Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling

This book is the holly book of pro wrestling absolute amazing book very interesting start to finish filled with great stories and goes into great detail about everything which is great. Bret is very open and honest with everything from family members to other wrestlers,I reccommend this to any fan of the sport and definently any hit man fan I herd from Bret that he is writing a second book and should be out by 2014

In this massive wrestling autobiography, Bret Hart took 7 years to compose this 550+ page tome, chronicling his life and his role in the wrestling business. I found this text could be broken into a couple of attitude categories.

The first is the humble section in which Bret Hart tells of his early life and growing up in the Hart household among a dozen siblings, breaking into the business, and the struggling days of Stampede Wrestling. He talks of his friendships with the regular wrestlers from the territory such as Big Daddy Sika, Andre the Giant, Abdullah the Butcher and into his fledgeling beginnings with Tom 'Dynamite Kid' Billington, his brothers, Bad News Allen, Cuban Assassin and others. It is very heartfelt and, shall I say, realistic in that he quickly falls in love with the business and its perks. He then gets picked up by the WWF as part of a deal Stu Hart makes in selling Stampede.

The second phase is Hart's journey through the mediocre rise of his character in the early days of his WWF career. Hart reminisces of his world travels and his infidelities, early drug use, and the beginnings of the Hart Foundation. We begin to get his opinions on established wrestlers and the up-and-comers. He then makes a statement about how the world champion belt holder tends to become tyrannical, demanding, and power hungry, often stepping on or ignoring the talent while never wanting to willingly relinquish his hold. Bret Hart claims this never happened to him but through his own words you can see the switch between Humble Bret and Arrogant Bret. Now, in his opinion, he's one of the only few good workers in the business and he always came up with great matches no matter who he had to work with. Hart also gives big breaks to new guys and claims to do whatever is right or good for the job and put anyone over that needs to be. He portrays himself as a savior for the business and without him, wrestling's popularity may not have climbed so high or developed such stars. He speaks highly of many incoming wrestlers like Shawn Michaels, Demolition, and Curt Hennig, while beginning his down views of the likes of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, and Ultimate Warrior whom he claims are non-workers and power hungry players. This era starts pretty much after he is given the title and runs through, you guessed it, the Montreal screwjob.

The third attitude portion of this book begins the transformation from Arrogant Bret to Vengeful Angry Bret. It starts with Shawn Michaels' rise to superstardom and becomes full force with the Montreal screwjob. Enough has been written about that incident so I won't speak of it. From here, Bret falls out with McMahon and his now WWE. Hart heads to WCW to join former WWE employees and finds life to be miserable, unprofessional, and the storylines fall to the ridiculous as well as titles meaning nothing. He becomes angrier about the business and his career of bumps is finally starting to take its toll on his body. Then the news of Owen's death arrives. Bret covers this in an emotional chapter which coincides with his career ending Goldberg-kick-to-the-head. He handles these events admirably although Angry Bret still vies for contention in his dealings with the aftermath of Owen's death not only with Vince & the WWE but moreso with the bickering amongst his own siblings on who stands to cash in on this horrific event.

Finally we come to the end of Bret's career, marriage, and ultra-fame. Bret has been seeing doctors about his Goldberg-inflicted concussion and suffers his stroke which wraps up his career. There's a final switch here back to the Humble Bret but infused with it is a strong Days of Glory Bret in which he begins to come to terms with so many things that didn't go so well in his career and life. He becomes truly admirable not for his fame and profession but rather how he begins to accept certain events that not only altered his career but helped to develop the man he is now. While not everything/one is forgiven, Bret has quit looking back and now awaits the rest of his life, strong and reliant. Who knows, we may even see him do a guest spot or two in the future.

Any fan of Bret Hart is going to love this book. This is definitely one of the best wrestling books published so even through some high-and-mighty, his bouts of infidelity, and some woe-is-me moments, Bret Hitman Hart stands high amongst his peers and should be proud of these memoirs that will bring further enjoyment to fans and the general public alike. Absolutely worth reading even with a higher price tag.

Bret culled this from journal entries over his 3 decades in pro wrestling... he writes very calmly, very candidly, & with a great sense of humour (you will laugh out loud*)...
A must read.

This is by far the best wrestling autobiography that I have ever read. It's very honest and he doesn't pull any punches. It is a must-read for wrestling fans. My favorite parts of the book involve the Montreal Screwjob. If you can honestly read his side of the story and not sympathize, then you are made of stone. This book shows why The Hitman truly is "the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be".