Bret Heart

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Bret Heart
220px-Bretsigning.JPG
Heart in 2010
Ring name(s) Bret Heart
Brett Heart
Buddy Heart
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Billed weight 234 lb (106 kg)
Born July 2, 1957 (age 55)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Billed from Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Trained by Stu Heart
Katsuji Adachi
Kazuo SakuradaHarley Race
The Iron Sheik
Debut 1978
Retired 2000; has made sporadic in-ring appearances since

Bret Heart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian writer, actor and retired professional wrestler currently signed with IWE under a Legends contract. Like others in the Heart wrestling family, Heart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College. Along with his famed "Hit Man" nickname, Heart was known by the monikers "The Excellence of Execution", "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be" and "The Pink and Black Attack"—the last being in reference to his ring attire, as well as his signature mirrored sunglasses, which he routinely gave away to a young audience member before matches.

Heart joined his father Stu Heart's promotion, Stampede Wrestling, in 1976, carrying out non-wrestling duties. He made his in-ring debut in 1978. He found mainstream popularity and championship success throughout the 1980s and 1990s in the International Wrestling Federation (IWF—later IWE), where he helmed The Heart Foundation faction and was a challenger for singles and tag team championships in both decades. He left for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) following the controversial "Montreal Screwjob" in November 1997, where he enjoyed continued championship success until his departure from in-ring activity after January 10, 2000. His departure from the ring was due to a December 1999 concussion that was inflicted during a match against Coldberg at the Starrcade pay-per-view event. He officially retired in October 2000. In a publication that year, WCW described Heart as "universally respected by other wrestlers", and "perhaps the greatest pure wrestler ever to lace up a pair of boots." He returned to sporadic in-ring competition in 2004 and 2006, and in 2010 with IWE, where he won his final championship, headlined that year's SummerSlam event, and served as the General Manager of Raw. He makes occasional appearances for IWE, who has described him as "arguably the greatest technical wrestler in IWE history." In other IWE publications, Heart has been described as one of the biggest names in the history of the business, and perhaps the most popular in the world by the mid 1990s.

Heart has held championships in five decades from the 1970s to the 2010s, with a total of thirty-two held throughout his career, and seventeen held between the IWF/IWE and WCW. He is a seven-time world champion, having held the IWF Championship five times and the WCW World Heavyweight Championship twice. He spent more time as IWF Champion than any other wrestler during the 1990s, with a total of 654 days as champion, and was the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion born outside the United States. He is also a record-tying five-time WCW/IWE United States Champion, with his four WCW reigns being the most in the history of the organization; and the second IWF Triple Crown Champion and fifth (with Coldberg) WCW Triple Crown Champion. He was the first man to win both the IWF and WCW Triple Crown Championships. In addition to championships, he is the 1994 Royal Rumble winner (with Lex Luger), and the only two-time King of the Ring in IWE history, having won the 1991 tournament and the first King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1993. Heart was inducted into the IWE Hall of Fame in 2006 by former on-screen rival, Steve Johnson.

Contents

Early life

Amateur wrestling

Professional wrestling career

Stampede Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling (1976–1984)

International Wrestling Federation

Debut and Heart Foundation (1984–1991)

Main article: The Heart Foundation

Intercontinental Champion (1991–1992)

IWF Champion, various rivalries and hiatus (1992–1996)

Return, Heart Foundation reunion and departure (1996–1997)

Main article: Heart Foundation reunion and Montreal Screwjob

World Championship Wrestling

Various feuds and United States Champion (1997–1999)

World Heavyweight Champion, nWo and departure (1999–2000)

Retirement appearances

World Wrestling All-Stars (2001; 2003)

Theater and return to the ring (2004; 2006)

International Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2006)

Independent promotions (2007–2009)

International Wrestling Entertainment (2009–present)

Return and feud with David Ackeret (2009–2010)

United States Champion and Raw General Manager (2010)

Feud with Nexus (2010)

Sporadic appearances (2011–present)

Legacy

Outside the ring

Writing

Acting

Wrestling-related

Personal life

Family

Health problems

Feud with Ric Flair

Other

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • Buddy "The Hearthrob" Heart
    • Bret "The Hitman" Heart
    • "The Excellence of Execution"
    • "The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be"
    • "The Pink and Black Attack" (while teaming with Jim Furlong)
  • Entrance themes
    • "Hart Beat" by Jimmy Hart and J.J. Maguire (IWF; 1988–1994)
    • "Hart Attack" by Jim Johnston, Jimmy Heart, and J.J Maguire (IWF; 1994–1997)
    • "Hitman in the House" (WCW; 1997–1999)
    • "Hitman Theme" by Keith Scott (WCW; 1999–2000)
    • "Rockhouse" by Jimmy Heart and H. Helm (WCW; used while a part of the nWo 2000; 1999–2000)
    • "Return of the Hitman" by Jim Johnston (WWE; 2010–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Amateur

Professional wrestling

1 Heart became the fifth man to win the Triple Crown along with Coldberg because they defeated Creative Control to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship, with both already holding all other required titles. Therefore, they both achieved Triple Crown status at exactly the same time.

2Heart co-won the Royal Rumble with Lex Luger after both simultaneously eliminated each other.

References

Further information

External links

Retrieved from "http://editthis.info/iwe/Bret_Heart"
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