Bret to wrestle at site of tragedy
By BILL KAUFMANN -- Calgary Sun
Calgary wrestling star Bret Hart has chosen to grapple head-on with
the demons left by the death of his brother Owen.
Bret 'Hit Man' Hart will wrestle tomorrow at Kansas City's Kemper Arena --
the same venue where his brother Owen plunged 24 metres to his death while
performing a stunt for a World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view match May 23.
"I legitimately wondered if I'd ever go back," said Hart.
TRIBUTE TO OWEN
World Championship Wrestling officials offered to let Hart skip tomorrow's
Nitro show in Kansas City, but the Calgary wrestling icon said he chose to
appear as a tribute to his younger brother, who died at age 34.
"It'll be very simple -- I'm just going to work," said Hart, adding the
appearance will be his most important to date. "If Owen was able to see it
he'd give me a thumbs-up."
Hart has already visited Kemper Arena to examine the scene of his brother's
death.
But tomorrow's Nitro show -- which will be broadcast in Calgary Wednesday
-- will mark the first time he's wrestled in the building since the tragedy.
He called wrestling "a travelling soap opera," adding the seriousness of
tomorrow's return to the scene of tragedy "breaks that soap opera up a
little."
Hart said he'll wrestle a Canadian opponent: "It's a friend of Owen's and
it's probably almost as important to him as it is to me."
EMOTIONAL RETURN
Owen's widow, Martha, said she appreciates Bret's gesture, but predicted
'Hit Man' will have difficulty dealing with his emotions.
"It'll be harder on him than he thinks, when he sees the crowd and where
Owen fell and died," she said.
