Bret Hart

Bret Hart is a Canadian former professional wrestler, author, and member of Calgary’s Hart wrestling family. His father, Stu Hart, operated Stampede Wrestling and trained wrestlers in the family home’s basement gym, known as the Dungeon. Bret competed as an amateur wrestler before entering the family’s professional wrestling business.

Hart became internationally known through the World Wrestling Federation, now WWE. With his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, he formed the Hart Foundation tag team, which won the organization’s tag-team championship twice. He later competed as a singles wrestler, winning the Intercontinental Championship and then defeating Ric Flair in 1992 to win his first of five WWE World Championships.

His major WWE matches included contests with Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, Yokozuna, Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels. He won the 1993 King of the Ring tournament and shared victory in the 1994 Royal Rumble. His rivalry with Michaels included the Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII and the disputed finish to their championship match at the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal.

Hart moved to World Championship Wrestling after leaving WWE. His full-time in-ring career ended following a serious concussion, and he suffered a stroke in 2002. He subsequently returned to WWE for appearances and a limited number of matches, including a WrestleMania XXVI match with Vince McMahon. WWE inducted him into its Hall of Fame individually in 2006 and as part of the Hart Foundation in 2019.

His work outside wrestling has included acting, public appearances, and support for stroke-recovery programs. He appeared in Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years and contributed to establishing the Calgary Hitmen junior hockey team. His writing includes an illustrated account of his career and the longer autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. The latter drew on audio diaries he recorded during his years of traveling and performing, covering both staged wrestling storylines and events in his personal life.

Hart spent seven years preparing Hitman. The audio recordings behind the book supplied a contemporary record of matches, travel, and conversations, rather than relying exclusively on memories reconstructed after retirement.

Wrestling Books

Bret 'Hitman' Hart: The Best There Is, the Best There Was, the Best There Ever Will Be: This illustrated account follows Hart from his upbringing in Calgary’s wrestling family through amateur competition and his professional career. Photographs, family material, and career recollections cover his development as a performer, prominent matches, and years in major wrestling promotions. The book also includes his reflections on the death of his brother Owen. Produced with Perry Lefko, it combines Hart’s own account with the visual record of his career and material about the wrestlers and relatives who were part of it.

Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling: Hart recounts his childhood in the Stampede Wrestling family, his rise through the WWF, and his later years in WCW. Based on audio diaries recorded during his career, the memoir covers travel, backstage relationships, rivalries, injuries, and the personal consequences of wrestling. It includes the Montreal championship dispute, the death of his brother Owen, and Hart’s stroke and recovery. The narrative distinguishes the industry’s staged conflicts from actual disputes and losses while describing the work involved in presenting matches to an audience.