Saturday, July 11, 1997
Thank you for believing
By BRET "THE HIT MAN HART"
For the Calgary Sun
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From your letters and cheers it's clear you all had a great time at the
Saddledome last weekend, and I want you to know the feeling is
mutual. I just want to say, with all sincerity, thanks for letting me still be
your hero. And thank you for believing in me.
A few weeks ago, I was told "America, love it or leave it." Well, I've
travelled all around the world. I've been all over the United States of
America, and the one thing in particular I've looked forward to is
loving leaving it!
I'm not really sure how things have escalated to this point but it would
be accurate to say that I'm not so much Anti-American as I'm just
very, very pro-Canadian. I want everybody to understand that nobody
is more proud of being Canadian than I am.
Maybe having dual Canadian/American citizenship has caused me to
examine where my loyalties lie more closely than if I was born into a
single nationalistic mind set. The American attitude that they're better
than everybody really bugs me. All you have to do is look at Donovan
Bailey and you realize that they're not as great as they think they are.
I congratulate all you fans who were at the Saddledome last Sunday
and at the Edmonton Coliseum on Monday for giving the American
fans a long overdue rude awakening to the fact that they are not the
centre of the wrestling world. Their response? A lot of them were
annoyed that we had In Your House in Calgary on their 4th of July
holiday weekend! Hey, it's the World Wrestling Federation, not the
American Wrestling
Federation and it's about time the Americans realized that!
As I've been saying, it doesn't pay to be a nice guy when I wrestle in
America. Now that we've given the Americans back a taste of their
own medicine, the SummerSlam card is shaping up to be dominated
by The Hart Foundation!
Congratulations to my brother, Owen, for getting the winning pin on
Steve Austin in the 10-man last weekend. Austin wants revenge and
I'm already working out with Owen, coming up with a strategy to thaw
out Stone Cold at SummerSlam.
Austin says if he doesn't take the Intercontinental belt away from
Owen he'll kiss Owen's butt! I'll enjoy seeing Steve Austin embarrass
himself on live international TV -- and I don't just mean butt kissing.
That won't be anywhere near as bad as the humiliation Austin will feel
when he loses to a Hart -- again!
The British Bulldog has long been acknowledged as the strongest guy
in the WWF. The so-called World's Most Dangerous Man, Ken
Shamrock, claims that distinction should be his and he aims to prove it
by taking the European title away from the Bulldog at SummerSlam. Is
it nerve or naivete for newcomer Shamrock to think he can
outmanoeuvre the veteran Bulldog? By the way, since The British
Bulldog lives in Calgary now, should we start calling him the Calgary
Canine?
I've finally got a long overdue shot at the WWF title. At
SummerSlam, in America, when I step in the ring with the World
Wrestling Federation champion, the Undertaker, I will not let my
Canadian fans down. If I don't bring the WWF World Championship
belt back to Canada, if by hook or by crook I loose, I will never, ever,
wrestle on American soil again!
I am focused, I am determined, and I will be the WWF champion for
a fifth time! The only other guy to be a five-time WWF Champion was
Hulk "I am a real American" Hogan. Well, rewrite that, "I am a real
Canadian" and darn proud of it!
