Bret Hart Appreciation: Part 3

Pick up your laptop, or go to your desktop for my juicy 3rd chapter of Bret Hart Appreciation Night.  For all of you reading I decided to talk about Bret's autobiography this evening, Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling which I purchased at his online store on April 9, 2013.  I just had to reference my Instagram account this afternoon before blogging!  I had to find out when I finished that damn book because I am so sure I documented it.  What a pleasant surprise, I finished it on May 29, 2013.  This was not pre-meditated.  This is based on a true story.

I hovered over Bret Hart's online store like an eagle's eyes on a mouse for one year looking at a copy of his personally autographed autobiography before purchasing it.  I felt a weight come off my shoulders once I received the FedEx package from Canada, I got it!  That night Vin, cousin Vas, Billy, his lovely pregnant Wife and Daughter came over for a Puddin' food tasting.  We cracked some jokes, had plenty of laughs, and I was so excited to have my fam and friends over but I couldn't get the book off of my mind.  I showed Vin and Bill the signature and they were impressed.  Once they left, I started reading.

My obsession with reading started this year, and HITMAN was the second book I read.  It was a New Year's resolution for me - in January 2013 I was like "book it" Raj.  My first book this year was "The Start up of YOU" written by the co-founder of LinkedIn, where I read a post entitled "why Bret Hart is a better business man than YOU"  You can imagine what happened from there.  I finished that book and was looking for my next read.  I just got back from Wrestlemania where I had purchased FanAxxess Tickets for my sweetheart and I.  Axxess is an event just for the fans that the WWE holds before all major PPV events.  She knew how important Wrestlemania is to me and urged me to go meet and interact with the Wrestlers and Promoters just as Axxess suggests.  Not a Wrestling fan, but I watched her light up by the excitement of everyone else in attendance.  Wrestlemania 29 held 80,676 fans in attendance!  I simply grinned as I walked around in awe at all of the timeless WWE memorabilia and fans doing crazy shit.  When it came time to see Bret Hart, I brushed it off as if he was just a regular old guy.  My lady grabbed me by the hand and tried to walk me into the line!  I was indecisive.  "Eh, I saw enough... let's go to MetLife and start the show".  As all of you already know I had the book in my hindsight.  We went on to watch the final match at Axxess, standing front row!  It was there that I had the privilege (along with a few others) to witness Summer Rae wrestle!  She really put Paige over and we knew at that moment she was destined for fame.  We cheered her on as she threw mean faces to the little boy next to us.  He bashfully sighed to his Mother as she looked down at him smiling.  Summer Rae is currently"FANDANGO's manager/dancer who he accompany's him to the ring with every night.  I was pleased to see her on RAW doing just that the following night on RAW!  Let's get to the nitty gritty of Bret Hart...

To me, this book truly is the story of "The Wrestler".  It's bittersweet, and extremely empowering.  It has similarities to 2008's movie starring Mickey Rourke, but it has a lot more "Hart."  Not only Bret, but his entire family sacrificed everything for sports entertainment.  Bret's dad is Stu Hart; famous Canadian amateur wrestler.  He started the promotion "Stampede Wrestling" in 1948.  He raised 12 children with his wife Helen and all of the boys in the family went on to follow the family business to become rastler's.  Bret Hart was the second to the youngest in the family (Owen Hart was the youngest: May 7, 1965 - May 23, 1999) and they both received their share of abuse from the older siblings.  Bret is different as you will read in the book - he had Stu's overall passion for the business in his "hart" unlike any of the other siblings.  We all can say we know the story from there, or that we don't care.  Take it from me, his story is truly a story you want to pick up and read.  The story of the underdog and his battle to the top.  The Monday Night Wars.  Top 12 List's of Superstars, Tag Teams, and Matches.  Dream Matches past versus present.  All of this and more to come, tell your friends!