Bret Hart Quick Info | |
---|---|
Height | 6 ft 1 in |
Weight | 95 kg |
Date of Birth | July 2, 1957 |
Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
Spouse | Stephanie Washington |
Bret Hart is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler known for being one of the greatest legendary professional wrestlers that dominated the ring in the early 1990s. As second-generation wrestler from the Hart wrestling family based in Canada, he is known for his technical in-ring skills, and signature moves like the Sharpshooter, the Pile-driver, and the Hart attack with the Anvil. He has won many titles including WWF World Title, Intercontinental Title, Tag Team Title, the US Heavyweight Title, and became the King of the Ring in 1993. Bret has defeated renowned wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Curt Hennig, Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels among others. He has a huge social media fan base with more than 1 million followers on Instagram and more than 2 million followers on Facebook.
Born Name
Bret Sergeant Hart
Nick Name
Hitman, The Excellence of Execution
Sun Sign
Cancer
Born Place
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Residence
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Northern Italy
Nationality
Canadian, American
Education
Bret Hart studied at Ernest Manning High School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He later joined the Mount Royal College.
Occupation
Retired Professional WWE Wrestler, Writer, Actor
Family
- Father – Stu Hart (Professional Wrestler)
- Mother – Helen Hart
- Siblings – Smith Hart (Older Brother) (Professional Wrestler), Bruce Hart (Older Brother) (Retired Professional Wrestler, Promoter, Booker, Trainer, School Teacher), Keith Hart (Older Brother) (Retired Professional Wrestler, Firefighter), Wayne Hart (Older Brother) (Professional Wrestling Referee), Dean Hart (Older Brother) (Professional Wrestler, Referee, Music Promoter), Elizabeth Hart (Older Sister), Georgia Hart (Older Sister), Ross Hart (Younger Brother) (Retired Professional Wrestler, Promoter, Trainer, Booker, TV Producer, Coach, Actor), Allison Hart (Younger Sister), Diana Hart (Younger Sister), Owen Hart (Younger Brother) (Professional Wrestler)
- Others – Natalya Neidhart (Niece) (WWE Wrestler), Harry Smith (Nephew), Ted Annis (Nephew), Oje Hart (Nephew), Athena Hart (Niece), Teddy Hart (Nephew), Naddy Neidhart (Nephew), Davey Boy Smith Jr. (Brother-In-Law) (Former WWE Wrestler), Matt Hart (Nephew) (Professional Wrestler)
Manager
Bret Hart is represented by –
- Hitman Productions, Inc., Production Company, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Confidential Consultancy, Inc., Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Build
Muscular
Height
6 ft 1 in or 185.5 cm
Weight
95 kg or 209.5 lbs
Girlfriend / Spouse
Bret Hart has dated –
- Julie Hart – In the early 1980s, Bret began a relationship with a Canadian girl named Julie Hart. The couple tied the knot on July 8, 1982. They have 2 sons named Dallas Hart and Blade Hart and 2 daughters named Jade Hart and Alexandra Hart (a.k.a. Beans) together. The couple divorced on June 24, 2002, after Bret’s affair with Cinzia became serious.
- Cinzia Rota – In the mid-2000s, Bret began an affair with an Italian girl named Cinzia Rota. The couple met during an autograph signing in Italy and soon hooked up. They eventually married in 2004. However, the marriage did not last long, and the couple separated in 2007.
- Stephanie Washington – Bret was in a relationship with social worker Stephanie Washington for a while. The couple tied the knot on July 24, 2010. The couple often shares their adorable pictures on social media.
Race / Ethnicity
White
He is of Greek and Irish descent on his mother’s side and has Scottish, English, and Irish ancestry on his father’s side.
Hair Color
Dark Brown (Natural)
His hair has turned gray due to his advancing age.
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Wide chest
- Hair tied into a small ponytail
Brand Endorsements
Bret Hart has either promoted or appeared in commercials for brands like –
- Mockery Brewing
- Beats by Dre
- Lexus Of Calgary
- Humpty’s Family Restaurant
- Pizza Pizza
- Stroke Recovery Canada
- Ico Pro Thermicforce
Best Known For
Being the original member of the Hart Foundation villainous tag team with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and his iconic finishing moves like the Sharpshooter, the Pile-driver, and the Hart attack with the Anvil
First Wrestling Match
Bret made his wrestling debut at Stampede Wrestling event at Victoria Pavilion in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on September 1, 1978, and defeated Mike York by DQ.
First Film
In 1997, he made his theatrical debut in a thriller Hindi film Aar Ya Paar. However, he was uncredited for his appearance.
In 2004, he made his credited feature film debut in the sports-related film WWE: The History of WrestleMania I-IX as Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart.
First TV Show
In 1976, he made his first TV show appearance on the sports action series Stampede Wrestling.
In 1997, he made his debut as a voice actor on the animated comedy series The Simpsons as Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart.
Personal Trainer
Bret Hart was trained by Stu Hart, Katsuji Adachi, and Kazuo Sakurada in the initial stages of his wrestling career in The Dungeon run by his father, Stu. The underground basement school had the reputation of being one of the hardest wrestling schools in the world.
Bret Hart Favorite Things
- Film – The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
- Match – Match with brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith (British Bulldog) at Summerslam (1992)
Source – IMDb
Bret Hart Facts
- Growing up, Bret wanted to be a cartoonist or a filmmaker.
