Bret Hart

Bret Sergeant Hart, born July 2, 1957, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler widely regarded as one of the greatest performers in the history of the sport. A second-generation member of the Hart wrestling family with an amateur wrestling background, he trained under Stu Hart, Katsuji Adachi, and Kazuo Sakurada. Known for the majority of his career by the nickname "the Hitman," Hart is credited with bringing technical wrestling to the forefront of mainstream North American professional wrestling in the early 1990s.

Hart began his association with his father Stu Hart's promotion, Stampede Wrestling, in 1976 as a referee before making his in-ring debut in 1978. He achieved considerable championship success across five decades, holding 32 titles throughout his career, including reigns as a five-time WWF Champion and two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion. He headlined WrestleMania nine, ten, and twelve, as well as Starrcade in 1999, and was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996. He returned to sporadic competition from 2010 to 2011 before retiring definitively.

Beyond wrestling, Hart co-founded the Calgary Hitmen hockey team, authored two biographies, wrote a long-running column for the Calgary Sun, and devoted post-retirement efforts to stroke recovery and cancer awareness advocacy.