During a recent interview with the Calgary Sun (which you can fully see here), Bret Hart discussed his recent induction in the Canadian Walk Of Fame, but also discussed many different topics.
Bret said he saw himself more like a film director than an actor, an analogy that he used to describe his work in the ring: “In a lot of ways, I ended up being a guy making little 15 to 20 minute movies each night as a wrestler, I was a stunt coordinator, director and producer of an epic wrestling match. Wrestling turned into that career I never had as a movie maker. I got to tell these great stories as a wrestler.”
The Hitman also takes pride for putting Canada and Calgary in particular on the map: “When I got to WWE, nobody even knew where Calgary was, the only thing you can say about Calgary was that you knew about the Calgary Stampede, the Calgary Flames and you knew about Bret Hart. I worked really hard to be a representative of Canada and a representative of my father and my family.”
The former WWF and WCW Champion then explained how much the Canadian Walk Of Fame means to him: “It will always mean a lot when you’re celebrated and honoured amongst your peers and fellow wrestlers. The WWE Hall of Fame always meant a lot to me. This is even higher to me in a sense. You’re being lumped in with Canadians – great Canadians and the contributions they’ve made in their fields. It means a lot to me to be honoured by Canadians across the country for my wrestling career.”
Among the many other topics discussed, Hart mentioned his wrestling training and explained how much influence it had on him being the performer he was, taking what could be interpreted as a slight shot to Hulk Hogan: “I was really well taught the art of wrestling by two Japanese guys (Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada). I was taught how to protect myself and my opponent so he doesn’t get hurt. More important than that, it was all about what I represented. I have an incredible body of work with so many different wrestlers. I was so proud of those matches. And all the Canadian wrestlers like Natalya or Edge were influenced by me. I think if you look back at wrestling when it was the Hulk Hogan show. He was six-foot-eight and a one-out-of-three wrestler. He didn’t know a headlock from a headlamp. He didn’t know very much. He knew how to do a clothesline and maybe a body slam. He was very limited. (WWE owner) Vince McMahon took a chance with me and made me that champion. It meant so much to me that I think I tried to live up to be that champion. It was about being the best wrestler. I gave so much as that wrestler. I was a good role model in the dressing room. All that means a lot.”
