Intro (including scenes from 'Wrestling with Shadows')

Announcer: Bret "The Hitman" Hart has been a wrestling legend for more than 20 years. He has millions of fans around the world, who have cheered his successes. But few know of the tragedy and pain he's suffered outside the ring...

BRET HART

George Anderson: Ok, immediately, one comes as "Mom". Understood?

Bret Hart: Yes.

GA: Your mother speaks of passing, but not that long ago, understood?

BH: Yes.

GA: She states she's still considered a new arrival. But your mother admits, she says that during the ordeal, she wasn't afraid. Understood?

BH: Yeah.

GA: She's...She's a real trooper, as she puts it...

(Introspective with Bret)

BH: My mom passed away, barely a month ago. And, uh, it just seems like she was talking to me. The same way she always has. The term that m..that he used..."Trooper" is a term...my mom would have referred to herself as a trooper for sure.

(Back to the talking)

GA: She speaks of your life as being demanding. Yes? Understood?

BH: Yeah.

GA: Because as she puts it, it's that, it's as if you lead a double life. It's not that you lead a double life, it's just that you may want to be one place, but something has to be somewhere else.

BH: Yeah.

GA: And that's what she means by a double life.

(Introspective with Bret)

BH: As the son of a wrestler, then growing up to be a wrestler, in a profession that you knew it was never real, to everyone else that talks to you, it is real. So...you can sort of like Batman almost. You put the costume on and you do the whole thing, and you come back and you're Bruce Wayne.

(Back to talking)

GA: Your mother talks about your family always suffering from a lack of communication.

BH (laughing): Yeah.

GA: It wasn't a normal American family. (George and Bret laugh) By any means. It's a dysfunctional family. As your mother states. It's like the Titanic. Every man for himself.

(Introspective)

BH: There was twelve kids in the family. Almost one after another. We lived a very bizarre life, even as kids, we grew up in a house that, you know, we used to call it the Munster House. We didn't have much in the way of neighbors, we just had each other. As kids, I think we fought and loved each other a lot. And it makes for a funny existance, I guess. Just that.

(Talking)

GA: She also remarks that there is jealousy around you. Understood?

BH: Yeah.

GA: Because, all green appears around you, and she shows me the scene out of "Gone with the Wind" when Scarlet says to Rhett, "I want everyone to be pea green with envy". It's not that you wish that, but unfortunately, jealousy and resentment is directed at you and...just wants you to understand that it's not your fault.

(Introspecive)

BH: I have a couple of siblings who are very much, like, jealous of me. And, I feel bad, I think, sometimes, for it. Because I...It's almost like you're made to feel guilty for being successful for something, sometimes. Which is something I've talked to my mom about, a lot.

(Talk)

GA: Now, don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, but your mom just showed me a scene out of the movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." In other words, she's trying to tell me, 'There's a lot of brothers.'

(Introspective)

BH: Seven Brides for...Yeah, we'll, I've got seven brothers. Or, I HAD seven brothers.

(Talking)

GA: Because, your mom admits when she was on the Earth that she did live as a bereaved mother. Yes?

BH: Yes.

GA: She knew what it was like to lose a child. She speaks of the loss of a child twice. Understood?

BH: Yes.

GA: She says, "The two sons are here with me". All these people, they just seem to feel that there's just issues that need to be tied up.

Announcer: We'll have more with Bret Hart, after this.

(Commentary: Well...Bret doesn't seem 'crazy', just very bereaved. The medium is being really generic though, and he's doing this funny writing thing on his note pad that's really distracting)

COMMERCIALS

Announcer: Welcome back. When we left, we saw George make contact with Bret Hart's recently departed mother. Now Bret is about to hear from two brothers, whose deaths continue to haunt him.

GA: There's two males claiming they are brothers to you. One brother comes forward, claiming he feels that he could have been closer. Understood?

BH: Yeah.

GA: He admits to having a great deal of problems on the Earth that got in the way. Yeah. You and this one brother must have definitely...Conflicted. Understood? (Bret nods) Because he goes (thunk) the bucking of heads.

