Bret Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta on July 2, 1957. In a career that spanned 23 years, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He is the brother of the late Owen Hart and one of the twelve children of Stu and Helen Hart.
Stampede Wrestling
Bret Hart’s career began in Stampede Wrestling, which was owned and operated by his father. There, he worked as both a referee and a wrestler, having won the British Commonwealth championship. By 1984, Vince McMahon’s Word Wrestling Federation had begun to sweep the wrestling world. That, combined with Stampede Wrestling’s financial woes, forced Stu to sell out to McMahon. Bret was one of the commodities that McMahon had purchased.
Bret Hart in World Wrestling Federation
Bret Hart debuted in the WWF as “Cowboy” Bret Hart, complete with a cowboy hat. Feeling that cowboy hats were only for real cowboys, Hart shunned the gimmick. He was then paired with his real life brother-in-law Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. They were managed by Jimmy Hart (no relation) and became known as The Hart Foundation.
As The Hart Foundation, Hart and Neidhart had two runs as tag team champions. Hart went solo by the early 1990s and won the Intercontinental title twice, first from Mr. Perfect and then from “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. But this was not the end of Hart’s single success, as he won the WWF World title from Ric Flair in 1992. This was the first of five WWF title reigns.
Montreal Screwjob
By 1997, Hart had signed a long-term deal with McMahon. McMahon later regretted the move because he quickly found his company in financial trouble. Therefore, he encouraged Hart to find work with rival WCW; however Bret Hart was still the reigning champion. A screwjob was staged to remove the belt from Hart in a match against Shawn Michaels in Montreal.
McMahon’s plan was to instruct referee Earl Hebner to call for the bell once Bret was locked in the sharpshooter. Michaels and Hebner were both in on the plan, but other top tier officials such as Pat Patterson were left in the dark due to their loyalty to Bret.
Bret Hart in WCW
Bret’s run in WCW lasted three years, which included several reigns as U.S. and World champion. A kick to the head by Bill Goldberg forced Bret out of action in 2000 when he was eventually fired by WCW. He subsequently retired from professional wrestling altogether.
Bret Hart Returns to WWE
Bret Hart returned to Raw in 2009 even though he had felt uncomfortable with making previous WWE appearances. At the Air Canada Centre, he defeated the Mix to win the WWE U.S. title. He defeated his on-screen and real life rival Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania XXV.
Bret Hart’s Wife
Bret Hart has been married 3 times. In 1982, he married Julie Smadu-Hart with whom he had his four children. They separated in 1998 and divorced in 2002. He then married an Italian woman named Cinzia but they divorced in 2007. In 2010 he re-married again, this time to Stephanie Washington. After working as Raw’s general manager, he returned to retirement.
