Bret Hart Biography from WWE.com

March 22, 2010
What does it take to be the best? Accolades, commitment, focus, perseverance despite failure or success. Many believe the answer lies in a radiant shade of neon pink.

Bret "Hit Man" Hart, to countless WWE Universe denizens, is quite simply the best there is, was and ever will be – a statement proven to be more than a tagline, more like a living mantra.

Through championships, crowns and conquests of all kinds, there is nothing The Hit Man has not done in the squared circle ... except combat WWE's ruthless Chairman, Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

Twelve years after the lines of reality and the ring were irreversibly blurred on an exceptionally cold night in Montreal, Hart is back home in WWE to right the ultimate wrong. At WrestleMania, the five-time WWE Champion stands ready to excellently execute the only unfulfilled feat of his career: Vanquish Mr. McMahon.

Prior to 2010, “Hart versus McMahon” was an event conjured exclusively in the dreams of sports-entertainment loyalists, including those at WWE.com, who will not only witness the battle none thought possible, but also chronicle Bret Hart’s monumental journey back to the ring in The Hit Man’s exclusive WrestleMania Diary.

In its proudest Superstar portraiture of all time, WWE.com follows the path of the pink and black-adorned WWE Hall of Famer on his personal Road to WrestleMania XXVI. In preparation for the moment in which Hart passes through the ropes for a No Holds Barred Match on The Grandest Stage of Them All, inspired eyes peer back at Bret’s inimitable career, Hart’s foundation.

CANADIAN GROWN
One of a dozen children born into the family of Stu and Helen Hart, Bret Sergeant Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but raised in “The Dungeon.” The Hit Man not only “graduated” from, but also became the most outstanding product of his father’s infamously venerated basement training ground.

In the pit of the Hart household, Bret grew up watching men the size of Batista yelp in agony while caught in his dad’s limb contorting clutches. Though The Dungeon did yield a lion’s share of top caliber competitors (including alumni “Superstar” Billy Graham, Bad News Brown, Chris Jericho and more), many trainees – once their wincing eyes dried – settled on pursuing an alternative career. Carpentry, priesthood – whatever would keep them clear of any further “stretching” by Stu.

By age 19, The Hit Man’s squared circle experience took place among the ranks of Stampede Wrestling, the organization founded by his father in 1948. Here, Bret honed his unmatched mat technique, blending skills developed as an amateur wrestler with the expertise of a rugged submission specialist bred in the bowels of the Hart clan’s home. The family business, Stampede Wrestling, was ultimately purchased by Vince McMahon in 1984, opening the door for Bret that led to a new world of competition.
A GAME OF TAG
Bret Hart touched down on WWE soil in the summer of 1984, where sports-entertainment’s greatest names were becoming household handles around the globe. At the start of his freshly commenced WWE career, Bret grappled as a tag team specialist.

The “Pink and Black Attack” actually started off as teal and black worn by Bret and his burly brother-in-law, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. Together known as The Hart Foundation, the thunder and lightning twosome toiled through WWE’s tag division, reaching its pinnacle with two separate World Tag Team Championship reigns.

As Hart & Neidhart adopted what would become The Hit Man’s signature motif – stark electric pink attire and hearts – the tandem quickly commanded the attention of WWE fans. If the fluorescent hue didn’t catch their eye, certainly Bret’s famous foil sunglasses would week in and week out.

For their unique style and ring savvy, by the late 1980s, the dynamic pair had dug its way into the hearts of the WWE Universe, who greatly admired Bret’s tenacity beside The Anvil’s brute force.


HART HEATS UP
Following a defeat that left the pink and black squad without their familiar tinge of gold, The Hart Foundation divided as The Hit Man and The Anvil split toward individual paths.

As a rising singles star, the most critical victory in Hart’s transition occurred with much ballyhoo and support from a tightly packed New York City crowd on a hot summer evening in 1991. In a match highly regarded as one of the finest wrestling expositions to ever take place in a WWE ring, Bret Hart battled Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Title on Aug. 26.

The two future Hall of Famers clashed until Bret cinched his legendary leglock, The Sharpshooter, forcing the champion to surrender and propelling Hart on an upward ascension within WWE.

Having gone from tented barn in Calgary, Alberta to celebrated champion in Madison Square Garden, The Excellence of Execution would not stop there.

THE HITS KEEP ON COMING
Two-time World Tag Team Champion. Intercontinental Title holder (also twice). King of the Ring. Thrust forth to the zenith of the squared circle as the pioneer of a “new generation” in World Wrestling Entertainment, Bret Hart hit the big one in 1992. Hart bested Ric Flair to earn the first of his career’s five WWE Championship reigns and he did it on Canadian soil in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – the birthplace of Bret’s proud father, Stu.

“The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be” would continue to flourish, succeeding in the 1994 Royal Rumble Match en route to a triumphant performance in the main event of WrestleMania X – one of several headlining appearances at The Show of Shows

HOT AND ("STONE") COLD
A coarser attitude began to usurp WWE by the time Bret Hart stepped into the ring with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 – the last time The Excellence of Execution appeared at The Biggest Spectacle of Them All.

