Calgary to honour icon Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart
Posted Sep 7, 2022 12:51 pm.
Last Updated Sep 7, 2022 12:52 pm.
Bret “Hitman” Hart, a Calgary icon and professional wrestling legend, will be honoured with a celebration in the city next week.
Hart is coming to Calgary for a ceremony honouring his induction to Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2021.
The free event on Monday Sept. 12 is open to the public and will feature performances by Siksika Nation’s Sorrel Rider Drum Group and 15-year-old Kaiya Gamble. Elder Clement Leather will also lead a blessing at the ceremony.
A replica commemorative plaque of Hart’s star on downtown Toronto’s Walk of Fame will be unveiled, and installed at a location of his choosing.
“As part of their induction to Canada’s Walk of Fame, each Inductee receives a $10,000 donation to the charity or cause of their choice,” reads a release from Canada’s Walk of Fame. “Bret has selected Siksika Nation’s SN7 youth program, a Siksika Health Services initiative and Water First as the beneficiaries, each receiving $5,000 of this donation.”
Hart’s ties to Calgary run deep: he wrestled at Mount Royal University (then called Mount Royal College), and co-founded, as well as inspired the namesake of, the Calgary Hitmen WHL hockey team.
He is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers of all time, and was the face of the World Wrestling Federation — now known as World Wrestling Entertainment — for years during the 90s.
The ceremony gets underway at the Victoria Pavilion at Stampede Park just after 11 a.m.