- When he was a child, his father kept a toothless bear known as Terrible Ted chained under the building.
- Bret’s signature outfit was pink and black tights with mirrored shades of that same color.
- He often gave away his trademark shades to a young kid in the front row during his performance entry.
- His trademark mirrored shades were initially adopted to hide his nervousness.
- As a child, he sold more than 1,000 programs in one day, breaking the record for selling programs at the Calgary Stampede Fairgrounds.
- He began his career in the ring as a referee in his father’s wrestling promotion matches in the Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, Canada.
- The loss of his younger brother Owen Hart who died from a fall during the WWF Pay-Per-View “Over The Edge” performance greatly affected him.
- Bret is known to sign his autograph with four dots at the end symbolizing his 4 children.
- In 1994, he pinned down a 560-pound Yokozuna to win his second WWF Title at WrestleMania X.
- He defeated his arch-rival Steve Austin in all of their 4 major televised matches.
- He has worldwide fans having wrestled in places like Germany, the U.K., France, and Asia.
- In 2006, he finally accepted the offer to be inducted into the WWF Hall Of Fame in the World Wrestling Entertainment (former WWF) after initial hesitations due to his brother’s death in the WWF ring.
- He is the first WCW Wrestler to be inducted into “WCW’s Wall of Fame”.
- From 1992 to 2000, he was voted as the “Most Popular Superstar”.
- He ranked number 4 in the list of “Best 100 Wrestlers of the Century”.
- On October 26, 2000, he made his first retirement move from WCW following his inactivity after a severe concussion that prevented him from wrestling for several months.
- In 1997, he left WWF and joined the WCW due to Vince McMahon‘s infamous “shoot screw job” which resulted in Bret losing his title at Survivor Series 97 to Shawn Michaels.
- Hailing from a wrestling family, all of his brothers have either participated in professional wrestling or have been a part of it some way; while, all his sisters were married to professional wrestlers.
- The Calgary Hitmen Hockey team got their name from Bret.
- He avidly follows ice hockey and supports Calgary Flames and Calgary Hitmen.
- He owns the junior hockey team The Calgary Hitmen which plays the Western Hockey League (WHL), part of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL).
- Bret attended the Talking to the Dead show in hopes of talking to his deceased mother, Helen, and brothers Dean and Owen.
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers included 3 of his matches in the Match of the Year: Summerslam (1992) against Davey Boy Smith, match against Shawn Michaels (Iron Man Match) in 1996, and WrestleMania 13 (1997) against Steve Austin.
- While on the road with Dwayne Johnson (aka “The Rock”), he would often give him tips on how he can improve his matches.
- He is a massive fan of the Boston Red Sox.
- During his long wrestling career, he never injured another wrestler.
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) named Bret as the 39th Greatest Canadian ever.
- He shared a good friendship with fellow wrestlers like Roddy Piper, Rob Van Dam, and Mick Foley.
- Konnan taught him the sharpshooter submission hold or the scorpion deathlock.
- WWF originally wanted his character to be a cowboy and ride a horse to the ring which Bret refused and instead asked to be paired up with his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart as the villainous Hart Foundation.
- He considers Tommy Billington, a.k.a. The Dynamite Kid to be the greatest wrestler of all time.
- His manager and music composer Jimmy Hart produced Bret’s entrance music in the WWF.
- He trained Andrew “Test” Martin, a former WWE Superstar.
- During his school days, he defended his sister Georgia against a bully at school which ended in a fight, and after he won, other children hoisted him up on their shoulders.
- He helped Booker T establish himself during his initial wrestling career.
- The lines for his catchphrase “The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,” was inspired by the Robert Redford starred film The Natural (1984).
- Bret is known to be the first wrestler ever to pin “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in Piper’s WWF career.
- He considered late Curt Hennig, aka “Mr. Perfect” to be his closest wrestling friend.
- At one point, Bret was originally considered for the role of Batman in the Batman Triumphant film production, which however was canceled because Batman & Robin (1997) scored miserably at the box-office.
- One of his biggest regrets during his wrestling career was leaving WWE for WCW as he was “poorly used” during his tenure with WCW.
- In the opening credits sequence of Malcolm in the Middle TV series, there is a clipping of him performing the Sharpshooter finishing hold on Chris Benoit.
- In 1995 Survivor Series, he became the first wrestler to break a WWF Spanish announce table.
- On February 1, 2016, he announced to his fans on Facebook that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer; and since then he has recovered, but still continues to be monitored every 3 months.
- At one point, he stated that he considers his late brother Owen’s widow, Martha, as the more terrible human being ever, worst than Dynamite Kid and Chris Benoit who were reputed to be notorious in their own ways.
- On August 24, 2018, the Sik Sika nation confirmed upon him the Blackfoot name Iyiikitapinaa (Ee-ee-kaa-ta-bee-na) meaning Courageous Chief.
- From June 1991 to October 2004, Bret contributed a weekly column for the Calgary Sun.
- He has also written many books like Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling (2007), Bret “Hitman” Hart — The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever … (2000), Minecraft: Expert Tricks and Tips That Can Help You Finish the Expert Difficulty Level on Minecraft Game (2015), and Montgomery’s Revenge (2016).
- He is involved in numerous charity activities, especially those on stroke recovery and cancer awareness.
- Some of the charities he supports include Prostate Cancer Centre, Movember, and others.
- Visit his official website @ www.brethart.com.
- Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Featured Image by Tabercil / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0