Pro Wrestling Pundit 10.31.07: Tell-All Memoir Puts Hitman In Crosshairs
Posted by Tim Haught on 10.31.2007
You can call him Tim "The Hitman" Haught, because this 411 Staffer is taking aim at Bret Hart's new autobiography.
When it comes to unpopular opinions, there is one I simply cannot avoid. I just plain don't care for Bret "Hitman" Hart.
When I officially launched my wrestling blog at http://prowrestlingpundit.blogspot.com, the first article I wrote was a scathing criticism of the Excellence of Execution.
I am not denying that Bret Hart is a great in-ring performer, or that he is one of the top champions of the 1990's. I just have a lot of issues with the Hitman.
When I began watching professional wrestling, Bret was a member of the Hart Foundation. At the time I had no bad feelings towards Bret. In fact, the Hart Foundation may have been my favorite WWE tag team. I always wanted to see the pink and black attack succeed.
Things began to change however when the Foundation was finally split for good. Bret's push seemingly came out of nowhere to me. Suddenly he had defeated Mr. Perfect and was the Intercontinental Champion.
About this time the WWF I had come to know was changing. Vince let go a number of wrestlers prior to that Summerslam. The Ultimate Warrior was now the World Champion and there wasn't much I really appreciated about the direction the WWF was headed in.
Eventually, WWE had its first run in with the law over steroids. It's funny to think of how long ago that was in comparison to the state of the business today. I digress.
Bret Hart was in a position to change the face of the stereotypical WWF champion. Bret ushered in a new era and paved the way for great improvement of the WWF wrestling product.
Bret Hart was the face of the "New Generation." As much as I tried to be excited, I really longed for the past generation. When Bret Hart took the title from Ric Flair at a house show, what it meant to me was that Randy "Macho Man" Savage, my favorite wrestler would not be getting another opportunity to be the World Heavyweight Champion.
Bret Hart's time in as a main event caliber wrestler in the WWF is a valley compared to the peaks in business that occurred when Hogan carried the ball before him and Austin after.
My best friend and Florida independent standout, Daron Smythe, has his own thoughts on this. He would argue it's unfair to compare Hart as he wasn't built up nearly as well as Hogan.
"Hart worked nearly every house show, whereas Hogan worked the tapings and major shows only. Hogan's programs would get major TV time and angles to build, whereas Jean Pierre LaFitte stole Bret's jacket. Really? Stole his jacket? We all thought Hogan nearly died when Earthquake stomped him on the Brother Love show. We wanted to see Hogan overcome all the odds to get his revenge. I mean, Bret could've just waited until Pierre wasn't looking to steal his jacket back."
Bret Hart and Yokozuna headlined WrestleMania 9. Historically this WrestleMania is viewed as being the worst of the 23. While I remember being largely unimpressed with the show overall, I do remember celebrating when Hulk Hogan walked out with the World Heavyweight Championship. I was 9 years old, and a diehard Hulkamaniac.
By the time Bret Hart's second title reign began at WrestleMania 10, it was obvious that Hulkamania was no longer the focus of the WWF. No matter what Bret did, I couldn't forget the giant shoes that he was filling. It was because of this that I always resented his claim of being the best there is, best there was, and best there ever will be…
Somehow I learned to live with Bret as champion. I was largely unmoved by the storylines between him and Owen, Hakushi, and Bob Backlund, but I was old enough and smart enough to understand that they produced great matches.
One fantastic Bret Hart match that is often overlooked is his match with a heel British Bulldog that took place at an In Your House Pay Per View. I rate it over their 1992 Summerslam encounter.
Outside of the ring, Bret Hart bored me. I was excited when it became apparent that WWE was grooming Shawn Michaels to ultimately succeed Bret. Michaels had the same big match ability, but a more interesting character and more charisma.
I wasn't the only person that felt that way. As tensions mounted between Bret and Shawn, a new star was getting ready to breeze right past both of them. The United States fans largely had tired of Bret as a lame babyface, and he joined Owen, The Anvil, The Bulldog, and Brian Pillman to form a new Hart Foundation.
It was at this point where I enjoyed Bret Hart the most. He was fantastic in his role. Without Bret's stance against the changes in the business and the American wrestling fans, we may have never had Degeneration X, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Mr. McMahon. Unfortunately, Bret wouldn't be able to reap what he had sewn. Bret and Vince agreed that it was time to move on. Unfortunately they weren't able to agree how his exit would take place.
We are coming upon the tenth anniversary of the infamous Montreal Screwjob. Amazing considering that WWE still revisits this every other year or so.
Survivor Series 97 emanated from Montreal, Canada. Bret Hart was a crowd favorite in his home country. He had hopes of walking out of WWE as the champion. Vince and company had other ideas. After agreeing to a clusterfuck ending, Vince instructed referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell while Shawn Michaels had Bret Hart trapped in his own finishing maneuver. We had a new champion.
The next night, Vince defended his actions by breaking kayfabe on Raw. He explained that when a wrestler leaves a promotion, dropping the title is considered the right thing to do. This wasn't too unbelievable. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash had left not too long ago, and they lost matches for months before their eventual departures.
