The world of professional wrestling gave Bret Hart all he ever wanted, but it almost killed him, as it has too many others. And that is the central message Hart conveys in 'Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,' a 549-page testament to friends and family who have died, some far too early, set to the backdrop of his life and illustrious career.
Blow by blow, Hart, a long-time columnist for the Calgary Sun, artfully recounts his life; from childhood as one of 12 children in a wrestling family to the peak of his professional career as WWF World Heavyweight Champion, to his career-ending concussion in 2000, and his life-threatening stroke in 2002.
Hart sheds his in-ring 'Hitman' persona and opens the veil on his 23-year wrestling career in the ring, as well as backstage, revealing the politics that go into booking pre-determined matches and rising to the top of the business. Hart tells his story with pride, knowing that he was one of the best in-ring performers and technicians ever; and he's not afraid to boast about it. While his wrestling character claimed he was 'the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,' in his real life, Hart often clung to this fantasy world to escape his own.
No wrestling story line ever matched the drama that divided, and ultimately destroyed his family. His seven brothers were all wrestlers, or involved in the business backstage, and his four sisters all married wrestlers. His sister, Ellie, married Jim 'the Anvil' Neidhart, and Diana married Davey Boy Smith, both of whom Bret was close to during their years in Stampede Wrestling, Japan and their early years in the WWF. Unfortunately, drugs took over both of their lives, killing Davey.
Bret's success drew a wedge between him and many of his siblings, who were understandably jealous. The death of the youngest Hart, Owen, only intensified the rift in the family. Bret refers to his brother's death as the day wrestling truly died. Before Owen's death, however, he considered Survivor Series 1997, a WWF pay-per-view, as the day wrestling died. The owner of the company and his opponent lied to him about the ending of his championship match, which was to be his last before he left the WWF for rival WCW. It is now infamously called the Montreal Screwjob and Hart airs out his gripes with Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels for what he sees as a great injustice. Prior to and after the incident, Hart draws the lines that divided the locker room for the reader, giving them insight into the situation leading up to Survivor Series. However, they are his perspective and should be taken as such, considering others that were there have conflicting accounts on a situation that will likely never be laid to rest.
The eighth Hart child is brutally honest about his life on the road, which aptly resembles that of the circuses pro wrestling grew out of in the early part of the 20th century. He pulls no punches, ironically enough, about his infidelity to his wife, Julie, who stayed with Bret despite everything. Their relationship was tenuous throughout, with Julie threatening divorce a handful of times until the 16-year couple officially separated in 1998.
However, even more tragic were the stories about wrestlers abusing painkillers, steroids and other substances to get their bodies through the torturous schedule. Like a pack of vagabonds, Bret's wrestling family traveled from city to city, working upwards of 250 dates a year.
Several times in the book, Hart expressed the need for a wrestler's union to protect their rights. Wrestlers are considered private contractors, which means they get no health benefits, pensions or retirement plans of any kind. That also used to mean that if you didn't wrestle, you didn't get paid, which was before guaranteed contracts. So wrestlers like Bret's friend, the Dynamite Kid, pushed through dehabilitating injuries. Today, Dynamite is paralyzed from the waist down because he ignored a back injury to continue wrestling. Some overdose on the drugs they use to numb the pain, while others become depressed from their drug use and kill themselves. For any scenario, there is a story in this book covering it.
Luckily for Bret, he never became dependent on painkillers; doing his best to avoid the path he watched so many others go down. He comments several times that he didn't want to become another wrestling tragedy. Bret considers himself a survivor of the business with a story to tell. And what a story it is.
The tone of the book is fairly even-keeled. Hart lets the stories tell themselves, while showing that his skills with a pen match those for storytelling in the wrestling ring. Throughout his career, he kept an audio diary that he compiled into this book, which was edited down from about 1,000 pages, according to the man himself. However, I would have been more than willing to read another 500 pages of 'the Hitman's' fascinating journey, as I'm sure anyone else who read this book would be too.
