Bret "The Hitman" Hart is nothing if not outspoken, and while he never shies away from criticising his contemporaries, he's just shared high praise indeed for a fellow WWE Hall of Famer.
In a new interview, the former WWE and WCW star declared Rey Mysterio the greatest wrestler of all time, explaining that while he's long been a fan of masked wrestlers, Mysterio has truly set himself apart from every other masked star to step into the ring.
"Rey Mysterio is one of the greatest wrestlers, maybe the greatest wrestler of all time," Hart declared. "Nobody can lace Rey Mysterio’s shoes up. He was such a great wrestler and a great athlete and a great like he was just so good and such a smart wrestler and so amazing."
"I would love to have wrestled Rey Mysterio. I would have to think a little, I’d have to be a little younger than I am now," he continued. "But, you know, like when, maybe when I was in my late 20s, I would love to have wrestled Rey Mysterio. I would love to have really gone overboard with Rey Mysterio and tried to really just have a match that I’ve never had before."
Hart and Mysterio were in WCW at the same time, and the multi-time WWE Champion revealed how close we came to seeing them go one-on-one.
"I used to beg guys like Eric Bischoff, like, please put me with Rey Mysterio, or somebody put me with anybody," Hart recalled. "And they would never put me with anybody that made any sense."
Not one to mince his words, Hart later took aim at a couple of old rivals while praising the late "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. "Roddy knew how to make a hero," Hart shared. "Roddy was really the first guy to reach down and pull someone like me up to the next level and pass that torch."
"In contrast to guys like Jake Roberts and Hulk Hogan, who never passed the torch to anybody. All they did is take and take and take...two of the biggest pieces of sh*t in wrestling."
Hart has never had much love for Hogan, and they often exchanged barbs in interviews like these before the Hulkster's passing earlier this year. Clearly, Hogan's death hasn't softened The Hitman's feelings!
You can hear more from Hart in the player below, and, as always, his unfiltered thoughts are a lot of fun...