Diana Hart has had enough of history being rewritten as it pertains to her late husband “The British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith.
And she’s not staying silent about it any longer.
The widow of the late pro wrestling legend surfaced via social media this week to address her brother, Bret Hart, constantly changing the narrative surrounding their memorable showdown in England at WWE SummerSlam 1992.
According to Bret, the addiction issues that Smith was dealing with made him essentially helpless in the match, and led to Bret being forced to carry the entire thing. So much so that at one point, as Hart explained in his WWE documentary years ago, he had to call an audible in mid-air when diving out to Davey Boy on the floor, due to Davey Boy forgetting the spot due to his lack of lucidness.
“Bret does not present his statements as opinions; he states them as facts,” she wrote. “That distinction matters, because many of his claims—specifically about Davey’s physical or mental state at SummerSlam’92 are simply not true. It is my opinion that Bret’s current misrepresentation of events at SS92 may be influenced by the stroke he suffered in the summer of 2002. What cannot be ignored is the timing, that Davey died prior to that, in May 2002. There was a full decade (1992-2002) when Bret could have raised his claims directly with Davey, if they were legitimate. He never did. Not once. The absurd and hurtful accusations began years after Davey was no longer alive to respond. Instead, Bret now frames, over and over, despite my appeals to him with facts and critical reasoning to please restrain and refrain his slander, but he refuses. Bret now frames this incredible match as great solely because of his own alleged brilliance, assigning himself all credit while diminishing Davey’s invaluable role.”
She continued, “Bret’s narrative is not supported by history, by documentation, or by what audiences can plainly see when they watch the match itself, without Bret’s overlapping slandering words. Davey’s performance shows no evidence of impairment. On the contrary, it reflects Davey’s professionalism, strength and focus-despite the FACT that he was recovering from necrotizing fasciitis, a serious and life-threatening flesh-eating infection. Davey did not complain, seek sympathy, or disclose his condition to the public. He simply did the work. It is difficult to reconcile these FACTS with Bret’s retroactive claims, except to note a long-standing pattern of self-aggrandizement. IMO, and I’m very clear that this is opinion, Bret’s tendency toward ego, bullying and exaggeration/embellishment predates both his stroke and the match in question. I base that on my lived experience growing up with him as my older brother and on decades of observed behaviour towards family members and colleagues. What I will not accept is history being rewritten after the fact, especially when the person, (Davey)being totally discredited is no longer alive to defend himself. Davey was so good and loyal to Bret.”
