I’m a Canadian visiting in America, the question came up and the answers were fascinating and not at all what I expected.
Curious as to whom you folks think of!
There are many great Canadians. But I have to go with Bret Hart. He and his brother have been so influential to the wrestling scene. Without him, we would still only have big charismatic guys slapping each other. They brought something that wasn’t seen in the mainstream before. From guys like Kurt Angle to Brian Danielson (also a great Canadian!) to Tag Teams like FTR and many, many more … they have all been influenced by The Hitman and his technical skills.
Oh interesting, I didn’t know those teo changed it so much! So were the classic guys, like Hulk Hogan not very technical wrestlers and more showmen? (I know verrrry little about wrestling.)
HH could wrestle. But he didn’t need to in the US. If you watch some of his matches in Japan, it’s night and day. He was surprisingly good. Here is a short video from 1983.
And yes, I know it’s pretend fighting. But it still needs a lot of skill to perform on the level of Bret Hart. Pretty ironic that his career was ended by a charismatic, meaty big guy who can’t wrestle.
