Shining a Spotlight 10.09.08: Hitman

The Hitman. The Excellence of Execution. The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be. For thirty years, Bret Hart has been one of the most respected named among wrestling fans, a man who has been held as a standard of what the business should be. He is known for integrity; incredible ring work and unending drive and has engendered sympathy for being the victim of the most infamous double-cross in modern wrestling history. But Bret Hart is also a man with detractors, people who think his reputation is overinflated, his win work overrated and his personal ego out of control. He’s been chastised as a classic case of someone who gets far too wrapped up in their character and will show that today. Others claim he has taken his beef with Vince McMahon to far too great a level, unable to let go of the past.

Both sides actually have good points but I believe the true Bret Hart falls somewhere in the middle. He is a man of amazing ability, no one can deny that but his personality is both his strength and weakness. His strength is that he has always driven him to succeed against all odds and put on the best show he can. It’s his weakness in that it pushes him to take the business far more seriously than others, which contributed to the events of Montreal and his clashes with other wrestlers down the years. The man is quite complicated, even for a star in this business and that adds to his mystique.

A lot of Bret Hart can be explained by his background. When your father is one of the most famous and powerful promoters in Canada, getting into wrestling is only natural. It’s not like Stu Hart pressed his children into the business like Fritz Von Erich did, it just happened that way. It’s important to note how Bret came from a damn big family, eleven brothers and sisters, and all of them grew up in rather privileged circumstances thanks to Stu’s success. It’s been pointed out (especially in the excellent book Pain and Passion that the Hart family were considered huge celebrities in Canada, the closest to a royal family to many. When you’re perceived that way, it’s only natural that you’ll subconsciously start to truly believe it and it’s clear that happened to Bret.

True, his ego isn’t as great as his brother, Bruce, who would book himself in Stampede as such a spotlight-hogging hero, even Hogan would be going “whoa, dude, that’s over the top.” But Bret still had that push, which isn’t all too bad. Dusty Rhodes once nicely observed that if you don’t have the ego or drive to be the best, you’ve got no business being in this industry. But in some cases, that attitude can get out of control. Another factor to consider is how Bret was trained as Stu Hart was infamous for his brutal methods in the Dungeon, putting his own kids through the same ultra-painful moves as he did everyone else. Trained like that, taught to take everything so seriously, that’s going to affect how you perform in the ring.

I’m not going to go into the deeper history of Bret’s career as it’s been well documented already. The book is filled with Bret’s great stories of getting his break and rising in WWF and it’s fascinating to read his inside takes at the stars and politics of the time. He is interesting to note how most of the locker room recognized that Hogan was top dog and accepted it as he always brought in the money. True, Bret obviously thought he was better but he still recognized the hierarchy and how Vince was the boss. Of course, he wasn’t happy with how Vince’s actions helped bring about the end of Stampede although he does make it sound like it was 100 percent Vince’s fault, ignoring how Stampede had lots of problems already. He does relate how everyone was in awe of Vince actually succeeding in his plan to take over the wrestling world and rather than moan about the end of the old days, were excited at the potential paydays to come.

It’s clear that Bret believes he was deserving of a singles push from the start. Oh, he enjoyed his time with the Hart Foundation immensely, giving Neidhart a lot of credit for the team’s success. But you can still see that Bret felt he should have been pushed far faster than he was. He recognizes still the politics of the time and such but he also asserts he could do so much better ring work than most of the guys then. He’ll give good words for Jake Roberts but of course, he trashes the likes of Ultimate Warrior (including a story of Warrior refusing to meet a dying fan that’ll make you hate the guy even more).

One of the more intriguing observations Bret makes is on Ric Flair’s entry to WWF in 1991. While he respects Flair’s ring work, Bret thought that Flair taking the WCW World title belt with him was a slap in the face of WCW, an unprofessional act of ego. Ironically, I’ve felt the same way for a while, even wrote that on my column about Flair a while back. It’s interesting to note that attitude as it does explain a lot of the setup to Montreal while also showing how Bret can often slam the egos of others yet miss the times he himself can seem rather egotistical. On the one hand, I do agree with some of his assertions of how Flair works the same moves in every match (especially in the late ‘80’s) but just consider how Scott Keith came up with “the Five Moves of DOOM” for Bret’s repetitive finisher which just shows that hypocrisy again.

I do appreciate how Bret doesn’t make himself sound too high-horse when it comes to talking about the rampant cheating and drug use of the WWF locker room. He didn’t like it but did understand the temptations and didn’t seem to mind what a guy did with himself as long as it didn’t hurt his ring-work too much. Indeed, he’s quite open about how had several affairs on the road himself, obviously not proud of it but it was something common at the time. That may seem a bit hypocritical for a man who presents himself as such a hero but Bret still makes himself sound sympathetic through it all, mixing the hard feelings you may have toward him. He wasn’t happy with how Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith did the steroids so much, which didn’t help Dynamite’s already tight temperament. Again, Bret is up front over the fact that Dynamite could be an incredibly hard-hearted bastard and a stiff as hell worker, Davey Boy just less so. This brutal honesty helps elevate the book even as it exposes some of the flaws in Bret’s own mentality.

The book takes off more just as Bret’s singles career does as he puts over how great it was to get the IC title and the matches with Curt Henning. He repeats a point made by so many, that the IC belt was considered the title to get for those who did the best ring work and it was a boost to him to be chosen for that. He wasn’t happy with how he had to job it to the Mountie but did it because he knew Piper would return the favor at Wrestlemania and it’s fun reading how the two prepared for a blade job, lying to make it sound like it was an accident to avoid being fined, only to watch Flair do a blading an hour later on the same card. Bret came up with giving the belt to Davey Boy as it was his home country but the book paints him in a very egotistical life as he was annoyed Davey was milking the spotlight after the win, actually saying “The drama was all about me.” Um, no, Bret, it was about the hometown hero winning the belt with his wife at his side. It’s one of many examples of how Bret seems to break a promise he’d made when he and Neidhart first got the tag titles, that he “would never let myself forget the whole business is a work.”

Bret’s relationship with Vince is fascinating to read about as Vince comes off parental and honestly liking Bret and giving him good guidance in his career. Bret discusses the steroid scandals of the early ‘90’s and acknowledges it was because of that he was given the big belt. That’s a true highlight of the book, Bret’s reaction to Vince just coming up to him at a show and telling him he’s getting the belt and how he and Flair worked their match, with Bret breaking his finger right in the middle of it and popping it back in, not letting it slow him down. It’s obvious how much pride and joy Bret still has about being champion and the responsibility he bore and how he tried to live up to it. It’s also intriguing to note how he recognizes the chance Vince took putting the belt on him and indeed, even given all that happened later, you still get the feeling that deep down, Bret still maintains a respect for Vince’s control of the company and some gratitude about giving him the big breaks.

However, there’s another feeling that comes in reading these words that points to one of Bret’s character flaws. When he talks about being champion, he makes it sound like he actually won the title through blood and sweat, not that he was really given it. There’s always been accusations of Bret being one of those guys who gets too wrapped up in his character and that comes through sometimes as he does make it sound like he believes it’s all for real, even when he knows it isn’t. That really comes through when he discusses the politics of dropping the title as he didn’t really mind doing it for Yokozuna as he recognized the guy was over as a heel. He did, however, hate having Hogan come in to beat Yoko right after, seeing before anyone else how this was going to be a bad move with the fans and he’s not happy that Hogan never gave him that match. That does lead to a convoluted bit as Bret accuses Hogan of ducking him, Hogan responds that he was never told he was going to job to Bret and Vince seeming to give both guys different stories.

One part of the book I was looking forward to was Shawn Michaels and Bret’s opinion is much as you expect: Respects the man’s in-ring performance but pretty much hates his guts as a human being. Like any wresting autobiography, a lot of what Bret says has to be taken with a grain of salt as personal opinion has a way of clouding the facts. Still, for Bret to claim Shawn just wasn’t the guy to take over as champion in ’96 seems short-sighted given how massively over and talented Shawn was with the fans. True, he was arrogant and all but hell, Shawn has acknowledged (in his own biography and DVD) just how big an asshole he was at the time. Bret does give credit to Shawn for the Iron Man match although he claims to have carried it more. Bret also seems to put a lot of blame on WWF’s bad times of ’96 on Shawn’s inability to carry as champion, ignoring the other problems like how the NWO was pushing WCW ahead. And he still claims Shawn was faking a knee injury in ’97 to avoid dropping the belt back to him. Personally, I don’t know who to believe there but it sounds petty to be arguing about it eleven years later.

