Hall of Famer "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
"Who ever won a fight with a chop? What a waste of time," Hart said. "They hurt, they look like shit. They make a big slap sound, but they hurt.
"When you get chopped by somebody like Ric flair for a 30-minute match and he chops you 15 times, your whole chest the next day is bruises. It hurts to put a shirt on."