Bret was very upset to have lost in Canada. I have never seen eye to eye with him on this. You weren't in Calgary Bret. You were in your home country. What if Hulk Hogan decided he just could never lose in the United States? Well, I guess Hogan pretty much has, but you see the point I am trying to make.
I believe that Vince McMahon was doing what was best for himself and his employees when he took the title off of Bret Hart. Had Hart shown up on WCW television as a man who had never lost the WWE title, WCW might be the promotion alive and kicking today, and Vince McMahon might be the General Manager of the Thunder brand.
Perhaps the greatest irony is that if Bret had simply done business and put Michaels over, the Survivor Series of that year would likely have done a lot less damage to the Hitman.
Bret Hart has spent almost ten years publicly crying about that night in Montreal. His chance to redeem himself in WCW can be viewed largely as a flop. His only memorable match in WCW being his showdown with Benoit at Kemper Arena in the Owen Hart tribute match.
I do sympathize with Bret. Since that night in Montreal he has lost both of his parents, his brother, his brother-in-law, his first marriage, and his career to a careless Goldberg mule kick. If that weren't enough to handle, he has also had to endure a stroke. Yet, while I try to be compassionate, I struggle. Essentially Bret has blamed everything on Vince McMahon.
It was hard to watch Bret become a tragic figure, a cynical shell of his former glory. It was hard to listen to him criticize the in-ring-work of Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels in his Calgary Sun column.
It's hard to watch Bret's pride battle with his obsession with his own legacy. It's difficult to understand him teaming with McMahon to produce a DVD. It's even harder to understand his acceptance of induction into the Hall of Fame but refusal to appear at WrestleMania the next night.
Bret built an image of hypocrisy. In one moment he stood posed, shaking hands with the devil so that he can reestablish to fans that he was important to the business.
Unfortunately Bret doesn't realize that fans never dispute that. Bret then goes to say that he will join the Hall of Fame for the fans, but no shows the appearance at Mania, arguably the greatest extension of the Hall of Famers to the fans.
Bret Hart's legacy is undisputed. However, Bret's own campaign to legitimize himself has done wonders to tear that to pieces. After deciding that seeing the fans at Mania was not important, Bret returned to his Calgary Sun column and noted that the WWE Hall of Fame means nothing anyways.
No longer do I see Bret Hart standing on the second rope holding up his title belt. I picture Bret standing around the ring, destroying monitors. Day by day, Bret Hart would do more and more to make that image resound in my head at the mention of his name.
At one point Bret said he wouldn't mind appearing on WWE TV to unveil that the whole Montreal situation was a work, but he couldn't because of his stroke. If it was a work, it certainly didn't work out as Bret had planned, and he's done more than enough to let us know ever since 1997.
So ten years after the fact, can we finally get over what happened that night in Montreal? It seems that everyone outside of Bret, Vince, and Shawn are more than ready to move on.
I worried that Bret would not be able to carry the weight of what happened that night. I worried as the event became more identifiable with him than his in-ring ability. I worried because it seemed that Bret was truly screwing Bret.
Weeks ago, an employee at Random House publishing contacted me. She had found my wrestling blog at http://prowrestlingpundit.blogspot.com, and she wanted me to review Bret Hart's new book.
I received my copy of the book a week before it was scheduled to come out in Canada. It is not yet available in the US. After years of Bret Hart banter, and some unexciting TV interviews meant to promote the book, it seems that the wrestling public is not anticipating hearing more from Bret "Hitman" Hart.
However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, in his new book Bret Hart takes his legacy into his own hands and single-handedly reestablishes why he was such an incredible force in professional wrestling during the 1990's.
Bret's book is incredibly honest and relatable. Currently, I am halfway through his 550-page tome, and let me tell you, it's hard to set down. I have yet to hear his opinions on Montreal. For my reading, he has just recently defeated Mr. Perfect for that first Intercontinental Championship. Still his road stories, reflections on family, reflections on co-workers, and struggle to be a true superstar are endearing. Bret admits he is no angel, and you learn of many of the Hitman's vices for the first time. All in all, the only wrestling book I have read that remotely compares is Mick Foley's first. This book is that good.
My good friend, former independent wrestler, and current independent promoter, Anthony Kingdom James was recruited to review the book for http://prowrestlingpundit.blogspot.com, as the publishers requested a canadian's point of view. The result was fantastic:
"When I was in my early teens, growing up in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, my friends Bobby and Wayne introduced me to the exciting world of professional wrestling. Soon, we were watching every minute of every match we could get our hands on. There was Jim Crockett's NWA from the Mid-Atlantic States. Verne Gagne's AWA from the mid-west. The hours upon hours of Japanese tapes the Wayne brought home from his job as a dish-washer in a local sushi restaurant. The three hours of Bill Watts' incredible UWF promotion that my cousin had on tape. A new version of Stampede Wrestling was being shown across Canada on TSN. And of course, there was Vince McMahon's WWF.