Bret does seem happier when talking about the new Hart Foundation in ’97 and getting the title back (even complimenting Shawn for how they came up with the SummerSlam ’97 finisher) but also dislikes the way things shifted to the “Attitude” era. Frankly, Bret comes off here really whining and old-timer here, complaining about this taking away from the “purity” of the sport, ignoring that even in Stampede, it was spectacle as much as ring work that drew in the fans. It’s yet another example of how Bret seems to forget the whole thing is a work and starts thinking of himself as being a bit too big to really go along with the company changes.

The ultimate example, however, is Montreal. I get where Bret is coming from, I truly do. I understand his pride in being a champion, a hero to Canadians and not wanting to drop it to Michaels. I understand his feelings there. But the fact is, he was wrong. He was supposed to adhere to the wishes of his boss and do a time-honored tradition, something Bret always claimed to have lived up to. Bret had to know how his leaving the company as technically still champion would hurt them at a bad time. So he had issues with Michaels, so what? You think Flair really wanted to drop the belt to Bret back in ’92? Bret should have sucked it up and done the job for his boss.

And the entire “not losing in Canada” thing has never made sense to me. Ted DiBiase summed it up best: “What does it matter where you lose a title, everyone’s going to see it on TV anyway.” Whatever his ego (and it’s damn huge), I’ve never heard Hulk Hogan honestly say the entire United States rest their hopes and dreams on him but Bret still maintains that to drop a wrestling title in Canada would have been too much for the country to stand. As I said, Bret really sounds like he truly believes he won this title, not that it was given to him, that this was a true achievement. Hell, his first reaction when the bell rings is “I felt like I had let my entire country down.” I know wrestlers aren’t known for being rational thinkers but even so, this is ego on an entire new level, to truly believe losing a match is equal to dropping an atom bomb on Montreal.

Was what Vince did right? No. Vince himself has acknowledged that but he felt his back was against the wall and looking at how things were at the time, he was correct there. Bret professes how much he loves WWF, he should have known how his leaving would affect it and tried to make it easier for all involved. As for how bad he was treated, read Tim Hornbaker’s book on the NWA and you’ll be treated to how these “good old boys” of old promoters pulled double-crosses that made Montreal look downright congeial. You do feel sorry for Bret talking about the aftermath and some satisfaction when he punches Vince. I’ve always maintained that Vince went down knowing Bret was going to hit him and knew it’d be better for him to just get it out of his system right off (since, after all, he deserved it). So yes, I don’t agree with the circumstances but Bret’s own stubbornness and ego helped contribute to the entire thing. If he’d just done the job, he wouldn’t have had to leave under such foul circumstances (of course, we also would have been robbed of “Mr. McMahon” as a character but that’s a whole other can of worms).

As you can expect, Bret has no fond memories of his WCW tenure, going to town on those in charge for having no clue what they were doing. As much as he hated the whole “Attitude” stuff, Russo’s tenure was even worse as it became clear that Vince’s words were quite prophetic, WCW had no clue what to do with him. There are highlights like when Kevin Nash, in a rare time of humility, thanks Bret for giving him the best match of his life at Survivor Series ’95. Of course, Nash soon books himself at the top, ignoring Bret’s own potential. The emotional highlight of the book is Owen’s death which obviously still haunts Bret and became the basis for a shattering of the entire family. Bret does hold blame toward Vince for it, despite a nice conversation they had afterward which is understandable. But again, you get the feeling that despite it all, Bret still has that small respect and even gratitude for Vince for all he did.

Bret does seem to regret trying to handle more in WCW after Owen died. He was particularly hit by a stunt where he nearly crashed a car, wondering what the hell he was doing performing the same idiotic stunts as Goldberg nearly cut his arm in two with a bad window punch. Bret doesn’t seem to really blame Goldberg for that errant kick but that his career was cut short still haunts him. This leads to more emotional talk of how his staying at home just made his marriage worse and the way the family was tearing apart didn’t make it any easier. He touches on the stroke, the divorce and the deaths of his parents and how he’s tried to make it all work. He tries to keep out of the battle between the family after Owen’s death but is hit by how Diana left Davey Boy and Martha letting Owen’s death swallow her in anger toward everyone. It ends with a familiar mantra for many wrestlers: Despite the hardships, he wouldn’t trade the time for anything.

As noted, this is a fascinating look at a fascinating performer. You get a good sense of Bret, not just the performer but the man. A man who, frankly, has a lot of flaws. I touched upon some of his ego a while back such as when he took a dinner speaking spot about his father to slam Greg Oliver for ranking him 14th in a list of the best Canadian wrestlers. While I agree his placement there was low, taking what was supposed to be a tribute to his dad and turning it into a public airing of a grudge comes off incredibly egotistical. That and the fact he still refuses to make any peace with Shawn while only grudgingly agreeing to do the DVD with McMahon just to get his real story out.

But that’s the thing about Bret. He was raised with some entitlement thanks to Stu’s success, he was raised with a “shoot” style of wrestling, raised to treat it as real as he could. All that takes a hold on a young mind and thus pushes him to deny how much of the business is a work. Read through and he talks about “winning” titles like they were true contests, not that he was given the belts by the bosses. Yes, passion in the business is a must for any top star but you can’t take it so far that it’s becomes the be-all and end-all of your life. Chris Benoit had that mentality and we all saw how that ended up. When you openly call yourself “the best there was,” your ego pushes you to back it up. And in Bret’s case, it seems that he’s often unable to break away from his in-ring character and lets that effect his true personality.

It’s been eleven years since Montreal but Bret refuses to let it go. Even Scott Keith, as big a Bret fan as you can find, has openly said that Bret should just do an angle of coming onto WWE and lashing out at Vince to put it all behind him. Of course, Bret’s ego has been fed by how many fans still adore him to a massive degree. He was always big internationally (although again, take it with some grain of salt how he claims “no one” got fans as hot as he did) and of course many in the IWC consider him just short of perfection. Personally, I do admire his ring work greatly (especially his awesome selling) but I note he could be repetitive a lot and while he had good attitude, it was sometimes hard to really get into him as a character.

Maybe what rubs me the wrong way about Bret sometimes is the same thing that rubs me about Hogan: That the man is his own biggest fan and often elevates himself to a higher plateau than he deserves. And Hogan never claimed to be an icon and hero to every person in his country like Bret has. Difference is, Hogan is lambasted for ego but Bret can be excused because of his great matches. Some also feel great sympathy for him because of Own, Davey Boy, Dynamite, Benoit and his family, feeling they can excuse his personal problems because of all that. I mean, the man openly acknowledges cheating on his wife while on the road yet still presents himself as some national hero.

Yet this hypocrisy continues to make Bret a fascinating person and thus his biography is a unique character study. Whatever my feelings, I do highly respect the man’s ring work and his backstage looks at the business are a great showcase of how wrestling changed over two decades which younger fans will enjoy. He can be chastising of himself one minute, then bragging the next, talking of the backstage stuff and then treating it as if it was real. It’s an amazing contrast but then so is Bret himself and that makes this book an amazing read. While your opinion of Bret is up to you, I can easily say this: When it comes to wrestling autobiographies, Hitman is the best there is.

Also around 411mania:

Mike Chin talks the Importance of Rick Rude

the Bard books HBK vs AJ Styles

My Back Pages discusses Shawn Michaels

Evolution Schematic begins a history of SHIMMER

Cook’s Corner discusses sterorypes of wrestling fans

Scripted Through Sin plays Extreme Makeover on WWE

Five-Star Conversation compares past RAW to present

The Wrestling Doctor prescribes less PPV for WWE

Piledriver Report continues its Shawn Michaels retrospective

Thoughts From the Top Rope looks at Edge’s career

Tiger does his Take on fans throwing stuff in the ring

Brooklyn Brawling looks at Vince McMahon the wrestler

Don’t forget Column of Honor, Triple Threat, 3 R’s, Fact or Fiction, Ask 411 and the rest.