Bret Hart

Overview

Bret Hart began his wrestling career in his father's Stampede Wrestling federation in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Hart would soon catch the eye of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation where after aquiring Stampede Wrestling in August of 1984, McMahon would attempt to saddle (no pun intended) Hart with a cowboy gimmick. Hart would refuse this offer from McMahon and instead request to join a heel stable managed by Jimmy Hart and would soon begin to team with his real life brother-in-law Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. After only a few months with the WWF the Hart Foundation name would soon only belong to the tag team of Hart and Neidhart and Bret would pick-up the nickname "The Hitman" because of his superior technical wrestling skills. The Hart Foundation as a team would go on, over the next few years, to become one of the most hated, and then most popular teams in the wrestling world. Success would find them as in 1987 the Hart Foundation would defeat The British Bulldogs a team consisting of Davey Boy Smith (another brother-in-law to Bret) and the Dynamite Kid for their first of two World Tag Team Championships.

After nearly six years of being known as mostly a tag team wrestler Bret and the WWF felt it was time for him to go out on his own, so in 1991, after the Hart Foundation lost the tag team titles at WrestleMania VII, Hart would embark on a singles career that would see him win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship from Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam. Hart would skyrocket to stardom, eventually being tasked with becoming the WWF's next big worldwide star after Hulk Hogan would leave for periods of time to film television shows and movies, and eventually the federation altogether to join WCW. Hart would solidify his place as a huge star in professional wrestling winning numerous World Championships in the WWF and WCW. A company he would join after the now infamous Montreal Screw Job that saw WWE Chairman Vince McMahon change the match ending with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1997 so Hart would lose when he was originally scheduled to win. A stroke suffered in the early 2000's would force Hart to retire from active wrestling competition but he would eventually be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and reconcile with his former company. He now makes appearances occasionally on WWE television.

Depiction in Video Games

Thanks to his rise to stardom in the early 1990's Bret "The Hitman" Hart would begin to be featured in WWE video games, the first of those being WWF Wrestlemania: Steel Cage Challenge in 1992 where he he would be featured on the cover of the game and as a playable character. Hart would grow in popularity and in stature in the WWE video game market as his next appearance on a WWE brand video game would be as the prominent star for the WWF King of the Ring box art in 1993. The Hitman would be a poster boy for the WWE for the next few years and would be used to promote upcoming video game releases in commercials and on the cover, his character would play much differently however in the 1995 release WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, a more arcade style was added to the gameplay and small pink hearts or Harts' signature sunglasses would fly from the character after a significant move was executed by the opponent.

The next WWE video game release would continue to use the arcade style of gameplay WWF In Your House would release in 1996 and Hart would once again be featured on the cover, however, this would change for the next WWE release. In 1998 WWF War Zone would feature Hart as a playable character even though he was not employed by the company anymore. After a falling out with Vince McMahon and the WWE he would leave and begin working for the rival WCW. It would not take long for his new employer to utilize Hart's likeness, he would be featured in his first WCW video game later in 1998 with WCW/nWo Revenge, he would use his Sharpshooter finisher and wear his traditional pink and black attire in the game. Over the next few years Hart would appear in more WCW branded video games until his retirement in early 2000 from a concussion suffered in the ring.

His next showing in a wrestling video game would come in an unlikely place, that in the unlicensed Legends of Wrestling from Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. in 2001 and it's sequel in 2004 Showdown: Legends of Wrestling where Hart is featured as a regular playable character and also in the tutorial section of the game as the narrator. In recent years Bret Hart has returned to WWE video games as a legend and unlockable character in the WWE Smackdown vs. Raw franchise and as one of the premiere stars of the WWE Legends of WrestleMania and WWE All Stars games. He has since gone on to become a regular member of the Legends roster in the WWE 2K franchise in recent years.

Titles

WWF/E

• WWE United States Championship (1 time)
• WWF Championship (5 times)
• WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
• King of the Ring Winner (1991, 1993)
• Royal Rumble Winner (1994)
• WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)
• Second Triple Crown Champion

WCW

• WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time)
• Fifth Triple Crown Championp