Lately I’ve been plugging my way through the new WWE Blu Ray “Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart – The Dungeon Collection”.

The “Hitman” is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time, and this Blu Ray collects many of his unseen and rare matches.

A few nights ago I watched the chapter on one of Bret Hart’s greatest opponents – Curt Hennig, also known as Mr. Perfect. 

Bret’s match against Mr. Perfect at Summerslam 1991 is quite possibly my favorite wrestling match of all time, so I was giddy to see a rare earlier match between the two.

Before the match Bret was interviewed about the first time he and Hennig ever met in the ring. The pair had a reputation as being the best two technical workers of their generation.

Their first match was eagerly anticipated by fans and fellow wrestlers alike. The boys in the locker room gathered around the curtain to see these two second generation superstars put on a five star match.

So it was much to my surprise to hear what Hart said next:

His match with Mr. Perfect stunk up the joint that night.

Huh? How can that be? How could these two Hall of Famers ever have a bad match?

(Click here if you can’t see the video above.)

Bret diagnosed the symptom behind the dud match as overconfidence. He and Mr. Perfect assumed since they were both in such a hot period of their careers, there was no way they could have a bad match.

They didn’t spend much time preparing or talking over the match before hand. They went into the ring assuming greatness would just naturally flow from them.

When everything is going your way, it’s easy to fall into the same trap Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect did. God gives us seasons in our lives where everything turns up roses. We often forget those roses are a gift, instead thinking they bloomed just because of our own awesomeness.

When we trust in ourselves more than we trust in God we often trip over our own ego. James 4:10 tells us to the only way to rise up again is to humble ourselves before the Lord, for He can lift us up.

No matter how high you are riding today, you must remember your talents and abilities don’t come from you. They’re a God-given gift. No matter how awesome things have been going lately, it’s not just because of you.

Humble yourself. Recognize your imperfections. Daily come to the table to work on your relationship with God. Prepare for the battle ahead of you.

The next time Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect stepped into the squared circle, the two were humbled. They let go of the thought of just coasting their way to excellence, and committed to working as hard as it took to put on a great match. From then on out, as the story goes, Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect never had a bad match with each other.

Humbling yourself does not make you immune from imperfection. Humility allows you to rise above your imperfect moments because of the grace of the God who is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.

Do you ever fall into the trap Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect did? How do you stay humble?