Brian Donnelly
Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling
The world of professional wrestling gave Bret Hart all he ever wanted, but it almost killed him, as it has too many others. And that is the central message Hart conveys in 'Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling,' a 549-page testament to friends and family who have died, some far too early, set to the backdrop of his life and illustrious career.
Blow by blow, Hart, a long-time columnist for the Calgary Sun, artfully recounts his life; from childhood as one of 12 children in a wrestling family to the peak of his professional career as WWF World Heavyweight Champion, to his career-ending concussion in 2000, and his life-threatening stroke in 2002.
Hart sheds his in-ring 'Hitman' persona and opens the veil on his 23-year wrestling career in the ring, as well as backstage, revealing the politics that go into booking pre-determined matches and rising to the top of the business. Hart tells his story with pride, knowing that he was one of the best in-ring performers and technicians ever; and he's not afraid to boast about it. While his wrestling character claimed he was 'the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,' in his real life, Hart often clung to this fantasy world to escape his own.
No wrestling story line ever matched the drama that divided, and ultimately destroyed his family. His seven brothers were all wrestlers, or involved in the business backstage, and his four sisters all married wrestlers. His sister, Ellie, married Jim 'the Anvil' Neidhart, and Diana married Davey Boy Smith, both of whom Bret was close to during their years in Stampede Wrestling, Japan and their early years in the WWF. Unfortunately, drugs took over both of their lives, killing Davey.
Bret's success drew a wedge between him and many of his siblings, who were understandably jealous. The death of the youngest Hart, Owen, only intensified the rift in the family. Bret refers to his brother's death as the day wrestling truly died. Before Owen's death, however, he considered Survivor Series 1997, a WWF pay-per-view, as the day wrestling died. The owner of the company and his opponent lied to him about the ending of his championship match, which was to be his last before he left the WWF for rival WCW. It is now infamously called the Montreal Screwjob and Hart airs out his gripes with Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels for what he sees as a great injustice. Prior to and after the incident, Hart draws the lines that divided the locker room for the reader, giving them insight into the situation leading up to Survivor Series. However, they are his perspective and should be taken as such, considering others that were there have conflicting accounts on a situation that will likely never be laid to rest.
The eighth Hart child is brutally honest about his life on the road, which aptly resembles that of the circuses pro wrestling grew out of in the early part of the 20th century. He pulls no punches, ironically enough, about his infidelity to his wife, Julie, who stayed with Bret despite everything. Their relationship was tenuous throughout, with Julie threatening divorce a handful of times until the 16-year couple officially separated in 1998.
However, even more tragic were the stories about wrestlers abusing painkillers, steroids and other substances to get their bodies through the torturous schedule. Like a pack of vagabonds, Bret's wrestling family traveled from city to city, working upwards of 250 dates a year.
Several times in the book, Hart expressed the need for a wrestler's union to protect their rights. Wrestlers are considered private contractors, which means they get no health benefits, pensions or retirement plans of any kind. That also used to mean that if you didn't wrestle, you didn't get paid, which was before guaranteed contracts. So wrestlers like Bret's friend, the Dynamite Kid, pushed through dehabilitating injuries. Today, Dynamite is paralyzed from the waist down because he ignored a back injury to continue wrestling. Some overdose on the drugs they use to numb the pain, while others become depressed from their drug use and kill themselves. For any scenario, there is a story in this book covering it.
Luckily for Bret, he never became dependent on painkillers; doing his best to avoid the path he watched so many others go down. He comments several times that he didn't want to become another wrestling tragedy. Bret considers himself a survivor of the business with a story to tell. And what a story it is.
The tone of the book is fairly even-keeled. Hart lets the stories tell themselves, while showing that his skills with a pen match those for storytelling in the wrestling ring. Throughout his career, he kept an audio diary that he compiled into this book, which was edited down from about 1,000 pages, according to the man himself. However, I would have been more than willing to read another 500 pages of 'the Hitman's' fascinating journey, as I'm sure anyone else who read this book would be too.
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