Sultan of Submission | The Biography - by Rohan | page 1

'Without a doubt, I am the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be, and you know it' booms Bret "The Hit Man" Hart to a sellout crowd in New York City. Love him or hate him, there's no denying - he's one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever.

Enter Hitman

Bret "Hit Man" Hart is a former seven time World Heavyweight Champion, who rose to popularity in the World Wrestling Federation in the 1990's and left an impact on the world of wrestling of the likes that one has never seen before. As a Federation champion, Bret represented the WWF in countries like England, Germany, South Africa, the Middle East, Australia and of course, his own country Canada, where he is revered as a national hero, alongside the legendary Wayne Gretsky.

Bret Hart is a second generation superstar. His father Stu Hart was a wrestler himself and owns an independent promotion called Stampede Wrestling. All eight of the Hart brothers learned the skills of submission wrestling from their father in the now famous 'Dungeon'. Stu is also credited to having tutored such greats as 'Superstar' Billy Graham, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, The late Owen Hart, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho among many others.

Ironically, the Hit Man never really wanted to be a professional wrestler. His dream was to become a movie director. But wrestling was in his blood and after completing one year of a broadcasting course at Mount Royal College, the Hit Man found himself in his father's promotion refereeing matches. It wasn't long before Bret got into the ring as a professional wrestler with the circuit.

Bret Hart with the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Title

The Stampede Years

Bret won his first title - The WWC Caribbean Tag Team Title in 1976 alongside Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Over the next few years, Bret Hart teamed with his brother Bruce and the duo captured three Stampede International Tag Team Titles between the years 1978-79. In 1978, Bret Hart took part in his first ever "60 minute match" against the Dynamite Kid, who was just returning from overseas. The Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart put on many a bloody, yet memorable match over the years, including the ladder match in which Bret won the title, just seconds before his face almost got smashed into a pulp by a falling ladder. Bret holds The Dynamite Kid in the highest regard. "He was, pound for pound, the greatest wrestler of all time." says Bret. Bret also teamed with his father Stu once, to take on J.R. Foley and Stu's classic rival, a returning Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie.

The 1980's saw the celebrated feud between Bret and the great Leo Burke. Bret captured the Stampede North American Heavyweight title on seven occasions. Unfortunately at that time, professional wrestling had very little viewership. Stu's promotion, Stampede Wrestling fell into financial problems and was expected to close down completely. Meanwhile across the border, a young entrepreneur called Vince McMahon Jr. had successfully managed to popularize the sport of professional wrestling and his organization, the World Wrestling Federation. Vince McMahon seemed fairly impressed with Bret Hart's skills and hired him. Stampede Wrestling closed down a few months later.

Cowboy, baby!

The World Wrestling Federation at that time was filled with gargantuan individuals like Andre the Giant and the immortal Hulk Hogan, so on one really expected a relatively shorter 6'0", 234 pound wrestler from Calgary, Canada to make it big. Bret Hart was then a low cadre wrestler, jobbing for other wrestlers. No one was really interested in developing a persona for Bret. Frustrated, Bret spoke to Vince's right hand man, telling him that he was getting no where in the World Wrestling Federation. McMahon himself came up with a persona for Bret - Cowboy Bret Hart. Bret would come down the ring with his cowboy hat and his cowboy boots. He would also bring his horse down the aisle for every match. But Bret knew nothing about cowboys and didn't want to play the part of a cowboy (that all changed in 1994, when Bret played the part of Call's friend Luther Root from Miles City, in TV series, Lonesome Dove : The Outlaw Years). Bret then proposed the idea of having his former Stampede Wrestling partner Jim Neidhart team up with him. He suggested the name "The Hart Foundation" to the tag team. The team would be managed by Jimmy Hart (no relation to Bret). After much deliberation, Vince MaMahon OKed the idea...