(Introspective)

BH: My brother was Dean. He was sort of, my closest brother as a kid growing up. Then as we got older we weren't that close anymore, and then eventually he passed away. I always felt that like that, with what happened with my brother Dean, there was nothing I could do. Umm...I don't know if we butted heads quite as much. But I can see my brother dean thinking we did. I...uh...(laughing) I can see him thinking that all the way.

(Talking)

GA: Yeah. But your brother does talk of a gap. Understood?

BH: Yes.

GA: Between you and he. Because he just tells me to tell you "I forgive, and hope you do too." Understood?

BH: Yeah.

GA: Now your other brother does draw close. Understood?

BH: Yes.

GA: Because there's one that there's a gap with and yet there's another one that there's closeness with.

BH: Yes.

GA: Because your other brother comes to you, actually if I didn't know better...Well, actually he is. Emotionally, your best pal. He comes to you as a best friend.

(Introspective)

BH: My brother Owen was talked into doing a stunt where they wanted to be released from the top of the ceiling at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City. They dropped him 78 feet to his death. No safety cables or anything. He died in the ring, and that's so unlike him. I've always wanted to go, "What the hell were you thinking about when you did that?!" You know? Where was I? You know? I carry that around.

(Talking)

GA: Your other brother states you actually, you kind of babied him. Understood?

BH: Yes.

GA: Because he (gasp) looks upon you in a fatherly manner, understood? (Bret nods) Because, he keeps hugging you. As his dad. His brother. His friend. That you made such a difference in his life, for his time here on Earth as he states. And he just wants to make sure that you do not forget that, because HE has not forgotten that.

(Introspective)

BH: When I think of my brother, Owen, I think of all the times...I think I taught him how to tie his shoelaces. I taught him how to play cowboys and indians, I taught him um...Without every realizing, I think everything I ever did he tried to emulate. Do as well or do better than me.

(Talking)

GA: Because he does thank you for taking care of him. Understood? (Bret nods) For the brother that you babied, you're like his hero. (Bret wipes away a tear).

(Introspective)

BH: We had some very intimate conversations of how much he looked up to me and how proud he was of me, and I think all the great things, you know, that I've been blessed with in my career, all the championships and the matches and the cities and the places... I always imagined that someday I would sit on my porch and the only one that I could REALLY talk to probably would have been my brother Owen.

(Talking)

GA: And both your brothers remark that in your loss of them and your mother, you've had to suffer in silence (Comment: ?!?!?!). (Bret nods) You just...Again, it's almost like the feeling of the expression: "Life stinks and then you die." (Bret chuckles) That you felt that, like you know, "All right, you know, and you can never make things better. And as your brothers state, "No it's never too late to make things better" (Bret wipes another tear) And their glad to have the opportunity to do so. But, the CROWD of people that were here, are pulling back from me, and they do ask that you continue to pray for them. And at the times that you feel, that you may be alone, just think back to today when you're overwhelmed with people who cherish you (Bret looks like he's about to break down) from the next stage of life, until we meet again, and with that they step aside. And...There they go (the pen waggling, which I noticed never did any actual writing, stops).

(Introspective)

BH: It's kind of like what I thought it would be. I was hoping that I would hear something from my mom. Again, it feels like a conversation I would have had with my mom just a few months ago. It was...uh...almost a little too cozy. It was like, you know, I thought I was back in the kitchen, you know, talking to her. I wanted to hear from my brother Owen. I thought he captured the big brother or the...closeness I had with my brother Owen. I wanted to hear from my brother Dean, all of which I thought I did. I just thought it came across very...uh...very real for me.

UP NEXT: Vanna!!

Commentary:

Well...Jump on the Brett LUV train, because that was really all that Dean/Owen segment was. Owen and Dean saying how much they love, look up to and respect Bret. None of the hard hitting stuff we were looking for. Overall, I think to any casual observer, Bret came across fine. Of course doing this on a national scale is cheap, but he wasn't overtly bad. His comments about Owen's death were understandably skewed. Bret suffers in silence, eh? Maybe...Maybe not.

Other than that, there was nothing special about this appearance. Bret just sat back and listened most of the time while it looked like the reader was having a seizure (taken by the power of the spirits?). Some neat family photos and clips from Wrestling with Shadows (NOW we know the truth about why Bret wanted his videos from Vince) throughout, but the whole thing felt very generic and B-Grade.

Matt Hocking
Wienerville: Excalibur05