DailySkew

Skew Book Review: Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling

First Amazon’s book description, and then my 0wn Skew Review:

“Bret Hart is the best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.”
—Ric Flair

“Bret Hart still makes me believe that wrestling is good.”
—Hulk Hogan

“A legend!”
—The Rock

Book Description
In his own words, Bret Hart’s honest, perceptive, startling account of his life in and out of the pro wrestling ring.

The sixth-born son of the pro wrestling dynasty founded by Stu Hart and his elegant wife, Helen, Bret Hart is a Canadian icon. As a teenager, he could have been an amateur wrestling Olympic contender, but instead he turned to the family business, climbing into the ring for his dad’s western circuit, Stampede Wrestling. From his early twenties until he retired at 43, Hart kept an audio diary, recording stories of the wrestling life, the relentless travel, the practical jokes, the sex and drugs, and the real rivalries (as opposed to the staged ones). The result is an intimate, no-holds-barred account that will keep readers, not just wrestling fans, riveted.

Hart achieved superstardom in pink tights, and won multiple wrestling belts in multiple territories, for both the WWF (now the WWE) and WCW. But he also paid the price in betrayals (most famously by Vince McMahon, a man he had served loyally); in tragic deaths, including the loss of his brother Owen, who died when a stunt went terribly wrong; and in his own massive stroke, most likely resulting from a concussion he received in the ring, and from which, with the spirit of a true champion, he has battled back.

Widely considered by his peers as one of the business’s best technicians and workers, Hart describes pro wrestling as part dancing, part acting, and part dangerous physical pursuit. He is proud that in all his years in the ring he never seriously hurt a single wrestler, yet did his utmost to deliver to his fans an experience as credible as it was exciting. He also records the incredible toll the business takes on its workhorses: he estimates that twenty or more of the wrestlers he was regularly matched with have died young, weakened by their own coping mechanisms, namely drugs, alcohol, and steroids. That toll included his own brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith. No one has ever written about wrestling like Bret Hart. No one has ever lived a life like Bret Hart’s.

SKEW REVIEW:

If you are a wrestling fan, you have to pick this one up. Bret has some serious, serious inside info about Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, HHH, British Bulldogs, Ultimate Warrior, Hart Foundation, Mr. Perfect, Ric Rude, and everyone he has ever worked with.

Bret has nothing to lose now- he’s had a horrible stroke, his parents are dead, he’s been divorced twice, he’s lost two brothers, his sisters and brothers hate him, and he is no longer mentioned on WWE anymore. WWE did NOT publish this book, and right now it’s Canada and Internet only. I managed to get my hands on this for my mother’s Christmas gift, and read all 550+ pages.

Bret is truly a student of the game, and has extremely high standards for what needs to be done inside the ring and how a champion should carry himself.

This book is NOT funny, and is not positive, so this is not a feel good story or a politically correct one. He pulls no punches, and writes from the “hart”.

Like Bret’s in-ring match psychology, he sets the reader up and is very detailed and methodical at the start, and devotes many chapters about his family life, training, and wrestling in the minor leagues before getting his big break with WWF in 1984. He continues his commentaries on his rise to superstardom, the behind the scenes {nasty} politics, the different countries he toured, to the infamous Montreal Screwjob, his career jumping the shark in WCW, Owen’s tragic death, lawyers, and his career ending match with Goldberg.

Whenever Bret talks about wrestling, there is always his large family’s subplot, which makes sense considering all of them are involved in wrestling.

The amount of small tidbits is worth every penny. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the book (most of it comes from audio tapes he made) occurs when he sometimes starts a paragraph with a date, and paints a scene or news of a death. It reminded me of Alan Moore’s Watchmen with Dr. Manhattan.

Most of the Canadian press likes to focus on Bret’s sinful confessions (his addiction to women, and occasional steroids and drugs use), but nothing was shocking to me. He’s just being honest about the life of a celebrity on the road, and had the decency to admit it, without being proud or bragging about that lifestyle. He also gives the best 1st hand account about why a wrestler chooses to do steroids and how it feels to be alone on the road.

Does Bret have his own biases? Yeah, I’m sure there’s a reason why that his ex-wife, brothers, sisters, Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan, and others had problems with him. He’s very egocentric and confident, and I can imagine that his strive for excellence can be very threatening to people who did not respect his version of the truth. Sure, Bret is a tad skewed, but at least he’s aware of it and stands up for what he believes in, which is generally RESPECT. Many of his 1990’s pro-wrestling interviews borderlined between reality and fantasy (he was one of the first to do a “worked shoot interview”) that pushed the envelope during the Monday Night WWF vs WCW TV ratings wars.

Bret is more honest than most people you know, and he does not go about ripping into people or burying people, although the true stories he witnessed can’t help but force a negative opinion about the person- he simply reports the facts from his audio tapes that he had made at the time. Towards the end, you can see him reaching conclusions, but it is very refreshing to see him be friends with Hogan, Shawn, Vince, Nash, et al when he first meets them.

Bret tells you all about his character’s psychology and in-ring match buildup.

I recommend this book for any wrestling fan. Take your time with it, and you will be rewarded.

Here’s a look at one of Bret’s in-ring promos, which mix reality and fantasy (it’s all a “work”). I apologize for the poor quality, but the audio is fantastic:

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