Back then, there were three wrestlers in the WWF (now WWE) that I couldn't get enough of: The Dynamite Kid, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Bret "The Hitman" Hart. The latter two formed a tag team aptly named "The Hart Foundation". When we wrestled on the lawn next to our apartment building, that's exactly who Wayne and Bobby and I thought we were. Dynamite, The Anvil and The Hitman. Then, as well as now, I was shaped more like Neidhart, so that was the part I played... but man, did I want to be Bret Hart.
As the Dynamite Kid's body succumbed to years of abuse in and out of thering and Neidhart's star faded, I followed along as Bret Hart's career blossomed. From opening match "jobber" to mid-card workhorse to World Champion to icon, Hart grew in both stature and ability.
When I became a professional wrestler myself, I was still always more Anvil than Hitman but I tried to emulate Hart in small ways. When I finally had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Hart in January 2006, he had been living in Italy for some time after remarrying. I tried to soak in every moment I could; asking him questions, listening to his stories... catching him up on NHL and CFL goings-on. And still, those few days only gave me a small window into this man who was still a personal hero to me.
Now, Bret Hart has thrown that window wide open for fans and detractors alike to get a good look at the life of the man behind "The Hitman".
"Life as a pro wrestler is highly addictive", says Bret Hart in his new autobiography "Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling". "Once you get a taste for it, your old life fades away and disappears", and oh, what a strange new life awaits those who join Hart and make the journey.
Hart describes a life that harkens the reader to thoughts of living within The Matrix. He paints a picture that makes life on the road as a wrestler sound vibrant, colorful and adventurous yet fraught with pitfalls and temptations. And much like Keanu Reeves' character of Neo, Hart must learn a very special and sometimes logic-defying fighting system to survive in this surrealistic world. When Hart occasionally disconnects from that life, a life he knows isn't quite real, it means returning home to the drabness of marital strife and the type of familial in-fighting that most people attribute to Shakespeare's writing.... or possibly an
episode of some tawdry afternoon talk show.
The 7-time World Heavyweight champion calls upon over two decades worth of audio journals he recorded during his time on the road as the foundation for writing the monstrous 500+ pages of this book. Hart chronicles his long struggle to protect the honor and integrity of his wrestling persona while admitting to a laundry list of indiscretions in his personal life and Hart's recounting of his life as meticulous as it is scathing. On one hand, Hart praises himself repeatedly for his professionalism as a wrestler; never missing shows, never injuring opponents, never "screwing" anyone. On the other hand, he frankly admits to dabbling in steroid and narcotics use in the spring of his career and having a voracious sexual
appetite. And while he doesn't absolve himself of his sins, he at least attempts to justify the latter vice by claiming that chasing women distracted him from falling into the bottomless pit of heavy drug and alcohol abuse that swallowed up so many other wrestlers of his generation.
Part of the fun of this weighty tell-all tome is that Hart doesn't just employ these moral yardsticks for his own behavior but rather as a set of standards that he held everyone to. Both good and bad, Hart scrutinizes the behavior and the work ethic (or lack thereof) of everyone in his life: wrestlers and employers, fans and family. No one is spared, especially those closest to him.
Hart comes off as thoughtful and well-spoken, truthful and deeply emotional. At the same time, he uses the book to offer himself up as one of many martyrs to the wrestling industry. The problem with this is most people expect our martyrs to be humble and while it might be wrong to call Hart braggadocios neither could you quite call him humble. And although a lot has been said, written and put to film about Hart's life already, this book is a must.
Growing up as one of 12 children.Trying to measure up to his famous father's reputation and expectations. Learning the art and science of professional wrestling. The growth of his career. The slow death of his marriage. The infamous, industry-altering "Montreal Screw-Job". The death of his brother Owen. The accident that ended his career. His stroke and recovery. And all of the friends, enemies, parties, fights, triumphs and tragedies in between.
It's all there and it's all true, even the "fake" stuff. In fact, the fake stuff may be the truest of all.
"Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling" by Bret Hart is available now in Canada from Random House Publishing. Visit the publisher's official webpage for the book at http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307355669
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Anthony Kingdom James is a former professional wrestler living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. James now promotes shows under the banner of The Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers. For more information, please visit Pro Wrestling Pundit at http://prowrestlingpundit.blogspot.com or UIPW's official website at www.wrestlersunion.ca"
Halfway through the book, all I can say is that Bret Hart has reestablished my faith in him and the wrestling industry in general. This is truly a can't-miss book. Now for feedback on last week's column:
Jason Edwards wrote me with the following feedback, which may just be my favorite of all that I've received
I'm totally with you on your ideas that wrestling is not even close to what it once was. I remember watching the Mega Powers at Wrestlemania V and before the bell rang I could barely breath. I haven't felt that intensity since maybe of course Wrestlemania VI and the first Rock/Hogan match. Vince should remember these moments. WWE came kinda close with Cena vs Orton. As much as the IWC hates Cena I still think he his the best Last man Standing/I quit wrestler in the world. Just take a look at him and JBL at Wrestlemania 2. Thanks for the memories. I truly miss those days.
I miss them too Jason. I guess in retrospect these days weren't too bad in their own right:
