WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart was honored by the Calgary Hitmen hockey team on Saturday night in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Hart was a founding owner of The Hitmen in 1994, and the inspiration for their name. The Calgary Hitmen are a top team in the Western Hockey League, and two-time champions.
Saturday’s WHL game was the Third Annual Bret Hart Game to be hosted by The Hitmen. Hart was honored in a pre-game ceremony for his outstanding contributions to the team as a “Forever A Hitmen” banner was raised into the rafters of the Scotiabank Saddledome, where it will remain on permanent display, according to the Hitmen website. The team also noted that Hart was enshrined as the fourth inductee in the “Forever A Hitmen” program.
As seen in the video below, Bret was in attendance for the ceremony, along with his wife and children, and other family members. The team also released footage of Bret talking to players before the game in the locker room, and a clip of some players arriving to the arena wearing Hart’s famous sunglasses.
To continue with the theme of the Third Annual Bret Hart Game, Hitmen players wore a specially designed jersey reflective of their namesake while the game-worn and game-issued jerseys were put up for sale via online auction at elevateauctions.com/BretHart, with proceeds going to the Prostate Cancer Centre. $5 from every ticket sold by the Prostate Cancer Centre went back to the center itself. Fans were also treated to a post-game on-ice wrestling show put on by Dungeon Wrestling, the promotion launched in 2022 by Bret’s sons Blade and Dallas, and indie wrestler Mo Jabari. “Havoc at The Hashmarks” featured three matches – Harry Smith defeating Chris Knight, Mo Jabari defeating Shaun Moore, and Zoe Sager defeating Ava Lawless.
You can see photos/videos from the ceremony and the matches below, along with the “Forever A Hitmen” tribute video for Hart.
Despite the presence of The Hitman and Dungeon Wrestling, The Hitmen lost Saturday’s game to the Red Deer Rebels, 9-0.
Hart has not publicly commented on Saturday’s game, but he did provide comments a few weeks back when the show was announced.
“To have my banner raised and be named Forever a Hitman this March 11th is such an honour. I am forever grateful to the @whlhitmen for many years of friendship, kick ass hockey and service to our community. On March 11th we continue to raise awareness for @prostatecancercentre and the importance of Getting Checked! My sons wrestling promotion @dungeon_wrestling will also be in the house with a great wrestling show to follow the hockey game. It will be a great day [heart emoji],” he wrote in the Instagram post seen below.
Below are the aforementioned photos, videos and posts:
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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