The wrestler "Bret "Hitman" Hart is my hero. Well, not the man so much as the character.
Bret is the guy on the right. I always thought he was really cute. Kind of like a Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora kind of look, but more clean cut because he was a wrestler, not a smoker, doper, rock n roller. Bret is from the infamous Hart family of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Calgary is like Austin, Texas in a way. It's the rugged part of Canada, where you might find a cowboy and deer antlers in a bar, but it's Canada, so those cowboys are for universal healthcare and gay marriage. I always sensed that in Bret. If for no other reason, because he wore pink.
Bret was a tag team wrestler in the beginning, but around 1991, when I was in junior high, he went out on his own and had a match with the late Mr. Perfect, Curt Hennig, in which he applied his signature hold, The Sharpshooter, to win his first of many singles titles. Yes, wrestling is fake. But the belts are real gold. And for a young guy watching the hero win the title, I learned something I didn't always have an example of at home. When you stood up for what was right and told the truth, you got to accesorize.
As Bret's career raged on, he varied his matches, and instead of opting for the bloody, head through a wooden table route that wrestling was changing into, he got more arial. By 1996, when I was a senior in high school, Bret had been through a major feud with his brother Owen, that saw him face his brothers jealousy head-on (Bret won, proving that excellence always defeats envy) and was now defending his title against then up-and-comer Shawn Michaels. the behind-the-scenes drama in this feud, which would rage in and out of the ring for nearly 15 years was epic. It ended in the infamous Montreal incident in which WWE owner Vince McMahon reworked the matches ending without telling Bret, and leaving him to go to competing company WCW humiliated. Bret's unscripted temper tantrum and farewell to WWE post match is cathartic to anyone who has been betrayed, and is to this day, one of my favorite things to watch when I'm pissed off.
Shortly after leaving for WWE, Bret's brother Owen was killed in a stunt accident in the ring. his wife divorced him. His brother in law, "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith passed away, and Bret suffered a stroke that forced him into retirement. He vowed never to work for WWE again, but in 2005 he accpeted the invitation to join the WWE Hall of Fame and wrote a memoir that is as good as any memoir you'll ever read (wrestling fan or not), and trust me, I'm a picky bitch.
Bret was never afraid to tell the truth. Did I already mention that? If that meant losing fans he didn't care. he spoke out about the excess of America, about the aggressive ignorance of American patriotism, and he refused to lose matches in Canada. bret Hart stood up for himself, and is now regarded as "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be" when he is introduced anywhere. I like that. That's a legacy that can only be built by taking risks.
Bret forgave Shawn Michaels in 2010 in the center of the ring and created a new online role for himself as RAW general manager. He stil wears pink and he even wrestled a couple of times. He inspires me to reinvent myself, to let go of grudges, to tell the truth, and to aspire toward excellence. In the constantly foggy world of Los Angeles show business and gayness, my memories of the Hitman keep me from becoming yet another tool in traffic on the 101.
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