The Hitman (The Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling - Bret Hart)

Member Name: tommy7

Product:	The Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling - Bret Hart
Date:	30/05/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No holds barred

Disadvantages: Tells one side of the story but its the side I think is closest to the truth

'Bret Hart - Hitman' is Bret Hart's autobiography charting his 51 years to date. Bret is one of 12 children to the legendary wrestler Stu Hart. His life has been dominated by wrestling almost from birth. His seven brothers were involved in wrestling and his four sisters married wrestlers. This is a family whose entire existence has been dominated by wrestling, with Bret the shining light who reached the very top of his profession.

As this is an autobiography it covers Bret's life from his earliest memories. Often with this type of story I lose interest when the author covers their childhood in great detail. However, the one thing Bret does throughout the story is relate to wrestling. Even in the early part of the story, when I do not know a lot of the people he refers to, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The main reasons I wanted to buy this book were that Bret has no ties to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (I will call World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) from here on but really it was WWF in Bret's time) anymore, this meant that it would not be a watered down version of events. It should be a warts and all account of his time. Secondly, Hart always came over as an intelligent man and I was confident that this would be reflected in the writing. Thirdly, I had previously read Mick Foley's books on life in the WWE and it is a riveting read, with all the politics going on. Finally, Bret was encouraged to leave the WWE by the owner Vince McMahon, who claimed he could no longer afford to keep him. Despite having a 20 year contract with guaranteed earnings, Bret agreed to leave as long as his conditions about how his character would bow out were met (this was in his contract so didn't have to be negotiated). McMahon screwed Bret and this subject could cover a book on its own.

So on to the book. This was an enthralling read from start to finish. Bret is a lot more honest than I expected him to be. He details how lonely times were when he was touring and how it would often lead to him being unfaithful to his wife. He admits to occasionally taking drugs, steroids as well as recreational. These were things he could have glossed over, but he openly admits to moments of weakness and whilst he lays the circumstances as a way of justifying his actions he never makes excuses for them. This added a lot of credibility to the author, so when he tells you things that put him in a positive light you are more inclined to believe that is exactly what happened.

The other thing that this book leaves you with is how much misery, death and despair professional wrestlers take with them. There is seldom a chapter in this book where Bret doesn't tell you of the death of another wrestler, usually in their 30s or 40s. The life expectancy of these people must be below 50, although you could argue a lot of that is self-inflicted.

That was not the case with Bret's brother, Owen, who died on his way to the ring on an aerial slide which released early causing him to fall 78 feet to his death, ironically in the ring, after he landed on the ropes. This occurred after Bret had been forced out of the WWE. This is obviously a very emotional chapter of the book and Bret inevitably puts some of the blame on himself figuring if he was still in the WWE he would have talked Owen out of doing such a ridiculous entrance. This is typical of the way Bret views everything, he immediately thinks what could and should I have done about this situation, even when he is at the other end of the country.

Sadly, for me Owen's death summed up all that is wrong with professional wrestling. Even in such tragic circumstances the show carried on that night with many fans assuming it was part of the storyline. Bret eventually forgives McMahon, something I couldn't ever see myself doing in such circumstances.

The real/fake aspects of wrestling are covered as well. It is generally accepted now that wrestling is sports entertainment rather than sport. The results are known to all involved in advance and this adds to the excitement as everyone is working towards a common goal. However, this means that genuine talent can often be stifled. In a proper sport cream would rise to the top. In WWE you need someone else to push you. Bret, regarded as the best technical wrestler of his generation, was often overlooked as the story makers turned towards bigger personalities and physiques. Rather than being bitter about things Bret used it positively and details how he was still able to rise to the top. The other thing is that the injuries are horrific, far more severe than you would expect to receive in any real sport.

There were elements of the book where Bret came over as being too good to be true. Surely no-one could continually turn the other cheek, however, that seems like the kind of guy Bret is. He was rather deleted from the WWE archives when he left and as WWE controlled the recordings of all his matches his legacy was being diminished. It could be argued that reconciliation with McMahon was essential to protect this legacy. I don't think Bret thinks this cynically although he does view his character as being a real part of him, as you would.

This is a long book at 553 pages in hardback and to get the most out of it you would need to have watched WWE wrestling for a good few years, probably in the early to mid-90s. Although you can access a lot of the people online you really need to know what they were like over a period of time. It was reassuring to see that the people I disliked are dislikeable characters according to Bret. However, if you did not know the characters and how powerful they were in the wrestling world at the time, then a lot of the stories don't mean as much as they would otherwise do.

If you are considering this book I would also recommend Mick Foley's books and two documentaries, Beyond the Mat and Wrestling with Shadows. The later covers the Montreal Screwjob where Bret was cheated out of the title and is gripping viewing.

I have to admit Bret was never one of my favourite characters at the time. I didn't dislike him, just I didn't take to him. Having read this book now I view the man in an entirely different light and respect him hugely.

This book is available from amazon at £9.99 and is an essential purchase for anyone who has any interest in wrestling. Bret is doing a book signing in Glasgow on 12 July, shop to be announced (I'd guess Borders) but details will be on his website soon.

This book also goes under the name of My Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, I thought Amazon had sent me the wrong book but it must have different names in different countries.

ISBN 978-0-09-193285-5

Summary: The best autobiography I have ever read