Roundup celebrates Hart's career

Chris Ledermuller

Fans, the curtain closed on another wrestler's career this year. Bret "Hitman" Hart has retired from the squared circle.

According to 1wrestling.com, concussions Hart sustained last year were serious enough to prevent him from wrestling again.
 
Hart cannot say his skills were in vain. Coming from a famed Canadian wrestling pedigree, he used crisp technical wrestling to establish himself as a top singles and tag-team grappler worldwide.

He won world championship gold twice in World Championship Wrestling and five times in the World Wrestling Federation. He held WCW's United States and tag-team championships. In the WWF, he had two reigns as intercontinental and tag-team champion, the latter with partner Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart.

Hart is one of the few wrestlers who had equally successful careers as a tag-team wrestler – he and Neidhart, known as the Hart Foundation, are one of the WWF's best duos ever – and later as a singles star. Also, between 1993 and 1997, he was Vince McMahon's marquee athlete, being at the very top of the WWF pecking order.

With accomplishments like that, Bret can do his best rendition of Frank Sinatra and croon "My Way." He earned it – and it sure would be a damn funny sight to see him sing.

Even though Hart announced his retirement this week, his career really ended on a cold Montreal evening in November, 1997.

Remember that Sunday night? It was perhaps the single most controversial event in the last quarter century – if not all – of wrestling history.

At the "Survivor Series" pay-per-view, Bret Hart wrestled Shawn Michaels, his archenemy – both in and out of the ring. The match was going along smoothly until Michaels had Hart locked up in his own submission finisher, the "Sharpshooter." Hart never gave up, but McMahon called for the bell and awarded Michaels the title. McMahon and Michaels bolted to the dressing room as fast as they could.

That single event ended Hart's WWF career on the worst possible terms. Hart left the WWF, but not before he punched out McMahon for stabbing him in the back.

To this day, what went on in Montreal at "Survivor Series" is still fiercely debated. This is wrestling's equivalent of the John F. Kennedy assassination. If Oliver Stone needs an idea for his next movie, this can be it.

Several months later, a documentary, " 'Hitman' Hart: Wrestling with Shadows," premiered on cable. Coincidentally enough, the "Survivor Series" debacle and several months of footage before it were captured on film. As the Church Lady of "Saturday Night Live" skit fame says, "Well, isn't that special?"

A few months before, Hart signed a 20-year deal with McMahon – essentially a lifetime job. McMahon could not afford to keep Hart around that long and allowed him to go to WCW. Hart accepted the WCW offer, and placed some constraints on how he would drop the WWF world champion.

McMahon agreed to Hart's conditions, but he flagrantly reneged at "Survivor Series."

Hart was scarred by the incident, especially since he did not want to lose face in front of his fans in the land of Molson and Moosehead.

A few months later, Hart made his debut in WCW. In his stint, he captured a few championship belts, but he never gained the foothold he had in WWF.

Hart was one superstar out of many in the top-heavy WCW. He had to share top billing with the likes of Sting, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Goldberg, just to name a few. Bookers did not have any solid plans for Hart, turning him from babyface to heel and back several times. He was simply a white elephant, his wrestling efficacy in WCW minimal.

Then, of course, there were the injuries. Hart's final years were marked by long periods of inactivity with intermittent appearances in front of the cameras. Hart was no longer young enough to just bounce back from his injuries. The concussions he suffered last year ultimately led to his retirement.

What can Hart do now? Nobody knows for sure, but the WWF can be ruled out as an option. Hart still has vitriolic contempt for Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon. The tragic death of Bret Hart's younger brother Owen after a stunt gone awry made sure no bridge could ever be built to replace the one burned to a crisp after "Survivor Series."

An injury is a sad way to end a career. Bret Hart could have returned to win his last match and go out on top, or even lose and pass the proverbial torch to his victor, but neither is possible now. Like Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat and the late "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Hart is another respected worker who suddenly and unceremoniously had to hang up his boots.

Until next week, fans, keep watching.

Chris Ledermuller is a print journalism major at Cal State Long Beach and a staff writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.