The 2023 Royal Rumble coming up in in January and fans are already speculating which WWE legends could could up at the event. Last year saw the one-off return of Shane McMahon to the company, although previous years have yielded much bigger returns for fans of yesteryear.
Previous years have proven to be chocked full of legends making their one-off returns to the WWE. 2021 had Christian, Carlito, Kane and The Hurricane making huge appearances, while previous years have given legends like Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Mickie James and Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) the chance for one-off appearances and one final pop from the crowd that adored them for so long.
One man fans would love to see step into the ring one more time at the Royal Rumble in 2023 is a WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Especially in Canada, fans would love to see Bret “The Hitman” Hart step into the ring for one last match, but is there a chance we see Bret Hart in the Royal Rumble this year?
Will Bret Hart Be In The Royal Rumble?
It is very unlikely Bret Hart will be in the 2023 Royal Rumble. Despite winning the 1994 match (being co-winner with Lex Luger), the former WWE Champion is in no fit state to step into a wrestling ring again.
After retiring from wrestling in 2001 – following a nasty kick to the head by Goldberg – Hart suffered a stroke whilst riding his motorbike which cemented the end of his career. While you may recall a brief return in 2010 to wrestle Mr McMahon and a few other wrestlers, he did not take a single bump and they can barely be considered matches. He also suffered with prostate cancer later in life which further diminished his health
Now 65 years old, the recent Canadian Walk of Fame star has firmly hung up his boots but has lamented the way his career ended. He revealed that he would have loved to wrestle into the 2010s (which would have been entirely possible with his style of wrestling) against stars like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk and John Cena. However, his health made sure that those matches could never happen and robbed us of some potentially all-time great bouts.
“If I had no issues with my concussion and stuff. If I never had a stroke, maybe. Let’s just say I was healthy, at my age, I’d go back. I would have taken it pretty seriously. I would have wrestled a lot more over the last ten years if I hadn’t been hurt. All of the dream matches that everyone talks about, I would have loved to done all of them. Daniel Bryan [Bryan Danielson], CM Punk, Roman Reigns, John Cena, Randy Orton,”
Bret Hart on dream matches he would have loved to have
Legends have always made returns in the Royal Rumble match and 2023 will be no different. However, Bret Hart at his age cannot take a bump (his insurance policy made sure of that), so he would not be able to be eliminated from the match, unless he simply elected to hop over the top rope and walk out of the match, which isn’t believable for his character at all.
They could go the route of The Iron Sheik at Wrestlemania 17. The former WWE Champion was in such bad health that he could not be thrown over the top rope in the match full of legends, so WWE simply booked him to win the match. Unfortunately, the Royal Rumble comes with the responsibility to wrestle for the world title at Wrestlemania, something which Hart would be too unwell to even contemplate.