The quintessential foil to The Hit Man in every way (principles, speech, appearance), Austin pushed Hart to limits that no other Superstar in history can claim. The pink and black became consumed by a fateful quest to annihilate Stone Cold, so much so that the heroic role that the altruistic Hart once played became secondary to his focused malice.

In a gruesome yet acclaimed Submission Match at WrestleMania, Hart forced ample blood from Austin’s body, but couldn’t draw out surrender. Though Bret was declared the bout’s winner, victory came at a price for The Hit Man, as the hero became anti-hero and Hart took a pivotal step toward the culmination of his WWE career.


PINK AND BLACKEST NIGHT
Both the career of the greatest technical wrestler of our time and sports-entertainment at large were permanently impacted on Nov. 9, 1997, in Quebec’s Molson Centre, the site of The Montreal Screwjob.

On this well documented night of controversy, the World Championship Wrestling-bound WWE Champion Bret Hart competed in his final WWE match against Shawn Michaels. To insure that the WWE Title would remain in his domain, the paranoid WWE Chairman conspired with several key officials to guarantee Hart’s defeat.

When Michaels applied his own version of The Hit Man’s Sharpshooter, the referee immediately signaled for the ring bell. In one disorientating instant, the match and title were awarded to Michaels, while Mr. McMahon directed the betrayal from ringside. A bamboozled Bret recovered in time to watch his greatest enemy paraded out with the WWE Championship.

The Hit Man’s loyal fans reached out to a distant, defeated Hart as he walked out of the arena and off WWE turf for one last time, his fellow countrymen and equally wounded fans around the globe supporting The Pink and Black in his darkest hour.

Minutes later, Hart’s ex-boss sustained his fist-clenched wrath, but the blow was returned the next night on Raw as the WWE owner explained his actions and the match outcome with a brief, callous summation: “Bret screwed Bret.”

HONORING EXCELLENCE
The echo of Mr. McMahon’s slander on the Nov. 10, 1997 edition of Raw would last for years, tainting the culmination of The Hit Man’s legacy in WWE. Bret’s career, however, proved more prolific than its darkest blemish acquired in Montreal.

Amassing triumphs very few Superstars can claim, The Hit Man was called to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006. Despite the ill will between Hart and WWE (its Chairman, at least), Bret made a personal vow to his fans that he would, in fact, participate in the induction ceremony on the eve of WrestleMania 22.

On April 2, 2006, the pink and black was honored by his peers and fellow honorees, not to mention an audience that included the WWE Universe as well as modern day WWE Superstars such as John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Edge and more.

Roughly four years will have passed between Bret’s induction and the night of March 27, 2010, when The Hit Man humbly welcomes the Hart family patriarch, Stu Hart, beside him in the WWE Hall of Fame
ROAD HOME ... TO WRESTLEMANIA
For the first time in more than 12 years, the familiar guitar riff sounded and the colors associated with The Excellence of Execution once again displayed on Raw’s TitanTron on Jan. 4, 2010.

Accepting the invitation of WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon to guest host Monday Night Raw, Bret “Hit Man” Hart returned to WWE in Dayton, Ohio.

Poised to bury a rusted hatchet with WWE, Hart first encountered Shawn Michaels, the man long believed the key conspirator that infamous night in 1997. After an exchange of heartfelt words, the two timeless athletes embraced in the ring’s center.

The emotional evening continued on, as The Hit Man affixed his closure-seeking crosshairs on Mr. McMahon. The estranged men said their respective peace in the closing moments of Raw, on the brink of moving past their disagreements.

But Vince McMahon proved that while many things had changed in WWE since 1997, among those was not The Chairman, himself. The WWE demigod coaxed Hart into downing his defenses, just to plant his fine leather footwear into The Hit Man’s groin. The ultimate disrespect would be paired with further desecration in the following weeks, until McMahon agreed to face Bret Hart one-on-one at WrestleMania XXVI.

THE BEST HE EVER WILL BE?
It couldn’t end peaceably between The Hit Man and The Chairman. So now, The Excellence of Execution readies to reemerge on The Grandest Stage of Them All, where he’s established some of WrestleMania’s definitive moments.

At WrestleMania X, Bret kicked off the night with a timeless clash against his younger brother Owen, then closed the event by bringing down the 500-pound Yokozuna for the WWE Championship. Hart – along with partner Jim Neidhart – set a WrestleMania record in 1990 with a 19-second conquest in tag team action. And, who could forget one of the greatest Intercontinental Championship bouts ever between The Hit Man and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper in the Hoosier Dome at WrestleMania VIII? The list could go on.

In an unpredictable No Holds Barred Match within the University of Phoenix Stadium, Bret has the opportunity to whisk the bitter taste that still lingers in his mouth from 12 years ago – not to mention the more recent ill flavors forged by The WWE Chairman.

Supported by the entire Hart family in attendance at WrestleMania and an awe spun WWE Universe that’s thinking pink, there are no better circumstances for what could be the best ‘Mania moment there ever will be for The Hit Man.