There's an oft-repeated story that Bret Hart initially wore sunglasses as a member of the Hart Foundation in order to mask how nervous he would appear while cutting promos. Similar to Chris Jericho, Hart arrived in the WWF in 1984 as a well regarded wrestler. A member of the legendary Hart family, Bret was trained by his father Stu, and had already achieved stardom in Calgary's Stampede Wrestling promotion. However, in the more character-driven WWF, Hart as a pure wrestler was paired with charismatic powerhouse Jim Neidhart and motormouth manager transplanted from Memphis, Jimmy Hart and achieved initial success. However, it was in being able to translate his wrestling ability into becoming the character of being "the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be" that elevated Hart and made him a Hall of Fame-level legend. Though later admitted by Hart to be a difficult evolution, Hart even adopting a pro-Canada/anti-American stance took his wrestling to another level at the end of his WWF run in 1997, as there may be no more amazing moment in Hart's WWF career than tagging with the Hart Foundation heel stable at the In Your House: Canadian Stampede Pay-Per-View against Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock and the Legion of Doom. In a moment of in-ring talent mixing with a charismatic character and a hot storyline, the "heel everywhere else in the world" Hart Foundation was solidly cheered in this match and when the Hart Foundation won, were mobbed for an in-ring celebration by the entire extended Hart family.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
