Diana Hart has issued a public statement pushing back against comments her brother Bret Hart has made about the British Bulldog’s performance at SummerSlam 1992.
Bret has said in past interviews and in his 2007 autobiography that he had to carry Bulldog through the match step-by-step, claiming Bulldog was in poor condition due to drugs and/or alcohol. The match, which took place at Wembley Stadium in London with Diana’s then-husband Davey Boy Smith facing her brother for the Intercontinental Championship, was named by WWE as the greatest SummerSlam match of all time last year.
Diana posted the following statement on Tuesday:
“Bret does not present his statements as opinions; he states them as facts. 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 from 1992 to 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 after Davey was no longer alive to respond. Instead, Bret now frames, over and over, despite my appeals to him with facts, proof and records and critical reasoning to please restrain and refrain his slander, but he refuses. Bret now cites this incredible match as great solely because of his own alleged brilliance, assigning himself all credit while diminishing Davey’s invaluable role. 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. In my opinion, and I’m very clear that this is opinion, Bret’s tendency toward ego, bullying and exaggeration 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 being totally discredited is no longer alive to defend himself. Davey was so good and loyal to Bret,” Diana wrote.
Diana Hart played a significant role in the SummerSlam 1992 storyline, entering the ring after the match to embrace both her brother and her husband in a moment designed to show the Hart family reunited. Bulldog won the Intercontinental Championship in the bout.
Diana co-wrote “Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling’s Greatest Family” in 2001, a book that was eventually pulled from shelves following a lawsuit filed by Martha Hart, the widow of Owen Hart. Diana officially sold the rights to The British Bulldog’s legacy to her son Harry Smith in 2015.
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